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Posts about Lithuanian culture number #5
Cepelinai (lit. 'zeppelins'; singular: cepelinas) or didžkukuliai is a traditional Lithuanian dish of stuffed potato dumplings. The dumplings are made from grated and riced potatoes and stuffed with ground meat or dry cottage cheese (curd) or mushrooms. It has been described as a national dish of Lithuania, and is typically served as an entree.

So named because their shape resembles that of a Zeppelin airship, cepelinai are typically around 10–20 cm long, although the size depends on where they are made: in the western counties of Lithuania cepelinai are made bigger than in the east.[citation needed]
After boiling, the cepelinai are sometimes served with sour cream sauce and bacon bits[1] or pork rinds.
Similar dishes include Swedish kroppkaka, Acadian poutine râpée, Norwegian raspeball and German Kartoffelklöße.

man that is a lot of text and anime on my screen right now

Posts about Lithuanian culture number #6
Šaltibarščiai (lenk. Chłodnik litewski, latv. Aukstā zupa) – Rytų Europos šalių (Lietuvos, Lenkijos, Latvijos, Rusijos, Baltarusijos) tradicinė šalta barščių sriuba.
Supjaustomi ir išverdami švieži burokėliai (kartais ir drauge su lapais). Atšaldžius burokėlių sriubą dedamas pienas, kefyras, agurkai, kietai virtas kiaušinis, morkos, pagardinama krapais, svogūnų laiškais ir petražolėmis. Sriuba valgoma su virtomis bulvėmis.

Posts about Lithuanian culture number #7
Lithuania is not very well known for its beer, but it is one of the few countries in Europe to have an independent beer tradition in which breweries do not simply brew beers in styles developed elsewhere. Traditional farmhouse brewing has survived into the present day in Lithuania, and during Soviet times such brewing started to be expanded to a larger scale. After independence this process gathered speed, and soon there were more than 200 breweries in the country. Many of these have since gone out of business, but Lithuania still has about 80 breweries, of which perhaps 60-70 produce beers in styles unknown in the rest of the world. Some of these are very close to the traditional brews made by farmers, while others have developed out of that tradition as a consequence of the growth of the traditional brewers into reasonably large regional breweries.
The microbrewery scene in Lithuania has been growing in later years, with a number of bars focusing on these beers popping up in Vilnius and also in other parts of the country. Locals beers have started to attract international attention after beer bloggers discovered the country, inspiring a major feature article in Beer Connoiseur magazine, prompting the New York Times to list Lithuania as one of the 42 places to visit in 2013 on the strength of the village beers

Posts about Lithuanian culture number #8
Nors šventė buvo sukrikščioninta, senieji papročiai liko tie patys. Kai kuriuos jų, negalėdama išginti, Bažnyčia įtraukė į savo apeigas. Išlikę senieji elementai – vandens, ugnies, augmenijos simbolika, tokie papročiai, kaip vainikų pynimas, meilės bei vestuvių burtai, žoliavimas ir kupoliavimas, paparčio žiedo ieškojimas, laužų kūrenimas, šokinėjimas per ugnį ir pan. (išsamiau žr. Rasos). Sukrikščionintose apeigose vietoj karčių – kupolių žolynais puošiami kryžiai, per pamaldas šventinamos vaistažolės, užuot deginus gyvulines aukas, naudojami gyvulių atvaizdai, statulėlės.

Yra paprotys per Jonines spėti orą. Esą, jei Joninių naktis žvaigždėta, tai Kalėdos bus šaltos ir sniegingos. Jei Joninių naktis debesuota, tai Kalėdos bus lietingos ir vėjuotos. Jei Joninių naktis lietinga, tai Kalėdos bus sniegingos, su pūgomis. Per Jonines paprastai spręsdavo apie derlių: jei per Jonines „kubilėlis lengvai prisipildo žalnieruko (vandenuko), tai aruodėlis lengvai prisipildys grūdelio“. O „jei per Jonines saulutė greitai išdžiovina paklodėlę, tai žiemą badaus vaikai ir moteriškėlės“. Šie liaudiški spėjimai ėjo iš lūpų į lūpas šiaurinėje Žemaitijoje bei pietinės Latvijos žemėse. Mokslinių tyrimų, patvirtinančių šiuos spėjimus, nebuvo atlikta, bet žemdirbiai pripažįsta, kad Joninių lietus derliui labai naudingas.

Posts about Lithuanian culture number #9
Saint Jonas' Festival, also known as Rasos (Dew Holiday), Joninės, Kupolė, Midsummer Day or Saint John's Day) is a midsummer folk festival celebrated on June 24 all around Lithuania. While midsummer day is celebrated throughout Europe, many Lithuanians have a particularly lively agenda on this day. The traditions include singing songs and dancing until the sun sets, telling tales, searching to find the magic fern blossom at midnight, jumping over bonfires, greeting the rising midsummer sun and washing the face with a morning dew, young girls float flower wreaths on the water of river or lake. These are customs brought from pagan culture and beliefs.
Once upon a time the Balts, the ancestors of the Lithuanians, celebrated the feast of Rasos by offering sacrifices to the pagan gods, and priestesses incited the altar fire. Only when Christianity came to Lithuania, this festival was identified with St. John name-day and since then was called Joninės (St. John's). Lithuanians with the names Jonas, Jonė, Janina receive many greetings from their family, relatives and friends.

