William Penn Life, 2011 (46. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2011-04-01 / 4. szám
Tibor's Take with Tibor Check, Jr. Húsvét - Magyar family traditions AS I HAVE GROWN OLDER, my excitement over the "Big Three Holidays" of my cherished childhood have changed and been re-prioritized. As a youngster, my most important holiday was Christmas, followed by my birthday and then Easter. In my young eyes, the importance of each celebration was measured by gifts and parties. But, as I have matured, family traditions and the traditions of our Hungarian heritage have replaced the gifts and frivolous pageantry I once expected. Now, my birthday is a mere blip on the screen of annual celebrations. The lavish parties in my honor are now part of my memories of childhood or preserved physically in our family's extensive amalgam of photo albums. In fact, I worked a 12-hour shift on my most recent birthday. Easter has become my most cherished of family celebrations. The emergence of spring and the warm breezes it brings help to melt my otherwise winterhardened personality. Knowing that the school year is nearing it's end adds to the savoring of the holiday even more. The practice of sacrificing something during Lent continues with me. This year, I gave up soda pop! This is no easy task. I live on Mountain Dew; the caffeine and sugar keeps me going and going. The cold turkey approach to consuming pop was tough, but intrinsically rewarding for me. The 40 days of Easter preparation help renew my religious convictions and my overall understanding of Christianity. The final week of Lent is the highlight of my family's Húsvét experience. Beginning with Palm Sunday, the next 10 days are just wonderful. My dad taught us how to use the blessed palms to construct and assemble perfect little crosses. The miniature crosses serve many holidaythemed purposes. They are worn on our suit or dress lapels, placed in the Blessing Basket, put in purses or wallets and placed on the graves of our loved ones. Since the palms have been blessed, the utmost of care and respect is given in preserving each cross's religious integrity. As it does for many of you, our Easter always comes with a predominance of good Hungarian food. Our család enjoys a delicate balance of homemade and purchased Magyar delicacies. Of course, the center of all this attention is the Blessing Basket. Everything that goes into this basket is made or selected with love and special attention. The basket itself has been passed down to us via my grandparents. A bottle of Tokaji Aszú 6 puttonyos is the beginning of our gastronomical ensemble. As tradition dictates, we go to the West Side Market and purchase our ham and kolbász from the Dohár butcher stand. Vera's Bakery provides us with Hungarian white bread and a small blessing paska. A brief stroll from the market lies the famous Farkas Pastry Shop. There, we acquire the legendary krémes slices, pogácsa and-if we do not get a dobos torta from the Youngstown American Hungarian Club—a nine-layer cake. We also have stuffed cabbage, purchased from either the Northeast Hungarian Cultural Center or the Youngstown Magyar Club. My mom and sister make kalács, sarga túró and csöröge. My brother and I are responsible for making the horseradish. During the early portion of Holy Week, the two of us trek to the back portion of our three-acre woods and dig up a few tormarépát. The first year our family moved out to Chesterland, we planted about a dozen roots for the sake of perpetuation. It has been 14 years since we initially planted those little roots. The small patch has grown to over 100 square feet in size. Some of the roots are now two feet long. We always hope that the ground is wet because the moisture-ladened soil makes it easier to pull out the long "fingers of fire." On Holy Thursday, we wash, peel and grind by hand the hot, fibrous garnishment. We mix in a little salt, water and white vinegar, producing a quart or so of liquid heat. My édesanyám puts some of the torma into a baby food jar for placement into the Blessing Basket. What's neat is that my mom uses the same baby food jars that we ate out of years ago as babies. (We are being "green" and not even realizing it!) Dying Easter Eggs is usually performed on Holy Thursday evening. Each of us creates an egg with a Magyar theme. I usually draw a cross and inscribe upon it "Krisztus Feltámadása" ("Christ is Risen"). My sister dips one-A quick note of thanks.... Each month I receive letters, phone calls and emails expressing a wide variety of comments. Most are of a positive nature. Many express deep emotions—emotions roused by memories of the old days and happy times with family and friends. In the last month or so, I received four messages that really tugged on my heartstrings. The wonderful stories they related inspired this month’s column. Special thanks go out to Mary of Florida, to Annush, to Betty Jane from Eighty-Four and to a special reader from Ford, N.J. Your letters and messages are always welcomed and cherished. Keep them coming! - Tibor 8 0 April 2011 0 William Penn Life
