Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays over the course of the year. A classic Easter for my family consists of the following: Waking up early in the morning and driving forty-five minutes to attend our church, then after the service, driving over to Essex, Connecticut to visit our relatives where we anxiously wait for the remainder of our family to pour through the doors with the wonderful chaos of barking dogs, Swedish meatballs, Easter eggs and some sort of vegan pie. All of my cousins and I literally have countdowns until we see each other so Easter is definitely no exception. When we all come together it is absolutely impossible to have a bad time. We normally have some sort of an “extreme” Easter egg hunt involving my dad somehow managing to get eggs at the top of forty foot trees. He puzzles me ever year with his crazy egg placement. I would say that about three eggs probably go missing every year. After the hunt, we are called in for dinner and yep, once again I walk past the fancy china and swan-folded satin napkins to find my nametag on the kids table in the side room. I don’t think I will ever get promoted to the adult table and somehow that is perfectly okay with me. After becoming fully stuffed to the brim, we trade our fancy Easter attire for more suitable outdoor clothes and take a hike down to the lake as we enjoy one of the first beautiful weeks of spring. Normally some variation of a plant or water fight takes place. Ahhh. Just another perfect Easter Sunday.
When I realized we would be in South Africa on Easter this year, I knew that April 4th would probably be the day I became homesick. There is such a variety of different people with different beliefs living in this house together so I wasn’t sure how people would feel about the idea of possibly having a little Easter dinner. To my surprise, everyone was incredibly supportive and wanted to do anything they could to help make this dinner come together. Pamela and I planned the dishes that the meal would consist of and went shopping for the various items at our favorite grocery store Pick n’ Pay. The Saturday before Easter, we began the intense food-prep. Au Gratin Potatoes. My mom’s recipe that I though I would bring to South Africa with me. Cheesecake. Kayley and I delicately crushed cookies by hand for the crust as Pamela whipped the filling. To fully put the Easter traditions in motion, we bought about 40 eggs to dye Saturday night. Everyone got creative with the Easter egg dying to the point where a few of the eggs looked like works of art. The following morning, everyone in the house was up and ready for the Easter egg hunt. The house went from cheery to competitive in under 30 seconds as I witness a few incidents of shoving and badmouthing to get ahead in the egg count. After the competition it was time to get cooking. It was wonderfully surprising that everyone helped out in some way, shape or form. Whether it was cooking the lamb or a side dish, setting the table, clearing the table, washing dishes, or last minute shopping trips everyone took part in the Easter dinner prep and celebration. Then when it was all done, we sat down together for a nice Easter dinner around the table on the patio. Not only was the food incredible, but we all came together for my favorite holiday in a not-so classic setting, I really felt like I was amongst my family. And the best part is that I didn’t even have to sit at the kids table.
No comments:
Post a Comment