A Ukrainian Christmas

Bryans dads wife is from the Ukraine. She came to live here in America when they married about 7 years ago. In the Ukraine, Christmas day is celebrated on January 6th. So last night we went over to Papa Unsell and Halynas house for a Ukrainian Christmas celebration with them. They celebrate on December 25th and on January 6th as well. The dinner that Halyna prepared was a mixture of American and traditional Ukrainian dishes. It was really fun to taste and learn about some of the Ukrainian dishes. We have been hearing about Borscht soup for a long time now and finally got to try some. I was pleasantly surprised. Borscht soup is made from beets and I do not like beets so I was not expecting to like the soup but to my surprise the soup did not have a strong beet taste. It was actually very delicious! Halyna also made cabbage rolls which is another traditional Ukrainian dish. They reminded me a bit of Chinese Egg Rolls but not fried/hard on the outside and with rice, carrots, and cabbage on the inside. She had a couple of other traditional dishes.

We learned that on Christmas Eve no milk or meat is consumed, but on Christmas Day you can eat anything and a traditional Ukrainian Christmas dinner consists of 12 dishes. The dishes are not all served at the same time but in segments and you always start with the soup.

Here are a few pictures that I took from our evening with Papa Unsell and Halyna.


Our two oldest- Houston (13) and Emmy (12)


Natalie (8) and Annie (10)


Ally (7) and Camden (4)








Emmy trying Borscht soup for the first time. She liked it too!


Natalie doing a Christmas dance for us.












With Papa and Halyna.


Houston is almost as tall as his Papa Unsell. They have a bet going and if Houston grows taller than his Papa he wins money. I'm thinking Papa Unsell is going to be poor in the near future. What do you think? ;-)