Hristos a inviat

I wrote in my blip yesterday that this weekend we are celebrating Easter, the Orthodox Easter, and that red eggs are an important tradition associated with that. They are taken to the church, for the midnight mass, in a basket of food which after the service is blessed by the priest. Whatever your faith, or if you have none, you could not fail to be moved by this service in Romania. The basket is then taken home where a feast has been prepared, the pre-Easter fast having ended.
Three years ago I would have gone to the midnight mass at the nearest Romanian Orthodox church, which is in Leeds, but I don't have the necessary stamina now so we break the fast at breakfast on Easter Sunday morning, today.
Tradition says that you wash your face in water from a bowl which has in it a red egg and a coin. Then the meal begins by one person holding a red egg while the other strikes and cracks it with another red egg saying "Hristos a înviat", literally 'Christ has risen'. The eggs are then inverted and the second person strikes the egg of the first saying "Adeverat, a înviat" - 'Truly, he has risen'. The hard-boiled eggs then become part of the meal.
Today our local Parish Church had an 'open afternoon' for the churchyard with guided walks, cream teas, children's activities, etc. I went along, took two red eggs and taught the vicar, Ruth, a great lady, the two snatches of Romanian above. She chose a young partner and went through the ritual. I rewarded her with some of my cozonac.
The first extra is our breakfast. Meats and smoked cheese from Marinela's Romanian food shop - all traditional Romanian except the orange juice; in Romania it would more likely be very alcoholic plum brandy, țuica, and red wine. Salata de boeuf made by Petronela is on the left - diced vegetables and chicken in home-made mayonnaise. It's delicious. Cozonac and pasca cu ciocolata on the right. 
The second extra is our dinner this evening. I had the traditional lamb, my favourite meat - a small rack. Petronela will not eat lamb, so she had chicken. Roast potatoes and cooked fresh vegetables are not in any way Romanian - there would be a variety of pickles and raw vegetables: shredded cabbage, celeriac, cucumber, tomatoes, peppers. The excellent 3 Hectare wine is Romanian, it was in my Christmas blip, the last time I drank it (it's not available in the UK as far as I know, unfortunately).