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All posts by Suburban Grandma

Ukrainian Easter Basket – Beautiful Tradition

Easter is such a beautiful holiday, but here in the US, it does not get even close to the vast recognition that Christmas is showered with.

My family and I feel very lucky to be familiar with, and able to practice the Ukrainian Easter traditions. Besides the 40 days of the Great Lent, and the different church services from Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday, there is the traditional Easter Basket Blessing, which takes place at our church on Holy Saturday, or right after the Sunrise Easter Sunday Liturgy in other parishes.

Ukrainian Traditional Easter Basket – Special Food and Symbolism

The Easter Basket of special foods (described below) is arranged on Holy Saturday and taken to church, where a special blessing ceremony with prayers and sprinkling with Holy Water, is performed by the parish priest. The blessed food is served on Easter Sunday Brunch, once the fast is broken after the morning Easter Liturgy.

Embroidered Scarf – Ukrainian Easter Basket Cover

As you already know from my previous post, that Ukrainians follow an Easter tradition of blessing an Easter Basket full of special foods, which is covered with a special embroidered scarf.

These scarfs are hand embroidered by family members, and used only for the purpose of covering the Easter Baskets.

Katrusia’s Paska – Recipe

I already have several different Paska/Babka recipes that I tried and loved, but this one sparked my interest because it only requires 4 cups of flour to make two medium-sized Paska, hence perfect for a smaller family.

80 Years Old Ukrainian Easter Eggs (Pysanky)

These Ukrainian Easter Eggs were decorated by my Great-Aunt Anna Kril Bart (Bartoszewska) and her children, in Queens, New York, over 80 years ago. The “sticks” displayed in front of the platter, are homemade styluses, used for drawing the outlines for the design on these eggs. The stylus handles were made from tree twigs, and the metal funnels were made from a metal can cut out…..such was life even in New York, USA, many years ago.