Easter Sunday 2020

Scan twitter with #coronavirusbaking and you will likely see pictures of “quarantine cookies” and “isolation loaves.” As the number of families confined to their homes grows, more people are finding refuge in baking. Baking offers a welcome distraction and a sense of comfort. The scents that waft from the kitchen gives one something for which to look forward.

Around this time every year, my mother and I would make Easter Bread. Easter Bread is a specialty bread, popular in Europe, that is made in different shapes and styles in honor of the Easter holiday. I remember the delight of getting my hands all gooey in the dough and the energy it took to knead it.

After separating the dough into balls, it was time to cover it and allow it to rise. After a period of time, that little ball of dough would double in size, pushing up the dish towels covering it. It was almost as if the dough became pregnant. I’ll never forget my mother’s expression at the risen dough. “Ah!” She would gasp with excitement, “God Bless it!” As a child, I wondered how God had time to help our dough to rise, especially at this busy time of year, but I was delighted that divine intervention had somehow decided to mix with our human efforts. The aroma of the bread baking in the oven was heavenly. After the bread had cooled, my mother would give the bread to others.

In the Ukraine, Easter Bread is called Paska, a derivative of Pascha, which means Easter. The word Pascha comes from the Hebrew word Pesach, meaning Passover. As the Jews celebrate the feast of Passover, commemorating the liberation of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt, Christians celebrate the feast of Easter, commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Passover or Paschal Lamb. Pesach is related to the Greek word Paschein, which means to suffer. This is one reason why Easter Bread is made at this time of year. It is symbolic of the dying and rising of Jesus.

This is one reason ordinary bread is used to make Eucharistic Bread. In order to make bread, seeds must die in the ground to become wheat. Wheat must be ground in order to become flour. In each step of the process, there is a dying in order to become something new. In the Eucharist, ordinary bread is transformed into something extraordinary, the Body and Blood of Christ. By partaking in the Eucharist, we too are transformed. We become pregnant with possibilities, energized to knead the dough of life and to give ourselves away for the life of the world. Amen!

Many recipes for Easter Bread can be found online. Here is an easy one courtesy of my mother, Violet Kuczka:

Easter Bread

Ingredients

· dry yeast, 2 packages

· 2 ½ cups of warm water

· 1 lemon cake mix

· 5 cups of flour +

· 2 eggs

· 1 t lemon flavoring

Directions

1. Dissolve yeast in 2 ½ cubs of warm water.

2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and flour.

3. Beat eggs and add lemon flavoring.

4. Add egg mixture and yeast and water to the cake mix and the flour.

5. Knead well so that the dough is sticky. You may need to add more flour.

6. Let rise until double.

7. Divide into three loaf pans.

8. Let rise in the loaf pans until double.

9. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until firm and lightly golden brown on top.

10. Brush with butter or icing.