Rebecca or Diane's Pascha Cheese 2012

Just a quick note about Sirnaya Pascha, aka Pascha Cheese.

If you've been reading my cooking blog, you know all about my search for the perfect recipe for Pascha Cheese, and also for my endless search for Tvorog (fresh farmer's cheese) to make it.  Here in the deep, deep south, it's really difficult to get some food items, and farmer's cheese is one of those hard to get ones.  However, a couple of years ago, Publix and Fresh Market began carrying it!  My life was complete!  Kindasorta.  It was very, very expensive, $6 for 8 oz in one store, and $9 for a pound in the other.  I sprung for it the first year, but then in 2011, my friend Ksenia posted on Facebook that she was making her cheese.  A light went off for me - I've made yogurt and buttermilk before.  I've drained yogurt to make cheese.  I've made a stinky, but delicious, middle eastern cheese that my father-in-law absolutely adored called shankleesh.  Why not farmer's cheese?  Ksenia gave me her recipe, and I looked online as well.  It was a success!  One $3 gallon of milk plus one $3 quart of buttermilk yielded just about 2 lbs of farmer's cheese!

Yulinka has a great tutorial on how to make it.  Click here to check it out.

So, this year, I made it again, with great success, though I drained it overnight which produced a very, very dry and dense cheese, about 1.75 lbs.  It's enough to make enough pascha cheese to fill my little red plastic mold, though.

What recipe will I use for Pascha Cheese this year?  I haven't decided.  I have two absolutely AMAZING recipes here on my blog:  Diane's Perfect Pascha Cheese and Rebecca M's Sirnaya Pascha.  After many years of experimentation and searching, I have finally completely given up on the cooked custard based recipes because they never seem to turn out any tastier than these two recipes, and oftentimes don't set up as well.  There is also a recipe making the rounds that calls for lots of American-style cream cheese which is very tasty, too, but I guess I hung out with Russians too long to make that one.  Anyway, one of my church folk makes it every year, so I always take a taste. I, however, am true to the two recipes which are more traditional - either Diane's or Rebecca's.

Try one of these great recipes this year!  I guarantee that you will not be disappointed!

Christmas Kutia

Many Slovak Orthodox Christians prepare a traditional dinner on Christmas Eve called the Holy Supper which consists of 12 dishes for the 12 apostles. Included in the tradition is Kutia. Kutia is the Slavic version of Koliva, a sweetened boiled wheat and fruit dish which is served at services for the dead. Here is some information and a recipe for the Lebanese version from a prior post about that.

For the past six or seven years, my parish has come to together for the Holy Supper just prior to Christmas Eve Great Compline and Matins, and each year, our celebration seems to become a little more traditional. I usually am the one to make the wheat for the Holy Supper, since I'm the only one who makes this traditional food in my parish. This year was no different, but I decided to make it Russian style instead of Lebanese style. It was a big, big hit! Maybe even a bigger hit than my Lebanese style - and let me tell you, that is VERY popular! I did receive the highest of praise when my dear Russian friend told me that my kutia was just like her mother's, only better, because I put more fruit in it. High praise, indeed.

I do have a photo, but no way to get it off my camera right now. I'll post it as soon as I can.

Christmas Kutia
2 1/4 C soft wheat berries, soaked for 24 hours and strained
6 3/4 C water
1 C poppy seed
1 C sliced almonds or chopped walnuts, toasted till fragrant
1 lb honey
1 C white raisins
1 C chopped dried fruit, such as apricots, craisins, berries or cherries
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs cinnamon (heaping)

Drain the wheat berries well and put them in a dutch oven type pan with a lid. Stir in the water and loosely cover the pot. Crack the cover open so the steam can escape a little bit and it won't boil over. Simmer the wheat for 2 - 3 hours until very tender.

