BY KATARINA BOJKOVIC, St. Petersburg Catholic High

I’m Serbian Christian Orthodox, and for those who don’t know (and it’s okay because not many people do), Serbia is a country in Eastern Europe near Croatia and Hungary.
Our Christmas traditions are not too unlike American holiday traditions, but there are some important differences. Christmas, or as we call it, Bozic, falls on Jan. 7, because the Orthodox calendar is slightly different from the Gregorian one American Christians use to place Christmas on Dec. 25.
This usually makes for an awkward return from Christmas break, when my friends share what was wrapped under their Christmas trees as I stand patiently waiting for them to stop talking because I’m just nearing Christmas Eve. However, this year, my school does not start classes until Jan. 8, the day after my Christmas.
My Christmas Eve, Jan. 6, is celebrated with a dinner devoid of meat, fowl, dairy and egg products and a dessert of hazelnut-chocolate spread (similar to Nutella; check out the recipe at right) and palacinke, or crepes. After consuming countless carbs, the younger children leave their shoes outside the front door so Saint Nikoli can fill them with little candies and coins for Christmas morning. When Božic rolls around the next day, everyone wakes up to attend church, eat lunch and, of course, open presents.
For dinner, a large, round loaf of bread, cesnica, is prepared to break apart during the meal. A coin is hidden somewhere inside the cesnica and who gets the piece with the coin is said to have good luck for the rest of the year. Christmas dinner is usually enough to keep us full for around three days: spit-roasted pig, turkey, beans, potatoes, cheese strudel, stuffed cabbage leaves, then coffee, cakes, tortes; it’s a wonder anyone has the strength to remove themselves from the table afterward.
Merry Christmas, or as we say, Sretan Bozic!

Hazelnut-Chocolate Spread

A dessert of homemade Hazelnut-Chocolate Spread tops off a Christmas Eve feast — but not until Jan. 6!

1.5 cup hazelnuts
8-12 ounces chopped milk chocolate
3 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Put the hazelnuts in oven and allow them to turn coppery-brown (about 10 minutes). Take them out and peel off the skin; you can rub it off with a dish towel or peel it by hand. Melt the chocolate in a pot on the stove and stir until smooth; keep a close eye so as not to let it burn. Put the hazelnuts in food processor and grind them until they turn into a thick paste. Then, add the sugar, vegetable oil, cocoa powder, vanilla and salt. Blend until smooth, then slowly add the chocolate while blending.