Thursday, March 18, 2010

Traditions, New & Old

How was your St. Patrick's Day?
It was busy & hectic here, but fun. The dinner turned out well (must be even more corned beef next year; no leftovers), the leprechaun hid the gold coins, we wore green, and it was sunny. NICE.

Holidays always bring out the traditions within families.
I am a big one for traditions, and I am quite a traditional person. Some say old-fashioned, but I feel respect is worth giving to things that have worked for years & years gone by.

The hiding of chocolate gold coins is a tradition we've started on our own.
Neither Pat nor I grew up in homes doing that. New tradition, but a good one.

There is another tradition we'll be trying out this year-making our own Easter candy.

Growing up, my parents' great friend made her own candy around Easter. Once her kids outgrew the desire to participate, she let me make the candy with her. It was delicious and so much fun.
I recall walking around the block by myself (probably 8 years old), and spending the day with her melting & molding candy.
Since they sell these handy candy-making kits, I decided to give it a whirl this Easter.
I had made candy once before for my sister's baby shower, and it wasn't horrible.
Best of all, I think Aidan will really enjoy this. 
If it turns out to be as enjoyable as I'm expecting, it may just become another tradition for us.

Speaking of traditions, Friday is our parish's annual Fish Fry: Bear-Battered Alaskan Pollock, mac & cheese, coleslaw, potatoes, salad...mmmm. I'm no fan of fish, but it does smell scrumptious. 
This is a growing tradition for us as well. It will mark the 3rd year in a row Pat's parents come down & join us for the Fish Fry. Good Times! It's nice of them to drive down & spend some time in our world. The boys get a kick out of it, too. (Aidan especially, being a student there). 

Any Easter traditions in your home? 
Blessing of the Easter baskets? Something other than ham to eat?
I'd love to hear about it!

1 comment:

Shelley said...

Our church has an annual Easter basket blessing -- this will be the fourth year for it and we've done it all four years now (our parish is new, by the way.)

Here's the URL to the post on my blog that tells what we put in it:
http://insomnimom.blogspot.com/2008/03/easter-basket-blessing.html

This year, I bought a traditional Easter basket cover for it on e-Bay. Just ordered it a few days ago and I'm very exicted to get it.

Our new tradition this year is painting blown eggs. We have absolutely no Slavic blood in us, but it is still a bunch of fun!