Easter thinking

For me Easter includes chocolate, catkin branches, and mämmi (which you can see if you scroll down).
We didn't visit the church except during comprehensive school on days before the upcoming festivals/holidays like Christmas. I can't remember if Easter was included or not.

Now for you to understand the following story, please read this site. http://www.dlc.fi/~marianna/gourmet/pasha_3.htm and scroll down to "Celebrating at home".

On this year's Palm Sunday one three-year old said with enthusiasm:
"I was a witch!" I said: "Oh, how nice! You were whisking the willow twigs?" The boy nodded. "Were they fine decorated twigs?" Again the boy nodded. "Did you get some sweets?" I continued. " I GOT TURTLES!" he said, meaning the figures. "So you got some turtle-wrapped Turtles-eggs? Or was there turtle-figures in chocolate eggs?" "No eggs at all but real TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES!" This boy went whisking the twigs for his family.

Teenage mutant ninja turtles (publicdomainpictures)

My childhood memory is that me and my two little brothers were dressed in costumes. I was an easter witch, my first brother was a cat and my second brother, merely two years old, was an easter chicken with yellow overall. And we went from door to door asking "May we virpoa?" Some people said no, some people didn't even open the door (which is completely acceptable) and some people said "Please come in." and called their family to watch.

Then we chanted a poem which I translated:

I wave the twig for your next year to become fresh and healthy. For you the twig for me the pay/compensation.

One twig meant sweets for one people so sometimes we gave two twigs for more sweets. The youngest brother was a little mascot, and my parents didn't allow him yet to eat as much candy as me and my older little brother. (So we didn't need to give three twigs.)

Catkins Public Domain Pictures

We went to look for catkins the day before Palm Sunday. There was willows besides the roads but we weren't allowed to pick them. "Otherwise the landscape for travelers will be ruined", directed my parents. We cut the branches and I was proud of myself using a hunting knife for a little moment. (I got my very own hunting knife, a Finnish puukko on the following year.) Then we returned home to decorate the twigs. We used silk paper and folded them as long flags and roses. Then we put some colored feathers and couple of mini eggs bought from crafting shop. The twigs were pretty and we were looking forward to the next day to bring them to the neighborhood's inhabitants.

One twig was a funny masterpiece. My first younger brother (who is almost one and a half years younger than me) had worked on a y-shaped twig. The catkins were ripped off and one red flag was taped on. My brother waved the twig and chanted the end of the poem: "For you the slingshot, for me the payment!"

Vitsa = twig/withe
Ritsa = slingshot/catapult made of a twig and rubber band

We were laughing our heads off. My dear 4 year-old brother hadn't gotten the idea yet. My parents saved the twig and put it in a flower vase next to the tv. What a lovely memory!

Easter colors: Yellow and light green. FreeDigitalPhotos

The Good Friday (which is actually called Long Friday in Finland) was nothing special in our family. It was just a very long day because everyone was just waiting for Easter Fest, so we could go find some chocolate eggs. They were hidden inside the house because our courtyard was small. Then we went to visit our relatives and ate some mutton with creamy potatoes and mint jelly! During our religion-class we were told about the sheep and what happened. My grandma told that I refused to eat mutton because in that big book I thought it was wrong to sacrifice the sheep. The sheep had done no harm to anyone. Later I was just too hungry and said "Well, that was long time ago" and ate with everybody. The dessert was mämmi and for coffee sides was pasha and quark cream pie.

Mämmi portion with sugar and cream half skimmed milk

For me mämmi is my Easter all time favorite. My grandma told how there was a huge mass with rye malt in a big black pot. And how the whole night was spent fermenting the mixture with little fire. Then it was stored in birchbark boxes. Nowadays we buy mummy (thank you blogger for correcting the word all the time. mämmi from a freezer section because I believe none of us have enough guts nor time to spend a night watching for food not to stop fermenting.

At the very end I scoop the box.

Here is some advice for how to eat the leftovers of mämmi. Pour the milk or cream straight into the box. It doesn't leak.

Happy Easter Everyone!