January 2025 Recap - Christmas Time, New Places, New Recipes. Cheers!
- Kristina Radovanovic
- Feb 27
- 12 min read
Updated: Feb 28
Good morning from very cold Mississauga. This weekend we decided to remove the Christmas decoration. Since we like to have the Christmas decoration at least until Serbian New Year celebration, which is on Jan 14th, I always try to convince Milos to extend the time until snow go away.
However, this year is different, it's the end of February currently and we have more snow than we used to have previous 2 years, since I am here.
While we are packing Christmas tree in mid-January, we enjoyed cleaning everything after, watering plants and just set up all staff as it used to be before winter season.
Morning was very pleasant; I love the feeling when the sun wakes me up. I look forward to sunny days because of my plants as well, and I believe this morning was so refreshing for them even more.
This year we visited several places and recorded our observations.
Island Lake Conservation Area - Orangeville
Bronte Creek
Mississauga Valley
Riverwood
As the first month of the year, January always brings new ideas, places, joys. It's one of our favorite months because of the Christmas on January 7th, our favorite holiday.
ISLAND LAKE CONSERVATION AREA - Orangeville - January 5th, 2025
Island Lake Conservation Area is over 1000 acres area and offers a different type of landscape such as forests, meadows, wetlands. This is a very popular destination for all 4 seasons with various activities for each of them. This seems to be a very popular destination for people to relax from their busy schedules and walk their dogs while enjoying their first morning coffee or to go for long workouts.
This is the first time we have come here, and we went all out on the longest trail precisely because it had a variety of landscapes such as long bridges where we could see the already frozen lake. In so many places there are also fenced viewpoints where we took the opportunity to catch the lake and rest. The most beautiful part of this conservation area was the coniferous forest, which we always admire. Especially since it was a snowy day, and the attempts were covered in snow.
Since canoeing has become my favorite summer activity while visiting conservation areas, I can't wait for spring/summer to slowly explore this area.
It also offers a variety of activities for all 4 seasons such as cycling, hiking, fishing, bird watching, kayaking, boating, playgrounds, picnic areas, educational programs, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, ice fishing, ice skating.
The entrance fee is very low and is valid for the whole day for all participants except children under 5 years old, it's free for them. The staff was very hospitable and helpful.
Most importantly, we left this place with frozen noses, hands and feet, but full of memories and joy. :)
CHRISTMAS EVE / CHRISTMAS DAY - January 6th / 7th
On January 6th, known as Christmas Eve, we go to church in the evening and have a festive dinner with our family at home. Like every year, we invite Milos's brother to dinner to celebrate and spend time together.
When we were in Serbia, during the day the female part of the family prepares the house for Christmas Eve by preparing a festive dinner according to the fasting rules, while the male part of the family goes to the nearby forest to get the Badnjak.
Badnjak is an oak brunch brought on the Christmas Eve and placed into the fireplace.
Head of the house with relatives usually goes to take Badnjak in the morning, followed by so many firecrackers on their way to announce themself, and once they choose the appropriate brunch, head of the house stands in front of it facing east. After throwing grain at the tree, he greets it with the words "Good morning and happy Christmas Eve to you", he makes the sign of the cross, says a prayer, and kisses the tree. He then cuts it slantwise on its eastern side with axe and the tree should fall to the east side. They also bring a little bottle of rakija or homemade wine. Once in the home, each Badnjak is leaned vertically against the house beside the entrance door.
In the evening, a man of the family brings their Badnjak into the house. Stepping across the threshold, right foot first, the man greets his gathered family with the words "Good evening and happy Christmas Eve to you." The woman of the house greets him back, saying "May God give you well-being, and may you have good luck", before throwing grain from a sieve at the man and the Badnjak he carries.
Upon entering the house, the man approaches the fireplace, he lays the Badnjak down on the fire and moves it a little forward, to summon prosperity for the household. Any other parts are brought in by other males and laid on the fire parallel or perpendicular to the first. After the Badnjak has been brought in, or immediately before in some places, an armful of straw is spread over the floor. The straw is usually brought in with the same greetings and throwing of grain as the Badnjak. The person spreading it imitate a hen clucking to call her chicks, "Kvo, kvo, kvo", with the family's children imitating chicks, "Piju, piju, piju", while they pick at the straw. Once the Badnjak and straw have been taken into the house, the Christmas Eve dinner may begin. The head of household makes the Sign of the Cross, lights a candle, and censes the whole house and Badnjak. Then he prays "Grant, O God, that there be health and joy in this home, that our grain and grapevines yield well, that children be born healthy to us, that our property increase in the field, pen, and barn!" or similar. The head drinks a draught of wine from the glass, after which it is passed to other members of household. After cutting a loaf of bread called Badnjacki kolac, and salt, the dinner feast begins.
