Tradition, which comes from centuries, Christmas Tree, what it means?

Hello my dear reader, finally I am back with my new post and of course I could not avoid continued holidays and dedicate one of my post to this "fairy tale".
Here I will write about Christmas Tree tradition, and how it's started and from where.
Many of people do not understand the real meaning of Christmas Tree (some even in my country), and they think that it is related to New Year than Christmas.So let's go back to the centuries and try to find out the origin of Christmas Tree and such a beautiful tradition.
Christmas Tree is a decorated tree, usually conifer or an artificial tree of similar appearance.
According to some sources use of evergreen trees to symbolize eternal life was a custom of the ancient Egyptians, Chinese and Hebrews.The tree worship was common among pagan Europeans, to and survived their conversion to Christianity in Scandinavian customs of decorating houses with evergreens to scare away the devil during Christmas time.

Christmas Tree is frequently traced to the symbolism of  trees in  pre-Christian winter rites, where the Viking and Saxon worshiped trees.
Modern Christmas trees originated during Renaissance in early modern Germany.The origin is sometime associated with Protestant Christian reformer Martin Luther, who is said to have added first lighted candle to an evergreen tree, in 16th century.
The first recorded Christmas Tree can be found on the sculpture in private home Turckheim, Alsace (France )  dating 1576.
In the early 19th century the custom became popular and spread to royal courts as far as Russia.
In 1816 The Christmas Tree was introduced in Vienna and the custom spread across Austria. In France first Christmas Tree was 1840 and in Denmark in 1808. As we remember there was a fairy-tail called "The Fir Tree", written by Danish writer Hans Christian Anderson in 1844, which was recounting the fate of a fir-tree being used as a Christmas tree.
In United States Christmas Tree became very common in early 19th century.
In Russia, the Christmas Tree was banned after the October Revolution, but then reinstated as a New Year Spruce in 1935. It became a fully secular icon of the New Year holiday, for example the crowning star was regarded not as a symbol of Bethlehem star but as a Red star, Decorations such as figurines of airplanes, bicycles, space rockets, cosmonauts and characters of Russian fairy tails were produced. This tradition persists after the fall of USSR, with the New Year holiday outweighing the Christmas with wide majority of Russian people.

In Armenia  the Christmas tree is called "tonacar", which mean the tree of celebration, and decorated with Christmas ornaments (those are usually made of wood, class, ceramics and metal).

The first decorated trees were adorned with apples, candy canes and pastries with the shape of heart, flowers, stars.Glass baubles were first made in Lauscha, Germany.and also garlands and tin figures, which can be hung on trees.
Nowadays Christmas ornaments are kind of artworks, which are made with large variety of materials. Every year this production sphere develops more and more, to make our life real fairy tail.

Wish you all Merry Christmas 

Veg Momos Recipe

Hello my dear reader, today I want to share the recipe, which I use for making momos at home, this one is for vegetarian filling. Here I would like to say that the dough part is the same for vegetarian and non vegeterian momos.

The momo is a South Asian dumpling, which is originally from Tibet region, but later started to spread over other neighboring countries. Momo is a type of steamed bun with some form of filling. Momo has become traditional delicacy in Nepal, among Tibetan and Nepalese communities in Bhutan, and also the Sikkim and Darjeeling States of India, later on spread to over the world. 

So for this we will need a dough. The dough making process I will not explain because its a simple non stick, white flour dough with water and salt (you can also add one teaspoon of oil).

For filling we need:

1. 4-5 middle size carrot 
2. half of the cabbage 
3. 2 big onions
4. 2 capsicum 
5. 3-4 cloves of garlic 
6. salt
7. black pepper
8. soy sauce 
9. butter 

We need to chop all the vegetables.

We start the process with melting butter in a pot and then frying onion and garlic in it. Since garling get fried very fast we need to be careful and fry it just 2 minutes (sometimes even less).

Then we add hard vegetables like carrot and fry it around 5 minutes.

After carrot we add capsicum and then  cabbage.

Add the salt, black pepper and soy sauce (1 teaspoon).

Keep frying additional 5 minutes and then it's ready.

Now we take a half of the dough and open it with rolling pin.

 Divide it  with cup to keep a round shape.

Take one of the pieces, open it little more and then fill with already fried vegetables.

Give some shape  and then cover with damp clothes to avoid  drying.

Fill the vessel or pot that's large enough to place the steamer 3" to 4 " with the water, bring the water to a boil, then place the steamer in the vessel and cover with lid. Wait for 15 minutes. 

Momos are ready when shiny seem appear over them.

Hope you liked my recipe and soon I will hear your comments below.

