The solemn Feast of Kucios Lithuanian,Christmas Eve is upon us at my Lithuanian heritage home when the evening star appears in the sky. The house has been fully cleaned.An iconic "grove" many call Lithuanian Christmas tree ornament) made of straw is hung in.my home. Several candles are ready to be lit to invite the souls of the dead (veles) family members and friends will be invited to join us at the table, an extra place setting representing them and for living relatives unable to be with us The table has some straw, a sprig of evergreen laid with white tablecloth. There is no knife, just spoons and fork ( don't know why the prohibition) A bukle (yule log) is ready to be dragged around the house 3 times by the male head of household, later to be burned to get rid of the bad things of the past year. He will also bring a loaf of rye bread, uncut. After knocking he will answer the question asked by me the eldest female"Who is there?", He will answer"Dearest God, (Dievulis) with the Kucia, bread begs to come in." . Then I will say an invocation and break the Kucia bread, which we ( everybody) give to each other. I have been cooking most of the day. John cleaning. Since there will be only two of us and one cook, only 7 dishes will be serve symbolizing the days of week. there can be up to 12 ( for solar calendar months(or the 12 Apostles) or 13 for lunar calendar. One bite of each dish will be needed to be eaten to insure good health,luck and prosperity next year None of the foods can contain any meat or milk. Tonights menu; hot beet soup(Rosalas), clear broth made with fish stock, Kucia a mixed grain dish, Kisielius ( a type of cranberry jello), Mushroom dumplings, , baked fish - Salmon and , Vinegretas, a beet/potato. navy bean salad. Dessert is Slizikai (sweet poppy seed cookies) served together with, poppy seed "milk", ..Did not make, fried Perch in tomato sauce, balta Misraine, like a potato salad. No Herring ( store bought is in wine sauce, no fresh avail to make, Didn't have to, but if I wanted to up the count could add tomatoes,apples, nuts and other sweets which evoke wishes for a sweet new year. Some beer, will be drunk and a few drops spilled onto the floor for the veles. Since this is a night of foretelling we will pull out a straw, hoping for a long one, to foretell good luck in next ear, the longer, the better. We will after dinner open the door to listen for a dog barking, for that will tell us the direction our next guest will come, Don't have wax candles, so can't do a tea leaf like reading.. Hope this was of some interest in how my family celebrates. We, the Kazlauskai wish you Linksmu Kaledu, Merry Christmas.