Today is Santa Lucia’s day. I’ve been living on a small island on the west coast of Norway for five years and Santa Lucia’s day was one of the most exciting days of the year. During that day, us parents were invited to arrive in the kindergarten early in the morning, during the so-called “Blue Hour”. At that time, we better appreciated the blue light of the sky, the brilliant whiteness of snow and the only light coming from the candles. Children, dressed up with a long white tunic and with a crown or wreath of candles on them, walked around singing the “Santa “Lucia” song. After the parade, we were served a steaming cup of coffee and the ever-present, saffron sweet buns, called Lussekatter. These buns were prepared the day before form our children and the shapes of them were of the most diverse. Now that we don’t live in Norway anymore, we are still preserving the tradition of baking the Lussekatter. We can’t help smelling the fragrance of cardamom in our house, nostalgically humming the Santa Lucia song.

🍷Francesca & Marinella🍴