I like Easter. This was not always the case. Growing up as a girl in Czechoslovakia meant that Easter Monday was often a dreaded day. Hordes of boys and man equipped with carefully crafted whips made from willow started calling to our house from early hours. This is what a guide to the Czech Republick says: “Young, live pussywillow twigs are thought to bring health and youth to anyone who is whipped with them. An Easter pomlázka (from pomladit or “make younger”) is a braided whip made from pussywillow twigs. It has been used for centuries by boys who go caroling on Easter Monday and symbolically whip girls on the legs.  In the past, pomlázka was also used by the farmer’s wife to whip the livestock and everyone in the household, including men and children. There would be no Czech Easter without the pomlázka.” Somehow I remember that the whipping was more than just symbolic; especially as the day progressed and the male half of population got little more heavy-handed under the influence of plum spirit (slivovice) generously served in every household visited. All the younger boys receive decorated Easter eggs (real eggs, not chocolate ones!). The most common and fastest way of decorating Easter eggs is to dip hardboiled eggs in hot water filled with boiled onion peels or food dye and then place a sticker with an Easter picture on the egg.

Today, my children are growing up in Ireland and they see Easter as a chocolate feast. After long length (during which they make half hearted effort to give up some treats) they are really looking forward to Easter Sunday which means getting, opening and eating loads of eggs (chocolate ones, not real ones!).

The one Easter Czech tradition that I am trying to keep alive for them though is dyeing and decorating eggs during the Easter week. All the au pairs that we had during spring season in the last few years are always evolved and help them with it. What they children really enjoy is going to a shop, buying a large tray of eggs and them making a small hole at each end of an egg and blowing hard to get the content of the egg out. This year we have ended up with 14 egg yolks/whites and as a result, they then baked a dozen of muffins and a big cake and there still were some left for scrambled eggs for breakfast! And of course the Easter lamb or bunny mould is essential baking equipment in my kitchen. Somehow a cake in a shape of a cute bunny tastes better than an ordinary shaped cake. Happy Easter!

Santa Claus arrived in Blarney by a helicopter, Christmas songs are blaring out and therefore the time for making little gingerbread Christmas cookies and decorations is here.

Rebecca, our aupair, and our children Clara and George made a big batch of gingerbread dough yesterday and baked lots of little gingerbread Christmas themed shapes today. When I got home from work, the house smelled of ginger and cinnamon and fresh baking – what a lovely smell!

The recipe for the dough we use is great because it’s easy to make and the biscuits will not break your teeth unlike other gingerbread biscuits we have made in the past

If you want to try it out, then here is the recipe (for Christmas or Easter we usually make a double batch):

• 350g/12oz plain flour
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 100g/4oz butter, cubed
• 150g/5oz soft light brown sugar (white is ok too)
• 4tsb golden syrup
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• 1-2tbsp milk
• 1 tbsp cocoa
• Tubes of coloured writing icing, or make your own white icing

Makes 10 big or 20 smaller biscuits

Prep: 20 mins (I like to leave the dough then in a plastic bag or cling film in a fridge for a few hours or even overnight)

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/Fan170C/Gas Mark 5. Sift the flour, ginger and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Add the butter, rub in using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in sugar.
2. Beat syrup and egg together until blended. Pour over dry ingredients. Stir with a fork until mixture starts to stick together in lumps. If it is too dry, add 1-2 table spoons of milk. Gather together using your hands and form dough. Knead lightly until smooth. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 3 or 4mm.
3. Cut out shapes using gingerbread or other shapes cutters (if you want to hang them up on your Christmas tree, then you can make a small hole for a ribbon by using drinking straw). Place well apart on baking sheets. Bake for about 8 minutes or till it starts to brown at the edges. Cool for 1 minute and carefully transfer to a wire rack. Leave until completely cool and only then decorate with tubes of writing icing and sweets, using a little icing to secure.

Bon appetite!

Well, he is coming to Blarney by helicopter tomorrow to be transported in a fire engine to the Woollen Mills! It is an exciting annual event and our children are really looking forward to it. Several of our au pairs in the last 4 years have accompanied us to see him hovering over a field  by the Blarney Castle, descending slowly and waving to all the excited children (and many excited and emotional adults too!). This occasion really marks the start of true Christmas season in the village. I am wondering what will our current au pair Rebecca think about it all.

Rebecca is from Germany and from all the letters and parcels that have started arriving in the last few days, we can see that Christmas is a very important event in her life too. She got the most wonderful Advent Calendar hand-made by her grandmother. You can see it on the picture. Each sock has a little surprise for the 24 days before Christmas Day. The children are anxiously awaiting the 1^st of December so they can see what each of them contains. Of course they wish it was for them! This year, they will have to be satisfied with one of the chocolate calendars from a local supermarket.

Next year, we can be more organised and create a special Advent Calendar like Rebecca’s one. It will be a nice activity for all of us.