Memories of Easter Past

As one grows older, some of the more simple aspects of life take on greater meaning. I'm particularly grateful to have an appreciation of family traditions and rituals surrounding holidays, seasons and passages of time. Like most families, traditions are passed down through the generations, becoming familiar--almost second nature for each event. Holiday traditions and routines seem to particularly imprinted on my memory. Religious based holidays of course have the spiritual meaning, which are central to my memories. I don't dismiss or deliberately intend to overlook those here. It is interesting to me that my memories of Easter are far stronger than Christmas. Our family traditions around Easter were substantial. Observing Lent for 40 days, leading up to Holy Week liturgical ceremonies, Easter Vigil and of course Easter Sunday service were all heavy emotionally, but highly celebratory for the family. These were occasions that united the extended family, and always involved food--massive amounts of food in fact. 

Easter was an important holiday season. We would always get dressed up and everything just felt special. Throughout my adult life I always maintained these traditions in my own circle. Regardless of whether I was with family or friends, home or abroad, Easter traditions were always maintained. My memories of Easter are in fact, imprinted deeply. I can still see my Great Grandma's rice pies, Aunt Anita's bowl of jelly beans in the living room. Aunt Antonetta's bowl of chocolate covered marshmallow eggs, Aunt Eleanor's apricot cookies, my mom's sweet bread, and grandma Julia's bowl of gum-drop bunnies. Fanny Farmer chocolate rabbits and cream eggs were the very best. Later in life when I worked for Fanny Farmer and Fannie May Candy companies, it was a dream come true.

Even today, my own celebration of Easter continues these traditions, both real and imagined. I believe in the importance of maintaining cultural and family traditions--these are part of society. These are what help give character to us. I am grateful to my ancestors who made the effort to pass down the family traditions, giving me cherished memories. These are the among the greatest gifts I've ever received. Happy Easter. 

Easter Sunrise Service at the Top of the Tram

Happy Easter! This morning consisted of an early morning ride up to the top of San Jacinto Mountain on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. Amid darkness, I caught the 4:30 AM tram and in just 10 minutes I was at the top. You see, I had been planning to attend the Easter Sunrise Service at the top of our beautiful mountain, 10,000 feet high. In all the years I've lived here, I've never done it before, so this was the year! It was a non-denominational Christian service of hymns, a sermon and some time for prayer, all in time for dawn to break. When the service had concluded, everyone walked outside to view the sunrise. With the choir still singing, the outdoor speakers carried "Amazing Grace" to the peaks of Mount San Jacinto. These were the views I saw:

back inside the station, I saw the lily plants I had missed earlier, in the darkness

the ride back down the tram seemed especially beautiful this Easter morning

I'm really glad I awakened so early to participate in the sunrise service, it was special and memorable. Back at home, my own Easter Lilly plant was in full bloom, which made me smile. I love the smell of lilies in bloom. I sat down and took a few moments to reflect on the sermon earlier. I wish you all the blessings of Easter, to you and your family.

And now, its time to enjoy my Easter Cream Eggs!

An Eastertime Heavenly Pie

Easter is probably my favorite time of the year. Even when I was a kid, it was always my favorite. Perhaps it is the change of season, bright Spring weather. Or perhaps the wonderful church Hymns of Eastertide. (I'm sure the cream eggs, jelly beans and chocolate bunnies had nothing to do with it!). I also have fond memories of delicious baked goods made by my family. A few years ago I wrote about my great-grandmother's rice pie. These days I can't resist the urge to do some baking when Easter rolls around. Last night when I returned home from work, I decided to make a 'Heavenly Pie', a favorite from my childhood. Heavenly Pie is nothing more than a Meringue crust, crushed fresh pineapple, topped by fresh whipped cream. And that's all- but it is so refreshing. I forgot to take a photo before I dove into it, so I tried to take this picture from the other side- but you get the idea. What do you like to make for Easter?

Happy Easter

Nothing serious today except to wish you a joyous and Happy Easter (and Happy Passover season too). Easter is perhaps my favorite holiday and time of year. It represents hope, promise and joy. Well I suppose if you look past the prior 40 days in the liturgical calendar of pain, suffering and Crucifixion it is a "triumphant" moment of overcoming death, as it were. At any rate Easter is a joyous time, and I'm all to happy to celebrate with a stash of my traditional Fannie May chocolate goodies. Everything from chocolate rabbits, jelly beans, marshmallow eggs and cream eggs. I hope the Easter Bunny made it to your home with a few goodies to savor. Here in Palm Springs, I'm having Easter Brunch at my favorite restaurant, Melvyn's. What are you doing for Easter?

Chocolate covered Marshmallow Eggs...and Pectin Jelly Beans...

...and delicious chocolate cream eggs. Ah, makes me feel good inside.
Happy Easter!

Sunday Art Review: Fabergé Easter Eggs

Happy Easter to you! As I was enjoying one of my Easter chocolate cream eggs, I found inspiration for today's Sunday Art Review: Fabergé Easter Eggs. For those of you who may not be aware, Fabergé eggs are exquisite works of art created by Peter Carl Fabergé and his assistants between 1885 and 1917. They were initially made for the Russian Imperial Royal Family, presented to Czars Nicholas II and Alexander III. They were made of valuable metals like gold and platinum and are adorned with gem stones and decorated with various enamels. Made with exquisite detail and precision, they included tiny "surprises" inside, matching the various themes of each egg. The original 50 produced for the Imperial Family have had a storied history, and 8 remain missing to this day, undoubtedly sold on the black market. Fabergé eggs are a symbol of luxury and are true masterpieces of a jeweller's art. I thought this would make for an unusual subject for the Sunday Art Review, I hope you enjoy these:

Here's one from the private collection of The Palm Springs Savant:

above: It may not be one of the original 50 Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs, but it is a cherished item in my private art collection nonetheless. Thanks for stopping by the Sunday Art Review: Fabergé Easter Eggs. Hope you have a joyous Easter!

-Rick Rockhill

The Saturday Seven: Favorite Easter Candy

Today I found inspiration from my Easter basket for this week's scintillating edition of The Saturday Seven: Favorite Easter Candy. Regular readers know that I am a chocolate fanatic..it is one of my personal pleasures, and is synonymous with all major holidays. (Easter wouldn't be Easter, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas, etc). It went back to when I was a little kid, when the local candy shops on the East coast called Fanny Farmer were where my family bought the holiday candy. I can remember being a little kid and going to the Fanny Farmer Candy Shop downtown for an ice cream cone. It was always a special trip for me. Years later when I worked for the Chicago based Fannie May Candy Shops I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I had true reverence for the candy business, and enjoyed the seasonal aspects of each holiday. Easter was no exception. Thus the topic for this week's Saturday Seven: Favorite Easter Candy:

#1 Marshmallow Eggs- hands down my favorite. I love how they melt in my mouth.

#2 Cream Eggs- the fruit and nut and dark vanilla cream are so delicious.

#3 Jelly Beans- Made with Pectin means they are good for you (really).

#4 Foil Wrapped Milk Chocolate Eggs- so smooth n creamy!

#5 Foil Wrapped Bunnies- For some reason they taste different from the eggs...

#6 Solid Chocolate Rabbits- Dark or Milk Chocolate, you have to bite the ears off first, everybody knows that!

#7 Carmel Pecan Fudge Egg- Its a perfect combination of flavors, and perfect to slice off a piece at a time to savor it.

Well that's my list of favorite Easter Candy. What do you like? Go ahead, leave a comment. Oh and by the way, Happy Easter to you.

-Rick Rockhill

Philatelic Friday: Stamps of Easter

Since today is Good Friday, this week's theme for Philatelic Friday is Stamps of Easter. There aren't a great number of official government issued stamps with an Easter motif, but I was able to dig up a few on the Internet. Without question, Easter is my favorite holiday. For spiritual reasons, it is a time of rebirth, a time to reflect on oneself. Seasonally, Easter is synonymous with Spring, flowers blooming, and chocolate eggs. Speaking of flowers blooming, my favorite Easter flowers are white lilies, hyacinths and tulips, what about you? Well let's take a look at these Easter postage stamps, now shall we? Above left is from Slovensko, 2004.

above: Hungary eggs

above: Romania, Easter Bunny

above: Slovensko Egg, 2009

That's all for this week's edition of Philatelic Friday. Thanks for stopping by today.

-Rick Rockhill

Happy Easter from The Palm Springs Savant

Happy Easter! Without question, this is my favorite holiday of the year. Everything is so bright and cheery, and there is hardly any of the commercial pressure of Christmas. It's also my favorite season at church, the music, the lessons and the beautiful white Lilly plants. Easter would not be complete without my stash of candy. Back to when I was a little kid, the Easter Bunny would deliver baskets filled with all kinds of delicious treats from our local Fanny Farmer candy shop. Chocolate bunny rabbits, cream eggs, jelly beans, and foil-wrapped chocolate novelties. Years later, when I worked in the retail confectionery business I learned the candy business from the ground up. I used to love being the kitchens at Fannie May Candy in Chicago, watching thousands of chocolate rabbits being made. It was the dream job above all. Every holiday I made a point of spending a day or two in the plant checking out all the seasonal candies being made. It never left me, and I still have not grown up. So despite being an adult, I order my own stash of Easter candy and await the arrival of Easter Sunday.

above left: My Fannie May Cream Eggs: dark vanilla buttercream are my favorite! above right: dark chocolate covered marshmallow eggs.

above: A nice retro rabbit scene on this box of chocolates. Whatever you are doing today, I hope the blessings of Easter are with you.
-Rick Rockhill

Happy Easter

Easter is my favorite holiday. None of that pressure that Christmas brings. Today will be a nice relaxing day- church this morning, then brunch. Since it's going to be warm here in Palm Springs, I intend to just spend the day outside eating chocolate covered marshmallow eggs and biting the heads off of chocolate rabbits before they melt.

-Rick Rockhill

Wow...its almost Easter

It occurred to me today that we're in the middle of Lent, and Easter is right around the corner. (Lucky for me I already received my shipment of Easter candy from Fannie May, but more on that another day). At the moment I'm feeling reflective and pondering all the sorts of things I could be doing to "renew" myself. While I'm not a religious person, I am "spiritual" and find great comfort in the traditions of Easter. So this evening I decided to see what's new at the Episcopal Church website. Not much. Except I remembered that I forgot to send in my check for "Easter Lillies" this year. I'll have to get right on that...otherwise I'll feel guilty until the Ascension.

-Rick Rockhill