You all blessed me so much with the stories you left in the comments during the Saint Patrick's Day Giveaway, I wanted to do another one!
This Easter, I want to share with you my favorite tradition.

 As a child we lived in Spain. I come from a Hispanic family and when we lived there we shared our tradition of Cascarones! (An egg shell filled with confetti) You smash these on eachother's head! What fun we had as kids doing this. Although it hurt when someone inevitably "mistakenly" hit you over the head with a hard-boiled egg!

In Mexico, they are popular during the time of Carnaval. But really, people may use them during any festive occasion. According to historians, cascarones originated in China. It is rumored that Marco Polo first brought them to Italy, and on to Spain, and they eventually made their way to the Americas.Tradition has it though, that cascarones are supposed to bring good luck to the person the egg hits. The best part of the cascarones is its religious meaning "because they are made from eggs, they symbolize rebirth and Jesus' resurrection."

Now a days, cascarones are relatively easy fond around Easter time. But when I was a kid, my mom saved them for months leading up to Easter. She would gently break just the top off each egg as to keep most of the shell in tact. My dad would bring the hole- punched dots home from the office in bags. (pre- commercial confetti). Then my brother and I would dye the egg shells, stuff them with our homemade confetti then with a concoction of homemade paste and crate paper, we would seal each egg carefully.

My parents always threw the biggest neighborhood parties,
so during church service the Easter bunny would hide the cascarones all around the yard.
When we got home, all the neighborhood kids would run around finding the cascarones and smashing them on unexpecting adults and eachother!
I think of the mess we made. But mom always seemed to have the yard spotless in the next couple of days. The older I get, the more i appreciate my mother's love for us.

In the spirit of Easter, I want to know how you celebrate with your families or if you have a special tradition that’s all your own! Did you wear a new dress to church?  Does the Easter bunny footprints leading to your baskets? Do you hide your baskets and make the kids look for them? Do you have an egg toss? Make a certain recipe, or just enjoy the time with loved ones?

Comment below how you celebrate Easter and I will pick a winner on April 29, 2019.
*There is no answer better than another, it's a random drawing*
After making contact with the winner I will post their name here, Facebook and Instagram. This contest is open to US residents only.

#CatholicCentral and #EasterTraditions

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 My 90-year old grandmother still works one day a week cleaning houses, she walks
2 miles to the train station when she doesn't have a ride, and last week when I called her she had just got back from Home Depot where she was buying a new chain saw to trim her trees. (Her old one finally gave out!)  I finally pinned her down and got the recipe for her pickled vegetables.
This is how the conversation went:
Granny: Add olive oil
Me: How much?
Granny: I don't know.... until it looks right.

Granny: Put chili vinegar in it
Me: What's chili vinegar?
Granny: It comes in a can but it doesn't say "chili vinegar" on it, it's called something else.
It was so fun trying to figure out what she meant!
But one thing she did express repeatedly... USE THE VEGETABLES THAT YOU LIKE.
You don't have to put in what I put in, put it what you like.

Granny uses jars that she has saved forever. I tried saving jars but when I went to use them, they all smelled like spaghetti sauce, no matter how many times I washed them out. So I bought canning jars. This recipe is not for canning, so any jar will work.
This recipe filled 11 quart size jars.

FRESH INGREDIENTS
1 bag of cauliflower
1 bag of sliced carrots
½ sliced Spanish cucumber
2 whole garlics - peeled and separated
1 dozen boiled eggs

FROZEN INGREDIENTS
Peppers/onion blend
Green beans
Okra

CAN/JAR INGREDIENTS
26 oz. can of jalapenos WITH juice           
1 can of sliced beets - drained
1 jar diced pimientos - drained
1 jar of green olives -drained

PICKLING INGREDIENTS
10 cups of white vinegar
¾ cup olive oil
¼ cup sugar
8 heaping teaspoons of salt
2 heaping teaspoons of black pepper
1 tablespoon of oregano
8 cups of water

DIRECTIONS
In a big bowl mix all your ingredients together
EXCEPT FOR:
Your can and jar ingredients
Cucumber
Boiled eggs

• In a big stew mix water, vinegar, olive oil and all the dry seasonings
• Add the vegetable mixture to the stew pot
• Boil until the vegetables are at your desired texture. (I like mine on the crunchy side)

• Remove from heat and add the remaining ingredients

• Spoon into your jars while still hot
• Let your filled jars sit open for about 10 minutes then close up

They don’t have to be refrigerated and are ready to eat in a few hours

What I would different:
I would use all fresh vegetables, I feel like you can cut them into bigger pieces.
I would put the eggs into the bottom of the jars before filling, just to ensure each jar gets an egg. In fact, I'd probably put 2 in each jar, but I love pickled eggs! So you do you!

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When I was a child, I loved St. Patrick ’s Day!
My day always started with Lucky Charms and green milk…lol (My mom was always one to make any day a special day) It meant you wore green to school and dare you forget to, you’d get pinched all day! It usually meant class parties with green frosted sugar cookies and green koolaid.

As I got older, I realized that St. Patrick ’s Day was when people wore “Kiss Me I’m Irish” t-shirts and chugging green-colored beer.

But did you know it actually has Christian roots?
First of all who was St. Patrick? Not much is known about him until he was 16 years old. He was just living life in Scotland, WHEN HE GOT KIDNAPPED BY BARBARIAN IRISH PIRATES!  They forced to work as a shepherd and farm laborer for six years. One night, Patrick had a vision in which he was shown an escape route. So he high-tailed it out of there never to look back!...WRONG!
Although Patrick was a Christian, his faith meant little to him. That changed when he was kidnapped.
It’s what sustained him through those long, dark days. Now home, Patrick became a priest and soon felt a tremendous burden for the people that had kidnapped him. So he returned to Ireland with a mission. Can you imagine?! Ireland was a pagan country! Despite adversary, Patrick persisted. Eventually the king converted and was baptized by Patrick and much of the people of Ireland followed suit. Hallelujah!
Patrick would come to be known as the “Apostle of Ireland.” As he planted churches all over Ireland.
Here’s the Prayer of St. Patrick:
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I love this ^^

OK, GIVEWAY TIME!!
Saint Patrick's Day FeastKit!
1- Bamboo Cheese Board with slide out drawer
4 - Stainless steel cutting and serving knives

In the spirit of St. Patrick, I want to know how you rock your green! Is it making a green inspired feast for St. Patrick’s Day, sporting your best green outfit, spending breaking Soda Bread with friends? Share your favorite thing about St Patrick's Day in the Comment Section and I will pick a winner on Sunday, March 24, 2019.
Enter as many times as you'd like.
There is no answer better than another - this will be a random drawing
• Giveaway open to US residents only.
• The prize will be sent via FedEx or USPS. No P.O. Boxes please.
• Catholic Central generously supplied the gift for the giveaway.
#CatholicCentral  #SaintPatricksDayTraditions

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RIP Luke Perry October 11, 1966 - March 04, 2019

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This series of zodiac signs are for fun and are no reflection of my personal beliefs.

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