WARREN, Pa. – Anna Bielawski of Warren, Pa., brought numerous lifelong Christmas traditions into her marriage to Brad Bielawski.

“It is important to know that our family moved around a lot and there was no family nearby, just the four of us,” she said. “On Thanksgiving night we used to watch our first version of ‘A Christmas Carol.'”

“They watch several versions of ‘A Christmas Carol,'” her husband said with amusement.

“We watched every version we could throughout the Christmas season,” she said.

She went on to say that they would put up their Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.

“On Christmas Eve my mom would drive my sister and I around to deliver baskets of baked goods to shut-ins and people who had recently lost loved ones. We would also prep for Christmas dinner that day. My sister and I always got a new dress for the Christmas Eve service.”

She told about slicing cheeses, pepperoni and summer sausage to eat, along with the cheese ball recipe below and eating these while they watched the final version of “A Christmas Carol.”

And what is the final version?

“The George C. Scott version was the final version until the Patrick Stewart version came out and was more accurate. If we were really tired, we just watched ‘The Muppets’ version!”

When asked how many versions there are, she readily names 11.

“Christmas Eve was a very busy time at my (parents’) house, because they are United Methodist pastors, each having their own church service. When I was about 7, my mom’s dad passed away just before Christmas. She had to rush back to do the Christmas Eve service. They (both parents) were both exhausted on Christmas Day and were in bed sleeping. My sister and I wanted to wake them up, so we sang Christmas carols outside their bedroom door. This has become an annual tradition, and we now do whole concerts.”

“She even has cue cards written for me,” Brad smiled.

She added that her father gives them various “tips,” such as Canadian coins and silly token gifts.

“We all go downstairs and open gifts, one at a time, with everyone waiting their turn and watching to see what the others receive. The stockings are always last,” she reminisced.

The last gift to be opened is that of a picture of a baby found in a magazine with the gift tag reading, “To the world from God.” This is followed by the reading of the Christmas Story from the Holy Bible.

The gift opening is followed by a simple brunch.

The Bielawskis visited the Italian village where his grandmother’s family had resided. That Christmas, after researching Italian traditions, Anna prepared an ethnic dinner consisting of several courses for Brad’s side of the family. The Tortellini Soup recipe was used for this meal. Since then they have hosted a British meal, including the flaming Figgie Pudding, in recognition of Brad’s step-dad’s heritage.

“It is pretty spectacular, but very involved and not real tasty,” said her spouse about the spicy pudding. “It’s really cool. When you light it the fire races around the outside.”

“Not very tasty, unless you like cloves,” she added.

This will be the first year Mrs. Bielawski will not be at her parents’ home for Christmas morning.

“We decided it is important to build traditions with Charlie, so we’ll spend Christmas Day in our home and travel to my parents’ home in New Castle, Pa., that night.”

Anna is a music teacher for Warren County School District traveling to three schools every day. She teaches sixth-grade chorus and sixth-grade band at Beaty-Warren Middle School, sixth-grade music and beginning string lessons at Youngsville Elementary-Middle School and choral music at Youngsville High School. She has started an after-school show choral at Youngsville High School, as well, where she has recently become the stage manager.

She is a member of Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, National Association for Music Education and Warren County Education Association.

She enjoys reading, art projects and decorating, of which she has little time since the birth of their 21-month-old son, Charlie. Music is another enjoyment, but as she says, “It takes two hands to play a saxophone.”

“I like to give people gifts and one of my favorite things to do is to think of what they want or need, but don’t always realize.”

She also likes to give gifts to brighten people’s days, especially those that may be stressed or going through bad times.

Brad is an industrial designer for Whirley DrinkWorks.

As a couple they like to travel, kayak, camp and are outdoor enthusiasts who are gradually breaking in their son.

“We love to host things at our house. One of the reasons we bought this big house was that we felt God was telling us to share it, use it for hospitality.”

They have definitely used their home in many hospitable ways for the short time they have owned it. Some of those ways were when they hosted two Fresh Air children, kept six District Choir students and have had the entire marching band with parents, a group of 75, for a taco night. They also have had progressive dinners, cookouts and meetings for their church’s youth group at their house.

“We met two guys that were cycling cross country, so we invited them here,” says Bielawski. “They stayed in our backyard, even though we invited them to stay in the house.”

“I read an article in Real Simple Magazine how there is a lack of community today and how with social media, people don’t talk face to face,” said his wife. “It told about how a lady made a big pot of meatballs and posted (on Facebook) that the first 10 people who got back to her by Thursday night were invited to come for dinner the next night. We decided to do the same thing.”

The couple has hosted “Friday Night Meatballs” several times over the last few months, starting with spaghetti and meatballs and moving to soups, tacos, brunch, etc.

They are members of First United Methodist Church in Warren. She was instrumental in restarting the church’s youth group, which the couple now leads.

