Flinging Kutya

Aside from the obvious opening of presents, one of my favourite customs on Ukrainian Christmas Eve was flinging kutya. Made of boiled wheat berries, honey, and poppy seeds, kutya is the first of 12 meatless dishes served during the traditional dinner (and admittedly not the most appetizing, in my opinion).

But I did enjoy taking a spoonful of the dish and flicking it to the ceiling. Originally done during winter solstice, the practice originated with the Pagans and it was believed that if the kutya stuck to the ceiling, it’d be a prosperous year. As our son celebrates his second Christmas this year, I can’t help but feel a bit of a revitalization during the holidays by sharing traditions. And yes, one of them will be flinging a mixture of boiled wheat at our ceiling.

Speaking of traditions, we're happy to present our annual holiday gift guide. With nine categories including connoisseur, adventurer, and music fan, we present over 70 gift ideas available locally for those on your naughty or nice list (we don’t judge). Plus, we’ve compiled a list of books from local authors and albums from local musicians that are perfect for stocking stuffers. In addition, sommelier Jeannie

Dubois provides some tasty suggestions as well.

Keeping with the holiday spirit, Chef Rachel Bayes serves up a scrumptious mushroom tart recipe, film columnist Michael Sobota shares his picks for films about winter holiday origin stories, and we get a sneak peek at Magnus Theatre’s production of Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol.

Also in the pages of the December issue, Asia Gustafson speaks with the Good Lovelies about their Sleeping Giant Folk Music Society concert, Ayano Hodouchi explores the Thunder

Bay Art Gallery’s joint exhibition with Science North, Indigenous Ingenuity, and we go Eye to Eye with the new host of CBC Radio’s Superior Morning, Sean Vanderklis.

As always, we owe our success to the support of our past and present advertisers and our team of dedicated and talented contributors. And a special thanks to our readers, who support the individuals, organizations, and businesses featured in the magazine.

Happy holidays and may your kutya stick well into 2022!