Tag Archives: easter

Sparkling Cider


Text: “A family traditional of mine is that the sparkling apple cider to me is such a special thing because I used to only drink it during like holidays and stuff and like family get-togethers. I would drink it at Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, and Easter. Basically anytime that there was like a holiday dinner. I didn’t drink sparkling apple cider unless it’s a holiday or something. Even still today I only have it at special occasions, but now I’m an adult I can choose when is special. Like my friends and I we did a little gingerbread house night and I brought it. I brought a bottle just cause I was like this is a special event to me, so I’m gonna bring this. But my grandma used to get us these little glasses that we would use for kids so that we had our own fancy glass instead of giving us a wine glass. My dad would do the same thing for us at New Years, so when the ball drops and it starts the new year we all drink the champagne, even though it’s sparkling cider, but it made us feel like we were drinking champagne.”

Context: AL’s parents and grandparents would by them and their sibling sparkling cider for every holiday. It would be in fancy glasses and made the kids feel like they were drinking champaign. Despite being an adult now and being legally able to drink champaign, AL still sees sparkling cider as a fancy drink. They now get it themselves for whatever they deam a special event – whether with family or with friends.

Analysis: This beverage became a tradition that was not just fun, but made kids seem a part of adult culture, such as making them have similar looking drinks on New Years like champagne, and made kids feel included. This tradition became so beloved after being repatead a plethora of holidays for years that it became a huge part into positive and important celebrations that now AL has transported the beverage to have it at multiple fun events that they deem important. Therefore expanding the tradition. This can show that tradition can be expanded from repition and positve beliefs around the topic.

Post-Fast In-N-Out Tradition

Text:

“My tradition is, I’m Coptic Orthodox, which means I’m Egyptian and Christian, and what we do is every Easter, because we fast from meat, we go to In-N-Out every single year, since I was a kid. And we basically get three-by-threes, double-doubles, and we get super fat. And it’s great.”

Context:

The informant is part of the Coptic Orthodox Christian community and describes a yearly tradition that takes place after the Lent fast leading up to Easter. During this period, members abstain from meat and other animal products, making the end of the fast a significant moment of return to those foods.

The informant explains that their family and friends mark this transition by going to In-N-Out every year, a practice that has been repeated since childhood. In-N-Out is a fast food American burger chain in California.

Analysis:

This example is a form of customary folklore, specifically a ritual tied to a religious calendar. While the fast remains part of the formal religious tradition, the act of going to In-N-Out is an informal, family-created practice that builds on that structure in a modern way.

It connects to broader patterns in foodways, particularly the idea that the end of a fast is marked by specific, often indulgent foods. The emphasis on meat-heavy meals also shows the contrast between a period of restriction for religion and belief and then abundance. This is a common feature is post-fast ritual not just in religion but across cultures like body building. In this case, the use of In-N-Out shows how traditional practices adapt to local contexts because it blends religious and cultural identity with American consumer culture.

The repetition of this activity every year also demonstrates how folklore is maintained through ritual. The joking tone of “we get super fat” shows the humor that reinforces the group identity and marks a space where “getting super fat” and breaking all these religious strict rules is not only okay but celebrated by the group. It brings balance to daily life and also provides a safe way to go against the structures of religion. The fast may be over but religion itself is against over indulgence, this space, folk group and the end of the fast, creates the frame to subvert authority while still playing into it.

More broadly, this example shows how folklore can exist at the intersection of religion and informal practices. While the fast is institutionally defined the way it is experienced and celebrated is shaped by peoples everyday choices. Individuals and families can activley participate and create meaningful culture, with similar impacts of a religious fast, within larger systems on their own.

Golden Eggs, Ham, and the “Easter Feeling”

Text

Every Easter, our entire extended family gathers at my grandmother’s house. There was never a formal reason–my grandma told me, “It just sort of ended up that way.” What began as a casual decision eventually solidified into tradition.

My Grandma recalled one of her favorite parts, “you kids would sprint through the backyard and living room for the Easter egg hunt. I loved it…” “…I always laughed at the fact that even though there were dozens of eggs filled with chocolate, you were all focused on the same thing: the ‘golden eggs…’” The golden eggs are indeed funny, there were always three of them–shiny, oversized plastic eggs that each held a five-dollar bill. We, as kids, didn’t really understand the value of five dollars back then. What mattered was the rarity. The golden eggs were sacred. We fought over them like little archaeologists hunting treasure, more excited by the idea of “winning” than by what was inside.

Later in the day, we’d all sit down for Easter dinner, always centered around a glazed ham. My grandma told me that it came from her father–“He always made a ham for Easter.” What she added, without ever needing to say so out loud, was the practice of everyone bringing something to the table. As the guest list grew each year, so did the variety of dishes. The potluck-style meal grew naturally out of necessity, but it came to define our Easter just as much as the egg hunt.

