RHYS BOWEN: It's Easter Sunday so I'm keeping this brief today as I'm sure many of you are going to brunch or church or to relatives. In England we nevre made a big thing of Easter. We were bought a couple of chocolate eggs. We went to church. One thing I remember is that we always dressed nicely in summery outfits only to find the inside of the church was frigid.
But when I was growing up there was no Easter Bunny, no Easter egg hunt. One Easter I was staying with my parents when my older children were 2 and 4. I gave them an Easter egg hunt on the back lawn. I remember the neighbors staring out of their window as flung eggs all over the garden. I thought I'd gone mad.
The one tradition I created with my own kids was to give each of them an Easter basket and to hide them. Each child got a trail of clues to lead them to their basket. Each clue was a rhyming couplet:
Where birds make nests look up and see
A clue awaits you in a ....."
Tree, they'd shout and off they'd run. I had four kids, about six clues each. That's twenty four rhyming couplets to be written and hidden around the house before six on Easter morning. The interesting thing is that the tradition has continued to my grand kids. Lizzie and Meghan wanted their baskets with clues until they were in college! I wonder if it will go on to the next generation?
So what Easter traditions do you have? And for my Jewish friends I hope you've had a blessed Passover.
The way other kids would put out milk and cookies for Santa, we would put out carrots and water for the Easter Bunny and lay out some blankets in the mudroom so he could have a bit of a rest.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of that - makes sense, though.
DeleteOne Easter weekend we travelled to see my grandfather for Easter Weekend. I remember putting out carrots and water for the Easter Bunny. On Easter morning I found many copper pennies (maybe equal to a dollar?) in my Easter basket but no Easter eggs nor chocolate rabbits.
DeleteEaster traditions? Church; egg hunts; baskets filled with candy; lamb for dinner . . . .
ReplyDeleteWishing everyone a Happy Easter / Passover . . . .
Don't celebrate Easter or Passover at all. Our family was Buddhist.
ReplyDeleteIt's a regular Sunday for me but I wish the rest of you a happy holiday.
Same here Grace! My father is Buddhist so it was not a religious holiday for us, but my mother loved the Easter bunny situation so we got silly riddles to solve to find a basket of treats. We usually got a new spring rain jacket or shoes along with the chocolate. It was fun. As an adult, I look forward to having a nice day off to garden or read.
DeleteEaster was the only day of the year my unreligious family went to church--a sunrise service out of doors with the sun truly rising over the ocean in front of us while we listened to the minister and the music. For weeks before Easter, we ate scrambled eggs and blew out the eggs so we'd have empty shells to wash, dry, and dye. Hours of dyeing and painting eggs on Easter Saturday. And on Sunday, after we got back from the service, a huge breakfast and an elaborate Easter egg hunt indoors and among the plants in our big patio, with a few hard-boiled eggs and LOTS of empty ones to find, plus Easter baskets full of chocolate and little toys (but no clever clues, Rhys--that's a great tradition.) Then, in the afternoon, we'd usually go to the beach! (This was in San Juan, Puerto Rico.) My sister and I were just talking about what happy memories we have of Easter.
ReplyDeleteWishing everyone who celebrates a joyful Easter and a very happy end to Passover. There are so many lovely traditions that go with both holidays. I love the stories of Easter egg hunts and Easter Baskets and Easter Bunnies. Those traditions are so colorful and perfect for little ones. Interestingly, eggs are a part of the Passover tradition, too.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was young, Passover meant a new dress, new patent leather tee straps, and sometimes a new little hat to wear to synagogue. It was one of the few times during the year when my mother would come and climb the stairs to the women's section. And how I hated to have to put a winter coat over that Spring finery when the weather didn't cooperate.
Happy Easter to all who are celebrating. Oh Rhys, all those couplets! Easter was Easter baskets, lots of chocolate eggs and bunnies, breakfast , church. I don’t remember much about Easter dinners, Probably ham. Now it’s church, and mid afternoon diner with friends and some family. This year ai found little dark chocolate rabbits to put by everyone’s place card.
ReplyDeleteI love the Easter baskets and the rhyming couplet clues! Brilliant. I can see why your kids wanted the tradition even when grown. I hope they do pass it on.
ReplyDeleteIn our case, no hunts, but we did dye and decorate our eggs, which felt like a big deal. Also, we went to whatever church was near us (we moved a lot, and my mom was flexible 🙂) and we did dress our best for the day.
Happy Easter, and a peaceful end to Passover to all who celebrate. We no longer observe at the traditional church services, but I have fond memories and photos from my childhood of dressing up and walking as a family to Easter Mass.
