Sunday 31 March 2013

scrumpin' with the easter bunny





Celebrating Autumn with Easter festivities hurts my brain.
Easter is a Christian celebration, celebrating the rebirth of the Messiah. Oestre or Ishtar is the pagan celebration of the feminine and fertility and the coming light.


So why, down south, do we celebrate Easter in the Autumn when everything around us is decaying, the mornings and nights are magnetised to one another and we are reaching out towards our gum boots, jumpers and fires?
I'm pulled to carve out a pumpkin. Or at least to make mini chocolate mushrooms!
Who wants to celebrate life by eating an egg anyhow?





The children of course think nothing of it.

They still expect chocolate eggs brought to them by an oversized easter bunny.

My eldest today asked why there was a chick on her easter card. My head ties itself in knots trying to work out a solution. It's bad enough not eating sugar, dairy and cooked chocolate without thinking about the politics of the occasion.

So, starting the day with a perky slice of pollen nation cake and a large glass full of easter bunny's surprise, (read dandelions), we charged full power into the day and held onto the belief that it would all work out.

Looks as if we have the faeries back again, as a large bag of chocolate walnuts were left at the door. Beautiful handmade vintage hot water bottle covers stuffed with fruit leathers were handed out with a promise of an easter hunt by the end of the day.
On our walk round the garden plucking bursting bombs of nutrition from our laden grapevines, filling our skirts full of windfall heritage apples and layin' hands on velvety white mushrooms tucked in under the grass nestled against the knarled bodies of trees, we selected our lunch and ate on the run.

Hunt the easter walnuts kept us busy for the next half an hour. Rummaging around underneath the historic cathedral of branches overhead, we lost the baby in the weeds, spotted a couple of eels in the creek and checked out Ratty's pantry stocked chocker full of our prized nut. Stuffing our bags full of autumns gift, we relished our hunt for these nuggets of brain power, lovin' that they resembled armoured easter eggs hiding in the long grass.

Heading to our temple of moss covered rocks covering lichen laden trees, we left easter origami bags of   nuts, grapes and apples in gratitude to the faery folk of the rata forest. The girls knelt down in reverence in the clear waters of the magical creek and laid their offerings upon their chosen shrine, the old arm of a tree; broken, water logged and waiting for a new direction in life.

But still it was not enough.

And thankfully I was prepared.

While the children babbled and paddled in the shower after a salty run on the beach, mama hid the chocolate eggs she'd made the night before easter around the kitchen garden. Squeals of delight with three little bedtime fairies snaffling up silver wrapped miniature eggs, coating their squeaky clean skin with layers of mud, cacao, tomatoes and berries, the great easter tradition of huntin' out the eggs was complete.

Smiling, sleeping faces with cacao streaked hair beckoned me tonight into the darkened rooms of autumn, sanctuaries of childhood dreams and memories.

Lucuma and Maca Chocolate walnuts

2/3 cup coconut oil, gently melted
1/3 cup cacao butter, gently melted
1/4 cup cacao powder
2/3 cup lucuma
2 tbsp maca
pinch of pink salt

handful of walnut halves

1/ mix all ingredients except walnuts, together well with love and great intentions
2/ pop walnut halves into walnut moulds (or moulds of choice)
3/ pour cacao mix into moulds, setting some of the mix aside
4/ pop into the fridge for a couple of hours until set
5/ empty chocolates out of the moulds and stick two halves together with leftover cacao mix
6/ sit next to the fire with a cuppa chocolate and snaffle 'em all up!


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