For These Words are True

and He said to me,
"write this down for these words are true"

Free and unencumbered access to public media has sensitized people to the exhaustive criminality beleaguering Ukraine's peace, sovereignty and security. Their desire to rid Ukraine of a domestic criminal regime has spilled the beans on a global tectonic crisis. The truth of the matter is that the tentacles of a parasitic fungus has, for centuries, drawn the lifeblood of Ukraine's prosperity, leaving her beleaguered and vulnerable. How is it possible to keep a steady, balanced hand and maintain equilibrium given these circumstances?

ivanna ososkalo

The ancestors sensed a great emotional vertigo was upon the Ukrainian people, and in their wisdom, conveyed subtle but powerful antidotes for their healing. There is Great Wisdom to be shared in community! Like public servants, teachers, nurses, construction workers, and labourers we all have a vested interest!  Where ignorance abounds, heinous evil can lurk - a spiritually exhausting fraud!

the wheel of truth -
 the "Alpha and Omega"

Everything, however is relationally connected in circles, swirls, triangles, crosses and ...they are the beautiful symbols we cherish in paska, babka, pysanky and every other art form of traditional Ukrainian culture.

the wheel of Peace in the world
touches everyone

The ancients left signs of their wisdom, everywhere, and their aim is true!

Pressure, darkness, exhaustion, isolation, ignorance, and the long, cold, dark winter may soon be over!  The weak remnants of darkness will fade,  and long anticipated Spring of Hope will bring Bright Resurrection into every dark corner!

the unblinking eyes of honesty,
"All seeing"

May the Resurrection bring peace, here and everywhere!  Happy Paska! Khrystos Voskres!

Three Men Making Kovbasa

rk2013 - note the sunflower plate and lovely
 furniture on the deck, the broom handle
in red to display the lovely rk homemade kovbasa

So I mentioned a while back that my husband was bound and determined to make his own Ukrainian sausages - kovbasa, for Easter.  I was very skeptical, because the idea of meat grinding, casings, random spices and tons of garlic, all combined with men drinking beer in my lovely clean kitchen, really didn't make me happy.  But then again, I can be surprised from time to time.

So he bought a smoker.  The box came into the house where he proudly picked up the instruction manual first - I was impressed.  Then he bought the meat grinder for my Kitchen Aid stand mixer.  And he read the instructions again, double impressed!  Then he found a video online and watched the expert about 3 times - again, triple impressed.  He went to the butcher and bought twelve pounds of pork shoulder which needed to be marinated overnight in salt, pepper, marjoram, garlic and other stuff.  He bought hog casings too.  Then it was time to invite the boys over - I got scared again.  But when he showed me the instruction video they were following, I almost believed again.

He insisted it was a "boys night" to make the kovbasa - you can see why I was beginning to worry.  Then he chose a night when I wasn't going to be home, and had to leave them unsupervised.  Leaving them to stuff meat through a grinder, and then into casings, but again, I can be surprised, it seems. Bob and Andrij, the boys,  arrived, drank beer, had an entertaining time.  I returned home to find the kitchen actually looked quite presentable.  And so did the kovbasa! They looked like the real thing to me!  All that remained was smoking, storing and tasting at Easter Breakfast. 

Well, Easter is over and though I had little confidence in his first kovbasa project, it was a success!  In fact, at the Easter breakfast table there were rave reviews for his home made, home smoked kovbasa.  Gotta get him to try it again!

Maybe you can try it too!  How to Make Homemade Sausage - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPQP4TC3E1w.
 

Paska, A Break-the-Fast Feast

Paska, Babka, Cheese and Butter, Ham, and Horseradish, and Kovbasa, Green Onions, and Beet-Horseradish, Eggs and Krashanky, and Pysanky!

s.l. 2013

Calgary's Orthodox Christians of Ukrainian ancestry, celebrated the miracle of Easter on May 5, 2013.  It is a most important church event.  After the ritual preparations, fasting and cleaning house, both internally and externally, bringing pussy willows to be sprinkled with Holy Water is a step towards the renewal of Easter.   The Easter Sunday Breakfast Feast is brought to church to be blessed in a basket, breads, cheese, meat, eggs, butter, salt and other items such as pysanky.  Each food item at the Breakfast Feast has layers of meaning. Enjoying this blessed meal is a way of perpetuating the family story, greeting those that came before us, and those that have yet to come, with the news that Christ has Risen.  Visiting the graves to sing the hymns of Easter reminds us that we are all facing the end of our lives. What next?  Is that all there is?  What on earth am I here for? 

d.s.2013

I remember my grandmother making a very strange statement to me on the day I was married.  She said I had written myself into the family book.  Of course I had no clue what she meant.  After all these years, I am beginning to have an idea. But it takes a while for it all to sink in!