After the wheat has simmered for about an hour, you should prepare the poppy seeds by scalding them. Put them in a heat-proof dish, cover them with boiling water and let them soak for half an hour. Drain them well, then grind them in a blender or food processor. Continue your preparations by toasting the nuts and chopping the fruit.

Once the wheat is tender, drain the kernals, reserving about a cup of the water, and put them in a very large bowl together with the ground up poppy seeds. Add the honey and mix well. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, adding a little bit of the reserved water if it seems too thick and the honey won't mix well.

You can eat it just like this, which is what we did this year, but there is an additional step to this which makes it even more yummy. Once everything is mixed together, bake it in a 3 qt casserole, uncovered, at 325F for 20 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Kutia is best if you put everything together 2 or 3 days in advance and bake it right before serving. This is yummy hot or cold or room temperature. This recipe makes a lot, but that's ok because it freezes extremely well too!, and will last about two weeks in the fridge.

UPDATED ON FEBRUARY 7, 2016:  
It has become increasingly difficult to find soft wheat berries in Savannah, and I'm simply not organized enough to order them online in advance.  I've begun using pearled barley (in equal amounts to the wheat) which is barley with the fibrous outer hull and bran removed, and cooks on top of the stove in one hour, without soaking. It's very similar to the Romanian arpacas which is traditionally used for coliva in Romania. Arpacas is not necessarily wheat berries with the hull removed - it can also be spelt or barley. My use of barley is not noticeable in this dish, and as it is a seed, it retains the significance of a seed dying to give new life inherent in this dish.  An excellent recipe for Romanian style coliva is in the works for this blog, once I perfect it.  Soon....

Here is a link to my tried and true .Lebanese style koliva

Easy Kulich

I love kulich! I love panettone! They are two very similar breads from two different parts of the world, shaped completely differently. Kulich is always a tall, cylindrical loaf full of fruit and nuts, originating in Russia, and is traditionally served at Pascha. Panettone is a round boule-shaped loaf full of fruit and nuts, originating in Italy, traditionally served at Christmas. I've been letting my bread machine knead and rise my panettone for years with great results, so this year, I decided to try this for my kulich.

The first thing you have to do is to decide what you are going to cook it in. Most recipes call for 1 or 2 lb coffee cans, but nowadays, coffee comes in cans with peel-off tops, and have a half-inch or so inner lip which makes getting the kulich out in one piece pretty much impossible. A large tomato can isn't really large enough in my opinion, though I nearly used one this year.

Then I remembered an old, hippy style vegetarian cookbook - one of the very first cookbooks I ever owned in the mid or late 1970s - Laurel's Kitchen. She advocated baking a dozen loaves of whole wheat bread at a time. Now, how can anyone possibly fit 12 loaves of bread in the oven, you ask? Easy! Use juice cans to bake them! I did this successfully for years and years while I was in my hippy phase... pretty much until I moved to Georgia from California. That was when I sold my blackened and well loved juice cans at a yard sale - yes, someone bought them to bake bread in! So, one can of pineapple juice later, I was ready to make my kulich.

Kulich dough is famously tempermental. It is very, very rich with many eggs, butter and fruit, which makes it difficult to rise. Sometimes, the gluten isn't strong enough to support the air pockets caused by the fermentation of the yeast when the dough is so very heavy and wet. Every year, at least one of my friends laments a flat or dry kulich.

This is what I did this year. Follow your bread machine's instructions as to the order ingredients should be added - my machine (a cheapie from Walmart) requires liquids to go in first with dry ingredients on top. I'll probably play with this recipe a bit, since it's not quite perfect yet...

Bread Machine Kulich

1/4 C Sherry or warm water

1/2 C dried fruits of your choice (I used raisins, dates and chopped apricots)

1/2 C milk (I used heavy cream)

3 large eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C sugar

zest of one lemon

1/4 C softened butter at room temp

2 1/2 C flour

1 1/2 Tbs yeast

1/4 C slivered almonds (opt)

First, plump your dried fruits in 1/4 C sherry for about a half hour. You should use 1/2 C of dried fruit. Drain the fruit and set aside, but reserve the soaking liquid to add to the bread machine with the milk.

