As slbunge, I come from a Polish American family and we did do the oplatek thing also. Another tradition was “wigilia”, a Christmas eve celebration that included no meat. Every year, a different relatives house was chosen and everyone brought some non-meat dish to share. There was mushroom soup (dried porcini in vegetable broth with sauerkraut or sour salt) with home made noodles--and as I got older I began to contribute the dried porcini as I am an avid mushroom hunter. Also white borscht. Then there was always the herring my mom would get from the market and brine herself. Of course then there were pierogi (cabbage, potato and cheese, sauerkraut, and once I defied tradition and made wild mushroom ones which were killer!!!) and kapusta. Relish trays of all assorted pickles and olives and also lots of boiled potatoes to have with the herring. Sometimes we’d make potato kluski (sorta like gnocchi, my husband affectionately calls them starch blobs). My mom would also make stuffed mushrooms (stuffed with onion, the mushroom stems, butter and cream) and it was fun to go to the supermarket with her and find the biggest, best cultivated mushrooms we could find! Time has wandered on and now the family is smaller and spread far and wide, mom and dad are gone, but I still try to make a couple few of these things for my nuclear family Christmas eve. Thanks so much for the thread, this is my first post and I joined just to share in the memories!!!