Maybe it takes repetition, repeated traditions, uncovering layer upon layer of meaning to figure out life?  And lots of moments of personal famine, periods of fasting, waiting, anticipation before the "what next" happens.  It is a wheel, and the journey takes many turns of the wheel - the uphill push and the downhill ease. 

The egg game is always fun,
the egg that stays whole wins,
and so does the person whose egg
is so tough enough to
win the day.  amk2013

The Easter message this spring is all about pruning, trimming off the parts that don't bear fruit, and hoping the new growth will prosper.  Surviving a long life without being pruned or trimmed off the tree of life must mean that the branch has born a lot of fruit - and prospered. And Calgary's Ukrainian community is just like that, too.  The branches that produce fruitful crops continue to take sustenance from the community that has ancestral connections.  And new arrivals to Calgary who want to retain connections with their ancestral roots cluster around the Ukrainian idea.  The idea that one can continue to have a toe-hold in Ukrainian things, worldwide, and live a life of economic prosperity elsewhere is unique. We are here, we are a force for good, our hopes are one.

A lot of Ukrainian Calgarians celebrated Easter today.







. 

Spring Songs and Dances Haivky Гаівки, Веснянки

 

stamfordadvocate.com

The cold, frosty breath of winter is fading. A glimmer of sunlight, a warming breeze, and soon the hand of time will rise, enticing spring over the horizon. The continuous walk of life, on the meditative prayer of song rises over sacred groves near the water, and we dance!

This is the Ukrainian sacred tradition from eons ago - the ancient tradition of Haivky, Vesnianky, the ritual group dances, songs, games, and dramatic scenes which chase the winter away!  It is the season of hope, a renewal of love, the gifts of nature return - and we are here - we are happy - we have survived to see the cycle of life return!

Вийди, вийди, сонечко,              Veydi, veydi, sonechko,        Come out Mr. Sun,
Ha дідове полечко.                       Na deedove polechko,          Shine on Grandpa's field,
На бабине зіллячко,                     Na babine, zeeliachko,          Shine on Baba's herbs,
Ha ваше подвір'ячко,                   Na vashe podveeryachko,     Shine on our farmstead,
Ha весняні квіточки,                    Na vesnianee kveetochki,     Shine on the spring flowers,
Ha вeceлi дiтoчки                         Na veselee deetochki,           Shine on the happy children,
Tам вони граються,                      Tam voni hrayout'sia,           They are playing together,
Tебе дожидаються.                       Tebe dozhidai-yout'sia.        They are waiting for you, Mr. Sun.

http://www.ukrainianpreschool.ca/

http://www.mamalisa.com/midi/showupsun.mid

Ukrainian folk songs of the spring tradition are part of the Ukrainian Scouts programs in Calgary, whether in PLAST or SUM.  Both these organizations foster a love of the Ukrainian idea, and what a great idea they have this year!

On the afternoon of Sunday, May 5, 2013, aftter Easter Morning Liturgy -Великдень- the PLAST Ukrainian Scouts of Calgary are celebrating Paska - a communal meal спільне свяченне of blessed foods from the Easter Basket.  Easter is a time to awaken the positive forces within us, join the ritual, the cycle of life, and connect together through the circle dance of time.  An event full of singing, dances, folk games, spring rituals and dramatic folk tales, they are Calgary's Ukrainian children, celebrating the Good News!

For more information about Ukrainian Scouts in Calgary and their programs, or more information about the event,  please contact these great organizations at http://www.plast.ca/calgary/  and http://cym.org/ca/calgary.

Be a Willow

ukraine.ui.ua

Не я б'ю, верба б'є,
Віднині за тиждень
Буде Великдень.
Будь великий, як верба,
А здоровий, як вода,
А багатий, як земля!

