Easter memories

It’s Easter, one of my favorite holidays. It comes in the autumn here, and the days are usually warm and golden and there’s a harvest festival mood, picking apples and nuts and just enjoying the season — and eating Easter eggs and hot cross buns, of course.

Easter in my family was a time we spent with friends, and my godmother, who was a single lady. There wasn’t that frenetic Christmas attempt to cover all bases and visit all relatives. 

It’s a glorious time of year in Victoria (my state) and especially in the north-east of the state, where I lived as a child. We lived in the foothills of the mountains, and splashes of exotic autumn color stood out against the subtler shades of the native bush.

If the weather turned wet and cool, we’d wait a few days, then go out and pick wild field mushrooms. As a child I loved picking mushrooms, but wouldn’t eat them. These days they’re a favorite for breakfast or supper. Mostly I cook them with a little butter or olive oil, some chopped up bacon, garlic, a little chopped onion and a sprinkling of fresh thyme. Maybe a splash of dry sherry. And served on piping hot toast. Yum yum.

But the main memories I have of Easter are the barbecues we’d have in the bush. We’d head out in the car, and find a space near a creek — this was usually in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range, and the water in those creeks was clean and sweet. (Photo credit here.)

We kids (there were four of us) would be sent out to gather firewood, while Dad made a rough fireplace using river stones. Mum and my godmother would butter bread and slice up tomatoes and onions. We’d light a fire, and while it burned down a bit we kids would splash around in the creek, and explore our surroundings.

When the fire was ready—actually usually before, because Dad did love a fire — Dad would produce a metal grill from the boot of the car and on would go sausages and lamb chops and sliced onions — the standard barbecue fare in Australia in those days.  (Photo credit here)

The meat was always a little bit charred because of Dad’s impatience, and I have to say, I still love my sausages charred. Mum on the other hand preferred her lamb rare, but barbecuing was a man’s job back then, so she had to put up with extremely well done. 

We kids ate our chops and sausages on slices of bread — no plates for us, and as that reduced the washing up (which was the kids’ job) we liked it that way. I still prefer a sausage in a slice of bread. We’d finish the meal with apples and big slices of juicy watermelon.  And maybe we’d crack walnuts and later float the little shells down the creek in boat races.

The adults would finish their meal with cheese and crackers. Mum usually brought a thermos of tea, but sometimes we’d boil the billy over the fire and make tea the bushman’s way. We kids mostly just drank the fresh, clear creek water, sometimes with home-made cordial that my godmother brought.

Those childhood barbecues were a far cry from the ones most people have today, with big gas grills and loads of equipment and as much preparation and cleaning up as any big dinner party. And these days I’m wary of drinking water straight from a creek — sadly, safe drinking water comes in bottles now.  I still love a barbecue, but every Easter as I plan my days, I remember those simpler days . . .

Whether you’re in spring or autumn, or in a place where you don’t have such distinct seasons, and whether you celebrate Easter as a holiday or not, I hope you’re having a nice relaxing time, and are able to get out into the natural world and remember and enjoy some of the simpler things in life.  (Photo credit here)