1. Trivia
Did you know? There are more than a million Ukrainian Canadian in Canada!
Did you know? The Ukrainians were in the middle of the Slavic State, the most powerful state at the 10th and 11th centuries in Europe.
Did you know?
Did you know?
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2. Recipe
If ever you have the opportunity to use a kitchen in your school with your students, it can be really fun to finish a chapter or to celebrate any event.
Paska Bread
Paska is a Ukrainian ritual bread served at Easter. Paska is an enriched bread, using butter, eggs and sugar in the making of the dough and an egg/water mixture is used as a glaze. It is generally cylindrical, decorated with braided dough, rosettes or Easter eggs at the base.
Like many objects in Ukrainian religious rite, Paska has a contested symbolism relating to the rites of spring, which predate the introduction of Christianity to Ukraine.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 3 cups warm milk
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 cup margarine, softened
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
- 12 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
DIRECTIONS
- Proof the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water in a large bowl until slightly frothy.
- In the meantime, dissolve 1/2 cup sugar in the warm milk. Cool to lukewarm. Once cooled, add the milk mixture to the yeast mixture along with four cups of flour. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Cover and put in a dark, warm place until the mixture is bubbly and doubled in size, about 2 hours.
- Stir in the beaten eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, margarine, salt, and lemon peel. Stir well to blend. Begin adding the remaining flour a cup at a time to form a very soft dough.
- Knead the dough on a floured board until soft and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat both sides. Allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 2 hours. Punch dough down, and allow to rise again for 30 minutes.
- Divide dough into three parts. Shape into slightly rounded loaves, and place on greased baking sheets. Let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Beat 1 egg with 1 tablespoon water; brush onto loaves.
- Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 to 50 minutes, or until done. Once they are done, brush the tops with melted butter for a soft crust.
3. Ukrainian Folk Tale
The Wolf and the kids
Ukrainian folk tale
There was once a Goat who built herself a hut in the forest and lived there with her Kids. And whenever she went out to eat some grass she told the Kids not to open the door to anyone. She would walk in the
forest and eat her fill of the grass and then she would go back home, stop by the door and sing out:
"My kiddies own, my children dear,
Open the door, for your mother is here.
Open the door, and you'll each have a treat,
For I bring you milk which is rich and sweet."
Hearing their mother's voice, the Kids would rush to open the door and let her in, and the mother would give them some milk arid then go off to feed on the grass again.
Now, the Wolf heard Mother Goat call to her Kids, but he could not quite make out the words she used or see how sweet her voice was. So after a time he came up to the Goat's hut and called out in his 'i gruff voice:
"My kiddies own, my children dear,
Open the door, for your mother is here.
Open the door, and you'll each have a treat,
For I bring you milk which is rich and sweet."
The Kids knew it wasn't their mother calling and called back:
"We won't let you in, whoever you are, for that isn't our mother's voice! Her voice is thin and sweet."
The Wolf walked off a little way and sat down behind some bushes. He sat there for a while and thought it all over and then he went back to the Goat's hut again. He walked up to the door and called in as sweet a voice as he could:
"My kiddies own, my children dear,
Open the door, for your mother is here.
Open the door, and you'll each have a treat,
For I bring you milk which is rich and sweet."
The Kids rushed to open the door, but they thought better of it, for they saw that the words the Wolf had used were a little different and his voice was far from being as sweet as their mother's. They stood there and called back:
"We won't let you in, whoever you are, for that isn't our mother's voice! Her voice is thin and sweet and the words she says are different."
The Wolf walked away, ill pleased, but he did not go far and sat down behind some bushes. He sat there and waited for Mother Goat to come back in order to take in the sound of her voice and to hear more clearly what it was she said.
By and by Mother Goat came back and called:
"My kiddies own, my children dear,
Open the door, for your mother is here.
Open the door, and you'll each have a treat,
For I bring you milk which is rich and sweet."
The Kids knew at once it was their mother calling, they let her in and they told her that someone had been coming to the hut and trying to trick them. And Mother Goat fed them, bade them not to let anyone in on any account and, in order that they might not make any mistake, told them just what she would say the next time she was at the door, She spent the night at home, and early the next morning as soon as day dawned, went out to feed on the grass again.
And as for the Wolf, he began to think what to do in order to make his voice sound like Mother Goat's. He called out once, and his voice sounded very gruff, he called out a second time, and it was still much too much so, and he called out a third time, trying to make his voice very, very thin, but it was as unlike Mother Goat's as ever.
Now, a Fox came running up just then and heard the Wolf howling. So she stopped and came up to him.
"Why are you howling so, Wolf?" she asked. "Is it that you are very hungry?"
"I'm only practicing, Sister Fox," the Wolf replied. "I have found a Goat's hut, but I cannot get at her Kids. They won't open the door, a plague on them, for they can tell it isn't their mother calling. So I'm trying out my voice in order to make it sound as much like hers as I can."
"Nothing will come of it, Wolf, I assure you. If you want to feast on a goat's flesh, ask me and I will tell you what to do."
"Do please, there's a dear, I'll be ever so grateful!"
"What will I get from you in return?"
"If only I catch those Kids I'll let you have one of them."
"Oh no, that won't do, who knows when you'll catch them! I'm hungry right now. You bring me a goose, and then I'll tell you what to do about your voice."
To this the Wolf agreed, and away he ran to get the Fox a goose.
He spent a long time crouching amid the rushes above the river and trying to catch a goose, and it was coming on towards evening when he finally caught one. He ran back with it to the Fox, gave it to her and said:
"And now, Sister Fox, you must teach me how to change my voice."
"Here's what you must do, Wolf. You must go to the Blacksmith and ask him to forge you a new throat. Then you will be able to bleat like a goat."
"Where'11 I find the Blacksmith?"
"There's a smithy on the edge of the village. You'll find him there."
The Wolf did as the Fox told him and made straight for the smithy. He came up to the Blacksmith and said:
"Please, Blacksmith, forge me a new throat, for I want to bleat like a goat."
"What will I get in return?"
"I don't know what you want. We animals have no money, but I can make you a gift of some kind."
"Well, then, Wolf, bring me a pair of geese, live ones, mind, and then I'll forge you a new throat."
The Wolf went to the river bank and began crawling through the rushes there, and he was soon muddy and wet up to his ears. But he finally
managed to catch two geese, and, holding them by their wings, carriec them to the Blacksmith. He felt very cross, for he would have liked to eat the geese himself, but this he could not do as he had to keep his promise. He brought the geese to the Blacksmith and said:
"I have brought you what you asked for, Blacksmith, so now be quick and forge me a new throat."
"Very well, Wolf, it's time to get to work," the Blacksmith replied "Move up closer to the anvil, stick out your tongue as far as it will go and close your eyes, and I will be quick and do the rest."
The Wolf moved up close to the anvil, he stuck out his tongue and closed his eyes, and he stood there as if frozen to the spot. And the Blacksmith at once seized his biggest hammer and he struck the Wolf with it over the head! The Wolf dropped dead on the spot, and the Blacksmith skinned him and sold the skiji at the market for ten silver pieces. And he kept the geese for himself to be eaten when he had a mind to.
And as for the Kids, they remained alive and well.