The Ukrainian folk calendar is opulently layered with sophisticated, elegant expressions of insight. Encountering the coded messages over the course of a long life gives one ample opportunity to plumb their depths, to meditate upon their ancient meaning.  What were the ancients trying to tell us?  And why? 

Ukrainian prehistory is a deep well of experience, but the wise ones say that "in the fulfillment of time", Ukrainians encountered Christ. Prepared by the ancients to see the cycle of life through nature, logic linked the season of spring to the Christian Easter message. It is a time of renewal, on so many levels.

Signs of hope are everywhere, the snow is melting, the days are longer, the smell of sap begins to run in the trees - these are nature's messages. Palm Sunday, or Pussy Willow Sunday before Christian Easter is an expression of the joyous Entrance of Christ in Jerusalem, festivity ensues! Happy times, cheering, waving of palm leaves (willow branches) - it is good news!

The traditional Ukrainian folk greeting on this day is cheerful, hopeful and happy! The classy simplicity of the words are simply a veil of mystical poetry over a momentous message. Really, prepare for the Day is coming!

Ritual petitions, incantations richly layered with symbolism, carry messages of hope, faith, wisdom and often wry humour in the face of the human condition. All of nature can act like a mirror to the human condition, the cycle of life is everywhere. 

Grow tall like a willow, as healthy as the water, and as rich as the earth!

Grow tall like a willow - doesn't that say something about being tall in character? Isn't the pussy willow the first flower of spring? Isn't the pussy willow the most hopeful blossom in nature? Doesn't the willow extend its reach further, and bend the most willingly? Isn't it the first food for eager bees seeking their first nectar? What does the first nectar of spring taste like to the bees?

Be as healthy as the water - doesn't that sound like a gushing wellspring from which thirsty travellers could benefit? Are we not made mostly of water? Is the gushing wellspring of health nurturing our healthy journey? Clean, pure, healthy water?

Be as rich as the earth - fed by the sun and the rain, bear a plentiful crop, harvest it in the course of a good life, be fruitful and multiply, lead a bountiful existance, prepare for the Day!


 

Mary's Perishke Марії Пиріжки

Mary's Perishke are the reason for smiling faces these days.  From Philadelphia to Fort McMurray friends and family are now enjoying this yummy treat, or at least planning a batch or two.  Little buns filled with cheese are most popular on the prairies, especially as a treat with dilly cream dressing. Tried and true recipe from an experienced hand!

Perishke Dough #1

1 pkg yeast
½ cup lukewarm water
4 Tbsp. sugar
1/3 cup butter (melted)
2 cups scalded and cooled milk
2 tsp. salt
3 eggs well beaten
Approximately 7 ½ cups of flour

Thoroughly dissolve 1 Tbsp. of sugar in lukewarm water and add the yeast. Let stand 15 minutes. Add the remaining 3 Tbsp. sugar, butter, milk, salt and eggs. Beat together. Gradually add enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead well. Cover and let rise till double in bulk, punch down and let rise again. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, flatten balls by hand. Place a little filling into the center. Pinch the edges together. Place on greased pan. Cover and let rise. Brush with egg wash, bake in 325 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes or until nicely browned.

To serve buns, place in a covered baking dish. Saute’ some chopped onion in butter, add dill, and whole cream; salt to taste. Pour over the buns, bake in the oven to warm about 20 minutes.

Perishke Dough #2

½ cup water
1 tsp sugar
2 pkgs. Yeast
1 ½ cups scalded and cooled milk
½ cup butter or shortening
½ cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 eggs
6 cups flour

Dissolve sugar in water, add yeast let proof. Add milk, butter, sugar, salt, eggs, and flour. Mix together by hand. Knead well. Cover, let rise in warm place until doubled in size. Punch down and let rise again.
Shape dough into walnut sized balls, flatten balls by hand. Place a little filling into the center. Pinch the edges together. Place on greased pan. Cover and let rise. Brush with egg wash, bake in 325 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes or until nicely browned.

Perishke Filling

2 cups dry cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
2 egg yolks
1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
½ tsp. salt
Mix together well. Use to fill Perishke. 

Pussy Willow Sunday

Alberta roadsides, the low wet ones, are home to many different species of wild pussy willows (almost 40 sorts).  Beautiful pussy willows are the flowers of willow bushes, and among the most eager blossoms on the prairies.  Anxious for insect pollinators, the fuzzy pussy willows are impervious to frost damage, pushing roots, and moving water and nutrients even in cold weather.  Good thing, considering the snow and bluster of Alberta's "spring" this year. 