Their 4-year-old rescue dog, Leo (named after Leonardo da Vinci), a Cairn Terrier, rounds out their family.

STRAIGHT FROM THE KITCHEN

Appetizers

Cheeseball

Ingredients:

1 package 8 oz. cream cheese softened

1 Jar Kraft Pimento Spread

1 Jar Kraft Pineapple Spread

1 8 oz. bag of shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions:

Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Form into a ball and place on a small plate. Serve with crackers. Refrigerate if not serving immediately.

Stuffed Celery

Ingredients:

1 stalk of celery

1 package 8 oz. cream cheese softened

1 small jar pre-sliced green olives

Instructions:

In a small bowl, combine cream cheese and olives. Add a small amount of liquid from olive jar to cream cheese to soften further.

Wash, separate and cut celery into sticks.

Spread desired amount of cream cheese mixture in trough of celery sticks.

Serve immediately or chill.

Soup

Tortellini Soup

Ingredients:

2 cans (14.5 oz ea.) chicken broth

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 medium carrot, sliced

1 stalk celery, sliced

1/2 cup frozen cheese-filled tortellini

1 tsp. dried parsley flakes

Instructions:

In sauce pan, mix broth, pepper, carrots and celery. Over medium-high heat bring to a boil. Add tortellini. Cook over medium heat 15 minutes or until tortellini is done. Stir in parsley. Serves 4.

Main Course

Baked Salmon

Ingredients:

Frozen Baked Salmon

Olive Oil

Dill

Parsley

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a glass baking dish, drizzle olive oil across the bottom of the dish and place desired number of frozen salmon pieces. Sprinkle dill gently across the fish and then parsley. Bake for 15 minutes. Check fish for a flaky, separated texture. While some moisture is desired, fish should not be squishy. If not finished, place in for 5 minutes and recheck until done.

For added pizzazz: Sprinkle on some new spices. I always smell them with the other ingredients first. If it smells good, then it will taste good.

Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients:

1 box Stove Top Stuffing (or comparable)

4-6 thin cut pieces of chicken (uncooked)

1 package bacon (uncooked)

4-6 link sausages (uncooked)

Cranberries

Toothpicks

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Follow directions on stuffing box to complete stuffing.

Meanwhile, place the chicken breasts individually between two pieces of wax paper. Gently pound the chicken breasts with the back of a wooden spoon until they are fairly flat. Set aside.

Wrap each sausage link with a piece of bacon and place in a 9×13 glass baking dish. When the stuffing is finished, place a spoonful in the middle of each chicken breast. Roll the chicken breast up and secure with a toothpick. Add chicken breasts to 9×13 baking dish. Surround chicken and sausage with extra stuffing. Decorate with cranberries.

Bake for 20 mins. Check for chicken to be completely cooked. If not, add 5 minutes and check until completed.

STRAIGHT FROM THE KITCHEN

Sides

Eeze’s Jello

Ingredients:

1 large or 2 small boxes black cherry Jello

2 cans black cherries

1 can crushed pineapple

Directions:

Completely drain the can of crushed pineapple by placing it in a small hand strainer and pressing in either with your fingers or a fork until all of the juice is out (or as much as possible.) Set aside.

Drain one can of cherries. Spoon the cherries out of the other can but leave the juice in the can. Set aside.

Spread both fruits in the bottom of a 9×13 glass baking dish.

Follow the directions for the Jello box in terms of measuring and boiling the water and combining the packet contents. DO NOT ADD COLD WATER.

Quickly, pour the still liquid Jello over the fruit spread in the 9 x 13 dish. Measure the amount of cold water called for on the Jello box in cherry juice from the can. Refrigerate as recommended on the box.

Scramble

Yields two heaping roasters full of mix. Prepare to share and/or party.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. or more peanuts

2 boxes cheese crackers

1 large box plain Cheerios

2 large boxes Crispix

1 regular box Rice Chex

1 regular box Wheat Chex

2 bags thin pretzels

2 or more cups cooking oil

3 tbsp. Worchestershire Sauce

2 tsp. Seasonall

2 sticks butter

Salt to taste when removed from oven

Directions:

Put in the oven at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring thoroughly every 15 minutes.

Mom’s Pumpkin Bread

3 cups sugar

4 eggs, beaten

3 1/2 cups sifted flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. allspice

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1 cup salad oil

1 large can solid-pack pumpkin

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1-1 1/2 cups raisin, optional

Directions:

Cream sugar and oil. Add eggs and pumpkin; mix well. Sift together dry ingredients. Slowly add to pumpkin; mix well. Slowly add to pumpkin mixture; mix well. Pour into well-greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours until loaves test done. (Tooth pick comes out clean.) Let stand 10 minutes before removing from pans to cool. Makes 2 loaves. For mini-loaf pans bake about 45 minutes to 1 hour. For large muffins bake 25-30 minutes. For mini-muffins, bake 15 minutes.

