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Happy Victorian Easter!
Easter Morn
Easter morn with lilies fair
Fills the church with perfumes rare,
As their clouds of incense rise,
Sweetest offerings to the skies.
Stately lilies pure and white
Flooding darkness with their light,
Bloom and sorrow drifts away,
On this holy hallow'd day.
Easter Lilies bending low
in the golden afterglow,
Bear a message from the sod
To the heavenly towers of God.
~ Louise Lewin Matthews ~
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Dying Easter Eggs--the Natural way!
The Victorian Way!
This Easter, why not color your eggs using nature's very own dyes? It's possible to come up with a great number of colors using natural ingredients that can easily be found in almost any kitchen.
Pale Red: Fresh beets or cranberries, frozen raspberries
Orange: Yellow onion skins
Light yellow: Orange or lemon peels, carrot tops, celery seed or ground cumin
Yellow: Ground turmeric
Pale green: Spinach leaves
Green-gold: Yellow Delicious apple peels
Blue: Canned blueberries or red cabbage leaves
Beige to brown: Strong brewed coffee
To dye the perfect Easter eggs the natural way, here's what to do:
1. Put eggs in a single layer in a pan. Pour water in pan until the eggs are covered.
2. Add about a teaspoon of vinegar.
3. Add the natural dye appropriate to the color you want your eggs to be. (The more eggs you are dying at a time, the more dye you will need to use.)
4. Bring water to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Remove the substance you used to color the eggs. Put eggs in a bowl. If you want your eggs to be a darker shade, cover them with the dye and let them stand overnight in the refrigerator.
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Egg Safety
Eggs have been used to celebrate spring festivals for centuries. Symbolic Easter rabbits and colored eggs came to America with German settlers, and egg hunts have been beloved by children ever since. Easter egg hunts can be fun and safe for all if a few simple guidelines are followed:
Inspect eggs before purchasing them, making sure that they are not dirty or cracked. Dangerous bacteria may enter a cracked egg.
Store eggs in their original carton on a refrigerator shelf until ready for preparation. Keep eggs away from foods with strong odors (such as fish). Be sure that they do not freeze.
For best results with hard-cooked eggs, buy eggs 1 week in advance and refrigerate them. Eggs can be "too fresh" to peel easily.
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On Easter Day the lilies bloom,
Triumphant, risen from their tomb;
Their bulbs have undergone rebirth,
Born from the silence of the earth
Symbolically, to tell all men
That Christ, the Savior, lives again.
The angels, pure and white as they,
Have come and rolled the stone away
And with the lifting of the stone,
The shadow of the cross is gone!
~ June Masters Bacher ~
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The timing of Easter is linked to the Jewish festival of Passover which celebrates the rescuing of God's people from Egypt. Easter happens on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox, (which is the start of spring).
The Christian Easter message is summed up in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 vs 3: "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared ... to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time..."
This Christian message of life after death is now mixed up with earlier pagan festivals which celebrated spring (the return of life), after the death of winter.
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The word "Easter" comes from the Teutonic "Ostern" or "Eastre," who was a Goddess of spring and fertility whose festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox. (That's the date when night and day are both exactly 12 hours each). Some of its traditions are still with us, for instance the Easter bunny was a symbol of fertility and coloured Easter eggs signify the sunlight of spring after a long dark winter.
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The Date of Easter
Prior to A.D. 325, Easter was variously celebrated on different days of the week, including Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In that year, the Council of Nicaea was convened by emperor Constantine. It issued the Easter Rule which states that Easter shall be celebrated on the first Sunday that occurs after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox, or first day of spring. Therefore, Easter must be celebrated on a Sunday between the dates of March 22 and April 25. Its date is tied to the lunar cycle.
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The Cross
The Cross is the symbol of the Crucifixion, as opposed to the Resurrection. However, at the Council of Nicaea, in A.D. 325, Constantine decreed that the Cross was the official symbol of Christianity. The Cross is not only a symbol of Easter, but it is more widely used, especially by the Catholic Church, as a year-round symbol of their faith.
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The Easter Bunny
The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated with the pagan festival of Eastre. The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit.
The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America. It was widely ignored by other Christians until shortly after the Civil War. In fact, Easter itself was not widely celebrated in America until after that time
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The Easter Egg
As with the Easter Bunny and the holiday itself, the Easter Egg predates the Christian holiday of Easter. The exchange of eggs in the springtime is a custom that was centuries old when Easter was first celebrated by Christians.
From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures. Eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf or, if you were a peasant, colored brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals of certain flowers.
Today, children hunt colored eggs and place them in Easter baskets along with the modern version of real Easter eggs -- those made of plastic or chocolate candy.
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Dates of Easter through 2010
4/ 4/1999
4/23/2000
4/15/2001
3/31/2002
4/20/2003
4/11/2004
3/27/2005
4/16/2006
4/ 8/2007
3/23/2008
4/12/2009
4/ 4/2010
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Hot Cross Buns: At the feast of Eostre, the Saxon fertility Goddess, an ox was sacrificed. The ox's horns became a symbol for the feast. They were carved into the ritual bread. Thus originated "hot cross buns". The word "buns" is derived from the Saxon word "boun" which means "sacred ox." Later, the symbol of a symmetrical cross was used to decorate the buns; the cross represent the moon, the heavenly body associated with the Goddess, and its four quarters.
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Hot Cross Buns
Hot Cross Buns are traditionally served on Good Friday (the Friday before Easter)and during the Lenten season, but they are good anytime. This recipe will make 2 1/2 dozen buns.
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup softened butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 1/2 to 7 cups all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1/2 cup dried currents
1/2 cup raisins
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2 Tablespoons water
1 egg yolk
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1 recipe Icing (below)
Have the water and milk at 110-115 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add the warm milk sugar, butter, vanilla, salt, nutmeg, and 3 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating the mixture well after each addition. Stir in the dried fruit and enough flour to make a soft dough.
Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl and turn over to grease the top. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 1 hour).
Punch the dough down and shape into 30 balls. Place on greased baking sheets. Using a sharp knife, cut a cross (or X) on the top of each roll. Cover again and let rise until doubled (about 30 minutes). Beat the water and egg yolk together and brush over the rolls. Bake at 375-degrees F. for 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Drizzle icing over the top of each roll following the lines of the cut cross.
ICING: Combine 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 4 teaspoons milk or cream, a dash of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract. Stir until smooth. Adjust sugar and milk to make a mixture which flows easily.
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Have a Very Happy Easter!
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