Photo by Claudia Grunder
Hope, like the gleaming taper’s light,
Adorns and cheers our way,
And still as darker grows the night
Emits a brighter ray.
~Oliver Goldsmith~
Long ago, but not so long that we have forgotten, legend tells of a young maiden dressed in white wearing a wreath of burning candles on her head. Coming from Värmland in Sweden, she crossed Lake Vantern in a boat to bring food to the starving villagers on shore. Sailing in the darkness of December, the villagers could hear her coming by the songs that she and her attendants sang and by the candles on her head.
The original St. Lucia was a young Christian martyr who lived in Sicily, Italy in the 4th century. She was known for her love and kindness.
Every December 13th this procession is played out in homes, schools, and businesses all over Sweden. Though Santa Lucia Day is thought of as a “Swedish” holiday, it must be noted that all of Scandinavia celebrates St. Lucy’s Day as well as many people of Scandinavian descent all over the world. It is a time for us to join together in joyful celebration of song and food during the darkest time of the year.
For those of us who celebrate St. Lucia, it is usually a celebration with two parts. There is one celebration at home with family and friends and the one at school or in the Swedish community.
Preparations for the big day start almost a week before when we gather together the whole family to bake lussekatter, the little saffron buns, pronounced “lucy cat-ter.”
Along with lussekatter, we eat ginger cookies and drink a spiced juice called glögg. We really know the holiday season is upon us when we start preparing for Lucia. Down to the basement we go to find all of our Lucia crowns, gowns, star boy hats, and gnome outfits. Afternoons are spent learning St. Lucia songs. We try to do them in Swedish but many of my children laugh at the funny words so we always revert back to the English for the actual ceremony.
Painting by Carl Larsson
When I was growing up, December 13th was a very family-centered activity. My eldest sister would wake us up early and get everyone dressed. We would prepare a tray of saffron buns, ginger cookies, and coffee and go into my parent’s room singing the Lucia song. I’m sure my parents were already awake with the amount of noise we all made, but my dad would always feign a loud yawn to let us know that we woke him. He would always say “Well good morning fair maidens and master.” After a quick breakfast in bed with the parents, we threw on our coats over our Lucia gowns and ran over to my grandparents. There we would meet our cousins, aunts and uncles to do a family-wide St. Lucia and then we were off to school. As we got older we moved the family Lucia to the evening and had a potluck dinner as well.
Along with our family Lucia was always a community St. Lucia the weekend before or the weekend after. This included an Advent festival to make gifts and yummies for the holidays.
Each St. Lucia procession is made up of the Lucia Queen or Bride wearing a crown of candles on her head and her attendants who wear a white dress with garland in their hair as well as hold a candle. Star boys wear a long white robe with a pointy starred hat and hold a star wand, and nowadays there are little gnomes looking like miniature Santas.
Photo by Per Svangren
Below you will find the recipes for saffron buns, glögg, and the words to the Santa Lucia song. Also in this edition are the instructions on how to make your own child friendly St. Lucia wreath.
We wish you all a very happy St. Lucia Day.
St. Lucia Saffron Buns
Ingredients
1 package of dry yeast
¼ cup of warm water
¾ cup of milk
1 ½ cup stick of butter
1 t of saffron threads
½ cup sugar
¼ t of salt
1 cup of raisins
2 eggs
3 1/2 to 4 cups of flour
1 beaten egg
Directions
In a bowl place one cup of raisins in warm water, covering the raisins. This is called “plumping.”
In a large mixing bowl dissolve the yeast in warm water.
While the yeast is proofing, in a pot scald the milk and then add the butter into the milk and heat gently until it has melted. Once melted, take off the burner and let it cool until it is luke warm.
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Lay the saffron threads on a piece of parchment paper and place on a cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet in the oven for about 5 minutes. Once the saffron is toasted, take it out of the oven, fold the parchment paper over and roll over the saffron with a rolling pin until the saffron is in a powder form. Add the saffron to the milk and butter mixture.
Add the milk mixture as well as the sugar, salt, eggs and drained raisins to the yeast mixture. In your mixer, beat until blended. It should be smooth and satiny.
Mix in half of the flour. Once it is blended add the remaining flour gradually until each addition is blended well. After all of the flour has been mixed in, let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board. Knead for ten minutes or until the dough is smooth and satiny.
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a dishtowel and let rise until doubled. This will take about one hour.
Place parchment paper on two large cookie sheets.
After the dough has risen, punch it down and divide it into 32 equal pieces.
Cover all pieces with a dishtowel.
Taking a piece of dough, roll it into an 8 inch rope. Shape it into a bun, S shape, snail or pretzel.
To make even fancier shapes take two 8 inch ropes and make crosses, butterflies, or twisted ropes. As you finish each shape place it on the cookie sheet. Once a sheet is completely full, cover with a dishtowel to let it rise for 35 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Beat an egg in a bowl. Using a pastry brush paint the egg wash over the buns completely. Sprinkle with pearl sugar (optional). Usually one never puts pearl sugar on lussekatter but my family just loves it.
Place in oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Buns are done when they are golden brown. This recipe makes about 20 buns.
Glögg
4 cups of apple or grape juice
¼ cup of sugar
18 whole cloves
8 whole cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
1 piece of fresh ginger 1 inch long
Serve with raisins and almonds
In a cooking pot pour your juice of choice and add all of the spices. Turn the heat onto medium and cook until the sugar has melted. Cover and leave it standing for an hour. Strain off the spices. Right before serving reheat and place in a thermos, glögg pot or slow cooker to keep it warm. For serving, place into a cup or mug and top with raisins and almonds.
Photo by Per Svangren
Santa Lucia
Night walks with heavy tread
Round farm and byre,
Dark sunforsaken earth
Shadows attire.
Then in our winter gloom
Candlelight fills the room:
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia.
Silent and dark the night,
Now hear descending
Rustle of wings in flight,
All darkness ending.
Then she comes, dressed in white,
Head wreathed in candles bright:
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia.
Shadows will soon be gone
From earth’s dark valley
Wonderful words anon
In cheer and rally.
Day will soon dawn anew
In skies of rosy hue;
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia
::::::::::::
Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book, derives the greatest pleasure from taking the books she reads and helping them come alive with her family, book club, friends, and workshops. An advocate for literacy, Valarie spends many quality hours helping at risk readers. She spends her days with her husband, three creative children, and one adored cat. Together they live in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. You can also visit Valerie on her blog, A Place Like This.