I think Easter has gotten to be kind of a complicated holiday. Perhaps it’s because it really has become so secularized that we’ve lost our focus on what’s actually important about this holy day. But that’s perhaps a post for another time.

Easter was a pretty big deal for our family when we were growing up. This was in large part because we attended Catholic school where we weren’t allowed to forget the meaning of Easter. But we were children, after all. So there’s no denying that one of the most awesome things about Easter was our new finery.

In the 50s and early 60s, our Easter finery included a sport coat and tie for my brother (along with a fresh crew cut) and a fancy new dress for the three girls. And of course, the Easter bonnet. It was a must. For one thing, back in those days we were required to cover our heads when we entered the church. Most of the time we did this by wearing a chapel veil, which was a small round lace cloth that we pinned to the top of our heads. But on Easter, we wore a bonnet.

As a small child, Mom kept our hair short. A pixie cut, and my bangs were always crooked. As an aside, the woman who cut our hair – Fay – must have hated children, or at least cutting children’s hair. She would use a razor and literally yank, yank, yank at the hair. I hated getting my hair cut ALMOST as much as I hated going to our also-children-hating dentist. In fact, the first time my current hair stylist brought out a razor to cut my hair, I began screaming uncontrollably. (Not really, but I did feel compelled to tell her about my childhood experience.) But I digress.

I don’t know how my sisters felt about their short hair, but I yearned to have long hair. So when it came time to buy my Easter hat, a requirement – non-negotiable – was that it have a long grosgrain ribbon going down my back. When wearing the hat, I would swish my head back and forth so that the ribbon would sometimes flip over my shoulder, you know, like a pony tail. Pitiful, no?

Gloves and patent-leather shoes with white anklet socks were also a requirement with our finery. I loved wearing my white gloves. In fact, I wish women still wore gloves when they dressed up. There is nothing more elegant. One year I even had white gloves with pink flowers embroidered on them. Sigh.

When we walked into St. Bonaventure Catholic Church, it was filled with men, women, and children dressed to the hilt in similar Easter finery. We would look around to see if our friends had prettier hats and dresses than we. We would make sure we walked up the aisle in such a way that our new patent leather shoes click-click-clicked on the hard floor.

Nowadays kids mostly get the finery and forgo the church service. That makes me sad.

What has gotten complicated nowadays – at least in my opinion – is that it is another excuse to give children gifts and take children to organized activities. When I was young, we got an Easter basket and that was it. We would color the hard-boiled eggs the night before and place them in our basket. When we awoke on Easter morning, the Easter bunny had come, filled our basket with candy, and hidden the basket – in its entirety – somewhere in the house. I’m pretty sure our Easter bunny didn’t have the patience to hide each individual egg. Our bunny was a little cranky.

We did have an Easter egg hunt, however, at Pawnee Park. For whatever reason, Grammie loved Easter. And she loved hiding the little plastic Easter eggs in the trees and bushes around this pretty park. There were no organized eggs hunts. We saw many other families doing the exact same thing. Such fun.

Then we would make our way home to another feast prepared by my mother that always included a ham and creamed potatoes.

A feast fit for a king. And fit to celebrate the Risen King.

Creamed Potatoes

Ingredients

6-7 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

3 T. butter

1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

2 c. milk

Chives and/or parsley

Process

Place cubed potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook until tender, approximately 15-20 min. In a separate pan, melt butter. Add flour, salt and pepper, and whisk until smooth. Gradually add milk, whisking as you pour. Bring back to a boil; cook until thickened, about 2 minutes.

Drain the potatoes and place them in a serving bowl. Pour the cream sauce over the potatoes and gently stir to coat. Sprinkle with herbs if desired.