Tis Almost Easter

Good Friday

 

Out here in the village, the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday is important regardless of the denomination.  Although we can do things on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday evenings, we do not plan anything for Thursday to Sunday or its considered disrespectful to the culture and to the churches in town.

I wish everyone who celebrates this weekend has a wonderful time.

Where Did 11 Easter Traditions Originate?

  We all have those family traditions at Easter time from dying eggs, to Easter baskets but where did all these traditions come from?

We all love to dye eggs different colors.  No one is sure exactly when it began but it has been speculated that this tradition goes back to ancient times.  Often people gave colored eggs as gifts welcoming the spring.

Then there is the story of the Easter bunny going hippity hop but the idea of the bunny again came from agent times but it is thought that the idea of the egg laying rabbit came to America with the German immigrants in the 1700's.

Don't forget the hallow chocolate rabbits everyone loves to see in their Easter baskets.  The reason the candy rabbits are hallow is a safe guard for your teeth.  If those huge rabbits  were solid, you'd break your teeth because they'd be so thick and solid, like a brick.

Did you every wonder about Easter Baskets?  they come from the German immigrants again.  They believed that you if you wanted the egg laying hare to stop by, you needed to build a nest.  The nest evolved into the basket we see now.

Of course, if you grew up in certain places, you'd have eaten hot cross buns, those sweet buns with the sign of the cross cut in the top.  I remember eating them when I lived in Australia.  No one is sure when they started but it's thought that hot cross buns began in the 12th century when a monk made the sign of the cross in his buns on a Good Friday.  The earliest record comes from the 1730's in Poor Robin's almanac.

Somewhere along the way, a superstition arose where it was believed that if you wore new clothing on Easter because it would bring good luck for the rest of the year.  In the 1800 parishioners from various churches paraded down fifth avenue after services let out.  The tradition continues to today although the term "finery" has changed over the years.

It is said that when Mary opened Jesus's tomb at sunrise on the Easter and the tomb was empty so many churches hold sunrise services so people can remember.  The first record of a sunrise service shows that a group of young men gathered at a church in Saxony, Germany in 1732. The following year, the whole congregation met for the sunrise service.  the idea spread and within fifty years, sunrise services had made it to the United States.

The tradition of having ham at Easter has been around since at least the sixth century in Germany.  Hunters would go after pigs in the fall and allow them to age over the winter so come spring, pork was one of the first meats ready to eat in the spring. 

In Bermuda, they celebrate Easter by flying kites.  Apparently someone flew a kite to demonstrate how Jesus ascended into heaven.  The idea caught on so now this has become a tradition on the island.

Then there is egg knocking an event dating back to medieval Europe.  Two people, each with an egg, tap the eggs end to end until one cracks and the other survives.  This became a big thing beginning in Marksville, Louisiana where people gather by the courthouse to egg knock until one person is left.  It is so important that some families feed their chickens special foods in the hopes the shells become stronger.

Finally is Osterbrunnen which is a celebration in Germany where people decorate wells with greenery and Easter eggs.  This particular tradition is only about a century old but it has grown so over 200 villages participate including one in Michigan.  This tradition began as a way to honor water and Easter.

So now you know where eleven Easter traditions originated.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.

14 Easter Traditions From Around the World.

Easter weekend is fast approaching.  Sunday is the day when we celebrate Easter.  Here in the village its often times too hard to put the eggs out in the snow so teachers have often organized egg hunts inside the school building. 

Easter is celebrated in different ways in other countries so I thought I'd share several with you.

First is Australia where a group called Rabbit Free pushed to replace the rabbit with the rabbit eared bandicoot because in Australia, rabbits destroy crops and land so now instead of a chocolate rabbit, they sell chocolate bilby's. 

2. In Florence, Italy, they have this unique custom of setting fire to a cart filled with fireworks. This custom known as "Scappio Del Carro has been around since the first crusades and meant to ensure a good harvest.  They fill the cart with fireworks, push it through the streets before stopping in front of the Duomo where the Archbishop of Florence lights the fuse during Mass.  

3. In Finland and other Scandinavian countries, children dress up as witches with made up faces, scarves wrapped around their heads, and carrying twigs with feathers attached as they go around begging chocolates from people. 

