Δευτέρα 20 Απριλίου 2009

MY WORLD TUESDAY: SUNDAY OF EASTER (ΚΥΡΙΑΚΗ ΤΟΥ ΠΑΣΧΑ)



ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ !!!

( Christos is risen)

This is a wish we say every day, when we see someone, from the Resurrection of Jesus till Whitsun (Pentikosti, Πεντηκοστή).
I promised to show you how is a Greek Orthodox Easter (Pascha).
Well, it begins with the Resurrection on Holy Saturday night.
Unfortunatly we couldn't stay till the end of the liturgy because the girls were very tired and very hungry.
We came home at 12:30 am.
After 15 minutes my sister's family and my parents arrived to celebrate all together the Resurrection at my home.
We made a cross at our front door with the Holy Light (this light comes from Jerousalim, from the Holy Grave of Jesus).
Then i put the Light in my oil lamp.



We keep the Holy Light on at least for fifty days till Pentikosti.
The table and the food were ready and our appetite, too.


We bumped our eggs, we said "Christos Anesti" and we started eating.



Our first meal with meat after forty eight days of fasting.
The first dish was a soup that we call "magiritsa" (μαγειρίτσα).
The original magiritsa is with the entrails of the lamb (liver, spleen, etc).
My father made the original recipe.
But the kids don't like the original version so i put the meat of the lamb's ribes (without bones and fat), rice, fresh onions, dill, olive oil, salt and pepper.
It's not the original but it's a great soup.


The second dish was lamb with potatoes in the oven.




Of course we had Greek salad, salami and cheese (Cretan graviera).
Our guests left at 2:30 am, I put the rest of the family to sleep and i did the cleaning.
I went to bed at 4:00 am.
I woke up at 8:00 am.
My hubby, my brother-in-law (my sister's hubby) and my father went down to the garden at 8:30 am to set the lamb on the spit and they started the spitting.



The impale lamb is a symbol of the Crucifixion.
Jesus, the Holy Lamb, crucified on the Cross and, when he died, the soldiers didn't break his arms and legs like they did with the two thieves. (See the icon of the Crucifixion in my previous post).
So we put the lamb on the spit without breaking its bones.
At 11:00 am it was the time for an award for the "grillers" (and for us, too).
A pre-lunch meal.
We had salad, ham, cheese, eggs, seftalies, sausages and kokoretsi.





From the morning till lunch (at 1:30 pm) a lot of people stopped by our home (to be exact by our garden) to say "Christos Anesti" and have a glass of wine and a snack.

My parents in law, my sister's parents in law, my hubby's brothers and a few more.

The weather was great and the kids made a few rides with their bikes.


Antonia loved to ride her father's motorcycle.


Of course we had a lot of dancing, too.

After all, dance is in our blood.

My father dances the best zeibekiko i've ever seen.

And Olga try to follow his footsteps.



Here is me, my mother in law, my mother and my sister.

And me and my sister dance hasapiko (for a video from our dance see Marina's blog http://marinaslifefamily.blogspot.com/ ).


We set the table for lunch at an open space under our homes, next to the garden.
At the festive table were my family, my sister's family and my parents.

We had for lunch, except the lamb, farm salad, Russian salad, Greek salad, green salad, fried potatoes, salami, cheese (feta and kaseri), eggs and toasted bread on the grill.




And for dessert we had chocolate mousse (made by me), cheesecake (made by my sister Marina) and giaourtopita (made by my mother in law).


We finished our lunch at 5:00 pm, we took a bath and the rest of the day we were trying to recover from the food and the weariness.

to see other places of our world.

29 σχόλια:

Ανώνυμος είπε...

what a wonderful celebration for easter sunday...and the tradition behind it is so important. i enjoyed reading about it and all of the preparations leading to it. an excellent account.

your meal looks awesome...i would have loved to have joined the celebration.

thank you for sharing with us...

take care.

Reader Wil είπε...

