Easter is our Word of the Week

This week we’ve been thinking a lot about Easter. Not for the reasons you might think. We were mostly thinking about a break away from routines. A welcome break from the bustle. As children, we loved the Easter holidays when we were growing up. This week I am going to share some of the traditions around Easter that we used to have when we were growing up.

First of all, there would be no school from Good Friday for a full week. That was truly bliss. Not having to wake up early, to go get the bus or train to school meant that we could stay in bed longer, play with friends, and just be home, in our safe space.

Then I am reminded of the foods we used to have at Easter time. A lot of families would not cook much during that time. Prior to the Easter weekend, the elders in the family would fry fish and cover them in a spicy escovitch sauce and that would be served at mealtimes with bread. A whole hunk of break, lol. Usually, meat would not be prepared. It had something to do with blood and the fact that Jesus shed His blood during Easter. Please don’t quote me, but I think that was the reason..

Another favourite food at Easter time is a spiced bun served with cheese. We sometimes make our own bun but not very often. The price of the ready-made version isn’t too bad, but you can definitely make your own.

There used to be an element of frustration when it came to the cheese. This is because the favourite cheese is by a brand called Tastee, and the cheese came in a large tin, which many people found difficult to open. All sorts of tools were used to attempt to get into the tin and it only ended in some swearing, sweating and resolving to never buy a whole tin of cheese ever again.

This week, I saw a TikTok saying how nowadays we can send people out into space, and still, all these years, Tastee still can’t find an easy way for us to get to their cheese! It made me chuckle. I think a pull-back lid or a lid with a key (like those on canned corned beef) would be a solution. These days, we don’t frustrate ourselves, we just use a regular can opener to open one end, use a knife to cut out a wedge of the cheese (eat that to compensate for the hard work), and then insert a spatula into the space where the wedge came from, and scoop out the rest of the cheese. It usually comes out willingly then and you can slice it up and freeze a portion for later use. It is a cheddar cheese and makes a nice macaroni cheese as the flavour is good and the colour is between a peachy, orange colour.

Recently, I think, Tastee has made some really small sizes of their cheese, and they do have an easy-open lid that just peels back. It is not yet available in the larger size though.

There used to be a tradition by the older folk too, to crack an egg in a clear glass of water before the sun rose on Easter Sunday. Then, they would look at the formation later in the day to predict what the future had in store for them. Sadly, some people saw formations like a casket, but some saw a formation more similar to an airplane. The person’s mood for the day would be set, based on what they saw.

Whatever the formations that came up, most people would still go to church on Easter Sunday morning to thank God for sending His son Jesus to die on the cross so that they could choose Him and the eternal life offered. What lovely hope, for those who believe!

We kids were not too bothered and would look forward to the fair on Easter Monday. There would always be one put on by a church, school, or community centre. Those were fun, and it was nice to play games and see your friends in other settings outside of school.

Another thing we remember is that there was some sort of tree that was said to bleed around Easter time, and only then, if it was cut. We can’t say we have ever seen it, but we do remember people saying so.

Back to Easter, break present day. We will be glad to have very little to do that has to be done. Yes, we will do what must be done, but not within any timescale as such. One of the traditions we still keep up (the culinary kind) is the eating of fish rather than meat/poultry. We have quite a good amount waiting to be done and stored in the fridge to be eaten whenever we choose. We do have bun and cheese too, and that will be had. So not much cooking, especially since the younger ones will be away on holiday!

We will take the opportunity too to plant some flowers and vegetables we have been molly-cuddling in the house, lol. Hopefully, the garden water feature can come out of hibernation and can take its rightful place in the garden. Some of the garden chairs need a coat of paint too, so that will be done.

However it turns out, we hope you have an enjoyable Easter break. Sorry if we bored you with our reminiscing but when you are hundreds of miles away from home you spend a lot of your time doing that. Bear with us, lol. We could be sitting on the beach, but we can only wish for now.

Thanks, as always, to Anne for allowing us to join in with this lovely linkie and, of course, to you for reading our musings.

Easter blessings,

Jo and Leisa