This year’s Easter celebration looked a little different to us here in Germany.
Last year, we celebrated Easter with the traditional Easter brunch, much like we did when we lived in the U.S. We had ham, rolls, and roasted vegetables, like sweet potatoes and broccoli. Of course, we also had to have some German beer, because that is something Germany is known for.
The meal was a lot of work and we are only two people- it didn’t seem much fun when we just prepared the meal for ourselves. It is a lot more fun when we would have gotten to share it with friends and family. It didn’t seem worth all the effort.
Easter in Germany in 2019
For these reasons, Lucas and I decided to not prepare an Easter meal this year. We also had a lot of leftovers in the fridge that needed eating up before they went bad.
However, we still decided to dye Easter eggs, one of my favorite Easter traditions. It seemed pointless to buy the dyes that you find in the store or the color tablets, because we don’t plan on staying here long, and they would go to waste.
Therefore, we decided to use natural dyes. We researched what natural foods we could use to produce certain colors, and went with their suggestions. I also got creative and decided to make my own colors using foods I thought would produce colorful results but are not on the list.
In addition to using red cabbage and beets, we added curry and blueberries to the list. Red cabbage would produce a blue color (according to the research. I wasn’t believing it, and I thought it would turn the eggs purple if they were left in the dye for a longer period of time). Therefore, we added blueberries, hoping they would color the eggs a darker blue, and curry for a yellow. (Research said that turmeric would produce a deep gold color, and I wanted yellow, so I substituted curry for the turmeric). As you can see, I made several changes and realized I am a very doubtful chef.
We first boiled the natural ingredients, vinegar, and water to make the dye. After straining out the solids, we boiled the colored water/vinegar solution again, this time adding the eggs to make hard boiled eggs. We then took the eggs out of the solution, waited for the solutions to cool, and then let the eggs sit in their respective colors again, to deepen the colors. We had to wait for the water to cool, because we did not want the eggs to continue cooking.
After two hours, we pulled the eggs out of their solutions, and were surprised to find that blueberries had turned our eggs grey, red cabbage had turned our eggs blue, the beet mixture had turned our eggs orange (these were preserved beets, which had an orangey-rust color from the beginning. Next time, we would use fresh beets).
A photo of our naturally dyed Easter eggs.
Overall, I would dye the eggs again in the natural color mixture. I really like the unique colors we were able to get, and how vibrant the colors were.
Lesson: You do not have to force yourself to uphold the traditional holiday celebrations, especially if it seems tiring and you are not spending the holiday with family. We were quite happy just dyeing eggs for Easter, and although we missed the traditional meal with family, we enjoyed not having to do the extra work to prepare it just for us two.
Typically, the Americans (as far as I have experienced Easter with my family), in addition to dyeing Easter eggs, typically eat fish on Good Friday. On Easter Sunday, children wake up to an Easter basket, in which chocolate eggs and rabbits are hidden, as well as small games or toys. Families go to Sunday mass, then have an Easter brunch with family consisting of ham and rolls, tenderloin, mashed potatoes, vegetables and pie or cake. There are also plenty of chocolate eggs and chocolate rabbits to snack on. Afterwards, the children look for plastic eggs, which contain money, candy, or small trinkets. These eggs are usually hidden inside houses, but they can also be hidden outside, too.
My question was, how do the Germans celebrate Easter? One of my closest friends is a native German, so I decided to ask her.
For her Easter celebration, she had brunch with her family, much like the Americans do. In addition, my friend, Debbie, says that on Good Friday, no meat is eaten, even for breakfast. Instead, fish is the typical main course, and people think about Jesus’ death (for those who believe in Jesus).
Coloring Easter eggs is common. However, on Easter Sunday, the Germans hide the eggs and/or chocolate eggs and other Easter gifts in their gardens for their children. They then have a brunch with both cold and warm dishes, such as bread, different types of cold salads, salmon wrapped in phyllo dough, and schnitzel (crusted and baked meat such as veal or pig).
Lesson: Holiday traditions vary from country to country, and even from family to family! I have learned that the Germans hide real Easter eggs, whereas Americans typically hide plastic eggs.
Whatever your tradition may be, I hope you have had a happy and healthy Easter.
“WE WERE BORN TO BE FREE, TO EXPAND OUR HORIZONS BY GOING WHERE WE HAVE NEVER GONE BEFORE, AND NOT TO HANG OUT IN THE RELATIVE COMFORT AND SAFETY OF THE NEST, THE KNOWN. THERE IS A PLACE WITHIN US THAT IS COURAGEOUS BEYOND OUR HUMAN UNDERSTANDING; IT YEARNS TO EXPLORE BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF OUR DAILY LIFE.” – DENNIS MERRITT JONES
Here is a link to how to naturally dye eggs https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/easter-ideas/how-to/a31737/natural-easter-egg-dyes/