1. Quiet time for Mom 12 – 3 p.m. on Good Friday afternoon to correspond to time Christ hung on the cross.
2. Easter jackets fully lined in pastel tweeds or plaids made by Aunt Ruthie. Easter dresses by Mom, sometimes with smocking or embroidery.
3. Home-made peanut butter and coconut eggs covered in glossy chocolate. (See recipe in “Mom’s Kitchen” blog post.)
4. Fancy lady hats donated by Grandma’s dear friend, Mame Goss, who worked in a millinery shop. No, we didn’t wear them to church!
5. Easter eggs hidden under the pear tree, lilac bushes, behind the chicken house, in the tulips, wherever.
6. Deep voices singing full force “Up-from-the-grave-He-arose” from the hymn Christ Arose.
7. Aunts, uncles, cousins surrounding a huge table groaning with ham and all the fixings.
What are your memories of this season?
Marian, you do bring back many memories with your blog. I too always had a new dress made by my mother and a new hat to go with it. I wore my hat to church. Oh how I remember those Easter dinners with all the uncles, aunts and cousins. It was very special to me since my mother was an only child and that meant no uncles, aunts or cousins. Do you remember the “cousins” table with all that good food. I remember all the desserts the most since I must have had a “sweet tooth” even those many years ago. I would always get a basket that was hidden somewhere in the living room. Don’t remember ever hunting eggs but I did color eggs a few times.
Your mother was just the best seamstress. I’m glad you have happy memories being with the Metzler bunch.
Yes she was a very good seamstress. She would have rather sewn than cooked. When I was old enough she left me cook while she would sew and then the best part was she would clean the kitchen and do the dishes. Pretty good deal for me. 🙂
I remember loving to hear those bass voices sing “Up from the Grave.” Another favorite was “Lift Your Glad Voices.” Mother and I would sing these songs together at this time of year as we washed and dried the dishes.
Another memory? Dandelion salad!
My Mother would gather dandelion “weeds” with her trowel. Then she would boil them and serve them with “snipples” of fried bacon and 1-2 chopped up hard-boiled eggs. Somehow I think a little vinegar was involved too. Yum-yum!
Exactly! I’m putting the Mennonite Community Cookbook recipe for this delectable dish in my memoir. And I can see my mother in the yard with her trowel too. 🙂