ReplyDeleteI've spent so many years of my life making Easter baskets for children--since 1970! This will be the first year ever since that I have not. Zak is 20, and although he is, like me, a dark chocolate afficionado, we spent time together this week picking out delicacies at the local foodie paradise for him. Before this, though, I dyed or painted eggs, chose just the right candy, and picked out small toys for the kids, then hid eggs in the yard for them to find. Even when I was a kid, because I was the oldest, I'd stage egg hunts for my younger siblings while our mother was at work. Until once an unfound egg hidden in the couch cushions began to stink up the place a couple weeks later. Oops.
I'm roasting a leg of lamb later, a special treat which we are all looking forward to!
Yum, lamb. We used to have lamb for Easter as well--but it's ham this year, because we have some anti-lamb family members.
DeleteLiving on a farm meant that Easter and Passover were the seasons of life and death. Our sheep and goats had all had their kids and lambs in January and most were slaughtered for the various religious groups. For a farmer it was interesting producing the right product for each customer, as each wanted a different sized dressed animal. Italian wanted small – slightly bigger than rabbit sized, Greek wanted about 60 lbs dressed – good for whole barbecued or baked underground, and Passover was more like what is called spring lamb. Most were slaughtered in our yard, so our kids were very aware of the cycles of life and death – which is the underlying theme of the religious holidays. Meanwhile there were baby chicks, and baby ducks and mud! The various families who came for their animals all brought us the pastries of their traditions, which I found most enlightening and delightful. Also ouzo…
ReplyDeleteThis year we have no one here but ourselves. It is very pleasant. I was thinking of serving yeast-waffles for lunch (new recipe), but I think the yeast may have been old – not much rise in the batter so far. Supper was scheduled to be scrambled chocolate eggs – does that fall under the vegetarian category? May have steak instead…
Happy Spring Holiday to all!
😳
DeleteMargo, one doesn’t think of the slaughtering side! Of course those roast lambs come from someone’s farm! I dont think I’d be able to eat lamb if I’d seen!
DeleteRhys & others,
DeleteWe believed that they lived a good life. They were always warm, always well-fed, lived all their lives in a social and matriarchal society, and on the day, one minute they were with the mother and the next minute they were very humanely gone. No comparison to supermarket lamb. They taste delicious as does all farm to fork instantly meat. We appreciated them. By the way, the kids had no issues, and although they did not watch, they were aware of what was happening.
Margo, every fall my husband shoots a doe, field dresses it, and ages it appropriately. Later, we together process the meat for our freezer, to feed us throughout the year. It always feels respectful in this ritual; we only take what we need, and we treat it with the care it deserves. Steve is a meat hunter, not a trophy seeker, and he uses a bow and arrow most of the time, which gives the animal a chance. Plus, we aren't getting weird chemicals in our food, or corn-fed animals who don't naturally eat grains. I have enormous respect for farmers like you and Selden.
DeleteNo traditions here anymore. I don't do the stuff that happened as a kid obviously. And I don't go anywhere to have a meal anymore since my friend Ann is on her World Retirement Tour.
ReplyDeleteAnd since I'm pretty much as anti-religion as one could imagine, that part of the holiday holds zero interest for me.
When I was a child, Easter meant church and Easter baskets. We would take flowers from the garden for the flowering of the cross. Now that I'm a church person as an adult, Easter means the Easter Vigil, a long service that starts at 8 pm in the dark, with the coming of new light when a spark is used at the back of the church to light candles and the flame is passed forward to each person's individual candle.. There's lots of music and readings, some traditional, some less so. Last night we heard a piece of a poem from Rev. Pauli Murray which brought me to tears. Eventually we get to the Alleluias and bell ringing and an Easter proclamation (by then the lights are on) and then Communion. Our service last night was bilingual and beautiful, with our incredible choir. The afterparty was tamales and Andean flute music. I skipped out before the dancing, as I knew I would wake up early. It's back to church at 9 for another service with guest brass musicians, then dinner at my sister's with family and friends. Happy Easter to those who celebrate!
ReplyDeleteI sang last night at the vigil. Two and a half hours! The music is fabulous but it’s so long! Skipping this morning as we’re eating early with our grandson before he goes back to college
DeleteWhat lovely traditions, Gillian. It sounds very peaceful and energizing.
DeleteI have a tradition every Easter: Eating lotsa chocolate to get a big fat keister.