4. Poland has an interesting custom dating from 966 AD based on the baptism of the local Prince.  On Easter Monday, boys try to drench others using buckets of water, squirt pistols or other vessel.  If a girl gets drenched, it is said she will marry within the year.

5. Over in Haux, France they celebrate Easter Monday by making a huge omelet using over 4,500 eggs.  It feeds over 1000 people. Supposedly, the tradition began when Napoleon visited the area and loved the omelet he was served so much, he ordered people to gather their eggs and make one for his army.

6. The residents in Corfu, Greece people gather their pots, pans, and anything else made of earthenware and throw them over the balconies to smash on the ground.  It is thought this was originally started to welcome spring.

7. In Norway, book sales of thrillers increase due to the habit of Norwegians reading crime novels so publishers publish special "Easter Thrillers" at this time of the year.  It began as publicity stunt in 1923, when a publisher promoted a new thriller on the front page.  Unfortunately, the add looked so much like regular news that people didn't realize it was a publicity stunt.

8. At the Vatican, there is a huge Way of the Cross held at the Coliseum complete with all 14 stations.  There is a huge cross with burning crosses to illuminate the sky.  Mass is celebrated on both the Saturday night and Easter Sunday and huge crowds await the Pope's blessing.

9. Now over in Slovakian countries, men spank women with whips made of willows and decorated with ribbons.  The idea is that the willow being the first tree of spring transfers its vitality and fertility to women when  spanked.

10. Verges, Spain is host to the death dance where people dress up in skeleton costumes to recreate scenes from the Passion so they parade down the street and ends with skeletons carrying boxes of ashes.  The dance begins at midnight and ends at 3 in the morning.

11. Let us not forget the Easter egg roll held on the front lawn of the White House.  Children roll hard boiled eggs across the lawn using spoons.  It started out smaller but now it also hosts music, sports, etc.

12. Hungry has a variation of the Polish tradition but instead of throwing buckets of water, they sprinkle perfume or perfumed water on girls and asking for a kiss.  This started out with boys throwing buckets of water but it calmed down over the years till they just sprinkle.

13. In Jerusalem, Chrisitans walk the path Jesus walked as he carried the cross for his crucifixion.  Some people carry a cross but come Easter Sunday, they attend a service at the Garden Tomb, the area where it is believed Jesus was buried.

14. Last is the celebration in Sicily, Italy where  locals are dressed in red outfits and bother souls to buy them drinks before the Virgin Mary and Christ after his rising chase away the devils thus saving everyone.

So this is a quick look at how Easter is celebrated around the world.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.

MacGyver Strikes again.

  I remember watching the original MacGyver with Richard Dean Anderson in reruns as I grew up.   I liked it so much, I bought the whole series when it was on sale on Amazon. Of course, I knew that many of the "quick" fixes were strictly make believe especially after Myth Busters tried a few things and declared them busted.

So when I discovered there is a remake that is in its 2nd season.  Remember, I live in the middle of Alaska where we have one over the air channel unless I want to purchase satellite so I wait and purchase DVD's on sale.  I am working my way through the first season and wondered if the stuff he does this time is more accurate.

To start with, the production hired a physicist to make sure the capers are possible even if they can't be done within the same time frame MacGyver does. The physicist and others even searches the web for ideas from others on the web from makers and others.  Ideas that can easily be included as part of the show.

Some of the ideas harvested and used in MacGyver include:
1.  A laser microphone which reads the sound waves against the window.  He uses the laser from a CD player, a photocell, and chewing gum to make one.  yes it will work but not with sensitivity on the show due to the shortness of time involved.

2.  A fire starter to light a fire.  He uses pine sap from pine bark to start a fire.  This really works but do not use too much or you might end up with a huge out of control fire.

3. MacGyver makes a gas mask out of a soda bottle early in the series.  He cuts out enough of a side to fit his face, seals it against his face with inner tube, then stuffs wet newspaper into the small opening to filter fumes.  In reality it can so some lightweight filtering of smoke but not for anything more serious.

