Marianne, you have been the victim of a cruel, misdirected marketing ploy. There is only ONE hot cross bun flavour, original. Anything else is forbidden under the Geneva Convention. Wars have started over less. Do not be fooled by these gratuitous imposters!!!
Happy Easter! and oh goodness, Marianne, your wonderful (as ever) piece brought back memories of dyeing eggs when a youngster (over 60 years ago now). Not sure how prevalent it was in other parts of the UK, but in northeast England in the early 1960s, it seemed a common Easter practice. Like many older traditions, though, such as 'First Footing' to see in the new year, it has faded from the community memory. We weren't a religious family, but yes, fish on Good Friday was de rigueur (in fact I recall, again when young, fish was eaten every Friday rather than meat). The memory I have of chocolate eggs is that I could not touch them until Easter Sunday and only after lunch. I now live alone, and while I love roast lamb, it does leave a lot of leftovers, so I have chosen this year to go for a twist on tradition and cook slowly stewed lamb in white wine on a mirepoix base with bay leaves, red chilli and saffron and served with casarecce. Followed of course by, in my case, a few chunks of a 'Galaxy' chocolate egg 😉
Happy Easter to you, too, Harry! Glad to hear this brought back wonderful memories. Oh I have heard of 'First Footing' and have that saved to talk about in the new year. But I do find it interesting how traditions fade and evolve.
Your Easter dinner sounds absolutely delicious. Enjoy! 😊
Thank you - I wrote about my memories of first footing in a ‘Meander’ (I think you subscribe) in early January of this year that you might find of interest.
I too remember dying eggs Harry, it was practiced in the North West too. We then took our decorated eggs to the one and only hill (more of a bump really) and groups of children rolled them down on Easter Sunday. Only then were we allowed to eat our chocolate egg. I'm glad it's still a tradition in the USA. I was led to believe that this tradition was associated with the rolling away of the stone from the Tomb. Luke 24:2.
I always love the way that in this crazy world of technology one of our major holidays is based on what the moon is doing . Every year it's adjusted and people can always be heard saying " oh yes Easter is late this year " . I prefer it to consumer frenzy of Christmas and if no kids around its just a really great family meal . Our only ritual is to find the Jersey Mids , best potatoes in the world . As for Cadburys all year round creme eggs personally i think the chocolate has changed for the worse ... after the americans brought the company !!! ... sorry Marianne 🐥🐥
I hadn't thought about it that way, but I like that we do celebrate a holiday based on what the moon is doing. Jersey Mids? Are they only around this time of year?
Oh no need to apologize about the chocolate. I've tasted them before and after the Americans bought the company and completely agree with you.
Well thats the thing M . All depends on the time of Easter . I can say that in the last 45 years we have only ever gone without a couple of times. Only good greengrocers know the difference and I have , over the years , built up contacts. I had a student once from Jersey and he said they like to keep the best ones for themselves !
Egg hunts are a fairly new thing. In my childhood in the 1960s in Scotland it was only ever Easter egg rolling. A link to the stone being rolled away from Jesus's tomb. You decorated your egg then rolled it down the local egg rolling hill, then ate the (hard boiled) contents once the shell had smashed. Inevitably, bits of grass were also consumed. Egg hunts seem a more commercial development designed to get punters through the door at a venue eg National Trust.
Around 50 years ago I was teaching what is now called Year 3 kids and made the mistake of getting the class to decorate eggs. Hard boiled dozens of them (eggs, not children) at home. This was at a time when "natural" was a thing.
I saved onion skins for gold colour, brought beetroot for blue and - you get the picture. We used wax to paint names or designs. I had failed to do a risk assessment on boiling water and heating wax among large numbers of children. By the end of the day, the kids were delighted, multi-coloured, and miraculously uninjured.
I was a wreck. The TA muttered curses.
Parents: oh, that's nice darling, we'll have it for tea.
P.s. Brown eggs came in because people thought they tasted better and were more nourishing. We are told this is a myth, but we're still buying them.
