Fun, isn't it? At Muhlenberg College, we have a Lucia Fest for the children of college employees every year (sponsored by a Swedish organization). Gotta love those hats! And we still haven't figured a good way to get the candle wax drips out of Lucia's hair!...

We are no longer Lucia Day novices.

At 6:50 a.m., the sparkling-clean Wilczeks jumped back into bed and turned off the light. We were, of course, wearing our "dignified pajamas." (Since I'd had no time to buy new pajamas in Stockholm, we had put on our heaviest and still-unwrinkled long underwear.) Soon, we heard the Lucia knock at our door....

The Lucia singers were escorted by two ladies from the Grand Hotel's "guest services," so we didn't have to get up to unlock the door. Soft singing and candlelight slowly progressed into our darkened bedroom. The Lucia girl had a headdress with real lighted candles--her attendants all carried candles in their hands. (I later found out these were students from a local music college--their voices were lovely!)

The Lucia attendants wore tall pointy hats (the "star boys") or green wreaths with flowers ("maids of honor"). They sang "Santa Lucia" (in Swedish, that's pronounced "Loo-see-ah" rather than "Loo-chee-ah"), a bit more Swedish Christmas music, then slowly filed out singing "Santa Lucia" again.

David Gross told me later that one year a laureate was really surprised by this Swedish custom. The sleepy laureate woke up to melodious singing by handsome young blondes in long flowing robes and jumped to the conclusion he'd died and gone to heaven.

The Grand Hotel Lucia singers also brought us coffee, saffron buns, and a wrapped Lucia gift that turned out to be a ceramic Lucia. At the time, the coffee was much less exciting than their singing. Which, for coffee-addicts like Frank and me, suggests some kind of miracle.

Later, I saw the same singers down in the lobby and snapped a few photos. The singers are serious but the people they sing to are smiling from ear to ear--I know we were. [Betsy Devine: Funny Ha-Ha or Funny Peculiar?]

9:04:43 PM    

Red Thai Vegetable Curry. This week I purchased the ingredients for Red Thai Curry, a fantastic dish I was first introduced to at Bangkok Pavilion in my wonderful home of Kansas City. It has fantastic, varied texture, a medley of rose-tinted colors, and a scent sure to get any curry enthusiast's saliva glands working overtime. After returning from the grocery store with my bag of goodies, I wasted no time in preparing my meal. My shopping list included: 1 bag sticky sushi rice 1 can coconut milk Red Thai curry paste fresh basil leaves fresh anise leaves 1 green bell pepper 1 red onion 1 tomato 1 bag frozen peas lemon grass Total time from preparation to serving is about 45 minutes, so set aside at least an hour just in case there's an unforeseen complication. [kuro5hin.org]

9:01:41 PM