Paradise Found

This bunny has been on my front door for many years. He only comes out right before Easter!

Easter – a time of Joy, and Hope for the future. Any many memories to reflect upon in the past.

As a little girl, and all the way through the time I was in high school, Easter also meant preparing. My grandmother and mother and aunt prepared food to be blessed by the Parish Priest before baking and cooking. A long table would be set up in our living room covered with a white cloth and all the ingredients for an Easter dinner would be laid out for the blessing. My mother would get us all dressed up and ready for the priest. We were a little afraid of his long black “dress”! Afterwards he would write with chalk on our door trim in the kitchen “J + M + J and the year. Proof that the house and food had been blessed for the year. And then the baking and cooking began. A beautiful ham, wonderful sides, dessert and plenty of drinks, and of course the very full Easter Baskets!

And there was preparation in dress – the Easter Outfit for Mass. A new hat, coat and dress and shoes too. We loved shopping for the outfits and of course wearing them to Mass. One year, my sister, Marge, and I had little swing jackets – a new style for little girls in second and third grade. Mine was pale blue and hers was pink. They only had one button at the collared neckline and were very new and modern!

I did the same for my children. One year I had matching coats for them with matching hats (one outfit designed for a boy and one for a girl). I had everything ready and we woke up to a huge snow storm! No Mass – we were snowed in! The children stayed in their pj’s and ate their candy all day….

And of course the food preparation that still exists in my house. Babka with raisins is made on Holy Thursday. A simple sweet bread baked in a loaf pan and eaten with whipped butter. I remember this as far back as my memory allows. We always waited for the loaves to come out of the oven – the aroma was so very good. And the melting sweet butter spread across the warm bread was such a treat. My children did the same and now Doug waits too!

The menu has been the same for many years – and pierogi is an important part of the meal. I make it a day or two before Easter and freeze; then prepare just before the meal starts. The main course is always a beautiful ham, these days spiral sliced. We generally don’t have a first course, but serve hors d’oeuvres of deviled eggs and grilled kielbasa. The sides consist of scalloped potatoes and asparagus. The dessert for many years has been a coconut cream pie – homemade. It will remain on the menu this year.

As a child the most fun part of the meal was a Lithuanian tradition of egg cracking. It is a funny tradition but was always well liked in our family. Each person at the table gets to pick a colored, hard boiled egg of his/her choice from a big bowl. Then, whomever wants to start the challenge does so by tapping the top of the egg of the person sitting to their right who holds the egg in their hand. The egg that cracks is out and the winner moves to the next person and their egg until there is one egg (and person) that has not been cracked. No prizes are given but it is a lot of fun. My Uncle Felix always won – his trick was to tap his egg on his gold tooth. If the egg held up he knew he would have a winner!

These days I do a little Easter basket, bow and all, for Doug – he really enjoys it. I always have special Easter candy in little special Easter candy dishes in our living room. In years past based on how many people were guests, I have every kind of candy imaginable – for young and old alike!

This year we won’t have any guests – it will just be the two of us, but the meal will be the same. My Doug is one of so many people that are fighting cancer and we thought it best to concentrate on a restful and more intimate day.

Point is, no matter how big or small your celebration is – join us in celebrating God’s light and hope this Easter. Have a blessed day.

Until next time!