One day with His Holiness Dalai Lama

Hello my dear reader, Holidays are coming and positive environment is all around.
This month I want to write only inspiring and motivational post since only few days is left for Christmas and it's  time to believe miracles, and definitely  it will happen with you.
One such miracle happen to me, during this month.
Since the date I have entered to India, my dream was to be present in Dalai Lama's speech at least for five minutes, and I could not even imagine that I will be sitting in his lecture for around three hours.
It was so inspiring, unbelievable, that for few minutes I was in shock.
Then I realize that "yeah its true I am in the hall and His Holiness Dalai Lama is in front of me, lets calm down and catch up all his words, try to memorize his sentences, since the time is limited, such things happen once in a life time". If there would be any country president, I would have never feel so blessed, as it was in that day. Presidents will come and go, they are many, but His Holiness Dalai Lama is the one, one and only in the way he is: simple kind, joking and smiling.
In that point of time, I was sitting in the hall, by listening his word and suddenly my mind flew home where I was telling my father, that I have met His Holiness Dalai Lama, and telling him the words and speeches he has given.
By growing up in the family, where your father is historian, (and not only, he has excellent knowledge about geography and philosophy, about politics and art,and till now, he is about to retire but it does not stop him to get new knowledge every single day) those names has followed me during my childhood.
I grown up with the books (that time there was no internet) about Dalai Lama, Mark Twain, Martin Luther King, Gabriel Garcia Ma'rquez and many mores. Now, could you imagine my excitement when after so many years I am able to see and hear to the person about whom  I have red since my teenage years.
For me, Dalai Lama is not only religious leader (though my religion is Christianity) but also great philosopher.
Dalai Lama  is a Monk of the Gelug "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatzo. The name Dalai Lama is a combination of Mongolic word dalai, which means "ocean" and lama is Tibetan word which means "guru".
From 1642 until  1950's (except 1705-1750) Dalai Lamas or their regents headed the Tibetan Government.
After 1959 following the failed Tibetan uprising, 14th Dalai Lama  sought refugee in India.The Indian Primer Minister Jawaharlal Nehru allowed Dalai Lama and Tibetan Government officials to stay and live in India.
Since then, Dalai Lama lives in Dharamshala, in the state of Himachal, in northern  India, where the Central Tibetan Administration is also established.Tibetan refugees has open many schools and Buddhist temples in Dharamshala.
Being born in farmer's family in remote part of Tibet, in 1989 Dalai Lama received Nobel Peace Price and by 2013 the 14th Dalai Lama had become most popular world leader.

And in the end, I want to share with you 10 quotes of His Holiness Dalai Lama:

Give the ones you love the wings to fly, roots to come back and the reason to stay.

We can never obtain peace in the outer world,until we make peace for ourselves.

Silence is sometimes the best answer.

Know the rules well, so that you can break them effectively.

Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others, and if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.

This is my simple religion. No need for temples, no need for complicated philosophy. Your own mind, your own heart is the temple. Your philosophy is simple kindness. 

Comparison is not a religious business, it is human business, it is not a luxury, it is essential for our peace and mental stability, it is essential for human survival. 

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.

In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher.

The more you are motivated by Love, the more Fearless and Free your action will be.


Wish you all happy Sunday

Napkin Folding (Idea 1)

Hello my dear reader, today I want to share with you one  napkin folding idea for your Christmas and New Year table decoration.
So lets start the process and I will explain it with my photos.
We need to take one simple napkin paper.

Then crease it from the middle

Then crease 1/4 part of the tissue from the corner.

Then do the same from left side

and  turn it to opposite side. 

Then roll it from half

Take the left pike and put it inside the small "pocket".

Then turn to opposite side and do the from right.

Now it's ready, you just need to arrange from the down to make it stand on the table .

Hope you will like this idea of napkin folding and use it on your tables.

Christmas Tree from paper

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the ways
Hello,,, hello my dear reader. Christmas is coming and I my mood is on.
Christmas is my most favorite celebration, but unfortunately I don't see same excitement here in India. So that is why, I try my best to make environment, where I will feel the presence of upcoming holidays.

As we know one of the most important part of Christmas is home and outdoor decoration and of course Christmas tree. Every year I try to bring some new ideas to my home and make something fresh.
This time I am more concentrated to handmade decoration staff, first of all its beautiful, secondly there are lot of ideas,, and last but not the least, it's easy and fast to make.
So today, I will explain (by photos) how to make Christmas tree from simple paper.

Let's go.
For this we  need to take a square shape paper.

Crease it the way it shown.

First from one corner, then open and crease it from another corner.

Then open again and crease with rectangular shape.

Open again and push opposite sides to the center and make this shape.

Continue the process as it shown in photo.

Do the same from all sides.

Finally we will have this shape. 

Now we need to cut that that last "tail".

And then cut all the fringes with small distance between.

Now crease all the fringes.

We got beautiful handmade Christmas tree, which we can use for home decoration, to make a Christmas real fairy tale for us and for our families. 

Wish You all Happy Sunday