In the places, like ours, where we are not able to take Badnjak, we usually go to the church in the evening to the liturgy and get a cluster of the oak tree with their brown leaves still attached in order to bring it to home. Once liturgy is done, all people are going in front of the church where is organized a fireplace for Badnjak accompanied by a serving of mulled wine and rakija. Inside another building is also prepared food with hot and cold drinks where we can sit with our families and friends and celebrate this beautiful and cheerful moments.
Christmas Day is a day when we take a rest and gather our families at home. The first person coming to the house is Polozajnik - People expect that it will summon well-being for their household in the ensuing year. A family often picks in advance a man or boy, and arranges that he visit them on Christmas morning.
Polozajnik steps into the house with his right foot first, greeting the gathered family, "Christ is Born, Happy Christmas." He carries grain in his glove, which he shakes out before the threshold, or throws at the family members. They respond with "Truly He is Born," and throw grain at the Polazajnik. He then approaches the fireplace, takes a poker or a branch, and strikes repeatedly the burning Badnjak to make sparks fly from it. At the same time, he utters these words:
How many sparks, that much happiness in this house.
How many sparks, that much money in the household head's pocket.
How many sparks, that many sheep in the pen
How many sparks, that many pigs and lambs.
How many sparks, that many geese and chickens,
and most of all, health and joy.
Having said that, he moves the log a little forward and throws a coin into the fire. The woman of the house puts a woolen blanket on the Polazajnik's back, and seats him on a low stool by the fireplace. The Polazajnik usually stays for dinner with the family and receives a gift.
An indispensable part of Christmas dinner is the cesnica, a round loaf of bread. A widespread custom is to put a coin into the dough; regionally, little objects made of cornel wood may be inserted, representing chickens, oxen, cows, swine, bees, etc.
Christmas dinner is the most celebratory meal a family has during a year. The head of household lights a candle, censes his family and house, and prays the Lord's prayer. After drinking a glass of wine, the family members kiss each other on the cheek saying, "The peace of God among us, Christ is Born." Then, they hold a cesnica, rotating it three times around and carefully break it among all relatives and take their own piece. The family member whose share contains the coin hidden in the cesnica, will supposedly be exceptionally lucky in the coming year.
Christmas is celebrated for three days. On the second day of Christmas, neighbors visit each other. On the third day, Christmas straw is taken out of the house. Little bundles are made with it and hung on fruit trees to make their fruit better.
Our all-Christmas days in Canada are followed by making/sharing our recipes with family and making a cozy atmosphere in our house.
APPLE PIE as a must for Christmas Eve
The scent of apples, cinnamon, and vanilla is something that is a must-have to fill our winter days, especially as a treat for Christmas Eve.
We use only a few ingredients and very simple and fast recipe. You will need:
1 package of pie crust
Cinnamon
Vanilla sugar
Sparkling water
Vegetable oil (if you don't fast, you can use butter)
Powdered sugar
Roll up your sleeves, let's go :D
Peel out the apples and cut it on the very small pieces. Following traditional recipe, they are mostly grated, but we recently made them this way and we liked it better.
Put in the bowl sparkling water and mix with oil.
Brush the first and then the second crust, then start adding the chopped apples.
Arrange apples (about one and a half or two smaller) just at the bottom of the crust in a line
Sprinkle with cinnamon and vanilla sugar
Usually, cooks add extra sugar, but for us, the natural sugar from apples is sweet enough, so we passed this time. It really depends on individual preference
Once you've finished adding all the ingredients, simply roll up the crust and transfer to a baking sheet
I usually brush all the rolls with the rest of the prepared oil and sparkling water. This helps the crusts become crispier while baking
When baked, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve
BRONTE CREEK - January 11th, 2025
Bronte Creek is one of the most popular parks in the Oakville and Burlington areas. With over 10 km of trails, numerous group shelters and picnic areas, it is a well-equipped place for a weekend get-together with friends and family, and even a celebration.
We have visited this park in both summer and winter, and both have their own charms.
In the summer, you can gather your friends and organize a barbecue, plan ahead for activities like basketball, volleyball or golf, or simply grab your morning coffee and go for a walk and chat along the way.
Whether it is summer or winter, we look forward to visiting the Nature Center first, where you can see pigs, chickens, rabbits, goats and sheep. Kids can learn about their diet and see how they live.
After visiting each of them and greet them :), we continue through the forest which has been magnificent this winter as it has been snowing for the last few days and the snow crunched under our shoes. Milos was so eager to capture all the views and a few squirrels looking for food and playing around the trees.
Continuing on, we emerged in this relaxing morning capturing our further insights and beautiful coniferous forest.
