Easter Treats

It is Easter weekend and I've been having such a lovely and interesting time working out what that means to me. My life these days does not include much organised religion (disorganised however sounds so much more lovely, and I envisage it including much more wine and cake?) however I feel its a shame to miss out on all the celebrations. People who know me well will know I have such a fondness for rituals and tradition. Growing up in and around churches meant that lots of different traditions were woven in my day to do life, and as an adult I found I needed to work out how to integrate my own rituals into my life. Some of these traditions are silly, like believing that on sunday you can eat whatever treats you want without any ramifications (a lot of chocolate gets eaten before breakfast, and I have been known to drink a whole bowl of coffee.) While others involve special places I go with my friends once a fortnight for breakfast and a shopping trips. A lot of my traditions revolve around ethical purchasing of food,  such as going specifically to an artisan bakery for bread, supporting local farmers by buying my vegetables at local organic stores, or buying wine from my favourite cellar. These tiny things bring beauty and significance to daily life and I love the routine of visiting all these different places to buy treats. 

This year I wanted to celebrate Easter with the people I care about without having to buy a heap of mass produced chocolate. So this is what I did. Firstly, I made my own hot cross buns, which is something I do every year. I left them in my house for the whole household to eat. Next instead of giving chocolate I made jam and gave it to friends as gifts. It was so nice to have a token of celebration without needing much more than strawberries, sugar, jars and a bit of time. And lastly of course, there were feasts. Over the weekend I got together with different friends at different points and just enjoyed each others company, some good food and a decent amount of good wine. 

After all these celebrations I was left feeling so full and blessed. What are your Easter traditions? Hope they are lovely and filling your heart up to the very top.