ST. LUCIA DAY

St. Lucia Day (Dec. 13th) opens the Nordic Christmas season. On this day, families select a girl to be their Lucia, dressed in white robes with a red sash and crowned in a candle-lit lingonberry wreath, to serve the family with lusekatts (saffron buns) and pastries. Lucia meaning light, St. Lucia Day is the winter solstice festival of lights across Sweden, Norway, and Finland, which begins with a procession led by the Lucia designee, followed by Tärnor (servant girls) dressed in all white and wearing wreaths on their heads and Stjärngossar (star boys) dressed in a white pajama-like costume singing traditional songs. Although I only recently found out that I carry Nordic blood (Norwegian), my love of this holiday runs to my childhood.
You see, growing up my siblings and I were not allowed to watch television or play with dolls. So I grew a wild, untameable imagination and read books. Lots and lots of books. And we were too poor to actually buy any books, so we would check out books, magazines, and catalogs (to the max limit) every week. That's how I discovered the American Girl catalog and my favorite holiday book from the American Girl Collection...about an immigrant girl

in Minnesota celebrating St. Lucia Day (Kirsten all the way, duh!). I wanted that Kirsten doll in her Lucia robes so badly! But, alas, it never was.
As an adult, I decided to enact my own Christmas traditions and I knew where I wanted to start. So this year, if anyone is wondering why I am crazy-happy this season and obsessed with celebrating St. Lucia Day, it is because this was the first year in my LIFE that I was able to materialize it into something more than the daydreams I grew up with. Huzzah!

By Leslie Crystal
Photography | Leslie Crystal

In celebrating this day, I made our Lussekatter and cinnamon pastries from scratch early in the morning (Too early, maybe!). I used the Vegan Lussekatter Recipe from The Vegan Swedes. During the afternoon, we ate our pastries with Glogg (Swedish/Norwegian Mulled Wine) and coffee, and feasted on a Gardein Holiday Roast, paired with maple brussels sprouts and peppered sweet potatoes. This meal has officially become our holiday staple for a meatless holiday option. It was truly delicious!