A Cantabrigian Life: Easter in Cambridge, Thanksgiving in Easter

Easter is a Scarlet Day. On such days, those with doctorates and higher degrees from the University of Cambridge wear their festal gowns. In the case of those with PhD's, the gown is still black, but is highlighted with two bold scarlet panels on the front of the gown, running from the neck to the base of the gown. Those with Higher Doctorate degrees, e.g. Doctor of Divinity and Doctor of Science, wear gowns that are completely scarlet, highlighted with a specifically colo(u)red silk lining the inner sleeves and lapel of the gown -- red for Divinity, dove gray for Science, etc. Unfortunately, I did not bring my camera to King's College Chapel, where I lined up for Easter service, and failed to capture the spectacle of Scarlet Day. But, know this: the scarlet of Scarlet Day is very much bright, red, and conspicuous. The Cantabrigian doctors also wear their mortar boards on such days, if they choose. However, academic hoods are not worn on Scarlet Days. Amongst other days designated as Scarlet Days are Christmas, Feast Days, and Degree Ceremony days.

Here's an example of people wearing their festal gowns at Cambridge, taken from the University website (http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/degrees/):

Notice that they are wearing their academic hoods (the pouch-like thing on their back), indicating that these Cantabrigian doctors are entering the Senate House to be admitted to the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Easter does not require the wearing of academic hoods, while General Admission to Degrees, i.e. graduations, days do.

The service was lovely; there was a chamber orchestra accompanying the choir of King's College. In short, the music was divine, bright, and cheerful. I was able to catch the last seat open to University members. The funny thing about this was that, unlike the usual, I did not have a program on my pew. I did not know what was going on for a large part of the service. However, as I sat down half way through the service, I noticed that the person in the seat in front of me was sitting on a program. Unsure whether it was the program that would have been on my pew, I snatched it from under him right as he was standing up for the choir. As luck would have it, it was the Easter Service program. Yet, the morning remained gray and cold, failing to harken the coming of Spring.

Right after service, it was time to set up for the Easter Egg hunt at Peterhouse, where I met up with my fellow committee members Mark and Nicole to hide the eggs in Peterhouse's Scholar's Garden, Deer Park, and Grisborne Court. However, it should be noted that we got permission from the Graduate Tutor, to only hide them in the Scholar's Garden, away from the daffodils. This same permit also does not allow for alcohol...our solution was to put the Pimm's and Lemonade into a thermos, and proceeded to have "Iced Tea" along with our luxurious Belgian White Chocolate Cake, which is chocolate sponge filled with a layer of whipped cream, a layer of chocolate cream, wrapped in a belgian white chocolate fondant. The day took a quick turn and became fantastically sunny when the Egg Hunt began. Though tourists visiting Peterhouse stole most of our eggs, our spirits were not dampened.
The following pictures will seem familiar, since I had posted them in the MCR gallery earlier (https://www.srcf.ucam.org/peterhousemcr/?page_id=21):

The storm clouds gathered around Peterhouse, threatening our Egg Hunt.

However, soon as we walked into the Deer Park, the clouds began to dissipate.

The special egg in its hiding place

Jenny found an egg. She was so surprised.

Erik was frighteningly excited to find an egg.

Diana was delighted to find the special egg.

Vivian, our Prez, was practically beside himself when he found an egg.

Jenny, running towards the prize. Watch out for the wall!!!

I'm sure that no bird laid that one. (Picture taken by Natalia)

Cheesey cheese egg in Mark's hands (he's the social secretary). (picture taken by Jenny)

Erik noticed something different about the gate into the Scholar's Garden. Nicole, our Welfare Officer, did too.

Mmmmm, beautiful cake.

The cake is practically a piece of art.

Studying cake....so beautiful and sweet

Group photo. Left to Right: Kelvin, Nicole, Vivian, Jenny, Mark, Cake, Erik, Diana, Natalia

Sugar rush, hitting hard. (Picture taken by Jenny)

Wait a second, that's not tea...it's 'iced tea'.

Deer Park in all its glory.

They ran into the field, in search of Easter Eggs.

Um, did those daffodils just happen to 'snap off' on their own? Of course they did.

Deer Park in the evening sun.

The Fitz gilded with sunlight.

Sunset in Deer Park marks dinner time!

For dinner, Nicole, Andy, Olivier, Erik, Mark and Natalia came over for Thanksgiving-in-Easter. Sergei, my flatmate, also joined us. Lamb was not cheap at the supermarket, but the turkey was. So, it was quickly decided that a Thanksgiving dinner was in order. This also enabled me to satisfy my craving for a turkey dinner.

A most serious eating affair. Left to Right: Mark, Sergei (in bunny form?), Kelvin, Nicole, Erik, Natalia, Olivier.

The turkey was first brined in a sagey-clovey brine with vodka in it, then coated with a lemon-herb rub (containing fresh rosemary straight from the garden) right before roasting. The bird was almost perfect: had I taken the bird out 10 minutes earlier the meat would have been perfect, though the meat was still juicy and tender. A wild mushroom gravy and cranberry sauce accompanied the bird.

Before: Awaiting to be roasted.

After: to almost-perfection.

Only the "crown" of the turkey...the entire bird would have been too much both financially and in terms of amount of food.

I also baked a loaf of no-knead super multigrain bread, which had a density that even the Germans approved.

Contains rye, whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, yeast, salt, millet, rolled oats, rolled wheat, flax (linseed), pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, and 18 hours to rise.

There was also freshly made apricot and pecan stuffing,

Ready for the oven, to form a beautiful brown crust.

scalloped potatoes with cauliflower,

Cheese and cauliflower are so smelly...but this dish was so good!! The cheese sauce is made of locally made cheddar, infused with thyme and rosemary.

and sauteed kale (sorry, I regret having not taken a picture), and butternut squash pie (couldn't find pumpkin anywhere, so had to find an alternative).

Lusciously spiced and balanced with a touch of whiskey.

We concluded the evening with scary Japanese "gummy" candy, that started off as powder, in which you drop heavily pigmented liquid into it to form the "candy".

This doesn't look safe. In fact, the packaging, which was all in Japanese, made no mention of it being non-toxic. There were only warnings mentioned, as they pertain to choking on the small plastic bits...not the candy.

Natalia working hard on her gummy. Left to Right: Mark, Nicole, Natalia, Olivier.

In goes the pigment into the powder. Note that each color has its own flavo(u)r...I forget what they were supposed to taste like, except that the blue was the stereotypical Japanese "soda" flavo(u)r.