Easter Traditions by Cynthia Skupny-Titello
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This Easter will be spent at home with my family, my daughters and my mother.
We always had a ham, sausage, and head cheese growing up in my Polish Russian house mix, but tradition on my mother Russian Orthodox side has deemed that this year only (maybe more after, we will see how it turns out) we will be trying a veal roast with the traditional Russian Paska Bread. While I was growing up, the Polish Traditions of Sausage, Potatoes and the like prevailed. I married an Italian so for Easter with his family, we ALWAYS have lasagna. This year, we are doing the Russian/ Austrian thing.
We are going all out to remind my mom of her roots from Austria… Veal Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Squash, Beans, Paska, Eggs, Caviar, etc. Mom Rosemary is 82 and has little to no memory of what she went through during the depression; this is a blessing, so we are going to remind her of better times while we still can before she loses all of her faculties.
My favorite Easter Candy is Peeps!!
If weather allows, we will do an Easter egg hunt outside, but we are in Michigan so…. Usually indoors
We must dye Easter eggs, due to the orthodox traditions in our extended family, it is necessary and most called for. Orthodox religions have extremely intricate designs to their eggs and there is a very special story attached to each egg, not only this, but the “sugar” eggs with the huge intricate designs inside are also a tradition. Mine are usually the simple no frills things that kids can easily do along with the fact that I am now a single mom and work full time so… the easier the better, but I really miss the very, very long hours spent doing the Russian eggs… there a few websites that sell these and if anyone gets a chance, this is worth a look simply for the artistry involved in these designs.
I personally am very happy to have shared so many family holidays with my Polish, Russian, Austrian, Italian, and all the rest melting pot family members who have been a grace, an inspiration and a driving force in who I am and what my family is.
My wish for our Lopetrone family is that everyone has a very special day, no matter how distant or how far away, that everyone finds by the grace of God what it is they are searching for and that one day, hopefully soon, everyone can come together as “one big family” because when you come right down to it, we all descend from a common person in Christ, … blood ties are not always the ties that bind. Sometimes, ties that bind are simply a great friend, a cousin or a cousin by marriage. Bless us all this season and for all seasons to come.
We always had a ham, sausage, and head cheese growing up in my Polish Russian house mix, but tradition on my mother Russian Orthodox side has deemed that this year only (maybe more after, we will see how it turns out) we will be trying a veal roast with the traditional Russian Paska Bread. While I was growing up, the Polish Traditions of Sausage, Potatoes and the like prevailed. I married an Italian so for Easter with his family, we ALWAYS have lasagna. This year, we are doing the Russian/ Austrian thing.
We are going all out to remind my mom of her roots from Austria… Veal Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Squash, Beans, Paska, Eggs, Caviar, etc. Mom Rosemary is 82 and has little to no memory of what she went through during the depression; this is a blessing, so we are going to remind her of better times while we still can before she loses all of her faculties.
My favorite Easter Candy is Peeps!!
If weather allows, we will do an Easter egg hunt outside, but we are in Michigan so…. Usually indoors
We must dye Easter eggs, due to the orthodox traditions in our extended family, it is necessary and most called for. Orthodox religions have extremely intricate designs to their eggs and there is a very special story attached to each egg, not only this, but the “sugar” eggs with the huge intricate designs inside are also a tradition. Mine are usually the simple no frills things that kids can easily do along with the fact that I am now a single mom and work full time so… the easier the better, but I really miss the very, very long hours spent doing the Russian eggs… there a few websites that sell these and if anyone gets a chance, this is worth a look simply for the artistry involved in these designs.
I personally am very happy to have shared so many family holidays with my Polish, Russian, Austrian, Italian, and all the rest melting pot family members who have been a grace, an inspiration and a driving force in who I am and what my family is.
My wish for our Lopetrone family is that everyone has a very special day, no matter how distant or how far away, that everyone finds by the grace of God what it is they are searching for and that one day, hopefully soon, everyone can come together as “one big family” because when you come right down to it, we all descend from a common person in Christ, … blood ties are not always the ties that bind. Sometimes, ties that bind are simply a great friend, a cousin or a cousin by marriage. Bless us all this season and for all seasons to come.
Easter Memories – Annie Smith .
We will spend Easter at our house with my parents who just celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary.
We will spend Easter at our house with my parents who just celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary.
My favorite Easter candy is Reeses Peanut Butter Eggs. Since my furry guys don't have thumbs to pick up the eggs, we forgo Easter egg hunts here.
As children, my cousin Carol Marchelitis-Heppner and I spent a great deal of time together. Coloring eggs with the Marchelitis gang, was the funniest thing you can imagine. I remember one year artist Carol drew on an egg for what seemed to be forever, it was perfect and one of her brothers [I'm not naming names] picked up the egg to look at it and squeezed a little hard and. . . crunch!!!! All that work gone. We had good times coloring eggs and had fun no matter what we did, walking down town and picking out Easter Cards with Carol is another of my favorite memories. When she looked at a greeting card that read, “Happy Easter, Happy Spring,” she knew it was the card to get her parents… because it was a 2 for 1 – two greeting for the price of one. We still wish each other “Happy Easter , Happy Spring!”
We’d like to wish all the Lopetrones in the World a Happy Bunny Day. Oh yeah and Happy Easter- Happy Spring!!!!!
Easter Blessing by Johnny and Barbara Lopetrone Our family wishes that all the Lopetrone's will have a most wonderful and Blessed Easter. This is a most fantastic day in the Christian Faith and the feast we have to celebrate this wonderful day is one of the best for the year.
Our family here in Anchorage will attend Mass and we will have a wonderful time together on this wonderful day sharing a fantastic meal. We normally have a Ham dinner with what everyone likes the most. It seems that most of my family loves Chocolate the best and some eggs will be colored.
I wish that I could meet all the Lopetrone's in this world even though I know this is impossible. We have been Blessed with meeting and spending time with Pasquale and his family, and knowing you Carol. We wish all a very happy, Healthy, and wonderful Easter Sunday and all of God's Love and Blessings.