Put all ingredients except the fruit and the nuts into the bread machine on the dough setting in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Turn the machine on.

While waiting, prepare the can by buttering it very, very well. Make sure that there are no sharp edges sticking out as sometimes happens when you open a can. Set the can aside.

At the appropriate time (mine beeps when ready), add in the fruit and nuts and let the machine do the work of kneading and rising.

When the rising is completed, take the dough out of the bread machine and place into the prepared large juice can. The dough will be very wet and sticky - you will probably need to use a spatula to scrape the dough off the sides and paddle of the bread machine. It will plop into the can. Use the spatula to "stab" it a few times to make sure that there are no major air pockets in the can, then smooth the top as best you can. Let it rise for about 20 minutes until it has nearly reached the top of the can.

Place into a preheated 350F oven and check after 40 minutes. It should be golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Mine needed 10 more minutes, so the total baking time was 50 minutes. Let it sit in the can for 5 or 10 minutes, then carefully slide the bread out - mine came out very easily. When I used to bake bread in cans, it always came out as long as I used butter or crisco to grease the cans.

I started this at 7:30 pm last night, and it was ready (still hot, but ready just the same) when I left for church at 10 pm. I didn't bother with any icing, firstly because I prefer my kulich without icing, and secondly because it was still hot from the oven!

Yummy, and so very easy! A picture will follow once I take one!

All About Pascha Baskets

ALL ABOUT PASCHA BASKETS

A couple of people have asked me some questions about traditional Russian Pascha baskets.

Here at St. Mary Magdalene Church, Fr. James will pass out red hard-boiled eggs at the end of the Paschal Divine Liturgy, which are then taken home and eaten. The traditional egg game is played with great gusto at the agape meal - last year, Pat Popiela vanquished all comers with her egg! I have an egg with your name on it, Pat!

We customarily share the contents of our baskets with each other. It is great fun to sample the different breads, meats (especially the sausage) and cheese:

How to Put Together a Traditional Pascha (Easter) Basket

Following the Resurrection Matins and Liturgy, it is traditional among Slavic peoples to have their "Pascha baskets" blessed. The gathered faithful place their baskets in a designated place in the church or parish hall and place lighted candles in the baskets. After the crowd has quieted down, the priest will begin the opening chant: "Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." The congregations replies with "Amen!" and the foods are blessed, in three different groups, with three different blessings. The bread products are blessed first, then the dairy products, and finally, the meat products.

There are traditional foods among every Slavic group: Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Ruthenian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Serbian, Slovakian, Croatian, Slovenian, Montenegrin, etc. Following is a list of foods commonly included in the basket. It is not necessary to include every item, nor are Pascha baskets restricted to the items listed below. The general rule is to place in the basket foods which will be eaten during the Paschal dinner and from which one has abstained during the recent Great Lent and Holy Week.

BREAD (Kulich/Pascha): A sweet bread is always included in the basket, leavened with yeast. This is a symbol of the New Covenant; the Jews made unleaved bread, and we, the Children of the New Covenant, make leavened bread. Pascha and Kulich normally refer to the same thing, a sweet yeast bread rich in eggs, butter and fruit. In the Russian tradition, it is baked as a tall, cylindrical loaf, with white frosting and decorated with “XBâ€� on the top. The abbreviation XB is in Cyrillic writing and does NOT equal "ex bee" but "cha veh," the initials for "Christos Voskrese!" - "Christ is Risen!"). This bread is symbolic of Christ Himself, He Who is our Bread of life. In other Slavic Orthodox traditions, the bread is called Pascha and baked as a round loaf with a golden crust decorated with some symbol indicative of Christ, such as a braided cross, a lamb or something similar. Sometimes a cross of dough is placed on top, and the entire loaf rimmed with a braided plait of dough giving it a crowned effect.

