a belated Feliz Navidad and a Provencal-Andalusian 13 desserts tradition

oh dear....I knew I could never make it and post last wednesday. It all went in a flash really....I mean the hours and the....13 desserts I prepared for Chrimast's eve ! so very peevishly, I present you what is left of them...It is actually the first time that I celebrate this tradition here in Andalusia. My sisters and I were born and raised in Provence and the 13 desserts were a much loved tradition. My elder sister who lives in France still follows it every year and always double-checks the count is right, otherwise she says, it won't be a good year. In the Christian tradition, the 13 desserts symbolize Jesus and his apostles. It also has a pagan meaning of rebirth. In Provence, they usually consist of : dried figs, almonds, nuts, walnuts, raisins, dattes, oranges or clementines, nougat (black and white), candied and fresh fruit and a special cake made with olive oil.

I deviated a bit to make it more Andalusian

almonds, raisins, walnuts, dattes, candied pear, a very hard turron (impossible to eat)

pomegranate because after all, it's our star fruit here, white grapes

dried figs from the Alpujarras, clementines from the valley, bugnes (a French specialty from the south of France which is also one the 13 desserts in some parts of France)

dried apricots

roscos de anis (a typical Andalusian pastry at Christmas) and polvoron (another typical Christmas sweet). These two counted as one, otherwise we had 14 desserts and I don't want to have a bad year !

Wish you a merry week end !

ps : this is the best Christmas tale I heard yesterday while listening to FIP radio : a man earned 8 millions euros at the Christmas lottery (can't remember if it was in the North of France or Belgium) and gave half of it to needy people in his village. Love it !