Peanut had her first Texas Easter this weekend.
We went (or tried to get to) the Coppell City Easter Egg Hunt, but mama was a bit slow and so our timing was bad. The hunt was scheduled to begin at 11.00 am; we were madly looking for parking at 10 'till. All the spaces at the park and rec center were full and there were some very anxious looking parents cruising up and down the street. At one point, there were three cars trying to make the same turn - no one was giving way. I'm sure these are all polite drivers on any other day, but the Hunt was soon to start!!!
In the end, we missed the o-4 age group hunt, but fortunately some friends shared their booty with us.
We stayed around to watch the next age groups. Now, there wasn't really any 'hunting' per se since the event took place on a softball field. That's right, a field of grass with no bushes, trees, etc. A gator truck rode around the field and three men in the back shoveled out handfuls of candy and plastic eggs until the field was dotted with them. Then, a whistle blew and children trampled over one another to grab up the goodies. It took the oldest age group all of 2 - 3 minutes to clear the field :-)
Over in Finland, Easter is celebrated with a number of traditions.
Mammi (that's a with an umlaut) and pasha are the main dishes I remember. Peanut's papa was actually a mammi fan while I really enjoyed the rich, creamy pasha.
As a child, we would plant grass seeds in a small container indoors before Easter. On Easter morning, the chocolate eggs, jellybeans and little chickies would be hidden among the blades.
In many parts of the country, its still popular with children to dress up as witches (the girls at least) and take pussy willow branches decorated with feathers to your neighbors. You wish them good health for the coming year and in return, recieve some treats, somewhat in a Halloween style. In the four years, I was in Finland, we only ever had one child come by our apartment. It was the one year I had no candy!! Poor girl had to make do with some cookies I luckily had in the cabinet :-)
1 comment:
I like mämmi but Pasha is the real treat on Easter time! In Ilomantsi pasha was more common than in here south. It's originally a Russian treat which orthodox people had in easter night celebration meals. On their passover milk products were forbidden so they used the milk for longer lasting products in order to eat them all in east night.
Nice link to pussy willow branches! :)
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