Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Easter

I have been laughing at myself quite a bit lately.
Here's the juxtaposition of what was going on around me for Easter even as I fantasized about flower sex.* ;-) Attempting to fashion another sincere family seasonal celebration out of the ashes of religious holy-days that no longer resonate with my heart. With my very-much-still-Believing mom there ~ not wanting to hurt her feelings, but not wanting to compromise my own values, either. Touchy.
And then there's all the consumeristic, materialistic, sugar-cracked-out layers that our modern-day culture has piled on top of all the holidays (ancient, as well as Hallmark-created)! What's a mindful, Earth- and real-food-loving, home-making mama to do?!

The always answer: her best at the moment.

We dyed eggs using vinegar in water with turmeric, purple cabbage, and a mixture of beet powder and hibiscus tea.
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I couldn't help trying to dye some fabric, too (inspired by SouleMama); I love dying fabric! The one that took best: the turmeric, by far.
Who knew that hibiscus and beet powder don't dye pink, or red, or purple, but grey! I dug the results.

I made sourdough Hot Cross Buns substituting freshly-milled, sifted spelt flour, a little bit of dehydrated cane juice, and lots of butter and eggs!
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These did not last long.

And I made candy sweetened with a touch of honey ~ lavender-colored candies made from coconut butter and freeze-dried raspberries and strawberries (colored with hibiscus tea, and loosely using this recipe as a guide), and chocolates with almonds ~ with mostly carob and a bit of cacao (using roughly the same ingredients as I used here). And HOLY SHIT was using the actual cocoa a lesson-learned! I really feel for parents who allow their children to have sugar regularly; Anjali was an altogether different [and obnoxious] child after eating that chocolate!. I didn't get a photo of the candies; I shaped them like eggs and wrapped them in aluminum foil, which I thought made them look more like little pieces of foil headed for the trash (or recycling ~ right?). Oh well. They were peeled in seconds once discovered by my little Easter "bummy" anyway. ;-)
Geez do I look tired ~ PMS while parents visit for a week? Bring it on!
The smile must be from taste-testing that crack-chocolate!

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The third costume change of the day, but always with the sparkly shoes from Aunt Cathy!
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At best, I hope some traditions get formed along the way that we can feel good about. Or, at least: some good memories.





*I'm still fantasizing about doing a playful photo shoot in the woods in which we're dressed only with flowers. teehee!
**Still love-hating the technical aspects of Blogger that I have yet to master! grrr!

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