Christmas Eve Star Bread

The Christmas Star Bread

Liliana with cousin Rowan and one of the star bread loaves. 
Both 3-year-olds were the perfect age to be tickled and excited over happy, smiling bread stars.

       Since some time in the 1980's, my family has celebrated Christmas Eve over chicken soup (with holiday shaped noodles) and star bread.  The bread was my Mom's homemade "Plaited Bread" which was shaped into a star which had five points--one point for each of my family.  I'm not sure how it started, but we would make a wish, each grab a point of the star (which was placed in the center of the dinner table), and pull off our piece.  The person with the largest section of bread was the "winner" whose wish would come true. 
       As we married and had children, the star bread has had increasing numbers of points (sometimes looking more like a sun) or else we've made multiple bread stars, depending on who would be at my parents' home on Christmas eve.  It is always a visual representation of how many family members are breaking bread together on the Holy night of Christmas Eve.