Posts about Lithuanian culture number #10
Vakaruose ji minima nuo VI-VII a. Lietuvoje liaudiškas šios šventės pavadinimas – Žolinė, kadangi per iškilmingas šventės Mišias šventinami žolynai. Žolinės atlaidai vyksta Kabeliuose (Varėnos raj.), Krekenavoje (Panevėžio raj.), Raseiniuose, Pivašiūnuose (Alytaus raj.), Pažaislyje (Kaunas), Rumšiškėse, Šimonyse (Kupiškio raj.), Panemunyje (Rokiškio raj.), Surdegyje (Anykščių raj.), Zarasuose, Gelgaudiškyje (Šakių raj.), Pašaltuonyje (Jurbarko raj.), Veliuonoje (Jurbarko raj.).
Pasakojama, kad apaštalai atidarę Marijos kapą, nerado jos kūno – tik gėles. 1950 m. popiežius Pijus XII, tikėjimą, kad Marija buvo paimta į Dangų su siela ir kūnu paskelbė kaip dogmą.
Senovės baltai žolinę skyrė apeigoms didžiajai Deivei gimdytojai Ladai atlikti ir jai atiduoti užaugusio ir subrendusio derliaus aukas. Iki tos dienos niekas nedrįsdavo valgyti naujojo derliaus vaisių.

Posts about Lithuanian culture number #11
Statehood Day is an annual public holiday in Lithuania celebrated on July 6 to commemorate the coronation in 1253 of Mindaugas as the only King of Lithuania. The exact day of the event is disputable and was chosen according to the hypothesis of Edvardas Gudavičius, formulated in 1989. The day has officially been celebrated since 1991.

Posts about Lithuanian culture number #12
Kaziuko mugė or Saint Casimir's Fair is a large annual folk arts and crafts fair in Vilnius, Lithuania, dating to the beginning of the 17th century. The fair is traditionally held in city's markets and streets on the Sunday nearest to March 4 (Feast of St. Casimir), the anniversary of Saint Casimir's death. In Lithuanian, Kaziukas is a diminutive of Casimir. Today, Saint Casimir's fair also features music, dance, theater performances; it attracts tens of thousands of visitors and many craftsmen from across Lithuania as well as from neighbouring countries such as Latvia, Russia, and Poland. In recent years, the fair has expanded into other cities in Lithuania, Belarus, Poland.
St. Casimir, son of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir IV, was canonized in 1602.] In conjunction with his feast day celebrations, merchants established a fair. In 1827, they received a privilege to hold the fair in the Cathedral Square. In 1901, after a monument to Catherine the Great was unveiled in the Cathedral Square, the fair was moved to Lukiškės Square. During the Soviet era, the fair was held in Kalvarijos Market. In 1991, it returned to the Old Town of Vilnius. It was first held in Pilies Street but has since grown to span Gediminas Avenue, traverse the Cathedral Square, and branch out into Pilies Street, B. Radvilaitės Street, passing St. Anne's Church, and the Orthodox Cathedral of the Theotokos, and into the Tymas' Quarter on the left bank of Vilnia River near Užupis. It is estimated that as of 2013, the fair attracted 2,000 merchants and half a million visitors over three days (Friday to Sunday).

Posts about Lithuanian culture number #13
In recent years the fair has expanded into other cities in Lithuania, including Kaunas (in Laisvės alėja and Town Hall Square), Alytus, Klaipėda. Similar festivals called Kaziuki are also held in several cities in Poland, e.g. in Lidzbark Warmiński, Olsztyn,[5] Szczecin, Gdańsk and Poznań, as well as in Hrodna, Belarus, the city where St. Casimir died. A smaller version of the fair is also held by Lithuanian communities abroad, including inside the Lithuanian World Center in Lemont, Illinois.
The arts and crafts at the fair include hand-made goods from local craftsmen, such as woven and knitted clothes, footwear, toys, utensils, pots and jugs, jewelry, souvenirs, and paintings. Traditional foodstuffs include rye bread, bubliks, honey cookies, natural honey, beer, gira, and colorfully wrapped hard candy. Crafts represented include wood carvers, blacksmiths, potters, weavers and knitters, wicker weavers.
Easter palms (Lithuanian: verbos) are one of the fair's specialties. They are made of colourful dried wild flowers and herbs (about 150 different varieties of plants are used) tied around a wooden stick. Traditionally, they were taken to churches on Palm Sunday. Verba has become a traditional symbol of spring and Easter. However, it is an endangered craft.Making verba is difficult and time-consuming process. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find flowers and herbs or special dies to color them. The buyers are wary that the dried plants would cause allergic reactions.
Another signature product at the fair is the Casimir's Heart, a heart-shaped honey cookie decorated with colored sugar patterns and figures (flowers, zigzags, birds, etc.) or popular given names. People buy them to give to their loved ones. It is customary to bring back some these cookies to those who could not attend.