Bronte Creek is a favorite place of many birds of prey, hawks, kestrels, owls and eagles as well. We could see several photographs in the nearby meadow, waiting for the perfect time to capture their moments.
NEW RECIPE - How to use leftover food from the refrigerator?
As usual, we have to share one new recipe we tried this evening. We bought zucchini and cooking cream last week and it was time to use it. Beside it, we could choose potato, meat and vegetables.
I got an idea to make something very simple instead for this time with the ingredients below:
2 medium zucchinis
5 medium potatoes
2 medium pork steak
Salt and pepper
***Note - You can put ingredients as many as you need depending on baking dish you would like to use. I used smaller one this time, since we had left over small amount of all of those ingredients. :D
Firstly, I peeled the zucchini and salted, because it takes a bit of time to drain excess water. Then, I cut meat on a small part, potatoes cut into half-centimeter thick rounds and seasoned it with salt and pepper.
I left everything on the cutting board until we watched one more episode of tv show "Night Agent". By the way, we watched all two season for one week :D
But to be honest, that's the charm of the weekend, lazy mornings, afternoons and evenings are preferable :D
Let's continue with cooking! I prepared pan with a little bit of oil (you can use any) and the only thing I prefer is to fry everything without lid because of a better taste.
I started with potato, and the good thing is that you don't need to fry it at all, just a half done instead. Continue the same with meat and zucchini. I left zucchini for the end because it's a bit watery compared to potatoes and meat.
Once finished with frying, I placed all ingredients in the baking dish in order below:
I preferred to bake it around 15-20 Min more until it's crispy. I made sure to prepare the topping cream during this time. It's takes exactly 5 Min to make it with the following ingredients:
1 tablespoon of oil
1 tablespoon of white flour
Cooking cream (1 or 1/2, depending how many ingredients you have. It's supposed to be only on the top of everything, not to fill all bake dish)
1 small spoon of salt
1/8 spoon of pepper
Heat a pan over medium heat, add the flour and stir until combined. Gradually add the cooking cream, trying not to form lumps. Wait for it to boil, stir until then and add salt and pepper.
When done, pour over the potatoes and return to the oven for another 15-20 minutes, depending on how well you done like them.
Grate the cheese over the top and return to the oven for 5-10 minutes to melt.
Enjoy your meal!
MISSISSAUGA VALLEY AND RIVERWOOD PARK - January 19th and January 26th
Mississauga Valley Park is a place we stumbled upon last winter while randomly strolling through the area looking at Christmas decorations. That was when we started our Instagram/YouTube journey. We started that night by walking through our neighborhood and decided to expand our exploration a bit by heading further afield and heading to my workplace and the famous Monroe Buildings in Mississauga, which is about a half hour walk from our building.
Taking side roads to avoid traffic, we came across this side path of the river that is lined with so many playgrounds, small parks, and neighborhoods. That time was overnight, however, during the day we saw so many people walking their pets. You can see on the map that this trail connects to nearby parks and popular amenities, including: a splash pad, a garden, a playground, a soccer field, beach volleyball courts, sports fields, tennis and pickleball courts, and the Mississauga Valley Community Center.
In those wintery times, you might spot a bird, a Canada goose, or ducks above the unfrozen parts of the creek. This time, a few playful squirrels caught our attention.
Riverwood is a park where we spent most of our weekend mornings, during all 4 seasons. Not only for us, but this is also a favorite place for all the people who live in our area. Admission and parking are completely free, so getting to this beautiful place is even more convenient.
Once you arrive at the parking lot, you will be able to see heritage structures such as the 1919 Chapel House, MacEwan Field Station and MacEwan Barn. MacEwan Terrace Garden opened in Riverwood in 2012, and this is an accessible place that overlooks the grass, marshes and pine forests. This park attracts so many birds and butterflies.
As a photographer, Milos is always busy capturing all the wildlife, forest, interesting places and me :) during our walks.
This time the park did not have so many people due to the very cold weather. Still, we were happy to enjoy those little birds playing around us.
The best surprise for us came at the end. While we were walking along the river, due to the river flooding, we got a little stuck on one part of our usual route and couldn't go around.
However, this happened for a reason. While we were returning, suddenly 4 deer crossed the road, and they didn't seem to be scared of 2 strangers. They stopped for a moment, apparently to survey the area, so Milos took the opportunity to capture this beautiful moment.
Surprisingly, this is the first time we've seen them here, because the usual place where we wait for them is Rattray Marsh, which is another place where we go to park almost once a month.
In any case, we'll keep that in mind, and we'll be back to greet them again.
We hope you enjoyed your January moments as well, and we look forward to sharing further adventures, observations, and photos.
Cheers!
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