a Hungarian Christmas

Here are some photos of our Christmas. Traditional dishes, fun and family members are seen.

All questions are welcomed.
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Photo #1.

The first day of Chirstmas is spent within the smallest family possible. The second and third days of Christmas however, are great occassions to gather a larger chunk of the larger family together. In this photo, my kids (2) and almost all the kids of my husband's sister are seen in the flat of my husband's mother. One kid, a boy is missing from the photo.

Photo#2.

Chicken, stuffed with minced goods, fresh from the oven. For garnishment, baked potatoes and sauteéd red cabbage are served. A hearty meat, a warmful companion for the harsh winter weather outside.

Photo#3.

This is our small Christmas tree on Christmas eve. We keep it in the large container outside throughout the year and bring it inside for the festivity. This means the plant lives as a normal container-raired tree except for the period between 24 December and 6 January.

Photo#4.

Our advent ring in the background, with a corn salad in the front. This was part of our Christmas lunch, not really traditional at all - but hey, everyone loves the way I make it.

Photo#5.

Traditional cookies. Some are made with poppyseed, walnut cream, the tree and the flower shaped ones are gingerbreads. Our neighbour, an old lady made them for her family and gave us some as a present.

our house

Renovation and buidling of our house have been going on nicely and efficiently these weeks.

In the last two weeks of November, a new tiled oven was built and almost all the walls of the new section of the house were plastered from the inside. Due to the new oven and the chimney now we have heating there, which means no more 6 degrees centigrade in the bathroom anymore in the winter.

Here are some photos I share to illustrate how things are going on these times over here. Questions are welcomed.

Photo #1.

These are the foundations of the new oven. The hole in the wall that looks like a door is not a door. That is a hole in the wall between the kitchen and the bathroom so that the new stove can heat both rooms. The man squatting in the left corner built the oven for us. We had some hard time to decide upon who would be the builder, but upon having met this particular man, we decided for him. Not only was he a great technician, he was a great person, too.

Photo #2.

The oven is built level by level. The round hole in the right side will serve as a removeable hole for cleaning.

Photo #3.

Now three levels are ready. The lower rectangular holes are where the ash can be cleaned out, once the oven is in use, the upper ones are doors to the actual fireplaces. Our oven is a complicated one, this is how we wanted it and this is why we kept on searching for a suitable man to make it.

Photo #4.

My husband and a friend plastering the inner walls of our bathroom. Yep, it's a messy job. No, we don't have a spare bathroom, neither a separate toilet - this is and average house of an average family in Hungary.

Photo #5.

This photo was made from the bathroom. The oven is nearly ready, with only a few levels of tiles. The grey thing within the stove is a built-in iron box for baking. I told you it was complicated. The door in the upper right corner of the photo is the main entrance to our house.

Photo #6.

Same phase of building, opposite angle. Note the iron door to the iron box. Note how small the hole that leads to the bathroom now is, as compared to photo #1.

Photo #7.
The end product, our mighty stove. Admire.
I hope you liked this guided tour... :)

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in other news, I feel the strong urge to return to the blogosphere again. Just today I resigned from an important (imaginary) post in the online MMRPG that took me in a few months ago. More about that, perhaps, later. Or never. Whatever. It's great to be here again.