Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with easter

Easter Monday in Italy

thinkingwoman — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:33:14 -0800

Italy the week after Easter: deserted or still a mob scene? Help us save our honeymoon from the herds of the faithful. The fella and I are planning our wedding for next spring, and for various reasons, the only time we will have for our honeymoon happens to be the two weeks following Easter.

We really, really want to go to Italy. We want to take two full weeks and visit Florence, Venice, and Rome. Or maybe we'll just park in Rome for two weeks, using it as a base camp for shorter excursions. (Both have their merits, and if anyone has an opinion on that, speak up.)

But the main question is this: are we insane to even try the week after Easter? We really want to avoid the religious zoo, and are hoping that the week after in Rome will be as dead as the week after Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

Yes? No?

Or should we just go somewhere else? I totally love the idea of Croatia, too, and perhaps it will be a bit lower-key.

Putting all your eggs in one window.

Webbster — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 12:45:39 -0800

The other day a childhood memory came back to me. Forgot all about it until we bought and were talking about our Easter Eggs. When I were a kid back in the North West (of England) we were given Easter Eggs as presents. What we used to is then put them in the front room/living room (which ever room was facing the street) window to display them to anyone walking past.

Now why did we do that ?
And is it still done nowadays ?

It seems like a silly thing to do because if it were sunny the chocolate would melt, but this was Manchester so the chances of that happening were slim.

(Additional note for any Americans - the Easter Eggs we have in the UK are usually big hollow eggs with gifts/prizes or more chocolate inside them)

Extra query - Was this "tradition" just local to where I was or did everybody do it ?

Simple Easter game for the whole family?

banished — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 09:13:46 -0800

I need a simple Easter game that my whole family can play. The winner needs to be determined quickly. Any ideas? I have a whole bunch of little presents for my family, and I need a fun way to distribute them. (A card game maybe?), but I couldn't think of any that weren't a long drawn out process.

Where's my American Easter holiday gone?

almostwitty — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 07:17:03 -0800

The US has holidays at Christmas. Why not Easter? In the UK, over Easter, most people get two days off work - Good Friday and Easter Monday (in lieu of Easter Sunday).

In the USA, as far as I can tell, it's business as usual.

Since both countries get December 25th off (for primarily Christian reasons, I'd imagine), why doesn't the US get Easter off as well as Christmas?

(and I know the US says it's not a religious country, but hey, it says In God We Trust on all the $$$ bills)

What do I do Easter Sunday In Paris?

marlys27 — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 07:33:45 -0800

Visiting Paris during EASTER. I heard the whole city is closed. I have been advised to go to the Jewish section of Paris, but it will be Passover. What can I do that day? (any advice about what to do on other days or what not to miss would also be appreciated)

Easter basket delivery in Melbourne

newpotato — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 06:10:54 -0800

I'm in the US, my partner is in Melbourne AU. In a very last minute arrangement, he is picking up his 6 year old daughter for Easter weekend. Does anyone know any way that I can get some Easter goodies (a traditional Easter basket, preferably) delivered there in time? I would likely need to accomplish this online.

The Easter Bunny is risen

wherever, whatever — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:35:45 -0800

Does anyone know where to find the 2002 Easter cards from The Onion? You might remember there were three funny little cards that were awesomely sacrilegious. One pictured a crucified rabbit another showed Jesus with an Easter basket. The third I do not recall. I've scoured the internet. There are plenty of references to said cards, but I haven't been able to find any posts which display them. The Onion apparently chose not to republish them after the redesign as they cannot be found in the archives. I know someone out there remembers. It would be a shame if the cards were lost forever.

things cadbury never taught me about

raztaj — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 06:42:44 -0800

Advise-an-alien-filter: Easter version I've been invited for Easter dinner or late afternoon coffee (or something) at the house of (not immediate) family that I am just beginning beginning to reconnect with. I know what Easter commemorates, I know about bunnies and eggs and baskets--but I'm not Catholic (or Christian), and don't know what the protocol of the day is.

I'll be confronted with some awkwardness of meeting relatives that I hardly know (but would like to), and a holiday I don't know much about - so I'm a little worried. What do I wear? What should I bring? What should I *not* bring? Would should I expect if I attend Easter dinner with them? Are there foods that are traditional "Easter dinner" foods? Would it be weird if I go later in the day, for coffee? (They invited me for either)? What should I do to be respectful? What other random Easter advice do you have for me?