Thank you for your colourful post and very delicious food! You are wonderful people! Our Easter is much simpler. We go to church on Thursday to have Communion, on Friday to meditate on the suffering and death of Jesus. Saturday there is a wake in church and Sunday morning we have a festive service, after the service we have coffee with cake. I like your Easter! Thank you for your visit and comment. Hugs, Wil

Donna είπε...

WoW!! I love the egg bumping!!hughugs

Reader Wil είπε...

I saw the video of you and Marina How wonderful to see you dancing! Clever girls you are! You have a blessed family. Thank you for sharing! Have a great week!

Trish ~ ♥ ~ είπε...

What a feast! Makes me hungry.

Sylvia K είπε...

Oh, yes! this is indeed a wonderful celebration of Easter and how lovely of you to share it all with us! The food looks heavenly and I love the dancing! And, I too, would have loved to join your beautiful celebration! Thanks so much for sharing this very beautiful part of your world!!

Ανώνυμος είπε...

I really enjoyed you taking us to share your family's tradition every week. It's a good education for me.

SandyCarlson είπε...

That looks like an amazing family time! Happy Easter!

Carver είπε...

What a fabulous celebration! Loved seeing your delicious feast and the dancing.

Arija είπε...

What a feast, by the look of it a great time was had by all!

B SQUARED είπε...

Fabulous! So very interesting. Thank You.

Yogi♪♪♪ είπε...

What a wonderful Easter celebration. Thanks for sharing.

Marites είπε...

it's really nice to see how you and your family celebrate easter sunday. The food looks so delicious!

The egg bumping is cute:D I had fun reading your post.

My world entry is up here

Inday είπε...

Very, very interesting to learn more about Greek life. Love those food you cooked and served and the narration that comes with it. Wish I was there. I have a Greek neighbour whom I promised to keep company to a Greek Restaurant. Until today I haven't done it. Now that I have seen the food, Glorious food! I will tell old George, now I can come with you to your Restaurant. lol. I love spit Roast Lamb.

Jeannette StG είπε...

Wow, what a festivities. I had no idea that the Orthodox had so many symbolic things going on around Easter. And you had quite a bit of food to cook :) thank you for sharing all the details of the celebrations with us!

Baruch είπε...

A wonderful celebration so beautifully shared

Sheba είπε...

Wow what a gathering! Sheba says she would love to have her go at those bone leftovers!

Greetings from us in Niger

This Is My Blog - fishing guy είπε...

Antigoni: What a wonderful celebration with so much food and fun. Thanks for sharing your world in Greece.

Maria Verivaki είπε...

alithos anesti!

Unknown είπε...

WOW what a feast you had and a wonderful celebration, your traditions are just great.

Tina είπε...

that all looks so lovely. i really like the spit!

Maria είπε...

We also bumped eggs when we were kids!

George είπε...

Thanks for sharing your Easter celebration with us. It's obviously a special time for family, good food, and celebration!

Rossel είπε...

what an easter celebration! I love the foods, all looks good. celebrating with our family is the best.

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Tootie είπε...

Your festivities look like so much fun.. I love the open look of the area. Is that beneath your home? I would love learning your dances. :-)

Ανώνυμος είπε...

Looks like a fun gathering, and the food is beyond wonderful - I like seeing the red eggs again.

Happy (belated) Easter!

Ανώνυμος είπε...

I did enjoy your post with all the photos. I think your photography is very good.

I have never tasted lamb and don't know why. It is something that isn't sold here in our stores -- only pork and beef are sold. I have had those two all my life. I also eat chicken but never tasted duck.

The Hamlet of Gordon, Ohio

EG CameraGirl είπε...

This is a wonderful description of your holiday. I can see that the food is very important to this day - and it all looks so delicious!

DeniseinVA είπε...

Hi Antigoni, wonderful celebration, your photos show us how splendid your Easter is in Greece. Great shots all of them. Thank you for sharing your wonderful traditions.