Category Archives: Easter

Hot Cross Buns

Posted by MaryO on

 

It’s the beginning of Lent so…

It’s time for Hot Cross Buns. “Hot Cross Buns” is an English language nursery rhyme, Easter song, and street cry referring to the spiced English bun known as a hot cross bun, which is associated with the end of Lent and is eaten on Good Friday in various countries.

This is from Keyboard Kickoff:

From last year, on another of my blogs:

 

My husband came home from the grocery store last night with Hot Cross Buns.  I was surprised because they had never had them before Ash Wednesday in past years.  I almost refused to eat them because they were “seasonally incorrect”.  Of course, I did try one to be sure that they weren’t mislabeled or anything…

I’d never even heard of HCB before college.  My freshman year in the dining commons at UMass Amherst changed all that.  Huge pans of actually hot, cross buns.  We actually even put butter on them, too.  No wonder the “Freshman 15” was a problem.

I’ve made a fairly exhaustive study of the local grocery stores’ versions and the one from  Giant come out on top.  Surprisingly, Wegmans isn’t the winner in this case.

Looking for a video on the history of HCB, I came across one for making these at home.

Maybe that wouldn’t be a good thing!

 

A bit of HCB trivia: English folklore includes many superstitions surrounding hot cross buns. One of them says that buns baked and served on Good Friday will not spoil or grow moldy during the subsequent year.

Another encourages keeping such a bun for medicinal purposes. A piece of it given to someone ill is said to help them recover.

If taken on a sea voyage, hot cross buns are said to protect against shipwreck.

If hung in the kitchen, they are said to protect against fires and ensure that all breads turn out perfectly. The hanging bun is replaced each year.

 

Turns out there’s also a “Not Cross Bun” which is a variation on the hot cross bun. It uses the same ingredients but instead of having a “cross” on top, it is has a smiley face in reference to it being “not cross” or “angry”.

The not cross bun was first sold commercially in 2014 by an Australian bakery in response to supermarkets selling hot cross buns as early as Boxing Day (December 26)

 

April 16 ~ This Day in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

 

. 1919 ~ Merce Cunningham, Dancer, choreographer

. 1923 ~ Bennie Green, Trombonist, lyricist

OCMS 1924 ~ Henry Mancini, American arranger, composer, conductor and pianist
More information about Mancini

. 1929 ~ Roy Hamilton, Singer

. 1930 ~ Herbie Mann, American jazz flutist

. 1935 ~ Bobby Vinton (Stanley Vintulla), Singer

. 1939 ~ Dusty Springfield (Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien), Singer, inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 15, 1999

. 1944 ~ Dennis Russell Davies, American conductor

. 1947 ~ Gerry Rafferty, Singer, songwriter

. 1949 ~ Bill Spooner, Musician, guitarist with The Tubes

. 1963 ~ Jimmy Osmond, Singer with The Osmonds, he is the youngest Osmond

. 1973 ~ Former Beatle, Paul McCartney, leading the group, Wings, starred in his first TV special titled, James Paul McCartney. The show featured the new group, including Paul’s wife, Linda on keyboards and backing vocals.

. 2001 ~ Walter Stanton, who invented an easily replaceable phonograph stylus that helped create a consumer market for audio equipment, died at the age of 86. Stanton invented the slide-in stylus in the 1940s. The design enabled users to replace a needle assembly by themselves instead of having to send it back to the factory when it wore out. The invention became one of the basics in phonograph cartridge design. He also prodded major manufacturers to arrive at a standard mounting system for cartridges and the type of recording on records, that enabled record players and styluses to be sold separately. He also helped found the Institute of High Fidelity, whose annual trade shows in New York attracted thousands of gadget lovers.

 

Happy Easter! Hallelujah Chorus

Posted by MaryO on

 

hallelujah

 

Messiah (HWV 56) is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the Psalms. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music.

Hallelujah Chorus

Part II of the Messiah covers the Passion, death, resurrection, ascension, and the later spreading of the Gospel, concluded by the “Hallelujah Chorus”.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings the classical and beloved Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah.

And also on Nov.13 2010 unsuspecting shoppers got a big surprise while enjoying their lunch. Over 100 participants in this awesome Christmas Flash Mob.

Today is Easter Sunday and churches around the world will be singing the hallelujah Chorus, including Pender United Methodist in Fairfax.  MrsO will be singing in 3 services there – please join us!

Piano Maestro – New Easter Song

Posted by MaryO on

pm-easter

 

 

There’s an “egg-citing” new song release in Piano Maestro so students can play more Easter themed songs!

“This Is Amazing Grace” by Phil Wickham has just been added! It can be found in the Holiday (Easter) category in the Library in three different versions – easy, melody line and a nice 2 hand version!

Enjoy!