| Introduction. | | | | garden are given a face lift. Dead leaves flowers and |
| The period of Easter is a particularly joyous one in | | | | twigs which had survived winter are raked, pilled up |
| most parts of the Northern Hemisphere. This time of | | | | and burned. Inside the home, shuttered windows are |
| year usually marks the end of the dreary winter, with | | | | opened to let in fresh air. The living room really comes |
| the budding of new flora, and emergence of fauna | | | | alive. The floor is vacuumed clean, the chairs tables |
| from their hibernation. Man is not left out of this sense | | | | and other furniture given a shine and polish. |
| of renewal. Men, women and children change their | | | | Special Meals for Easter |
| outdoor clothes, from the heavy suffocating wool to | | | | The kitchen takes on a life of its own. Special meals |
| the lighter linen and cotton. Easter is that time of year | | | | are usually prepared for Easter day. In most countries |
| when children stream out of the front door squealing, | | | | of Europe and North America a major component of |
| squalling and running round the garden. The more | | | | any special Easter meal is the ubiquitous chicken egg. |
| enterprising ones among them bring out their bicycles | | | | In traditional Christian homes, the previous forty days |
| and pedal down the street, calling on their | | | | before Easter had been a period of deprivation and |
| neighborhood friends to come out and play. | | | | austerity in protein consumption. The period of Lent is |
| Preparation for Easter | | | | usually one of fasting with the conspicuous absence of |
| One of the novel traditions of Easter in the West, | | | | animal protein like beef in the meals served during the |
| apart from the religious ceremonies that attend this | | | | Lenten forty days. Maybe to make up for the shortfall |
| period, is the Easter egg Hunt. A few days before | | | | in protein intake, while at the same time avoiding any |
| Eater day, there is a general cleaning out of both the | | | | food containing blood, the bloodless chicken egg |
| home and the barn. Piles of disused furniture and | | | | comes in handy. All kinds of menus containing eggs |
| equipment, used clothes and rags, are brought out to | | | | are presented on the dining table. |
| be sent to the incinerators. The house frontage and | | | | Easter egg Hunts. |