Thank you for all help in advance!!

1. Peeps 2. Glue Gun 3. ???? 4. PROFIT!

Unicorn on the cob — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:07:42 -0800

I want to affix Peeps (the Easter atrocities) to fabric in order to make a costume. BY TOMORROW. Crafty MeFites, hope me with your glue-gun wisdom! I am attending an Easter party tomorrow that requires some kind of costume. Everybody knows I hate Peeps more than anything in the world, and lo and behold, the neon critters are on sale. So I decided to make myself into one giant neon Bunny Peep. Tons of googling and clicking leads me to believe that I can hot-glue them directly onto most things, and ribbon is mentioned here in this book.

A friend who is quite crafty has assured me that Peeps + glue gun + fabric = disaster; there must be something between, like a piece of cardboard or other intermediary surface that will adhere to the hot glue while also keeping the fabric from sticking to any backing, myself, etc.

I have already cut open the packages to allow them to harden as much as possible so they don't melt as soon as they touch the glue gun; I'm not sure that spray-varnishing them now would have them ready-to-wear by tomorrow afternoon, since the varnish would have to dry overnight. (I read that one woman allowed them to dry for five days before making them into garlands and wreaths, and 5 days from now is not an option). Also, I don't want to buy more stuff unless I have to; something around the house (painting tape? more fabric? buttons? I'm listening...) would be ideal.

Please don't suggest another costume idea; I already spent time and money getting this ball rolling and won't have time to whip up anything else from scratch, time-wise or financially. I have a lot of neon pink components now in front of me--what I lack is the ingenuity to make it stick. Literally.

Alternatively, would another type of adhesive work better? I am not married to the glue gun; it's mentioned a lot in Peeps craft links, though. Bonus if you have experience making arts and crafts with Peeps--firsthand knowledge is what I'm really looking for here.

What should I wear to a Catholic church on Easter Sunday?

LittleKnitting — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 10:39:51 -0800

What should I wear to a Catholic church on Easter Sunday? I'm traveling to the northeast next week with my SO. During a part of our trip, I will be meeting his entire family. They're Catholic and there's a good chance I may need to go to church with them on Sunday for Easter.

The problem is that I haven't been to a Catholic mass (let alone a Catholic Easter mass) in ages and I have absolutely no idea what to wear.

I figure, of course, I should avoid anything too revealing, casual, or overtly offensive. But, other than this, does anything go?

Can I wear a simple black dress? Is black even an acceptable color? Or am I obligated to wear something pastel or white? Could I do nice dark pants with a light colored blouse or sweater?

I'm trying to avoid a major faux pas here, so any guidance at all would be appreciated!

Hipity hop

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:48:31 -0800

Easter is nearly here and I am stuck at a crucial point in my Easter Bunny costume construction. How do I make myself an adorable fluffy bunny tail suitable for pinning to bunny-pants and sturdy enough to withstand vigorous hopping and chocolate treasure huntin'? Must be able to be made of materials I can buy cheaply at the local craft store or supermarket, not online. I thought of cotton wool but that just seems like it will come apart at the first hop. Velour or fur seems as though it would be... flat. I want a nice fluffy pom-pom style tail. But yarn pom poms aren't quite what I'm looking for either. Too... wooly. Hope me Metafilter, or Easter will be lost!

Anonymous not because of some terrible craft shame, but because by ''bunny-pants'' I mean skimpy panties. And by hopping... well. You know. Like bunnies! Some of my real-life friends know my MeFi username and I'd rather they didn't ask why I'm dressing up as a bunny. Or worse, ask to see the costume.

Short, solemn, and written in bass clef, please.

availablelight — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:05:17 -0800

Here's an obscure one: suggest some (brief, advanced beginner to early intermediate) musical interludes for a Tenebrae service. For double bass (or easily transposed cello, I suppose). I can't compose or arrange music (I can transpose). I do have some rusty skillz on a double bass (haven't played in 10+ years--I can play with a bow or pizzicato), and have been asked to come up with something (on the order of a brief lamentation/interludes, or otherwise reflective of the readings) for a Protestant Maundy Thursday Tenebrae service.

