1.10.2011

mystery of the vasilopita



welcome
to the mystery of the vasilopita post.

i'm greek. 100%, as LML is.
our parents are 100%.
what happened ancestreally, before them-
Egypt has been mentioned
but moving on...

have you been paying attention? KIDDING!

So to wiki-sum it up:

what is a vasilopita?
wikipedia definition:

On New Year's Day families cut the vasilopita to bless the house and bring good luck for the new year. This is usually done at the midnight of New Year's Eve. A coin is hidden in the bread by slipping it into the dough before baking. At midnight the sign of the cross is etched with a knife across the cake. A piece of cake is sliced for each member of the family and any visitors present at the time, by order of age from eldest to youngest. Slices are also cut for various symbolicall people or groups, depending on local and family tradition. They may include the Lord, St. Basil and other saints, the poor, the household, or the Kallikantzaroi. In older times, the coin often was a valuable one, such as a gold sovereign. Nowadays there is often a prearranged gift, money, or otherwise, to be given to the coin recipient.







Many private or public institutions, such as societies, clubs, workplaces, companies, etc, cut their vasilopita at a convenient time between New Year's Day and the beginning of the Great Lent, in celebrations that range from impromptu potluck gatherings to formal receptions or balls.






Saint Basil's Feast Day is observed on January 1, the beginning of the New Year and the Epiphany season known as the Vasilopita Observance.

the question remains: WHAT HAPPENED WITH OUR VASILOPITA?

so my Father picks up the Vasilopita a day in advance every year. His nameday (and my nephew's nameday, is on New Years Day)
Daddy gets very organized. He writes everyones name on a strip of paper, grabs some toothpicks, and arranges everything around the vasilopita. We're supposed to cut a piece for each member of the family, the house, the Saint and God.

Whoever gets the lucky coin, which is wrapped in foil carefully and baked into the pie before buying it- is lucky the entire year of the entire family.

If it's the house, God, Saints, it's all good.

if it falls to the youngest members of the family, still good.

But this year?

No one got it. No ONE.

It was not there.

Unless, I eated it?

Would you go back and complain?

LML's suggestion: let's just say I won :)

I love him :)

love me,
the globetrotting gamine

2 comments:

  1. What a great tradition!! And my goodness what a mystery!

    ReplyDelete
  2. "Unless I eated it?" That's my favorite line of the day! LOL
    Did the bakery forget the coin in your pita? That's why I bake my own. And you cut a slice for the Kallikantzaroi too? Cool. When we cut our Vasilopita the house got the coin I baked into it, so luck for all of us!

    ReplyDelete

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