Bitsy's Faberge Egg, What the heck is a chocolate "BILBY" and It's Easter, not Halloween guys!



My Little Faberge' Egg - Isn't he beautiful?



Well, it's almost Easter Sunday.  In lots of countries, Peter Rabbit has already done his job.  He's hidden the baskets and is "hopping" on to his next stop.   I love Easter!  It's an important religious and spiritual time to most of us, and a celebration!  On a more personal note, I've also always used it as a very valid reason to eat my weight in ham, candied yams, potato salad, Reese's eggs and of course PEEPS!  It makes me stop and take pause to celebrate Spring and I'm able to justify wearing pastel shirts with bunnies on them.  I think we all get caught up in the Easter egg hunts, making sure the bunny has his "bunny" food and filling baskets full of all that gooey chocolaty goodness!  Traditions run rampant, but what holiday doesn't have it's share of tradition? Tradition certainly isn't anything new with us?  Right?

Well, on this Holy Saturday 2011, I thought I'd explore the traditions we don't hear of often at Easter, not the egg dyeing, bunny visiting, sugary marshmallow messes that we get so wrapped up in, but those others!  The ones that make us wonder . . . . .  "Is she REALLY talking about Easter"? Yep, I am!

I WANT MY CHOCOLATE BILBY???  While we gather around to watch the kids search for Easter eggs and celebrate Easter in awe of our beloved fluffy bunnies, Australians are promoting their native marsupial, the Bilby!  This little mini kangaroo looking rat, is their unofficial mascot of Easter. Apparently Australians have serious beef against rabbits and would rather not be reminded that this pest even exists. I don't know about ya'll, but this Bitsy thinks our friends down under are being a little harsh to my buddy, Peter Cottontail.

Everything you EVER wanted to KNOW about a chocolate BILBY but were afraid to ASK!

Look at them VERY good, they look like a cross between a possum, a kangaroo and a rat.

TRICK OR TREAT.  SMELL MY . . WAIT WHAT?  What could be stranger than "NO chocolate bunnies for Easter"?  Hmmmmmm, let's see what I can come up with.  Maybe the lil girls running around in witch costumes and their faces painted begging for candy?  Ya'll are thinking I have this mixed up with Halloween huh?  Nope, not if you're in Sweden!  In Sweden, Easter is associated with "Walpurgis Night, an age old hoopla that is highlighted with bonfires that serve to ward off evil spirits and chase them away.  Oddly, the bonfires supposedly ward off Judas (and witches too)! From what I've learned, it's apparently a whole lot like our Halloween.  Gosh, that absolutely wipes clean my mental image of a cotton candy pink and baby blue Easter party!

HANG EM' HIGH - LESS CLINT EASTWOOD :(  Likenesses or "effigies" of Judas don't stand a snowballs chance in hell in Greece, Spain, Portugal and Mexico. Many people actually hold a fake trial a few days before Easter, where they publicly hang a life size doll in public leaving it hung by the neck leading up until the Sunday celebration. Then they burn him. Some of the younger generations actually fill the dummy with fireworks. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THE 4TH OF JULY WOULD HAVE TO MOVE OUT OF THE WAY FOR EASTER - COMPLETE WITH LOTS OF THINGS THAT GO "BOOM"?

THE CHRISTMAS TREE BURNING AT EASTER?  Our German friends have a distinct tradition too.  They create an Easter fire out of the used Christmas trees from the previous winter. This one, I can do without.  I do not cherish the thought of sitting around a fire at the end of April in Atlanta, GA.  I just cannot participate due to my ongoing battle with hot flashes!  I think I'll have to bow out of this tradition!

BELLS THAT FLY LIKE SANTA?  In France, Netherlands and Belgium, legend has it that the bells of churches fly to Rome for a few days and only return on Easter morning. The flying bells are supposed to bring back colored eggs and chocolate rabbits, almost like a Santa Claus. This tradition supposedly started because all church bells are silent as a sign or mourning Jesus for several days before Easter.  Either way, it sounds a bit creepy that Santa Claus was replaced by massive metal bell

BEAT YOUR FAMILY FOR EASTER?  In Czechoslovakia during Easter week it’s good luck to beat your wife or the girl you fancy with a pomlázka, or a braided whip. While this may sound strange It’s not meant in a demeaning way or as an insult, in fact pomlázka, means “make young.” The idea behind the tradition is that anyone hit with the whip will be healthy and happy during the upcoming year.  NONE OF THIS SOUNDS VERY "EASTER-LIKE" or "LOVING" TO ME!



LET'S GATHER ROUND THE EASTER TREE!

This is some tree ain't it!



THE EASTER TREE? This tradition was started by a single family more than forty years ago. The Kraft family from Saalfeld, Germany started placing plastic eggs in a tree outside their house in 1965. The tradition has grown from only a handful of plastic eggs to include ornately handblown eggs.


I KNOW YA'LL WANT THE OFFICIAL FAMILY WEBSITE, SO HERE YOU GO: eierbaum-saalfeld.de.

I mean, I can't open my mouth since I always just took the Mardi Gras decorations off the Christmas tree and put up the Easter decorations.  The Lil Momma had a TREE FOR ALL OCCASIONS :)  Not entirely a bad idea!  The tradition is enjoyed by the whole town and if we can have a Christmas tree, why not have an Easter tree?

CANDIED YAMS, HAM & BARANEK WIELKANOCNY?????  I have left my favorite for last!  Baranek Wielkanocny is polish for butter lamb, which is exactly what it sounds like: a lamb conceived entirely out of butter. However, this is not just a decoration as people all around Poland actually consume the lamb on Easter.

The Lamb must always be present if a priest blesses the Easter meal and it should be consumed from the tail, leaving the head as last. I KNOW YA'LL WANT IT, SO HERE IS THE RECIPE JUST IN CASE YOU WANT TO ASSURE YOURSELF A FULL FLEDGED HEART ATTACK ON EASTER:  capnrons.com



Heart attack on a plate - Just Give me the Ham!

Well, I think that wraps up the traditions of other Country's for this year.  Let's take a vote and decide to keep our own.  Let's keep blowing up peeps in the microwave, Let's keep hiding Easter eggs, Let's keep eating so much chocolate that we get a little sick, and most importantly, Let's keep celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  As Christians, that's the very best part of Easter now, isn't it? And lastly, Let's keep enjoying this holiday for the fresh new start it is.  Gosh I love Easter, I mentioned that, right?

Happy Easter ya'll.