Easter Punch

Here we are in the most joyful time of year! Eastertide.

A lot of people who gave up whatever they gave up for Lent are back to doing whatever it is they used to do. That should bring some joy, right there.

A whole bunch of people were Confirmed in the Church yesterday. Great news!

We say the Joyful Mysteries with our rosaries today. Very cheerful!

And...Christ is Risen. Let's not overlook that.

I also wanted to give everyone a heads up, because I am so often a day late and a dollar short, that next Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday. Just to add to the festivities.

And then there are all the wonderful little things. Our little convent on the internet is back on track after a devilish turn. Tulips and daffodils are blooming. Rosebuds are appearing, calla lilies are bursting from the ground and the peonies are already almost a foot tall.

If you have any complaints, go sit down and think about something else.

Since it is a time of celebration and joy, I have indulged in one of my favorite treats (besides all the ways to eat hard boiled eggs--deviled, plain, in salads--you can't ruin a hard boiled egg for me) Jelly Bellys.

Those jelly beans are just so scrumptious. They come in popcorn flavor! Even the grapefruit flavor is delicious.

I'm not fond of grapefruit. Perhaps that is because of my Grandmother.

When I was a child, my family of five aunts and uncles and all of my cousins would gather every Sunday for a sandwich supper with my Grandmother, Ruth. During the summer, we would often all picnic together somewhere at a local park when her small kitchen was too small and hot.

There was a pot luck aspect to these frequent events. Each family brought one of those cooler jugs with a tap on it with whatever that family liked to have to drink. Bob's family liked iced tea. We liked Kool Aid. And Grandma made punch.

Everyone knew to ask which cooler contained Grandma's punch, so that you wouldn't have to suffer a mouthful of the awful dishwater looking swill she concocted. She owned a little corner grocery store and, to make her infamous punch, she would go through the store and gather cans of juice, Kool Aid, Hawaiian Punch and whatever else would strike her fancy and mix that together. And as awful as that may have turned out, she always topped it off with some grapefruit juice, so that any chance the stuff may have had of being palatable was dashed.

In fact, on one occasion while my great Grandmother was still living, the youngest uncle, Jim, took a swig of the stuff and made a horrible face. Great Grandma had missed Jim taking the drink and just got a load of him making the face and screamed, "Ruth! He's making faces at you!" and conked poor Jim upside the head. My mother had witnessed the whole event and told everyone, "He's not making faces at you. He just took a drink of your punch!"

What was I talking about? Oh yes! Easter tide.

Enjoy!