However, there are ethnic groups where Pascha and Kulich do not signify bread, and are quite different foods. In fact, among those groups, the Pascha becomes the bread and the Kulich becomes what will appear below as Sirets or Hrutka. The Greek version of this bread is called Tsoureki and is braided with three strands with red hard boiled eggs. The three stranded braid is a display of the Holy Trinity

CHEESE (Sirets): There are different types of cheese which are traditional, depending on the ethnic group. Sirnaya Paska is a sweet cream cheese which is formed in a carved, pyramid-shaped mold, making a spectacular appearance when unmolded on Pascha night. This cheese is eaten alone, with fruit, or is spread on slices of the traditional Kulich. Hrutka is an egg custard-type cheese shaped into a ball which has a rather bland but sweet taste, and is intended to indicate the moderation that Christians should have in all things. Also, cream cheese is sometimes placed in a small dish and decorated with initials or patterns by placing peppercorns or cloves in appropriate patterns.

MEAT: Meat is included in remembrance of the sacrifice of the Old Testament Passover, which has been replaced by Christ, the New Passover and Lamb of God. Ham (Shoon'-ka) is the flesh meat popular among Slavs as the main dish for several reasons: a) the richness of its meat is symbolic of the great joy and abundance of Easter and b) of the richness of the joy in Christ we ought to have, and c) our freedom from the Old Law, now that all things have been made clean in Christ (as indicated to the apostle Saint Peter in the dream on the rooftop at Joppa [Acts 10:9-16]). Being freed from the Old Law and from the curse of death, which is the wage of sin, all things are now permissible to eat - and ham, the most forbidden of all the "unclean" foods is now symbolic of our total redemption. Many of the faithful will include meats like roasted veal, roast beef, and other foods prepared well ahead of time - foods which can be enjoyed without a lot of last-minute preparation. Those who have been preparing all week are already exhausted, but, being filled with joy at Our Lord's Resurrection from the dead, are looking forward to sitting down to a celebratory feast. Other ethnic groups, such as Greeks and Arabs, may traditionally bring some lamb in their basket.

BUTTER (Mas'-lo): The butter is usually shaped into a figure of a lamb or of a three-barred cross and decorated in much the same fashion as the sirets (cheese) above. Butter is to remind us of the goodness of Christ that we are to demonstrate to all men by our lives in Him.

SAUSAGE (Kohl-ba'-ssi): A spicy, garlicky sausage of pork, veal, beef and other products. This is indicative of God's favor and generosity to us sinners.

BACON (Sla-ni'-na): A piece of uncooked bacon cured with spices. This symbolizes of the lavishness and overabundance of God's mercy toward sinners.

SALT (Sol): A condiment necessary for flavor reminding Christians of our duties toward others to "flavor" the world. This is a reminder to us that we are the salt of the earth.

EGGS: Red eggs are commonly placed in the baskets. Red eggs are likened to the tomb from which Christ arose. This is because of the miracle of new life which comes from the egg, just as Christ miraculously came forth from the tomb. Pysanky (Py-san'-ky): These are highly decorated eggs with symbols and markings made with colored dyes and beeswax. Covered with extremely complicated and intricate designs, some of these eggs take a full week to complete. The word "pysanky" derives from the verb "pysat'," meaning "to write." A pysanka, then, is an egg which has been written (drawn) upon. Eggs represent the new life and Resurrection. There are some fascinating pious legends concerning the origin of these pysanky. Pysanky are not for eating -- they are kept for years simply for their beauty. They are also a very popular Paschal gift.

BITTER HERB: The bitter herb, often horseradish (Hrin) or garlic, serves as a reminder of the first Passover (horseradish is eaten as a traditional part of the Jewish Passover meal) and of the bitter sufferings which Christ endured for our sake. Sometimes the herb is colored red with beets, symbolizing the Blood of Christ spilled for us during His Passion, which is still in the minds of the faithful, but which is now sweeted with some sugar because of the Resurrection.