Any suggestions for those of you who are more familiar with the instrument, the service, the tradition? When I say brief, I mean anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes. I'd like to find something now so I've got 5 months or so to insure I don't embarrass myself.

The services at this congregation are small, informal, liberal, and we don't have a music director I can ask. Feel free to suggest pieces from the traditional (i.e. Catholic chants, etc.) canon, modern work, world music, etc.

(Bonus points if it's especially appropriate for the earthly, rough, human-like tenor of the double bass, instead of for double bass aspiring to imitate cello.)

Fun with Easter grass!

ThirstyEar2 — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:44:54 -0800

What are some fun/mischievous things to do with 60oz of Easter grass? Being a frivolous 21-year-old college kid, I caved in and bought 40 1.5oz bags of Easter grass for $2 from Wal-Mart this evening. I'm trying to think of something fun or (preferably) mischievous to do with it. Any ideas??

What's the closest approximation of an almond?

Felicity Rilke — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 04:38:23 -0800

What nut should I use in place of almonds? I want to make this recipe which calls for 1/2 a cup blanched almonds ground finely, but I'm (sadly) allergic to almonds (and hazelnuts, the suggested alternative).

I usually default to walnuts when a recipe calls for nuts, but I'm worried they will make the tart too bitter. Is there a better substitute I should use?

I wanna (healthier?) eastah egg!

dancinglamb — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:12:19 -0800

What's on the dinner table at your Polish Easter celebration? All of my Polish relatives have passed on, so I don't have anybody to ask what traditional stuff they served at Easter. In the past I've done pierogies with onion and bacon, ham, kielbasa, mashed potatoes, golabki, hard boiled eggs, babka, chrusciki, the Butter Lamb... You know, the good artery-clogging basics.

I'm thinking I need to, ummm, add something with a little more nutritional value. I've been Googling but it seems that the only other thing remotely involving veggies is the buraczki or chrzan.

The bottom line: are there Polish veggie recipes? And can you point me in that direction? Thanks!

How does the music in the St. Matthew´s Passion by J.S. Bach relate to the lyrics and what effect do they have on each other (lyrics and music)?

freddymetz — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 08:06:41 -0800

How does the music in the St. Matthew´s Passion by J.S. Bach relate to the lyrics and what effect do they have on each other (lyrics and music)? Existing interpretations and own thoughts are welcome!

Also analyses of the arias in the Passion would be helpful.

Trying to find the name of an Easter Bunny themed kid's book.

tomble — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 06:07:29 -0800

I'm hunting down an Easter themed children's book for a friend... My friend was telling me tonight of her search for a book she loved as a child. The theme was a family of rabbits, where the multitudes of young rabbits were all twins, and would be assigned various household tasks by their mother. They would all happily work together to achieve their goals, but one rabbit was not a twin, and had no brother or sister to work with.

This rabbit finally becomes the Easter bunny (hooray).

Anyway, my friend was not so much taken by the story as much as in love with the illustrations. If anyone can name this book and possibly even point to somewhere I can find a copy, I would be very grateful!

So this is Easter... and what have you done

psmealey — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 22:27:26 -0800

What is a devout Christian to do that doesn't believe in the divinity of Christ? I was brought up RC, I rejected it during high school, remained agnostic throughout young adulthood. Though, I hated the Roman church, I eventually came back to Christianity (PCUSA) in my mid 30s. I found some solace there for a while, but now I'm back where I started from. I love and accept the message, the Gospels, all of it. But I cannot accept the divinity of Jesus. I don't doubt that he lived and walked among our forebears, but I cannot accept the miracles and such as anything more than apocryphal add-ons to consolidate or convince belief in him as a deity.

Today, I enjoy and get a great deal out of going to services (the folks that conduct services at the local PCUSA church I go to are very intelligent, open-minded and cool), but I am at a point where I cannot bring myself to go any more, for I cannot pass even the most basic litmus test for being there. I feel like a hypocrite for even sitting in those pews.

Should I just forgo the whole thing altogether, as it's just a huge waste of time for them, and for me?

I do believe in a higher being (though not some anthropomorphic old man with a beard), I believe in a higher purpose for all of us, and I believe in redemption for the penitent (so I'm 75% of the way to being there), but I cannot accept the dogma.

