 |
|
|
What are you doing this month? Well Folks, still waiting for your input! Maybe you have something special
you do on these days. Tell us about it.
April is a month of many events, both spiritual and secular:
The Origin of April Fool's Day All Fool's Day was a folk celebration and elite participation in it appears
to have been minimal (which is why it's so difficult to trace the exact origin of the day, because the people celebrating
it back then weren't the kind of people who kept records of what they did). But what is clear is that the tradition of a day
devoted to foolery had ancient roots. As we look back in time we find many ancient predecessors of April Fool's Day.
Suggestion:
Have an April Fool’s Foolishly Formal Party. Everyone must dress formal, foolish or foolishly formal. Great fun! Today Canadian children play small tricks on friends and strangers alike
on the first of April. One common trick on April Fool's Day, or All Fool's Day, is pointing down to a friend's shoe and saying,
"Your shoelace is untied." Teachers in the nineteenth century used to say to pupils, "Look! A flock of geese!" and point up.
School children might tell a classmate that school has been cancelled. Whatever the trick, if the innocent victim falls for
the joke the prankster yells, "April Fool!"
"The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days
of the year." --Mark Twain April Fools Day: An Unsolved History The first of April, some do say, -- Poor Robin's Almanac (1790)
Daylight Saving Time Just as sunflowers turn their heads to catch every sunbeam, so too have
we discovered a simple way to get more from our sun. We've learned to save energy and enjoy sunny summer evenings by switching
our clocks an hour forward in the summer. During DST, clocks are turned forward an hour, effectively moving an hour
of daylight from the morning to the evening.
Today approximately 70 countries utilise Daylight Saving Time in at least
a portion of the country. The only major industrialised country not to have introduced daylight saving is Japan. It is Daylight Saving (singular) Time, NOT Daylight SavingS Time. We are
saving daylight, so it is singular and not plural. One of the biggest reasons we change our clocks to Daylight Saving Time
(DST) is that it saves energy. Energy use and the demand for electricity for lighting our homes is directly connected to when
we go to bed and when we get up. Bedtime for most of us is late evening through the year. When we go to bed, we turn off the
lights and TV.
Good Friday
Easter Sunday Most Christians observe Easter on the first Sunday after the first full
moon following the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Eastern Orthodox Churches celebrate Easter later because
of additional factors in calculating the date of Easter. Several customs are observed during the Easter season - Lenten penance
and fasting; carnivals, egg exchanging, eating, decorating and egg hunts there are Passion Plays and Easter parades. Many
countries follow customs that are special to their country.
Our Easter Family Tradition -- An Easter Egg Hunt at the Camp When you have a large family it makes for lots of family gatherings and
a favourite is our annual Easter Egg Hunt. It's an exciting day for the children as they arrive greeting their cousins
with their Easter baskets, and always a child dressed like the Easter bunny. After the arrival, when the excitement dies down, all the dads go outside
to hide the eggs. Each dad has a bag of eggs. The mom’s job is to keep the little ones from peeking out the windows. The eggs are hid over a wide area, among trees, on sheds, in the sanctuary,
the woodpile etc. After all the eggs are hid the children are let out with their Easter baskets. It's a real scramble as the children run to and fro to find over 150 hidden
eggs. (Sometimes you may find one or two in the fall when the wood is brought in.) After all the eggs are collected everyone goes back into the camp. The
children form a circle. All the eggs are dumped in the middle of the circle. Each takes a turn choosing an egg. This goes
on till all the eggs are gone. Every child is happy as all have the same number of eggs. Then we have supper with two Easter
Bunny cakes for dessert. It’s a delightful fun-filled afternoon.
Easter Shortcake Place cake slices in 9 x 13-inch dish. Combine pudding mix and milk in
large bowl; mix well. Add ice cream. Beat until blended. Pour into prepared dish. Dissolve gelatine in 1/2 cup boiling water.
Stir in strawberries. Chill until partially set. Spoon over pudding mixture. Chill until firm. Yield 12 servings.
Glazed Ham Place ham in a pot and cover with water. Bring slowly to a boil, then simmer
for 1 hour. Allow to cool in the water, then remove ham and pour off water. Using a sharp knife, remove the rind from the
ham. Omit these steps when using pre-cooked ham. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Score the fat at 1-inch intervals and stick with cloves. Combine the brown sugar, dry mustard, and flour and press on all
sides about 1-1/2 inches thick. Pour the juice from the pineapple over the top of the ham. Place on the pineapple slices.
Bake about 25 minutes to the pound, basting often. Lower the oven temperature
to 300 degrees about 15 minutes before the end of cooking time. Coat with more brown sugar mixture and bake 15 minutes without
basting for a crisp glaze. Allow the ham to stand for 15 minutes before serving.
And have you ever sung this song? Hot Cross Buns! Hot Cross Buns! Hot Cross Buns 2 packages active dry yeast (1/4 ounce each) 1 tsp. cinnamon Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about
6 to 8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl and turn over to grease the top. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let rise
in a warm place until doubled in size (about 1 hour). Punch the dough down and shape into 30 balls. Place on lightly greased
baking sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled (about 30 minutes). Using a sharp knife, cut a cross (or X) on the top of
each roll. Beat the water and egg yolk together and brush over rolls. (You will probably have more than you need, discard
the unused egg glaze.) Bake at 375-degree F. for 12 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, make icing by combining the last four ingredients. Stir until
smooth, adjusting sugar and milk to make a mixture that flows easily. When rolls are baked, cool on wire racks. Drizzle icing over the top of
each roll following the lines of the cut cross. *1 1/2 cups warm skim milk may be substituted for the milk and water in
the roll recipe above.
Secretary Day Happy Secretary Day! What will you be doing in May? Send me your family traditions and special
events to share with our readers. Joan Cripps |
||
|
Do you have an idea for a story? Send us an email.
|
