Easter used to be an important holiday in my family. I think it was my dad’s favorite holiday; I believe he liked Easter even more than Christmas. I don’t know if it was because his birthday was toward the end of March so sometimes Easter would be close to or fall on his birthday, if it was because of the traditional Polish food, or a combination. It could very well have been something else entirely. Whatever the reason, my dad loved it.
The traditional Polish Easter breakfast at my house included
fresh kielbasa (with marjoram; HAD to have marjoram or it wasn’t holiday
kielbasa), seeded rye bread, a butter lamb, the Placek my grandmother used to
make, then later we bought from one of the many Polish bakeries that used to be
all across town, Krakus ham, colored Easter eggs, potato salad, Niagara
chocolate, and a cake my sister would make when she and her family would come
to Buffalo for Easter.
Most years when her kids were younger, the whole family would come to Buffalo for Easter. We had some normal traditions, like the food, but one tradition was so odd that I’m sure it’s got to be unique to my family. As many traditions do, this started quite accidentally.
Way back in the 1900’s, Niagara chocolate would box their
dimensional chocolate. It would be in a bed of shredded plastic or paper (aka
EastroTurf) and boxed unlike today where it’s only wrapped in a plastic bag. One
year, my mom miscounted the easter baskets, and instead of a cute pastel
basket, the Easter Bunny hid my candy in a box. Not quite the “I got a rock”
experience of Charlie Brown, but sure, I felt forgotten.
When I pulled out my Easter box, my niece and nephews
thought that it was the coolest thing ever. They asked all year if this coming
Easter would be the one where the Easter bunny hid a box instead of a basket. One
by one, it turned into a rite of passage that the Easter bunny brought them a
box instead of a basket.
Today is Easter. My kids are hundreds of miles away and I
don’t feel the need to continue Easter traditions without them. I slept late. I
made carrot cookies. I talked to my kids. That’s as traditional as today was.
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| *cake I made circa 2019 |
I hope you enjoyed
your day, whether it was a holiday, a regular day, a rainy day, or a sunny day.
Leave me a comment and let me know what you did!
