This is a re-post from Easter Season 2009. It may become a yearly tradition. I love this memory.
Pam sent me a link to a lovely blog today. Over at Momminitup, she contends that nothing says Happy Easter like the Cadbury Egg. Or, not exactly that, just go see what she says.
But WAIT!! Read this first. I promise you won't be disappointed.
See the picture above? Of course you do. YES, that is a chocolate crucifix. And yes, you are supposed to eat it.
No, I have never eaten a chocolate crucifix, but I've come close.
See, nothing will ever say Easter for me quite like the Sugar Jesus my sister and I had every year. I'll repeat that. We called it Sugar Jesus. I have no idea what the thing was actually called.
My next door neighbors were two unmarried sisters and their mother. I think, I was small and don't hold on to details like I used to. These wonderful women loved holidays. At Christmas we had a neighborhood Nativity Pageant. I was always an angel. Our front porch must have been Nazareth, because Joseph & Mary started the journey to the Bethlehem next door from there. We had costumes, a huge stable, and all the neighborhood kids doing this every year. Us girls were usually jockeying to be Mary, I don't think the boys cared or they tried to get out of being Joseph. There was hand-holding involved.
That just sets up the point that these ladies loved holidays. At Easter, every year they made the sugar eggs. You know the ones that are hollow and have a little grassy scene inside the window. I'm sure they have a name, but again, details flying out of my head.
That is not the only thing they made with sugar.
YES. Their candy mold looked a lot like the one used for the chocolate creation above. I looked all over the Internet for a picture of a Sugar Jesus, but apparently Sis and I are the only ones who ever had them. That was as close as I could get.
At the time, I never thought, "This could be completely irreverent, nibbling on Jesus' head, left hand, right hand, feet, left arm, right arm, legs...etc." Although I do think I always saved the head for last, and nibble would not be correct, either. We were just little girls, enjoying a tradition that tasted like we simply put a spoon in the sugar bowl.
So now I argue with my fellow blogger. Nothing says "let's celebrate our Lord's death & Resurrection" like giving children sugar versions of the crucifix. I can guarantee that they will remember it for the rest of their lives. My sister would definitely agree with me.
Well, I am thinking of ordering these candy molds and continuing the tradition. Then again...
On that note, I truly hope you and yours have a wonderful and thought provoking Easter.
What are some of the childhood memories of Easter that you have? Can you still taste the sugar on your tongue? I know I can.
***My non-southerner husband had no idea what I was referring to with the sugar egg... crazy, I know!