Coloured twigs of moose willows are popular here in Alberta.  Early February pussy willows can be found in wet areas, and have branchy red stems with very white flowers.  March varieties are mostly brown with grey or silver grey flowers.  Early April varieties have rusty brown stems with large white flowers, and wolf willows (a neighborhood variety) host their small grey flowers on green, yellow and red stems.  You can find pussy willows in open areas and need not cross fences or hazards to reach them. The male pussy willows will be the first to blossom, while the female will bear seeds much later in the season.

Willow twigs play a rather important role in the Ukrainian tradition at this season.  The Sunday before Easter is called Palm Sunday, but where do palms grow in Canada?  Resourceful Ukrainian pioneers buried knee deep in snow and yearning for the end of winter, would see the willows as the harbinger of spring. A short walk into the wild wood could find you knee deep in swamp and rewarded with  a few bundles of furry catkins to treasure in anticipation of better weather to come.

The Ukrainian tradition is to bring willows to Palm Sunday services to have them blessed, a beautiful symbol of greeting Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem on the Sunday before the crucifixion.  Enjoy this youtube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWMhNiNZFJI . After services, one can then decorate the home, placing the pussy willows around holy pictures and ikons. 

A bundle of nicely coloured and shaped willow twigs will dry into a very elegant arrangement over time. Some people make willow furniture, willow baskets, wreaths and walking sticks.

My dad, a child of the Alberta prairies, used to love working with wood.  Gently peeling off the bark, polishing off the chaff, and working it gently with a soft cloth to bring out the wood's sheen.  His walking sticks are such a lovely reminder of his youth - and times past.  Diamond willows make particularly beautiful walking sticks!  A diamond willow walking stick, complete with autographs of "best" and "forever" friends, has always been a part of the Alberta Ukrainian summer camp experience.

 

Ukrainian Easter Cheese!

On this grey Calgary morning, sipping my coffee, I am thinking of spring! Spring sunshine, spring rains, spring greens.....and catching a glimpse of the baby deer born on Nose Hill park.....ah, spring forward! 

On a trip to France recently, a bunch of friends got together and spent a day with a French chef.  A walking tour of his city, the famous marketplace, and into his chef's kitchen was a short course in the French food experience.   Lucious seasonal fruit, preparing wild game, even a lesson about the proper age to kill a chicken! A deep veneration of nature, the cycles of life, and the unique flavours to appreciate at specific points in the journey really came through in the chef's lessons.  It's all about honoring the food, in every moment of its preparation.  Loving life, loving food, in this chef's eyes, means loving the animal enough to give it a full life before it can give a person the fullness of its sacrifice. 

Alex Miles/amk 2011
Author of Ces Hommes qui Cuisinent

He also gave a lesson in cheese. The wisdom goes like this - and it seems obvious - that the first cheese of the season, made from the first milk of the season, nurtured from the first green grass of springtime, is especially nutritious and healthy for the human organism.  The grasses, having rested over the fall and winter, have accumulated so many nutrients, they are particularly flavourful, and make for particularly flavourful milk, butter, cheese, etc.

In my family home, preparing for Ukrainian Easter involved preparing cheese too, from fresh whole milk.  Why cheese?  Turns out that this important food is a gift of the soil, through the life of animals, through the handiwork of man, offered in the cycle of life, death and renewal which is Easter.  Quoting Clifton Fadiman, cheese is "milk's leap to immortality." This unripened soft cheese is called boodz. Будз

Boodz: будз
3 gallons unpasteurized whole milk
1 cup buttermilk or yogurt
1/4 cheese rennet tablet
Place container with milk in sink filled with hot water.  Warm milk until lukewarm, add buttermilk and mix.  Crush tablet and dissolve in spoon of warm water.  Mix into milk mixture.  Keep container in warm water.  When milk sets, take a wooden spoon and cut through milk twice each way.  Let stand until curds separate from the whey.  Then drain in a cloth bag or strainer lined with cheesecloth.  Place in a container and leave at room temperature overnight.  In the morning, take out of bag and place in a bowl in the fridge.  It can be left out longer for a more sour boodz.

I don't know if they make rennet tablets anymore, but it does come in liquid form and I hear you can use pasteurized milk.