Walnut Spas 2022: traditions and date of celebration

When is Nut Spas celebrated in 2022

The Third Spas is celebrated every year 29 August. Our ancestors baked bread on this day, collected ripe nuts and traded linen at fairs. The people said: “The First Savior – they stand on the water; Second Spas – eat apples; Third Savior – canvases are sold on the green mountains.

history of the holiday

Walnut Spas has several names. One of them is the Savior Not Made by Hands. Biblical tradition says that after sleeping, Jesus Christ washed his face and wiped his face with a towel. And on this towel the face of the Son of God was imprinted, from which the first icons of the Savior Not Made by Hands were subsequently painted. The canvas with the face of Christ healed the ruler of the city of Edessa, thanks to which Orthodoxy began to spread much more actively in these places. Since then, the Image of Christ Not Made by Hands has been a symbol of this day. The Slavs believed that the Lord was created by the Almighty himself, and this event should be honored.

Walnut Savior is perhaps the most popular name for this holiday. It was believed that on this day the nuts ripen and you can start collecting them. The harvest was carried to the church, consecrated and made from it for the winter.

Also, the Third Spas is often called Khlebny – on this day it was customary to bake bread from the new harvest. According to signs, in one summer there could not be an equally rich harvest of nuts and wheat, so if wheat was well harvested this year, then next get ready to collect nuts in unthinkable quantities.

Another name is Canvas Spas. It arose because on this day the peasants opened fairs where they sold canvases and canvases, vegetables and fruits. It was considered a bad omen to leave such a market empty-handed, so every guest of the fair was sure to buy something.

Holiday traditions

The Nut Savior was no longer celebrated on such a grand scale as the Apple and Honey Savior. Summer is ending and the cold is starting. And people tried to quickly prepare food in their barns.

First of all, rye and wheat were harvested from the fields. And the housewives wove linens to provide their families with clothes.

At lunch we went to church to consecrate bread and pies made from new grain. They prayed before the icon of the martyr Diomede.

By evening, the peasants, as in Honey Spas, were cleaning healing underground springs, cleaning wells – preparing for autumn and winter. And then they sat down at the table. It was customary to serve a tincture based on walnuts, as well as bread and pies.

Well, we ended the day with a bath. People made brooms from hazel, which, as they believed, protected them from diseases and the evil eye.

Signs on Nut Spas

• If the cranes flew south, the Pokrov (October 14) will be frosty.
• It began to rain with a thunderstorm – autumn is expected to be warm.
• If there is a lot of opex this year, there will be a lot of bread in the future year.
• When collecting nuts, a fruit with a worm came across – waiting for trouble.
• To ward off damage from yourself, you had to eat the first nut yourself, and give the second to the first person who came across.
• You pick the first nut, and what it will taste like, the next year will be like this: a ripe nut – wait for great love and good news, unripe – important news will appear soon, rotten – to big trouble, and bitter – to problems.

Useful properties of nuts

Each type of nuts, of course, has its own unique properties, because the fruits differ not only in shape, size and taste, but also in composition. But all nuts have general beneficial properties. Let’s talk about five of them.

1. Energy source

Nuts are very nutritious and high in calories, they contain a large amount of healthy vegetable fats. Unlike foods containing animal fats, nuts do not contain “bad” cholesterol. After eating just a handful of nuts, you can feel full and full of energy.

2. Source of vitamins and nutrients

Everything is individual here – different components predominate in each type of nuts. For example, hazelnuts contain high amounts of vitamins A and E and are thought to improve brain activity. By the way, hazelnuts are best eaten raw – due to heat treatment, they can lose all their benefits. Almonds are rich in potassium, iron and phosphorus, and they also have the reputation of a strong aphrodisiac. Walnuts contain useful amino acids and minerals that help with beriberi, hypertension and even toothache. And pine nuts strengthen the immune system and help fight stress.

