Hippity Hoppity Flying Spaghetti Monster

Yes, it's that time of year again. I can tell, because there are lots of young people on the Gold Line when they should be in school. But school's out because it's Spring break and can Easter be far behind? Passover comes today when the sun goes down. But you don't see a lot of Passover marketing going on (although I did find a Passover basket online). It's all about renewal, though cloaked in various ritualistic forms. This ritualistic form I think says a lot about Easter for me. And if you want to expand your religious awareness (and who doesn't), you could check out the Flying Spaghetti Monster in all its mystical forms. It has brought me faith.

The biggest outward impact of this time of year is candy. In all its cheap forms, candy is everywhere. We didn't get enough during Valentine's Day, so it is reintroduced in new forms and colors. Steve and I are doing amazingly well on our diets (a New Year's resolution that we've actually been sticking with). I've lost 20 pounds and Steve's lost about 10 (but I have much farther to go).

The one thing we've allowed ourselves is Peeps. He eats his fresh from the box, while I practice the dessication of Peeps; for me it's the only way to eat them. You must cut open the cellophane wrapping and tip the peeps up to allow maximum surface area. Leave them that way for 10 days to two weeks to develop full potential of all their chewy goodness. When they sound like a hockey puck when tapped on the counter, they are ready to consume. Mmmm-mmmm. I do not think they are kosher, though.

And eggs. Easter eggs. Some of them are elaborate and stunning (those are Eastern European eggs), but most of them are just garishly colored (those are American eggs). Either way, I haven't quite figured out why we do this. I know that, as a child, Easter always meant one inevitable thing: egg salad sandwiches for the next week.

Personally, I haven't dyed Easter eggs for some time now because there aren't a lot of kids in my life, and they are what the easter egg hunt is all about. These days I just hard-boil eggs if I want egg salad. Besides, those dyes leak through the cracks in the eggs and imbue the salad with a weird bluish-brownish tinge that I always felt looked somehow unhealthy.

Cascarones are the best eggs of all, I think, but then you have to blow out the eggs (scrambled eggs for week) and fill them with confetti. But the fun you get breaking them over people's heads. And, of course, it's always fun to put one or two raw eggs in with the cascarones so some unsuspecting goofball will get a real surprise.

So Happy Passover, Happy Easter, Happy Flying Spaghetti Monster Day. Have some motzoh, your candy, your extra meatballs. Times is hard, but fun is harder.