This last Easter was different. There was no egg hunt–there hasn’t been for a few years now–and the gathering wasn’t at Grandma’s house. Her home was damaged in the LA fires, and fewer people were able to come. Still, my grandma told me, “It still felt like Easter… There was family. There was laughter. And there was ham.”

Context

This tradition was expanded upon to me by my grandmother, who reflected fondly on years of hosting Easter at her home. She admitted that it wasn’t originally her intention to become the family’s “Easter matriarch”–it just happened. Over time, her home became the default gathering spot, and rituals formed naturally around that consistency.

She described the joy of watching us as children during the egg hunts, laughing at how seriously we took the hunt for the golden eggs. Though she couldn’t recall when or why that part of the tradition started, it clearly took on a life of its own. The money inside the eggs was never the point–it was the prestige, the shimmer, the chase. Something she[and I] looks back on now with warm nostalgia.

The dinner evolved more deliberately. She explained that her father always served ham on Easter, and when she began hosting, she continued that tradition. Over time, guests began bringing dishes of their own. She never asked them to–it just became understood. In her words, “It was never about telling people what to bring. It just made sense.” The gathering grew, the table expanded, and Easter became an informal but deeply rooted expression of our family’s thread that ties us all together.

Even after being unable to enter her home[thankfully not burnt down], and despite the changing logistics and attendance, she expressed a deep certainty: the “Easter feeling” had nothing to do with eggs or décor. It was about presence, food, and connection.

Analysis

This entry illustrates how informal rituals, when repeated and emotionally reinforced, evolve into meaningful family folklore. What began as a loose gathering became tradition through consistency and emotional investment. The Easter egg hunt, the golden eggs, and the communal meal are all ritualized behaviors that define Easter–not by religious observance, but by shared memory and performance.

The “golden egg” tradition, though not rooted in ancient folklore, mirrors folkloric patterns–assigning symbolic value to a rare object and embedding it in a playful competition. As with many children’s traditions, the meaning wasn’t in the literal reward, but in the emotional significance, the role-playing, and the storytelling that followed. It reflects how children interact with tradition through symbolism, scarcity, and status–concepts that resonate across many cultural customs.

Similarly, the evolution of the Easter meal highlights adaptive ritual: how tradition grows through informal negotiation. The potluck-style dinner wasn’t dictated–it arose organically, responding to shifting family size and resources. This mirrors how many communal folk practices begin: organically, in response to need, but later sustained by emotional investment.

The somewhat loss of the family home due to the LA fires introduces another layer: how tradition persists even in the absence of its physical setting. My grandmother’s insistence that “it still felt like Easter” reveals a truth about folklore–it’s less about place or object, and more about feeling, continuity, and presence. Even stripped of its original setting, the tradition held. And that endurance–the “Easter feeling”–is the most folkloric element of all.

Ritual – Easter egg hunt

Nationality: American
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Language: English

My informant spends every Easter with their extended family, having dinner together and going Easter egg hunting as a kid

“Every Easter the parents spend the night before Easter hiding plastic eggs filled with candy and money all around my uncle’s property (they have it there every year) for the kids go hunting for. The winner each year gets a large chocolate bunny as a prize.”

Easter egg hunting is a good example of a family-based ritual that revolves around a season. Rituals like this strengthen family bonds, create shared memories, and transmit customs and cultural values from one generation to the next. The parents hiding the eggs creates this element of mystery and preparation adding to the sense of excitement and wonder the children have for Easter. The eggs themselves serve as a reward for effort and exploration, while also having folklore ties to fertility, renewal, and abundance associated with springtime festivals. The ritualized competition for the large chocolate bunny adds another layer of folklore. It creates a structure (hunt and prize) that builds excitement and anticipation for this event, making it stand out for the children. In many folk traditions repetition and structure are key to keeping a ritualized tradition like the Easter egg hunt alive.

Ritual – Going to Church every Easter

Nationality: American
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA

My informant comes from a deeply religious family so Easter is an important holiday. They grew up celebrating it as a family and conducting the same rituals each year

“Each Easter my family and I go to our local church, receives the eucharist, and pray. We focuses on remembering Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for our sins, a belief that is central to what Easter means for us”

Rituals are a way for communities to reaffirm their shared beliefs, identity, and values through repeated actions. My informant’s Easter – going to church, receiving the eucharist, and praying – fits perfectly into this framework. These aren’t merely personal religious acts, but also serve as communal rituals which are an important part of Christian tradition. Celebrating with your community in this way has been passed down through generations. Receiving the eucharist is a rite of communion, both with God and with your faith-based community. It’s a performative ritual symbolic of the Last Supper, reenforcing Christian’s core belief in Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection. Prayer during this time further deeps the ritual connection, serving as a collective and personal reaffirmation of faith.