3. Protein source

Whatever kind of nuts you like, be sure – they contain a huge amount of protein, moreover, vegetable protein. Unlike an animal, it is much better absorbed. Therefore, nuts are an indispensable product for athletes and those who want to gain muscle mass.

4. Long stored

Nuts can be bought for the future – they are stored for a long time, although not indefinitely. Depending on the type, nuts can be stored from 2-3 weeks (pine nuts) to six months (walnuts). When buying packaged nuts, be sure to check packaging dates and expiration dates.

5. Great snack

Nuts are a delicious and healthy mid-day snack. To avoid the temptation to buy harmful chocolates and cookies, stock up on nuts – they quickly saturate, do not harm the figure and are good for health.

For all their benefits, nuts can cause considerable harm if the measure is not observed. So don’t overuse them.

Daily amount of nuts:

How to choose nuts

When buying nuts, it is best to choose those that are in the shell – it protects the nucleoli from damage. Taking a nut in the shell, shake it over your ear – if you hear how the kernel rolls inside the shell, then the nut is old. The shell should be solid, without cracks.

Of course, this rule does not apply to pistachios – their shell just needs to be opened. It is easy to check if the pistachio opened on its own or was helped – try to bring the tips of the open shells together. If they fold easily, it means that the pistachios were opened mechanically ahead of time, and if not, then the pistachio is ripe and opened by itself.

When you take shelled nuts, give preference to packaged ones. On the packaging, be sure to check the labeling – composition and expiration date. Nuts are stored for a long time, but not indefinitely, so you should not stock them up for several years in advance.

When choosing nuts on the market by weight, be sure to try the kernels – the taste and aroma should not be sour. If, after biting off a nut, you feel bitterness, it is better to refrain from buying – the nuts are very fatty, and the fat quickly becomes rancid and unsuitable for consumption if not stored properly.

To avoid spoilage of nuts, it is best to store the peeled kernels in a dark, dry place, in a tightly closed container. Nuts in the shell can not be put in a jar, but it is better to hide them in a dark closet too.

Recipes for Walnut Spas

Although the Third Savior is celebrated on the smallest scale, it still gathers the whole family at the common table in the evening. We have prepared recipes for several simple dishes that you can please your loved ones on this day.

Nut cookies

Butter (150 g) should be soft, so remove it from the refrigerator in advance. While it is warming, finely chop 100 g of nuts in a blender – these can be either one type of nuts or assorted nuts. Then, in a common bowl, combine the nuts, 100 g of flour, a bag of vanilla sugar, a small amount of powdered sugar and half a teaspoon of salt. Mix everything, then add the melted butter and 1 egg, and mix again. Another 100-150 g of flour should be gradually poured into the resulting mixture, kneading a stiff dough. Let the finished dough stand for 10-15 minutes, during this time preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Roll out the dough on parchment to a thickness of 2-3 mm. Using a cookie cutter, cut out the cookies, remove the excess dough – it can be rolled out into another layer. Place parchment with cut out cookies on a baking sheet.

Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes.

Salad with chicken and nuts

Boil a pound of chicken breast in salted water. Cut the cooled meat into small cubes. Cut 300 g of canned pineapple into the same cubes. Grapes can be added to pineapple if desired. Tear 3-4 lettuce leaves into small pieces with your hands. 100 g of walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts, grind properly in a blender. Throw them in a dry pan to remove excess moisture.

Mix all the ingredients and season with sour cream or light mayonnaise.

Champignons with nuts and cheese

Wash and dry a dozen large mushrooms with large caps. Remove the stems from them and chop them very finely. Lightly fry the caps in vegetable oil on both sides. On a coarse grater, grate 150 g of cheese, finely chop 2-3 cloves of garlic. Grind half a glass of walnuts, then dry in a pan without oil. Put grated cheese, chopped nuts, garlic and mushroom legs in a common bowl. Add 4 tablespoons of cream to the mixture and mix well. Stuff the hats with the resulting mass and place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment. Send the appetizer to the oven preheated to 200 degrees for 5-10 minutes.