As a young child, I always looked forward to Spring.  Growing up in Michigan, Spring time meant an end to a long winter season and the renewal of all things new.  Some of my fondest childhood memories took place during family holiday gatherings.  In the Spring, I could count on two constants: a new Easter dress and “cascarones” (confetti-filled, hollowed out eggshells).  No Hughes familia Easter celebration was complete without  cascarones.  

My family would begin saving hollowed out eggs for months before Easter, which meant that we ended up eating lots of scrambled eggs during this time; which is great, unless you were like me and liked your eggs, over easy.  The evening before, we would sit and cut up newspaper or tissue paper for the confetti filling. We’d color hard-boiled eggs, along with our hollowed out eggs, getting everything ready for Easter Sunday.

After mass, we’d all gather at our home or a relative’s home for our Easter celebration. There was always lots of food, drink and the two best things: an Easter egg hunt and the breaking of cascarones. We were always told that breaking a cascarone over someone’s head and showing them with confetti, was supposed to bring good luck.  I’m not certain if that was ever true or not, but it was always, and is to this day, lots of fun and still brings a smile to my face as I see my children carrying on that same Easter tradition.

My favorite cascarone memory was when my sister was in 1st or 2nd grade and she cracked a cascarone on my dad’s head; except she had grabbed a hard-boiled Easter egg by accident… ouch!  We laugh about that to this day.

Nowadays, there are numerous mercados that sell cascarones already prepared, so we’re not stuck eating scrambled eggs for months ahead of time.  Ah, progress! Happy Easter Everyone.  [click the Title for comments]