Christmas Eve Magic by aLuna Chen

Most everyone has some memory of their childhood Christmas. Christmas Eve was when magic came alive in my family. Growing up next to my paternal Polish grandparents, Christmas Eve was a wonder filled event, beginning early on the morning of the 24th. My relatives would decent with all kinds of cooking apparatus, preparing for the Holy Grail of all days…. Christmas Eve Pierogi making. The oh so serious business of preparing, cooking and eating one of our national treasures, the pierogi. Cooking and fussing would happen all day, after which we would clean up and dress up for an evening of overindulging; THE proper Polish merry making way.I remember when we first moved to HCCC in 2006. How happy was I to find the PERFECT kitchen to make Christmas Eve Pierogi in. You know how it goes when you shop at Costco, the largeness makes you buy more, or in our case make more if you cooking. We jumped from making 200 hundred pierogi to 500 without even realizing it. And last tally taken, I believe we have made well over 800 these last few years.

The very first year we started, it was only the 3 of us and our neighbor Jim Tadvick. We were new to the community and no one understand what we were doing in the kitchen when most people were busy with hectic holiday plans. We exhausted ourselves with work and swore to never do it again HA! 13 years later, we are once again preparing for our Annual:

The news and smells got out soon enough and we had ourselves a community ritual. I mean who can resist the smell of butter and onions floating down the pedway? From weary postal workers to last minute handymen, all who passed by couldn’t help but be enticed to come in for some saturated warmness. Neighbors began to notice and soon we had up to 20 to 30 people each year, coming in shifts to help support our heroic endeavor. Making the dough, freezing the dough, rolling, cutting and filling the dough. All mounting to a lingering halt for the dreaded boiling and frying station. I thank all the brave & kind souls who volunteered to take the swelling piles to their own clean houses to cook them there.

What a gift to be blessed by my Polish “cousin” Carolyn Haberek Blanco-Losada who finally moved here in 2017 and straightened us out! Her wisdom truly was a turning point in figuring out how to “git her done” without cooking straight into the potluck itself! Thank you, bless you!

But of course, we couldn’t stop there, soon a fire was added into the evening events and eventually my very favorite of all, the “Holy Silent Night” spiral adapted from my daughter’s Waldorf school. What a joy it has been to look out from my kitchen window to see the gentle flame of my neighbor’s intentions burning softly into the night. I have often gone out well after midnight to tend to the flame and say my prayers of gratitude and thanks for the gifts of this community home.

My heart is full as I think of all the years and all the beautiful souls who came, contributed and blessed this Christmas Eve Ritual. Many no longer here, yet will live forever in my heart’s memory for sharing in the joy of recreating my beautiful childhood memory.