What an adventure! But I bet the kids will remember this forever!
I believe the same sentiment exists in the U.S. regarding brown eggs. The brown eggs actually cost more than the white eggs because they're thought to be more nutritious and taste better.
I do love these weekly pieces. As a Brit who has never visited the US, they give me a fascinating insight into life on the other side of the Atlantic, but are even more revealing about the things I’ve taken for granted all my life as they are viewed through the eyes of a curious and sympathetic observer from beyond these shores.
My local bakery here in the States does hot cross buns in the weeks leading up to Easter, and I consume a truly staggering number of them ever year because they are delicious. However, they Americanize them by applying the crosses with a screamingly sweet icing rather than baking them in, as the British seem more likely to do. I think I'd prefer the latter, personally, but I'm never going to say no to a hot cross bun of any kind.
As an American in the U.K. with a decidedly heathen family who love roast lamb dinners and chocolate eggs (and four day weekends), what this article did for me was make me nostalgic for the “beauty pageants” my mother and sister and I used to “hold” (🤣) at our Catholic Church in New Jersey on Easter Sunday when we would see the adorable outfits the little kids would be wearing and we would debate about who won the “prize”. We’d put on our best Joan Rivers at the Oscars red carpet accents and have such a blast with each other. I miss that. Happy Easter everyone!
Ah that does sound like the American way. I am glad you are able to get them in the States though. I'd never seen them in my part of the States. Have a lovely Easter!
Re the Cadbury crème eggs. I pondered recently how their availability is soon after Christmas these days. One of the reasons that Easter means chocolate in the UK is that chocolate was typically what children (and grownups) would give up for Lent. Now, as an adult, I find myself buying the crème eggs early and feasting on them until they’re no longer available. But when they don’t appear for sale until the Lenten season, then they are an Easter special. Marketing them for so long makes them less about Easter and more about a confection that you can indulge in at any time.
A strong memory for me is that the long Easter weekend would be the time to do yard work. Just the right time to start outdoor projects after being mostly inside since Christmas.
Simnel cake is I would say very much an English thing and probably southern English too. My grandfather (a baker and confectioner) had never made it until he moved to Bristol from Scotland (via Liverpool and Manchester)
Your comments on egg dying were interesting. I’m under the impression this is a strong tradition in Italy, too. Maybe part of the diaspora that makes up the US?
Hi, I've really enjoyed this article but I'm intrigued about the dyed eggs in the US - what do you do with them after they're dyed, but before you make them into devilled eggs? Do you display them somewhere? Do you just say "well that was fun" and pop them back in the fridge?
Like a few others in the comments I'm old enough to remember dying or painting eggs as a child (in Lincolnshire, although we moved there from the NW so maybe brought the tradition with us). However, the eggs were usually used for an egg hunt or rolling the following day and not eaten at all, since cooked eggs (I was taught) should be stored carefully if you plan to eat them. So I'm intrigued at the thought of decorating them, presumably to admire and enjoy, and then eating them a day later!
Great question. In my family, we'd dye the eggs on Saturday afternoon or evening and put them in the fridge. Then, the dyed eggs would turn up in our Easter baskets on Sunday morning. We would then put them back in the fridge pretty quickly after. They would then be made into deviled eggs for Sunday dinner. We were very careful to make sure they were stored properly and never left out for too long before eating.
Marianne, you have been the victim of a cruel, misdirected marketing ploy. There is only ONE hot cross bun flavour, original. Anything else is forbidden under the Geneva Convention. Wars have started over less. Do not be fooled by these gratuitous imposters!!!
😂 You and my partner would get along well. We only have the original flavor in this house. Happy Easter!
I was just going to say this. There's no need for extra flavours, though they do need to be spiced properly.