So, this religion thing... is it best to give up on it? Or, is there some other way to look at it, and by extension, Christianity, that I haven't thought of?

How can I use Paas tablets to dye fabric?

izatchu — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 17:29:14 -0800

Can you dye fabric with Paas tablets? How? I'd like to dye some remnants, so I don't think the small size of the tablets will be an issue.

A Diabetic-Friendly Easter Basket

Karmakaze — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 12:14:40 -0800

Does anyone make a sugar-free chocolate bunny with something other than maltitol? My housemate is a tremendous chocoholic, but also diabetic, which means she needs to severely limit her intake. I'd like to put together a nice easter basket for her. Most of the sugar-free chocolate I can find is made with maltitol, which, unfortunatley, tends to cause "gastric distress". Does anyone know where I can find a chocolate bunny made with, say, sucralose, instead?

I live in the New Jersey suburbs of New York City or there should be enough time to make a mail-order from farther away.

Touring Italy during Easter

schmordelia — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 09:21:58 -0800

Looking for advice on travelling in Italy during the Easter season. This is our frist trip there, and we'll be there the week before and after the holiday. Planning to fly into Rome, out of Venice with (hopefully) a stop in Florence in between. How does the holiday affect our ability to get around, find rooms, and places to eat? More detail inside. We're mostly interested in travelling (within the country) by train. How much more complicated does the holiday make this? Is it better/ worse to travel on the holiday itself, or should we look into Good Friday/ Easter Monday as travel days?

Our current itinerary has us spending the holiday weekend in Florence. Any reason this is a bad idea?

Also, we'd like to spend some time visiting relatives at the end of our trip in Udine (northeast of Venice). If we budget 3 days for this, how much time should we plan to spend in each of the other cities? Are we trying to do too much?

Any must-see, stay, eat, etc. recommendations also welcome.

Thanks!

Why does only one egg crack in an egg cracking contest?

banished — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 19:56:12 -0800

So every Easter my family has an egg cracking contest using hardboiled eggs. You pair off with a partner, smash your eggs together, and whoever's egg does not crack goes on to the next round until you are left with one winner. My question is, why does only one egg break? They never both crack, no matter how they are smashed together. Also as a side-question, is there anything that can be done that would give someone an advantage in this game? I have tried looking for sharply pointed eggs, trying to hit the other person's egg with different parts of my egg, trying to find the coldest egg, etc. It all seems to be just luck.

Ol' Scratch and Easter

maryh — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 13:29:30 -0800

Why was the Devil associated with Easter? My husband was looking through some old Life magazines from the turn of the last century (when Life was still an illustrated humor rag), and he found that a surprisingly large number of cartoons from the Easter issues contained a dapper version of the devil interacting with church goers. I assume this might've been a comment on the end of Lent and renewed temptation for the pious, but I'm wondering if there was also some popular folklore attached to these sorts of images. Was Ol' Scratch traditionally part of the spring harvest festival, maybe? I should also note that that Life from this period seemed very Protestant, and that the Devil imagery appeared to die out in the years leading up to WWI.
Anyone?
Oh, and Happy Springtime, everybody!

Rise and Shine

Gungho — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 05:22:12 -0800

Music filter: OK So besides Jethro Tull's 'A Passion Play' and the obvious Brown Album* what other songs or albums have that Easter theme? * Jesus Christ Super Star Granted Tull's A Passion Play isn't directly related to the Christian Easter, but it has become a tradition not unlike playing Alice's Restaurant at Thanksgiving. So what else is out there? Searching by title could prove misleading. Please forgive me if I don't care for over the top Christian music. Rock, Alt Country, World are more to my liking. Yeah I know about the soundtracks from Last Temptation and Mel's movie...

polish deli in maryland?

crush-onastick — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 10:04:38 -0800

anyone know a good polish deli in the washington metro area, preferably maryland side, where i can get fruit pierogi, easter butter, and either golabki or a decent kielbasa? i am aware you can get mrs. t's pierogi's in grocery stores out there, but that's not good enough. if someone knows a place out there that stocks kasia's pierogi, that'll do. i do know how to make them, but i'm pressed for time.

bonus points if anyone knows a catholic church in silver spring that's blessing easter food baskets.