Instructions: I dont care whether the chicken or the egg comes first, as long as I am called to the table. Its hard to beat a good roast chicken, but eggs take top billing at Easter.

[Unsolicited scientific information from editor, Spike: The egg came first, because an evolutionary change must take place in an embryo rather than in a viable being. Havent you always wanted to know that?]

As a kid, Id spend a whole day dying Easter eggs-with visions of fluffy, white rabbits dancing in my head. Raised as Greek Orthodox, my Easter eggs were always red - to represent the blood from the Crucifixion. As a kid I would have one Easter with friends, centered around chocolate eggs and marshmallow ducks.

Later with the family, it would revolve around roasted lamb, feta cheese, olives, lots of chocolate and red Easter eggs.

The symbol of the egg and the chicken are at the heart of Easter traditions.

Ornamental and decorated Easter eggs are the legacy of a variety of cultural traditions.

In ancient China, Greece and Rome, eggs were offered as gifts celebrating spring or love. In the British Isles, colored eggs honored pagan deities. The people of India have relished eggs since 2000 B.C.

Other European traditions expressing the secular side of Easter also were quickly adopted in America - the Easter bunny, the egg hunt and egg-rolling on the White House lawn are all offspring of older traditions. And the hen, rooster and chick are featured in many decorative objects - baskets brimming with Easter treats, including chocolate, sugar, candy-coated or fancy-wrapped confectionery eggs, not to mention the ever-popular egg-shaped jelly bean.

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