hot cross buns

i adore easter… for so many reasons. i love how it was always a real family affair, with lots of ‘togetherness’ and laughter. i love the colors that are associated with it and the flowers and the games. i love the emotions that the whole season of easter evokes. i love how springtime and its new growth line up so completely with the new life that comes with christ’s death and resurrection. mostly though, i love how i can experience a time every year when i am reminded of the severity and beauty and complexity of God’s love, and can take time out of my busy schedule to really revel in it and worship the God that made me and those around me.

what do hot cross buns have to do with this, you ask?

well, while i love the taste that they have and the really happy memories that they evoke, i also really enjoy the way that their presence reminds me to think of the other things at hand, that easter is quickly on its way. (fyi: hot cross buns are only eaten right before easter). many of you who really know me know that i both enjoy and savor not only the holidays of christmas and easter, but the weeks before. because i so strongly value what i consider to be the real substance behind both holidays, christ’s birth and then death and resurrection, i feel that it is only fair and just that i spend time in preparation for each.

how can i really feel the weight of what has been done on our behalf if i have not taken the time to prepare my mind in thought and worship? how can i truly show my appreciation and thankfulness if i simply rejoice in the fact that it has happened, once or for an hour or two?

i know that this means different things for different people and thus will be carried out in a different way for each individual. i hope that you are able to really enjoy this weekend, in whatever form it might take!

…

for now, back to the delicious hot cross buns!

because it is difficult to find these lovely treats in their truly authentic form in america (and especially in this part of florida), i have started my own tradition of making them once a year. i made them last year for the first time and they were delish! thanks to my aunt sylvia for sending me a delicious recipe! the family tradition will live on!

** note of warning for any of you that might talk to hugh about these said buns… be careful! he’s taken to singing (in a very strange voice, somewhat reminiscent to an old english woman’s) the children’s song that goes along with them at any chance he can! : )

happy easter all! lots and lots of love from us to you!