WINE: In some places, it is also customary to include a bottle of wine or Vodka. Poorer areas of Eastern Europe tended to ignore this element of the basket (e.g. Southern Poland, Northern Czechoslovakia, Northeastern Hungary), but American descendants are beginning to include them once again.

All the food articles are placed in a wicker basket, and a ribbon or bow is tied to the handle. A linen cover, normally quite intricately embroidered with various Resurrection themes and symbols of Christ, or simply an intricate multicolored border and the words "CHRISTOS VOSKRESE" or "CHRIST IS RISEN," is placed over the food when it is brought to the church. At the time of the basket blessing, the decorative cover is removed and a lit candle is placed in the loaf of bread.

Koliva

My father, Edmour Joseph Babineau, died January 23, 2009, and tomorrow we will celebrate the traditional 40 day memorial (in greek: parastas, in slavonic: panikhida) for him at church. We Orthodox remember the dead at every service, and on specific "soul" Saturdays in Lent, but tomorrow is special. There are special prayers for the soul as it departs from the body at the moment of death, and we hold what is called a memorial service on the 3rd, 9th, and 40th day, as well as at the 3 month, 6 month, 9 month and one year mark, and every year following. The 40th day is a echo of Christ's Ascension into heaven, and we will pray that Dad will also ascend to Heaven to spend eternity with God

I just finished making the memorial wheat for this service. This is variously known as koliva, hilbee, berbera, snuniye, coliva, kolivo, korkoti, tsandili or kutia, depending on your ethnicity. A plate of this sweet wheat rests on the memorial table throughout Divine Liturgy and during the Memorial itself, after which all the congregation will partake of it. We boil wheat as a remembrance that mankind is placed in the earth like a seed, only to be raised up and blossom forth again through God's plan and power. This is a powerful reminder for Orthodox Christians of the words of St. John 12:24 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." The symbolism of death and resurrection, between that which is planted in the ground and that which emerges, is deeply embedded in the making and eating of koliva.

My father really loved memorial wheat and sometimes I would make it for him and mother as a breakfast treat. As I was chopping and toasting the nuts and seeds, I remembered happy times around that very same kitchen table: the four of us laughing and eating, or helping Elisabeth with her school work, or doing the crosswords, or just sipping coffee and deciding where to picnic the next day. Happy times, gone now.

But I'm not sad, I'm really not. My father was trapped in a body and a mind that failed him, and he's free now. I miss him, but that is nothing new - with Alzheimer's, the missing starts very early. And its not forever, you know. We'll meet again at the last. I am thinking a lot of him today, though. Here is the eulogy that I wrote for him and which was read so very beautifully by my dear friend, Carla McCurry:

Edmour Joseph Babineau
April 25, 1916 - January 23, 2009

Here are some remarks that Denise wrote about her father, which she has asked me to read to you today.

How do you measure a man’s life? Is it in the days, months, years? If so, at 92 years old, my father was rich. Is it in his possessions? If so, then I look at my father’s few mementos, the fishing poles, handles worn smooth through many years use, or maybe his trusty camera with all the lenses and filters and tripods, and think that perhaps my father was poor. Is it in the memories that a man leaves behind? Over the last few days, I’ve heard from countless people who knew my father, all of whom had their favorite, funny “Eddie” story. Maybe it was the one about the tomatoes that were so big that he had to cut them in half to get them in the door, or maybe it was the liver Popsicles, or maybe it was a memory of going fishing or golfing with him. Always, the memories were of laughter and fun. If memories measure a man’s life, then my father was rich.

Those of you who met my father when he was an old man missed out on so much. He was a real character - a great storyteller, unfailingly good humored, very smart, funny, loyal, brave, loving, a steadfast champion of the underdog, and could fix anything. He had a gluttonous love of cherry ice cream and Boston baked beans, though not together!