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter and the end of Passover to all who celebrate! When I was growing up Easter meant going to Church wearing a dress and a hat and white gloves! My sister and I got a new pair of gloves each year! We also had an Easter basket and we hunted for eggs hidden in the living room. The candy eggs were bright colours and were white inside. They came in two sizes! Sometimes they were hard to bite into. Our grandfather came over for supper, which was ham and scalloped potatoes, and brought us each a chocolate egg from the Laura Secord chocolate shop. On the day before Easter we blew out real eggs and had fun dying them and making patterns on them. The blown out yolks and whites became scrambled eggs for lunch. We had a contest to see who could blow out the yolk without breaking it! Thanks for the memories, Rhys.
ReplyDeleteEaster traditions? Easter egg hunt, Easter chocolate eggs and Easter chocolate marshmallow rabbits. At University, a friend introduced me to Hot Cross buns.
ReplyDeleteThis year is the first Easter that I will miss out because of my darn sinus infection so my Easter weekend will be drinking lots of liquids.
Happy Easter to all who celebrate and Happy Passover to all who celebrate.
Diana, this has been going on so long. I hope you get better soon !
DeleteYes, Diana. Ae you on medication/antibiotics to make the infection go away?
DeleteEaster was a big celebration in my Methodist family. New patent leather shoes, a frilly dress and an Easter bonnet. And of course, a basket filled with candy. I loved black jelly beans!
ReplyDeleteCandy for breakfast and new outfits for church. Purses and gloves and hats and shiny new shoes. Easter Blessings to you all!
ReplyDeleteAnd trying to beat my mother to the “black jelly beans”! and Daddy frowning as she and I delighted in candy breakfast. Good memories. Thank you for triggering them. Happy Easter. Elisabeth
DeleteThe obligatory family photo in all our finery in which my brother would have a wide toothy grin complete with back jelly beans stuck on his front teeth.
ReplyDeleteClassic brother move!
DeleteThanks Rhys, Happy Easter to your family. How clever to have clues to find the eggs. My grandkids would love that challenge. I grew up celebrating Easter - we'd wake up and have an Easter Egg hunt then go to church. I loved going because we always got new clothes and it's just a joyful time. My husband is Jewish so we celebrate Jewish holidays and attend Temple for services but have Passover at our home with friends and family. When my devote Episcopalian parents were still living they'd share in all the Jewish holidays with us including our daughters Bat Mitzvahs. Our kids grew up knowing about both religions which gives for understanding of both.
ReplyDeleteOh, Rhys, I love your clues! So clever in so many ways, and how wonderful that they became such a tradition.
ReplyDeleteAnd we used to get some sort of waxy clear crayon-like thing to draw on eggs, and then when you dyed them, the dye would not attach to the wax and you could make designs. Anyone remember that?
ReplyDeleteI remember that, Hank. None of my eggs came out as well as I hoped though.
DeleteYes and we used the crayon to make a name egg for each person as placecard at the table.
DeleteI definitely remember the wax to make patterns!
DeleteWe did Easter Egg hunts when my oldest kids were very small, with those reusable plastic eggs which I would stuff with candy. Of course, this being Maine, it wasn't uncommon to be able to hid the eggs behind a snowbank. It was very nice when my Episcopal church started doing a group egg hunt downstairs, where the children didn't have to bundle up in parkas and mittens to participate!
ReplyDeleteAs a child myself, I recall my sister and I getting matching Easter dresses, made by my mother, who was an excellent seamstress. We would dye eggs under her supervision, and my favorite thing was the kit with stickers, so you could add bunny ears and goofy eyes to your egg. After the holiday, we could count on egg salad sandwiches with occasional flashes of blue and pink. Mmmm, egg salad sandwiches...
I grew up in northern New Jersey. Holsten's a restaurant/sweet shop in Bloomfield made their own chocolate and Easter treats. Sometime in the weeks before Easter Dad would pile us in the car and off we'd go. I was allowed to pick out a basket and all the fixings. Then Mom would select a special Easter treat that would appear in the basket after Church on Easter Sunday. My favorite was a hollow sugar egg with a paper scene inside.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if Holsten's still makes their own treats. These memories are from the 1960s - you may be familiar with the restaurant from the Sopranos! It was featured in the last episode.
My childhood memories are of dressing up in a new Easter dress and going to church. Sadly, I don’t remember any fancy brunch or dinner; I say “sadly” because I am sure my mom put a lot of effort year after year into a meal I don’t remember. Our egg hunt was indoors if it was raining, otherwise in the yard where the dog couldn’t get to them.
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter and end of Passover to those who celebrate. Happy Spring Sunday to everyone! — Pat S
Holidays are interesting.
ReplyDeleteI remember that for Easter we would get a new dress (spring weight) and a new spring coat. It was dependably cold on Easter.
For Christmas we got snow items, like a metal disk for sledding. It was predictable warm, not a snowflake in sight.