In the UK, the question, ‘What’s for pud?’ replaces our question, ‘What’s for dessert?’  A pud is like a steamed cake, easy to make with ingredients readily at hand. The exception is the Xmas pud which is ingredient heavy and takes six hours to steam! So … since Easter is fifty days long and a pudding basin is round like an egg I thought we could all make an Easter pud!

1. Mix together in a bowl:

• 2 cups of flour,
• a heaping tablespoon of sugar,
• 1 cup melted butter or margarine,
• 2 cups of milk, and
• 2 whisked eggs.

 

1. Add berries ot dried fruit if you like.
2. Butter the inside of a pudding basin or other heat-proof bowl
3. Put jam, syrup or a box of multicolored M&Ms into the greased bowl first then fill the bowl with the batter.
4. Cover the bowl firmly with foil and set it in a large sauce pan half full of water, cover with tight-fitting lid and steam for half to ¾ of an hour.
5. After steaming, let the bowl cool enough to lift it out of the pot and remove the foil.
6. Run a knife around the inside of the bowl to loosen the pud. Then press a serving plate over the bowl and flip it over. 
7. Remove the bowl and the jam or Easter egg colored candy will be on top!

Enjoy!

By Joseph J. Juknialis
 
In his seedling years
he had heard those who were older
speak of God’s word.
But when he asked what the word was which God spoke long ago
their words would stumble and trip
as they tried to explain.
Still he kept om asking,
hoping someone would tell him
what word it was
which God had once said.
 
One day
when he had asked his mother
one time more than she could endure,
out of exasperation, she finally agreed to tell him,
I think you are now old enough to know,
she explained
as her eyes twinkled with a quiet smile.
The word God spoke long ago,
Was
chrysanthemums.
In awe he stood there before the revelation.
Chrysanthemums!
How powerful the word he thought.
How special it sounded.
The very fact that it was difficult
for him to say
convinced him of its truth
and its importance.
Chrysanthemums!
 
From that day on
whenever anyone spoke of God’s word,
he
along with his voice
would jump up and down
Chrysanthemums!
Chrysanthemums!
In time he grew old enough for school
and when the new teacher asked
what anyone knew about God,
he volunteered his wisdom.
Chrsanthemums! Of course.
At first the teach smiled and paused
pleasantly startled,
her imagination captured.
After a while, however,
the teacher grew more adult
and serious
for answers need to be correct and proper
and tell of how life truly is.
Chrsanthemumd was not the looked for answer
he soon learned.
 
Thereafter
he was cautious
of sharing his bit of divine wisdom.
Oh, on one or two occasions
He had suggested chrsanthemums,
but others still seemed startled
and unable to understand,
trapped between laughter and confusion.
Yet his mother would not have lied,
he reasoned.
The truth must be in
chrsanthemums.
 
Years later
when his wisdom had aged
like wine
and seasoned memories,
he came to understand
why only to a few in his life
had he entrusted
chrysanthemums.
They were those whom he loved
and
who loved him
with gentleness and with strength
like a flower
with longlasting faithfulness
and a common beauty
which survived the common.
 
Often he had daydreamed
why God would have spoken
chrysanthemums.
Why not a rose
or an eagle
or fire
or wind
or woman
or man?
Why chrysanthemums?
Truth, however,
is not always borne
with reasons –
more often with the heart.
And so he simply lived with his word,
absorbed its beauty
and became that word
enfleshed.
 
When he grew ill one final time
and memories gave the only strenth that mattered,
he lay waiting
in silent peace.
A friend came, then,
one who had known his heart
and his dreams.
She brought him flowers,
chrysanthemums.
She placed them there on the table beside his bed,
And he simply smiled in thanksgiving
and quietly closed his eyes.
 
When next he saw again,
he found himself in God’s presence
and this time God smiled
and said
chrysanthemums!