Happy Easter! and oh goodness, Marianne, your wonderful (as ever) piece brought back memories of dyeing eggs when a youngster (over 60 years ago now). Not sure how prevalent it was in other parts of the UK, but in northeast England in the early 1960s, it seemed a common Easter practice. Like many older traditions, though, such as 'First Footing' to see in the new year, it has faded from the community memory. We weren't a religious family, but yes, fish on Good Friday was de rigueur (in fact I recall, again when young, fish was eaten every Friday rather than meat). The memory I have of chocolate eggs is that I could not touch them until Easter Sunday and only after lunch. I now live alone, and while I love roast lamb, it does leave a lot of leftovers, so I have chosen this year to go for a twist on tradition and cook slowly stewed lamb in white wine on a mirepoix base with bay leaves, red chilli and saffron and served with casarecce. Followed of course by, in my case, a few chunks of a 'Galaxy' chocolate egg 😉
Happy Easter to you, too, Harry! Glad to hear this brought back wonderful memories. Oh I have heard of 'First Footing' and have that saved to talk about in the new year. But I do find it interesting how traditions fade and evolve.
Your Easter dinner sounds absolutely delicious. Enjoy! 😊
Thank you - I wrote about my memories of first footing in a ‘Meander’ (I think you subscribe) in early January of this year that you might find of interest.
Oh nice! Yes, I am a subscriber. I will go back and read that. Thank you! 😊
I too remember dying eggs Harry, it was practiced in the North West too. We then took our decorated eggs to the one and only hill (more of a bump really) and groups of children rolled them down on Easter Sunday. Only then were we allowed to eat our chocolate egg. I'm glad it's still a tradition in the USA. I was led to believe that this tradition was associated with the rolling away of the stone from the Tomb. Luke 24:2.
Oh wow, I'd not heard that before Billy.
In the north of England new clothes are for Whitsun and the well dressing and Whitsun marches. Whitsun got fixed as a holiday to its great loss.
I always love the way that in this crazy world of technology one of our major holidays is based on what the moon is doing . Every year it's adjusted and people can always be heard saying " oh yes Easter is late this year " . I prefer it to consumer frenzy of Christmas and if no kids around its just a really great family meal . Our only ritual is to find the Jersey Mids , best potatoes in the world . As for Cadburys all year round creme eggs personally i think the chocolate has changed for the worse ... after the americans brought the company !!! ... sorry Marianne 🐥🐥
I hadn't thought about it that way, but I like that we do celebrate a holiday based on what the moon is doing. Jersey Mids? Are they only around this time of year?
Oh no need to apologize about the chocolate. I've tasted them before and after the Americans bought the company and completely agree with you.
Well thats the thing M . All depends on the time of Easter . I can say that in the last 45 years we have only ever gone without a couple of times. Only good greengrocers know the difference and I have , over the years , built up contacts. I had a student once from Jersey and he said they like to keep the best ones for themselves !
Not quite as much fun as the usual traditions but I was always taught to plant potatoes at Easter.
Oh I love that! Makes sense timing wise.
Egg hunts are a fairly new thing. In my childhood in the 1960s in Scotland it was only ever Easter egg rolling. A link to the stone being rolled away from Jesus's tomb. You decorated your egg then rolled it down the local egg rolling hill, then ate the (hard boiled) contents once the shell had smashed. Inevitably, bits of grass were also consumed. Egg hunts seem a more commercial development designed to get punters through the door at a venue eg National Trust.
Sounds like a lovely tradition and some great memories. Hope you've had a lovely Easter!
Around 50 years ago I was teaching what is now called Year 3 kids and made the mistake of getting the class to decorate eggs. Hard boiled dozens of them (eggs, not children) at home. This was at a time when "natural" was a thing.
I saved onion skins for gold colour, brought beetroot for blue and - you get the picture. We used wax to paint names or designs. I had failed to do a risk assessment on boiling water and heating wax among large numbers of children. By the end of the day, the kids were delighted, multi-coloured, and miraculously uninjured.
I was a wreck. The TA muttered curses.
Parents: oh, that's nice darling, we'll have it for tea.
P.s. Brown eggs came in because people thought they tasted better and were more nourishing. We are told this is a myth, but we're still buying them.
What an adventure! But I bet the kids will remember this forever!