He loved his family more than anything. He passed his love of yardsaleing on to his granddaughter, Elisabeth. Together, they would hit the yardsales early on Saturday mornings, and haggle over prices, bringing home their treasures.

All his life, he loved traveling to new places and meeting new people. His Sunday drives for ice cream – to another state! – were legendary. He always said that someday he was going to buy a trailer and travel around the country. How many people get to live their dream? Well, my father did. He loved traveling in his motor home and did so for 15 years before settling down in Savannah. In that 27 footer, he traveled throughout the US, Canada and Mexico with my mom. He loved fishing and golfing, and was a seeded tennis player and professional boxer in his day. He was a real war hero, decorated in WWII and written up in the newspapers of the time.

My favorite memory of my parents is creeping downstairs early in the morning to the kitchen, and finding them dancing all alone to music only they could hear. He took tender care of my mother for many years, and never once complained.

He was a wonderful, loving, devoted husband, father and grandfather. He was a true gentleman, a charming raconteur and practical joker. He was honorable and true. He was everything a man should be and seldom is. He was one in a million, and we were so very lucky to have had him in our lives for almost 93 years. The world will be a sadder place without him. My daughter and I will miss him very much.

But right now, I think he’s standing just inside the pearly gates, the host extraordinaire, greeting newcomers as St. Peter’s right hand man, saying as he always used to at the Inn: “Welcome! Come on in. I have a special room just for you.”




Here is my recipe for Koliva, enough for home. For my church, I usually double it. I do not like it to be dry, so I leave out the zweiback or graham cracker crumbs.

Koliva

1 C soft wheat (very important - it must be soft, not hard, wheat)
1/2 C chopped nuts, like walnuts, toasted
1/2 C sesame seeds, toasted
1/2 C golden raisins
1/2 C chopped fruit (I like to use craisins)
1 heaping tsp ground cinnamon
1 C powdered sugar
zest of one orange
1 tsp anise seed, crushed a little

Simmer the wheat in 4 cups of water for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until very tender and cooked all the way through. Drain well and place in a large bowl with all the other ingredients. Stir very, very well to make sure that all the ingredients are mixed well. Let cool.

Once it is cool, place it in a flat serving platter. Smooth the top and decorate with silver dragees, jordan almonds, or other white candies in the shape of a three bar cross. I've used yogurt covered raisins when I couldn't get jordan almonds here in Savannah, and these work very well.

Enjoy. And if you make this, please, say a little prayer for my father as you eat it.

UPDATED ON FEBRUARY 7, 2016:  
It has become increasingly difficult to find soft wheat berries in Savannah, and I'm simply not organized enough to order them online in advance.  I've begun using pearled barley (in equal amounts to the wheat) which is barley with the fibrous outer hull and bran removed, and cooks on top of the stove in one hour, without soaking. It's very similar to the Romanian arpacas which is traditionally used for coliva in Romania. Arpacas is not necessarily wheat berries with the hull removed - it can also be spelt or barley. My use of barley is not noticeable in this dish, and as it is a seed, it retains the significance of a seed dying to give new life inherent in this dish.  An excellent recipe for Romanian style coliva is in the works for this blog, once I perfect it.  Soon....

Here is a link to my tried and true .Russian style Kutia recipe

Kale Braised with Carmelized Onions and Rutabagas

One thing I've learned about cooking is that you can never have too many carmelized onions! They are so very delicious that sometimes I eat them as a vegetable. I should have gone food shopping yesterday, but didn't want to brave the Saturday crowds, so I had a look in the fridge to see what I could put together. I had a lovely bunch of curly kale and a medium-sized rutabaga as well as a few onions, so this dish was born. Its really a riff on Italian minestra, which is garlicky greens and beans, and southern-style turnip greens with turnips. Whatever it is, it certainly is delicious - so delicious that I ate half of it in one sitting. Luckily, its pretty healthy, so no problem. The rest was packaged up for work lunches this coming week.

