EASTER

It is all about Easter, I am typing what I have been reading about which I thought it is worth to be shared. Basically, it is only cut and paste from the source.  You may know already everything about Easter and its tradition; however, I thought it is good to broaden our knowledge to learn more.

Easter with Us.
Food-cooking: basically cooking for Easter for me is thanksgiving for family get together, they come home. We are blessed that the children and family are home to celebrate Easter with us.
Religiously:  We celebrate our new life, through sacrifice we are saved, Jesus died for us so we can live. In the Catholic religion, people go to the rituals of Easter from Holy Thursday, Good Friday, to Easter Sunday to commemorate the love of Jesus.
YES, every day is a new day, a new life that we all have to embrace and appreciate,   Sometimes we fall and fail, but we get up to be strong again because we believe in Jesus and believe in the love of our family also in the love of people around us.
  
On Easter Sunday we get together for the celebration with beautiful food to share.  Meat dishes, bread and eggs are on our Menu every Easter.

The menu on One Easter

Roast Lamb

Steamed bread buns and a Rich bread-brioche and chocolate eggs

Fresh Boiled Eggs

Easter food symbolism
Much written about the symbolism/traditions of Easter foods.  These foods work on three levels:

1. Those items related explicitly to Christ (lamb, the 'Lamb of God')
2. Those items traceable to pagan rites of spring (eggs=rebirth, ham=luck, lamb=sacrifice, cake bread=fertility)
3. Modern interpretation & evolutions (candy and toys in fancy baskets)

"Easter foods are primarily those of Easter Sunday, the day on which Jesus rose from the dead, a day of special rejoicing for Christians, who rejoice too at reaching the end of long Lenten fast.  The concept of renewal/rebirth is responsible for the important role played by the egg in Easter celebrations, a role which no doubt antedates Christianity.  There also special foods associated with the other days in the Easter calendar. . . . In Europe, there is a general tradition, not confined to Christians, that Easter is the time to start eating the season's new lamb, which is just coming onto the market then. .. Easter bread, cakes and biscuits are a major category of Easter foods, perhaps especially noticeable in the predominantly Roman Catholic countries of south and central Europe...Traditional bread is laden with symbolism in their shapes, which may make reference to Christian faith. . . In England, bread or cakes flavoured with bitter tansy juice used to the popular Easter foods... Simnel cake has come to be regarded as an Easter speciality, although it was not always so.  The most popular English Easter bread is the hot cross bun..."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson (Oxford University Press: Oxford) 1999 (p.266-7)
(NOTE: This book (any many others) have extensive information about traditional Easter foods.  If you need more information, please ask your librarian to help you find these)

Easter Breakfast with Us 2012

Where did the Easter bunny come from?
"Among the most familiar Easter symbols is the rabbit.  The Easter bunny or rabbit is most likely of pre-Christian origin.  The rabbit was known as an extraordinarily fertile creature, and hence it symbolised the coming of spring.  Although adopted in as several Christian cultures, the Easter  bunny has never received any specific Christian interpretation."
----"Easter."----Encyclopedia of Religion, 2 edition, Lindsay Jones, editor in chief (Thomson Gale: Detroit) 1987, volume 4 (page 2580)

EASTER  EGGS
Eggs are traditionally connected with rebirth, rejuvenation and immortality.  This is why they are often associated with Easter.  On a more practical level? In the new Christian calendar, eggs were forbidden during Lent.  This made them bountiful and exciting forty days later.  Easter eggs are sometimes decorated with bright colours to honour this celebration.  Russian Faberge and Ukrainian Pysanky are two of the most elaborate forms. Conversely, the abstinence of eggs is associated with Lent.
"The Pennsylvania Dutch imported the Oschter Haws, or Easter Hare, who delivered coloured eggs to good children...By the early nineteenth century, entire Pennsylvania Dutch villages would turn out with gaily decorated Easter eggs to play games, including egg-eating contests."
---Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Andrew F.Smith editor[Oxford University Press: New York] 2004, Volume1 (p.419)

Because the use of eggs was forbidden during Lent, they were brought to the table on Easter Day, coloured red to symbolise the Easter Joy.  This custom is found not only in the Latin but also in the Oriental Churches.  The symbolic meaning of a new creation of mankind by Jesus rose from the dead was probably an invention of later times.  The custom may have its origin in paganism, for a great many pagan traditions, celebrating the return of spring, gravitated to Easter.  The egg is the emblem of the germinating life of early spring. Easter eggs, the children are told, come from Rome with the bells which on Thursday go to Rome and return Saturday morning.  The sponsors in some countries give Easter eggs to their god-children.  Coloured eggs are used by children at Easter in a sort of game which consists of testing the strength of the shells (Kraus, Real-Encyklop die.s.v.Ei).  Both coloured and uncoloured eggs are used in some parts of the United States for this game, known as"egg-picking".  Another practice is the "egg-rolling "by children on Easter Monday on the lawn of the White House in Washington."
-----The Catholic Encyclopedia

On one Easter, I prepared these eggs for my family.

To prepare and to cook the eggs.
It is almost a recipe, but mainly about 'how to do.'
Using fresh eggs,  decorate with fresh herbs before they are boiled.  Attach the fresh leaf-herb or any leaf which has a pretty shape on the egg then wrap it up securely in stocking material.  Boil the eggs in water with onion skins, tea leaves and salt until they are cooked (not soft boiled).  When it is cold, unwrap them, polish the shell with oil and place them on a rack for a while before putting on a basket or serving dish.  They keep well in the refrigerator.



Why do we have Easter egg hunts?
"From very early days the finding of eggs has been identified with riches.  The relationship is readily apparent.  Eggs are a treasure, a bounty of nature, and when hens are unconfined, they deposit these treasures in unexpected places.  To find such a hidden nest before a hen has started to set and incubate the eggs is a perfect analogy to finding the hidden treasure."
----The Chicken Book, Page Smith & Charles Daniel [University of Georgia Press: Athens GA] 2000 (p 166-7)

Easter Egg Hunts 2013

It is fun for us to do Easter egg hunts, especially the children/grandchildren, we do it every year. Last year was raining, the Easter egg hunts took place inside the house, it was fun still. Mary Rose and Thomas were enjoying the pursuits. I remember the end of the hunting vividly,  Mary Rose found a lot, almost filled the basket with chocolate Easter eggs, she was so pleased.

For this year, we are looking forward to having the grandchildren and our children to come home, but Jane's family is not going to be here this year, she will have her Easter with her family in the Netherlands.  We shall miss Jane, her husband Ed and her son Milo.

The family knows what type of cooking I will cook, but dishes from Java are always served to complete the celebration.  To be continued.




Until Next Post
Thanks for Visiting
Susy