One of my favourite times of the year is Easter, when the feeling of the upcoming warmer months and the freshness of the new season becomes most apparent. What I’m most grateful for, however, is that seventeen years later, my family have kept up the Polish way of celebrating this wonderful holiday despite being in a completely different country. Every Saturday morning, we wake up early to prepare an Easter basket full of Polish treats like bread, horseradish, cured sausage (none for me!) and, of course, eggs. These eggs begin as all normal eggs that we might have for breakfast on an ordinary day but with a little creativity, they are transformed into something special.
Every year is an opportunity to try something new. Today, we used green food dye to achieve this pastel effect for some of the eggs and the more classic method of cooking the others in red onion leaves, which resulted in a rather rustic style – not intentional, but I kind of like it anyway. Next, it was time to get my trusty felt-tip pens out (a once-a-year occurrence) and get creative. For weeks now, I’ve been swooning over Pinterest-worthy designs with gold foil, a different shade for each egg, and various trendy textures. In the end, however, simple and traditional turns out best. There’s something about reaching for these felt-tips each year and being transported back to childhood. When the eggs were finally colourful and ready, we took the basket to church to be blessed. Now, we eagerly await to enjoy our treats in the morning.
Do you have any traditions that your family have kept up?
I love this tradition, it sounds so lovely! I’d never think to dye them with colouring but I’m tempted to give it a go and hang them on an Easter tree next year. Hope you had a lovely Bank Holiday! X