WISHES FROM CYPRUS

Cyprus wishes its partners Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Let's make some Christmas crafts!

Christmas Ornament Follow the steps: 1. We take a small piece of carton and we cut it in the shape of a cross 2. We then fold the pieces in the shape of a cube 3. Then we glue the ends, and we wrap the edges all around with colored tape 4.After finishing we decorate our ornament

Limassol is a Christmas trip one should not miss! Whether you are a child or an adult Limassol should definitely be at the top of your Christmas list. The weather is as mild as 13℃ even at night time, so many of the merry events are happening outdoors, with no need for more than a light jacket to enjoy the holidays. Order the chilliest drink or the hottest cup of cocoa and join in the holiday celebrations with absolutely no worries. Marina Lemesou, has a lot of events during Christmas! You can take photos next to the big tree, in the center of the square or you can amuse yourself in the Luna Park! Lots of kids gather there, and wait to see Santa Claus!!!

THE CHRISTMAS TREE Christmas is a holy festival of Christians. Every year on December 25, Christmas is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Jesus Christ. All the Christians celebrate this festival with great devotion and loyalty. One of the major attractions of the Christmas festival is “Christmas Tree”. On Christmas, the Christmas Tree has special significance. Christmas trees is said to be originated in Germany. Christmas trees nowadays are decorated with electric lights and different modern ornaments. The presents of Christmas are kept hidden under the Christmas tree. The star decorated at the top of the Christmas tree is stated as the Star of Bethlehem. Christmas tree is decorated on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. It symbolizes new life and is removed after twelve days of Christmas Eve. Every year we decorate a Christmas tree in our classroom. This year we chose gold, silver and white balls to decorate our tree! What do you think?

Christmas CookiesIngedients 250g flour 100g sugar 100g butter 1 egg 1 t/spoon B.P Instructions:

• Mix the flour with the sugar, add the butter, the egg and the Baking Powder.
• Take some dough and make different Christmas shapes.
• Bake the cookies for 20 minutes.
• Allow the cookies to cool before storing them.

Greek New Year’s Cake (Vasilopit­a) Ingredients for the cake

• 375g butter
• 600g sugar
• 6 eggs
• a pinch of salt
• zest of 2 oranges
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 200g yogurt, strained
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 750g self-rising flour, sifted
• For the glaze
• 450g icing sugar (3 cups)
• 5 tbsps hot water or milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. To prepare this vasilopita recipe, start by dividing the eggs into yolks and whites. Place the egg whites in your mixer bowl and add a pinch of salt. Make sure your egg whites, bowl and whisk attachments are clean and free of any water. Whisk the egg whites until the mixture is very thick and glossy and a long trailing peak form when the whisk is lifted (meringues). Place the mixture in a bowl and set aside.
2. Clean out your mixer bowl and add the butter and sugar. Using the paddle hook or the creaming attachments whisk for about 20 minutes, until the butter is creamy and fluffy like whipped cream. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, whilst mixing, allowing time for each one to be absorbed, before adding the next. Pour in the orange juice, the vanilla extract, the orange zest, the yogurt and mix to combine.
3. Remove the bowl from your mixer and add 1/3rd of the sifted flour and blend with a spatula. Add 1/3rd of the meringues and blend with light circular movements from the bottom up. Repeat with the rest of the flour and meringue, adding 1/3rd of the flour, mix, add 1/3rd meringue until all your ingredients are combined.
4. To bake the vasilopita, preheat the oven to 200C / 390F using both top and bottom heating elements. Alternatively set to 180C/356F fan.
5. It’s now time to prepare your baking tin. Select a non-stick cake tin approx. 25-30cm in diameter (10-12 inch). Butter your vasilopita tin and dust with some flour. Alternatively, line with some parchment paper. Pour in your vasilopita mixture and spread it evenly with your spatula.

1. Place the cake tin in the preheated oven, on the lower third rack, turn the heat down to 175C / 350F or 160C/320F fan and bake for 50-60 minutes, until nicely coloured and cooked through. Make sure you don’t open the oven in the first 30 minutes of baking as your Vasilopita will collapse! Stick in the middle of the cake a wooden skewer or toothpick to check if your cake is ready. If it comes out clean, then your vasilopita cake is done!
2. Let your vasilopita cake cool down completely and invert the pan on a plate. If it’s not cold it may break! Using a second plate, invert again so the top of the cake is on top. Wrap a coin with aluminium foil and stick it in the cake. Invert the vasilopita on a serving platter with the bottom of the cake facing upwards. Having a completely flat surface will make your glaze go on so much easier and will be nice and flat.
3. Prepare the glaze for your Greek new year’s cake. In a large bowl add all the ingredients and blend with a spatula until the glaze is smooth and glossy. If needed, add a little bit more hot water. The glaze should have a glue-like consistency but be perfectly smooth when blending with the spatula. Top the vasilopita with the glaze and even out with a flat spatula. Don’t forget to carve the number of the year on top of the glaze or use some toasted almonds to shape it!

Enjoy!

Christmas Challenge: Follow Santa and his reindeers! Choose your Santa and dance as better as you can! Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvmcnnqISCA