Easter Food Traditions Growing Up

[SylviaLovegren]

Well, since I don't know your "anyone," impossible for me to say.  But I can tell you that, in my world anyway, a great many people still like it, and eat it.  In fact, Luby's cafeteria sells tons of it.

 

And my sweet mama, who died of Alzheimer's about six years ago at the age of 92, got to where, at the end, she wouldn't really eat much else.  She loved it to the end.  I was making it at least twice a week.  We thought it was really pretty good for her, with cottage cheese and pineapple and nuts.

 

And, for you ElsieD, it is a green - a pretty foamy light lime green, thanks to the lime Jello, mayo, and cottage cheese.

 

Here's the recipe I've used for, um, well, about fifty years:

 

Seafoam Salad

1 large box lime gelatin

½ C mayo or Miracle Whip

 

1 C crushed pineapple with juice (canned - it won't congeal with fresh pineapple)

1 C cottage cheese

½ C chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans; optional)

 

Dissolve gelatin in 2 cups boiling water.  Stir in 1 C ice cubes.  Add mayo or Miracle Whip and blend thoroughly.  Add pineapple and stir.  Add cottage cheese and nuts and stir to combine.  Pour into greased mold and chill.

 

Thanks for the recipe!  I can just taste it.  The ones I googled all contained Cool Whip which my grandmother would not have had access to and which I prefer not to eat.  My "anyone" is the hubster, who has weird food restrictions and phobias, so I never know if a "new" food will be acceptable (sometimes not sure on old ones, either!) and my DIL's family -- the Canadian side of which has never eaten gelatin, literally, and the Dutch side of which thinks gelatin "salads" are food from another universe.  My son likes Jell-O but he thinks the idea of mayo in gelatine is weird.  If he only knew! 

[CatPoet]

In Sweden we eat the eggs.  Eggs used to be  a sign  that spring was here because hens didnt lay eggs during winter back in the day, so  we  eat eggs.   

Our Easter used to start on  Thursday with children dressed as witches and warlocks  trick or treating  but  we tend to give the person who gives us candy a home made gift, a Easter card, a decorations for the  bouquet of  twigs decorated with feather people have in their home at this time of year. If you didnt get candy or money, we where allowed to  curse the person and the most common  curse was May you dance with the Devil.

I  do take  my daughter out for this, we go to the houses of the old people we know but sadly it is dying off due to a massive and invasive  push for  American Halloween, so far people havent  gotten hooked for it but  Easter is now dying.

 

Friday is a day of calm and most people dont do anything, unless you are  drinking, then people are drinking until they are  flat on the ground.

 

Saturday, people tend to have family dinner . The best part of  Saturday morning is the egg hunt,  looking for 1 paper egg filled with candies, my sister used to grab mine and eat part of the candy and then  take hers, so I learned to set the clock early to find my egg before she was up.   Then family lunch which is eggs,  eggs toppings, bread, cheese, eggs and  some  more eggs. Painted  by the children with water paints or  dyed with onion peel.    Family  dinner   with lamb roast  and all the trimmings  and dessert most often swiss roll with half a peach whipped cream on top.

 

Sunday is for  going to  relative, getting more paper eggs filled with candies and  eating more eggs or  getting a  baked pike or elk roast at my  grandparents, I miss that a lot.  They had a wood burning stove to cook on and the smoked from the juniper  would give the food such a lovely aroma. 

 

Monday is a day off when people cure their head ache and  kids play.

[CeeCee]

Thanks for this. We're going to the inlaws -- he is Dutch and he's cooking this year, so it's an Indonesian Ristaffel potluck and I'm supposed to bring an Indonesian vegetable dish.  Never cooked anything Indonesian in all my puff, so may try the salad.

The salad is more Dutch than Indonesian. Orak arik can be a simple alternative or gado gado, boiled veg with peanut sauce. Sambal goreng buncis (spicy green beans) is quite common in rijsstafels here. Sayur lodeh, veg in coconut sauce, might be nice as well.

 

 

and the Dutch side of which thinks gelatin "salads" are food from another universe. 

Can confirm this, aspic was left behind in the 70's/80's I guess. Brought Jell-O to an occasion once and was met with many weird looks by both adults and kids. I got to take it back home, as only one person politely tried it while wearing an akward smile.

Edited March 24, 2015 by CeeCee (log)

[sparrowgrass]

Generally ham for dinner, and always, always a lambie cake baked in a mold.  Well, not always.  Once my mom set it on the table, and then decided she needed to add a leaf to expand the table.  She pulled one end of the table, brother pulled the other, and the lovely decorated lamb cake fell right through the middle onto the floor.  Too sad.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

CatPoet,

 

I'm very intrigued by your entire post, and I have a question about the customary Swiss desert: "swiss roll with half a peach whipped cream on top":

 

Are fresh peaches already in season in spring in Sweden, or do you use canned/preserved peaches?

 

Either way, this dessert sounds great, and any more details you'd care to provide would be welcome.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[CatPoet]

Thanks for the crepes. The dessert isnt the best in the world, but you take one slice of  strawberry or apple swiss roll, a dollop of  whipped cream and plonk a  canned peach half or  apricot and  it looks like a fried  egg  and that is the magic behind that dish. 

[Shelby]

The entree was generally ham, although sometimes it would be pork loin, or even chicken. Little variance in the sides, though -- asparagus (steamed, with hollandaise); deviled eggs brought home from the egg hunt at church and quickly deviled, the shells saved to crush finely and put on top of the soil in my grandmother's African violets in the window; green peas with butter, and some form of potatoes, generally scalloped. And homemade yeast rolls.

 

My Easter dinner today is very little different. I generally wrap the asparagus in proscuitto and roast it, and sometimes will sub a corn pudding for the potatoes.

Kay, how do you make your pork loin?  

[CatPoet]

So  Thursday my daughter went trick and treating ,  she looked really cute and she got some candy but she really enjoyed handing out the  gifts. 

Now it is  Saturday morning , the  paper egg hunt with a riddle  has been done and   people are munching on their candies.  It was a  crap riddle but it  was still a riddle. 

 

My daughter got  What is blue and hops , her blue bunny.

[CatPoet]

 

Onion peel tie dyed eggs,  it so easy, just  wrap onion peel  around an egg, wrap it in tin foil , cook but remember to add 2 mins to the cooking.  Remove foil and peel. 

[suzilightning]

Well, since I don't know your "anyone," impossible for me to say.  But I can tell you that, in my world anyway, a great many people still like it, and eat it.  In fact, Luby's cafeteria sells tons of it.

 

And my sweet mama, who died of Alzheimer's about six years ago at the age of 92, got to where, at the end, she wouldn't really eat much else.  She loved it to the end.  I was making it at least twice a week.  We thought it was really pretty good for her, with cottage cheese and pineapple and nuts.

 

And, for you ElsieD, it is a green - a pretty foamy light lime green, thanks to the lime Jello, mayo, and cottage cheese.

 

Here's the recipe I've used for, um, well, about fifty years:

 

Seafoam Salad

1 large box lime gelatin

½ C mayo or Miracle Whip

 

1 C crushed pineapple with juice (canned - it won't congeal with fresh pineapple)

1 C cottage cheese

½ C chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans; optional)

 

Dissolve gelatin in 2 cups boiling water.  Stir in 1 C ice cubes.  Add mayo or Miracle Whip and blend thoroughly.  Add pineapple and stir.  Add cottage cheese and nuts and stir to combine.  Pour into greased mold and chill.

 

This was actually what we called Funeral salad where I grew up as it ALWAYS appeared at the bereaved family's house.

[Norm Matthews]

That is the exact recipe I made yesterday except I made it half size with a regular pkg. of lime Jello.

A friend told me her mom substituted cream cheese for the mayo and ginger ale for the water.

Edited April 5, 2015 by Norm Matthews (log)

[Jaymes]

That is the exact recipe I made yesterday except I made it half size with a regular pkg. of lime Jello.

A friend told me her mom substituted cream cheese for the mayo and ginger ale for the water.

You didn't tell us how you liked it

How did you like it?

[kayb]

Well, since I don't know your "anyone," impossible for me to say.  But I can tell you that, in my world anyway, a great many people still like it, and eat it.  In fact, Luby's cafeteria sells tons of it.

 

And my sweet mama, who died of Alzheimer's about six years ago at the age of 92, got to where, at the end, she wouldn't really eat much else.  She loved it to the end.  I was making it at least twice a week.  We thought it was really pretty good for her, with cottage cheese and pineapple and nuts.

 

And, for you ElsieD, it is a green - a pretty foamy light lime green, thanks to the lime Jello, mayo, and cottage cheese.

 

Here's the recipe I've used for, um, well, about fifty years:

 

Seafoam Salad

1 large box lime gelatin

½ C mayo or Miracle Whip

 

1 C crushed pineapple with juice (canned - it won't congeal with fresh pineapple)

1 C cottage cheese

½ C chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans; optional)

 

Dissolve gelatin in 2 cups boiling water.  Stir in 1 C ice cubes.  Add mayo or Miracle Whip and blend thoroughly.  Add pineapple and stir.  Add cottage cheese and nuts and stir to combine.  Pour into greased mold and chill.

I have eaten a ton of this over the years. I do love it. It's always one I go for at the church potluck back home.

[Norm Matthews]

You didn't tell us how you liked it

How did you like it?

 

We liked it.  Not sure they will clamor for me to make it again, but it was good.