1. Gather together with family…a family reunion, listen to music, play games, tell stories.
2. Prepare “Sopa Paraguaya” (Recipe below) in abundance, just in case you get visitors. Sopa Paraguaya is a very Paraguayan cornbread with cheese and onions. It will be served at any special occasion like birthdays, holidays, weddings, and especially, Christmas and New Year’s.
3. Prepare extra food to share with neighbors. I send a plate over to their house; they send a plate of their Christmas meal back to our house. (People don’t really do a gift exchange, but they do share their food.)
4. Eat a late night meal on the 24th.
5. Go house-to-house on the 24th at midnight to greet all your neighbors with a kiss and wish them a “Merry Christmas”.
6. Have a “toast” at midnight wishing everyone in your family a “Merry Christmas”.
7. Watch fireworks all over town until about 1:30 am.
8. Go to bed! Christmas is a holiday…you can sleep in!
SOPA PARAGUAYA (Paraguayan Cornbread)
1 lb. onions
1 tsp salt
¾ c fat (lard, butter or oil)
2 cups of cheese – soft, white (farmer’s cheese)
2 cups curdled milk
5 cups corn flour (polenta)
4 eggs
1. Chop the onions finely, set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, beat the fat until foamy. Add the eggs one by one, the cheese (grated very finely) and the onions. Beat well after each addition.
3. Add the milk then the corn flour.
4. Put in a deep-dish pan, buttered and floured, cook at 350ºC until golden.
5 comments:
Food shared=gift! For me anyway! (You can bring me sopa paraguaya anytime and I'll give you whatever I'm making to eat!)
Wow! 662 degrees fahrenheit? North American ovens need to be on the cleaning cycle to get that high!
The oven temp didn't catch my eye until I read anonymous.
The cornbread is really good, though. I think that's a really special tradition, though, to exchange a plate of food with your neighbors.
Be careful setting off your fireworks...no accidents!!
Hahaha! I made the mistake on purpose to see who really reads these and catches it! Thanks for pointing it out anonymous!
No, really, I DID make the mistake. I have a hard time converting in the first place and since I am so used to C. I put it on by accident. Please don't bake with such a hot oven, the Sopa Paraguaya would be burnt to a black crisp!
I loved going to your neighbor's houses so late at night on Christmas Eve. It was an unusual and fun activity!
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