4. In another episode, MacGyver creates a hot air balloon out of a dry cleaning bag with an aluminum foil platform to carry a cell phone.  Unfortunately, the hot air cannot lift that much weight so it works in theory but not in reality.

5. The last instance of creativity is when he makes a Leyden Jar Battery.  It was used in the 1800's when scientists studied electricity.  The Leyden Jar is a huge capacitor that is too large to use in a radio.  MacGyver made his out of a plastic bottle, salt water, hand cuffs, and a piece of metal and then used a lightening storm to charge it.  It can work but if you make too big of one, you could be electrocuted.

Its nice knowing that most of these work or at least work in theory.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.

Ice Cream on a Stick!

  There are three innovative creations, invented between 1915 and 1925, that changed the face of dessert.  They are all related and we enjoy all three on a hot summer day.

Do you remember back when you were young.  It was a hot sweaty day, no blowing breeze.  You just couldn't get cool without running through the sprinklers so when you heard the music in the distance, you rushed home to get a bit of money for a frozen treat?  I do but I don't know if they still do that because so much has changed in the past 10 or 15 years.

Three men, contributed to our enjoyment of those wonderful frozen desserts.  First is the Eskimo Ice Cream bar, next came Good Humor, and finally is the Popsicle and I'm sure most of us have eaten all of them at some point in our lives.

I listed them in this order because they appeared on the marked in that order.  The Eskimo Ice Cream bar came from an incident when a young man came into Christian Nelson Kent's sweet shop in Ohio around 1919 or 1920.  He asked for an ice cream, changed his mind and wanted a candy bar.  Christian asked him why he changed his mind and the young man said he wanted both but only had enough money for one. 

This lead to a search for a way to cover ice cream with chocolate.  After a lot of searching, trying things, and finding cocoa butter, he and his partner Russel Stover of Stover Candies produced a chocolate covered brick of vanilla ice cream. Originally called I-Scream Bars, the first run of 500 bars sold out so Nelson and Stover looked for someone to manufacture the frozen dessert after patenting it in 1922.  They changed the name to "Eskimo Pie Bars" before selling the rights to various ice cream companie to produce the bars for between $500 and $1000.

In 1920, in another part of Ohio, Henry Burt created a chocolate coating that stuck to ice cream. His sun suggested they freeze a stick inside chocolate coated ice cream and voila, you have a popular frozen dessert.  He tried to patent it but after waiting 3 years, Henry traveled to Washington D.C with a five gallon container filled with his "Good Humor" bars.  They immediately granted him the patent.

The name "Good Humor" came from the idea that a person's humor or temperament is based on the humor of his palate. In the beginning, Good humor bars were sold from 12 street vehicles outfitted with bells, bicycles, and push carts.  Over the next 40 years, the company created an additional 84 types of ice cream desserts.  By 1976, the company sold its trucks so it could focus on selling ice cream in the stores.

About the same time the Popsicle made its appearance on the scene.  In 1905, an eleven year old, Frank Epperson accidentally created the first Popsicle by mixing a dry soda powder with water and leaving it in a cup overnight.  Temperature dropped, the solution froze and the frozen dessert became a reality.

Soon after he began selling the "Epsicles" around the neighborhood.  In 1923, he extended his sales area to Neptune Beach, California because of its amusement park. Neptune Park was quite popular that the Epsicles and snow cones did quite well.    In 1924, he applied for and received a patent for his "frozen confection which would not be contaminated by hand, spoon, or other implement.

His children suggested he change it to Pop's Sicle or Popsicle as we know it today.  However, later in the 1920's he ended up having to sell off the rights to his creation due to needing money.  The Joe Lowe company purchased the rights and sold it nationwide.  During the depression, when money was short, the company created duel Popsicles to make it go further. The new version sold for 5 cents.

At the same time, Good Humor sold their chocolate covered ice cream on a stick.  Lowe sued for copyright infringement but the judge declared Good Humor ice cream confections while Lowe could only sell water based confections.  Lowe began marketing a milk Popsicle which lead to years of suits where the companies argued over definitions of sherbets vs ice cream. 

Eventually Good Humor and Popsicle ended up being acquired by the same company.  Its amazing how a few accidents launched frozen confections most of absolutely adore.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.

Awe!!!!!!