Dessert

Christmas (Figgie) Pudding

***It should be noted this is a multi-day process*** Taken from BBC Good Food online 2014 with my own editing.

Makes 2 puddings. In British tradition, one is consumed on Christmas Eve and One on New Year’s. Each member of the family should stir it once for good luck.

Ingredients:

Pudding

5/8 cup blanched almonds

2 lg cooking apples

7-8 oz. candied peel (I used citrus zest and orange)

1 whole nutmeg (you’ll use three quarters of it)

5 cups raisins

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup (approx.) soft fresh white bread crumbs

1/2 cup Dark brown Sugar

3 large eggs

2 tbsp brandy or cognac, plus extra to flame- note we only used some for flaming purposes

1 1/4 cup stick butter, directly from the fridge

Brandy-Ginger Butter

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

grated zest of half an orange

5 tbsp icing sugar

4 tbsp brandy or cognac again we omitted

2 pieces of stem ginger, finely chopped

Instructions:

Get everything prepared. Chop the almonds coarsely. Peel, core and chop the apples. Sharpen your knife and chop the candied peel. (You can chop the almonds and apples in a food processor, but the peel must be done by hand.) Grate three quarters of the nutmeg (sounds like a lot but it’s correct.) Mix all the ingredients for the pudding, except the butter, in a large bowl.

Holding the butter in its wrapper grate a quarter of it into the bowl, then stir everything together. Repeat until all the butter is grated, and then stir everything together. Repeat until all the butter is grated, then stir for 3-4 minutes – the mixture is ready when it subsides slightly after each stir. Ask the family to stir too, and get everyone to make a wish.

Generously butter two 1.2 liter/2 pint bowls and put a disc of grease proof paper in the bottom of each. Pack in the pudding mixture. Cover with a double layer of grease-proof paper or baking parchment, pleating it to allow for expansion, and then tie with string (keep the paper in place with a rubber band while tying.) Trim off any excess paper.

Now stand each bowl on a large sheet of foil and bring the edges up over the top, then put another sheet of foil over the top and bring it down underneath to make a double package (this makes the puddings watertight.) Tie with more string, and make a handle for easy lifting in and out of the pan.

Boil or oven-steam the puddings for 8 hours, topping up with water as necessary. Remove from the pans and leave to cool overnight. When cold, discard the messy wrappings and re-wrap in new grease proof or baking parchment, foil and string. Store in a cool, dry place until Christmas.

To make brandy butter, cream the butter with the orange zest and sugar. Gradually beat in the brandy or cognac and chopped ginger. Put in a small bowl, fork the top attractively and put in the fridge to set. The butter will keep for a week in the fridge, or it can be frozen for up to 6 weeks.

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:

Mix together and blend:

1 cup softened margarine

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

Sift together and stir in:

2 3/4 cups flour

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:

Roll dough in balls about the size of 1 tsp. In mixture of 1 Tbsp. sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon roll balls. Bake 8-10 minutes in 375-degree oven.

Hot Chocolate

Note: Directions must followed exactly or it doesn’t work quite right. Taken from Betty Crocker’s Cook Book, 2001

Ingredients:

3 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate

1 1/2 cups water

1/3 cup sugar

Dash of salt

4 1/2 cups milk

Instructions:

Heat chocolate and water in 1 1/2 quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

Stir in sugar and salt. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in milk. Heat just until hot (do not boil because skin will form on top.)

Beat with hand beater until foamy, or stir until smooth. Serve immediately.

Sound like too much? Try these ideas with hot chocolate powder:

Heat up and mix hot chocolate powder with almond or coconut milk. These unique milk flavors will enhance the taste of the hot chocolate. You even can add a candy cane embellishment, for a peppermint twist. Or, Brad’s favorite, mix powdered hot chocolate with a cup of brewed coffee. Add a peppermint stick to this delectable treat, and Brad will squeal with Christmas cheer to rival even Charlie.

Leftovers

We all have them and we’re all done with Christmas splendor.

Turkey Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

Leftover turkey (or other poultry)

Leftover cooked vegetables.

1-2 bags egg noodles (depends on how much is left over)

Proportional number of large boxes of Turkey or Chicken broth (at least 2)

Frozen vegetables (optional)

Instructions:

Combine ingredients in a large pot and allow to come to a boil. Cook until noodles are tender. Longer is better with soup. If you don’t have egg noodles any pasta or even rice can be substituted. Other soup-worthy menu items can certainly be added, and soup pairs nicely with leftover rolls.

Leftovers Casserole

Ingredients:

Leftover stuffing

Leftover gravy

Leftover mashed potatoes

Leftover ham and/or turkey

Leftover mixed vegetables

Leftover cranberry sauce (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Layer the mashed potatoes, stuffing, meat, and vegetables in a large baking dish. Drizzle with gravy or spread lightly between layers. If desired, place a light layer of cranberry sauce on top. Ingredient substitutions are certainly possible and encouraged.