Vesley Vanoce--pass the Kolaches!

Vesley Vanoce means Merry Christmas in Czech. Several settlers in the Minnesota River Valley came from the Czech-Slovak-Bohemia region, so we depict a Slovak Christmas in one of our houses.

The Kolache originally was a sweet dessert pastry from the Czech regions, but in the US it's taken on an identity all its own. You can find them sweet and jammed or salted and meat-filled. There are Kolache fesitvals in the Plains States and a few in Texas... making this treat perhaps the Czech's most far reaching contribution to the culinary world.

Vanocka (similar to challah) is the traditional Christmas bread. Alabama Kate and Melissa (known as Ludy in this house) are to the left holding their 4-braid Vanoka baked in a wood-stove oven. Not bad. (Kate is the one I can turn to for sympathy when I miss home.... grits, buscuits and sausage gravy, or just about anything. She can make the best fried green tomatoes.)

Many visitors who come through the site have Czech ancestry and they always ask about the Carp, which was the traditional Christmas entree. Many seniors have memories of a carp in their grandmother's bathtub, where she kept it until it was time to cook it. Supposedly some Czech people today let the fish go as a symbol of goodwill. I haven't met anyone who adheres to this. If it's in the bathtub, it was as good as gone in Minnesota.


Garlic is also a part of the Christmas dinner, as it provides strength and protection. A bowl of it is placed under the table. A pot of honey on the table guards against evil, and mushrooms promote good health. The Czech/Slovak people are very superstitious, and much of their holiday traditions surround that.

No lamps are lit in the home until the first star comes out; no one eats with their back to the door. The Christmas table is set for an even number of people, as odd numbers bring death. An extra place can be set to even this out. You can't get up from the table during the meal either--that also brings death. Everyone gets up at the same time to prevent being the first up, so I hope no one has to go to the bathroom. It's a long meal too--nine courses are served, but you are hungry for it because you fasted all day. Fish scales under your plate bring wealth... this could go on and on....

As if the meal wasn't superstitious enough, next comes the games. Walnut Boats are floated in water to see how long you will live... sticks are drawn to see who you will marry... and the list goes on. Think of the fortune tellers at carnivals... there's alot of that at Christmas.

Maybe the Iraqi who threw the shoe has Czech ties. Supposedly if an unmarried person throws their shoe behind their back toward the door, and the toe points to the door the person is married within a year.

Much of this happens on Christmas Eve, the so-called "generous day". I've seen research that says the meal happens on Christmas Eve, and some that says Christmas Day.... but Christmas Eve was far more important because it was "magical.

Christmas Eve, Christmas, and the day after (St Stephens Day) are all national holidays in the Czech Republic. These cultures accepted the German Christmas tree rather early, and decorated them with straw ornaments. Like many traditions, straw is placed at the bottom of the tree to symbolize the manger scene with the everlasting tree being the baby Jesus.

After Christmas dinner, no field can be crossed until midnight mass--doing so could result in death too.

Gifts are a small part of the holiday, and mainly for children. Saint Nicholas delivers gifts helped by the Infant Jesus. Infant Jesus comes through a window during the big Christmas meal and rings a bell to let the children know he's come. No one knows just wear the Infant Jesus lives.