Easter in Germany
Easter in Germany symbolizes the and of the fasting season and traditionally starts on Good Friday which is called Karfreitag where - following to the catholic tradition - your are supposed not to eat any meat. The day before is Gründonnerstag - green thursday. The origin of this name isn't totally clarified. One theory is that it stems from the tradition to eat much green vegetables and herbs for gaining strength and health for the rest of the year. In some regions it is the first day to dessiminate in the garden for having large crops all year.Easter Sunday is the happy day of resurrection and the favorite day of the children where they search for Easter eggs. The parents hide small nests with eggs, small bunnies made out of chocolate or caramel and other items for their kids.
Why easter eggs - one explanation is this:
During the fasting period people weren't allowed to eat any eggs. So in the end there was a large overage of eggs. The symbolic relevance of eggs reflects the emergence of new life and the resurrection. The custom of painting Easter eggs goes back to the Ancient Egypt.
In the period before Easter you will find many ideas for Easter handicraft work. The traditional decoration usually includes willow twigs which is adorned with painted empty easter eggs.
Have a look at this handicraft site which offers many ideas not only for Easter but all year.
The last day of these holidays is Easter Monday where many families make a trip or picknick enjoying theses first warmer days of spring.
Ingredients:
1 kg flour
1 tsp salt
160 g soft butter
600 ml room-warm milk
1 tbsp sugar
40 g yeast
24 hazel-nuts or raisins
2 yolks for coating
Dissolve yeast in the warm milk, add some sugar, and leave the dough until bubbles appear on it's surface. Put the rest of the ingredients into a big bowl, pour the milk& yeast mixture in and mix well till the dough is smooth (~10 min). Put the bowl in a warm place and let it stay there till its volume at least doubles. At this point the dough requires intensive kneading. After that, let it rest for about 20 min.
Knead the dough again and cut it into 12 equal parts. Form the Easter Bunnies: separate the dough part into 3 pieces, and adjust them to each other as a head, body and tail. Form two ears on top of the head. Press the nuts or raisins onto the head as the rabbit's eyes. Put the bunnies onto a greased and floured cook sheet. Coat with the yolk, let rest for 30 min, and bake in the preheated oven for about 25-30 min.
I wish you great Easter holidays - Frohe Ostern! Happy Easter!
No comments:
Post a Comment