I believe the same sentiment exists in the U.S. regarding brown eggs. The brown eggs actually cost more than the white eggs because they're thought to be more nutritious and taste better.
Have a lovely Easter!
I do love these weekly pieces. As a Brit who has never visited the US, they give me a fascinating insight into life on the other side of the Atlantic, but are even more revealing about the things I’ve taken for granted all my life as they are viewed through the eyes of a curious and sympathetic observer from beyond these shores.
Thank you for your lovely comment. So glad you enjoy them. I love writing them, but especially love hearing from everyone to hear their perspectives.
If you ever need white eggs, Waitrose alway stock them and as a bonus they are cheaper than brown for some strange reason
This is so good to know. Thank you!
My local bakery here in the States does hot cross buns in the weeks leading up to Easter, and I consume a truly staggering number of them ever year because they are delicious. However, they Americanize them by applying the crosses with a screamingly sweet icing rather than baking them in, as the British seem more likely to do. I think I'd prefer the latter, personally, but I'm never going to say no to a hot cross bun of any kind.
As an American in the U.K. with a decidedly heathen family who love roast lamb dinners and chocolate eggs (and four day weekends), what this article did for me was make me nostalgic for the “beauty pageants” my mother and sister and I used to “hold” (🤣) at our Catholic Church in New Jersey on Easter Sunday when we would see the adorable outfits the little kids would be wearing and we would debate about who won the “prize”. We’d put on our best Joan Rivers at the Oscars red carpet accents and have such a blast with each other. I miss that. Happy Easter everyone!
Oh I love this so much and totally know what you mean! Sounds like some fun memories for sure. Hope you have had a lovely Easter! 😊
Ah that does sound like the American way. I am glad you are able to get them in the States though. I'd never seen them in my part of the States. Have a lovely Easter!
Re the Cadbury crème eggs. I pondered recently how their availability is soon after Christmas these days. One of the reasons that Easter means chocolate in the UK is that chocolate was typically what children (and grownups) would give up for Lent. Now, as an adult, I find myself buying the crème eggs early and feasting on them until they’re no longer available. But when they don’t appear for sale until the Lenten season, then they are an Easter special. Marketing them for so long makes them less about Easter and more about a confection that you can indulge in at any time.
A strong memory for me is that the long Easter weekend would be the time to do yard work. Just the right time to start outdoor projects after being mostly inside since Christmas.
Simnel cake is I would say very much an English thing and probably southern English too. My grandfather (a baker and confectioner) had never made it until he moved to Bristol from Scotland (via Liverpool and Manchester)
Your comments on egg dying were interesting. I’m under the impression this is a strong tradition in Italy, too. Maybe part of the diaspora that makes up the US?
Oh interesting. I'm not sure actually. Good question.
Hi, I've really enjoyed this article but I'm intrigued about the dyed eggs in the US - what do you do with them after they're dyed, but before you make them into devilled eggs? Do you display them somewhere? Do you just say "well that was fun" and pop them back in the fridge?
Like a few others in the comments I'm old enough to remember dying or painting eggs as a child (in Lincolnshire, although we moved there from the NW so maybe brought the tradition with us). However, the eggs were usually used for an egg hunt or rolling the following day and not eaten at all, since cooked eggs (I was taught) should be stored carefully if you plan to eat them. So I'm intrigued at the thought of decorating them, presumably to admire and enjoy, and then eating them a day later!
Great question. In my family, we'd dye the eggs on Saturday afternoon or evening and put them in the fridge. Then, the dyed eggs would turn up in our Easter baskets on Sunday morning. We would then put them back in the fridge pretty quickly after. They would then be made into deviled eggs for Sunday dinner. We were very careful to make sure they were stored properly and never left out for too long before eating.
No egg decorating here, but I always bake a batch of hot cross buns for Good Friday breakfast. Nothing tastes better!
That sounds amazing. I haven't yet tried baking hot cross buns yet, but it's on my UK baking bucket list. 😊 Hope you have had a lovely Easter.