We had a traditional Christmas meal, but served up with a twist - Christmas Sauerkraut soup, Carp Greek style with tomatoes & walnuts, potato salad with dried tomatoes and Italian spices and lots of sweets.
One Slovak tradition is to start the meal with wafers & honey. I don't know all the meanings behind it, but the wafers are basically the same as what is taken during Communion in the Catholic church (i.e. the Body of Christ). So, Jesus - the Word made Flesh - is celebrated by eating super sized Communion wafers with the sweetness of honey. It is a nice picture.
Another tradition "imported" from Orava is to bless the kids with the sign of the cross ala honey. It's hoped that it will help the kids behave well, be blessed, and healthy in the next year. We should have poured the whole honey jar on theses guys! :)
Gabe and Dave licking off their "blessings" !