Kale Braised with Carmelized Onions and Rutabagas
2 Tbs butter or margerine
4 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 onions halved and sliced very thin
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium rutabaga, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 Tbs smoked paprika
1 Tbs garlic salt/Adobo seasoning
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 bunch curly kale
2 Tbs water

In a large pot with a tight fitting lid, melt half the butter and 1 Tbs of oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute, stirring often, for about 10 minutes until starting to carmelize and brown. Add the remaining oil, minced garlic, rutabaga, paprika, salt and pepper, stir well so that everything is coated with oil and spices. Turn heat down to medium, cover tightly, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring twice, until rutabagas are just barely tender. Add water to keep from sticking if necessary - this should not be necessary if your pot is nonstick. Uncover, add the kale and stir well. Cover again and let steam for about 4 - 5 minutes, until kale is wilted. Stir well and adjust for salt and pepper.

The onions continued to carmelize as the other veggies were cooking and ended up sweet and almost sticky, as did the rutabagas, which also were beginning to carmelize. This would be yummy with a spritz of lemon juice, or even balsamic vinegar to cut the buttery richness of the oil. I used Earth Balance spread rather than butter, since that's what I had in the house (Lent is upon us, you know), and it was yummy. I think this would be a fabulous base for a pasta salad - just stir in about a half pound of pasta, cooked al dente.

Again, I have no photo, and I apologize. I've unpacked the camera, but haven't found the charger yet, so photos will have to wait. Suffice it to say that this was a very pretty dish, with the small orange cubes peeking out from the dark green of the kale.

In the Orthodox Church, the Rite of Forgiveness at vespers this Sunday afternoon is the official beginning of the fast, of Great Lent. Every person in the parish, from the youngest to the oldest, will line up and ask forgiveness of each other for what they have done and what they have failed to do during the past year. There is always much hugging and many tears as hurts are forgiven. It never fails to move me, and humble me as well. So, in the spirit of Forgiveness Sunday, dear brothers and sisters, I ask you to forgive me for my sins and offenses, for what I have done and what I have failed to do, for how I have consistently missed the mark and fallen short of Christ's example.

Its almost Great Lent!

I know its been more than a month since I posted, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been cooking and eating! I do apologise for the long drought. I've been very busy with iconography commissions and with preparing recipes for my parish's new cookbook. I'll post more information about how to order the cookbook in another post.

Sunday is the last day that Orthodox Christians will consume dairy products until Pascha. We abstain from all meat, fish with backbones, dairy and eggs for the 40 days of Great Lent, plus the 7 days of Holy, or Passion Week. In our household, we have already been doing pretty well with a vegan lifestyle, so we will need to focus our attention more on increasing our prayer rule and increasing our acts of charity. To read my thoughts about fasting, click here.

Sunday is also called Forgiveness Sunday. It is at Forgiveness Sunday vespers that the Great Fast begins. We call it Forgiveness Sunday because in each Orthodox parish all over the world, the entire community, from the littlest baby to the oldest senior, including all the clergy, and ask each other for forgiveness for their faults, known and unknown, which ocurred all year. We do this, as is sung at vespers, to "begin the Fast with joy" and to prepare for confession, since it is strongly encouraged that everyone go to confession during Lent. We ask forgiveness of each other because we understand that when we forgive others, we receive forgiveness ourselves. "If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matt. 6.14, 15)" (From a sermon by St Patriarch Tikhon, when he was Bishop of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. 1901. Text taken from email posted to an Orthodox mailing list)

This Rite of Forgiveness is profoundly moving and life changing. To watch parents ask forgiveness of their children, husbands and wives, friends and family, clergy and parishioners, is deeply, deeply meaningful. Humbly asking to be forgiven, and humbly granting forgiveness does, indeed, truly change lives and relationships.

Fr. Alexander Schmemann spoke much more eloquently than me. Click here to read his writings about Forgiveness Sunday.