Amanda Miller
Columnist
Lettuce Eat Local4
Benson came pattering up the stairs, sleepiness still in his eyes but his whole body brimming with enthusiasm. “Mom! I have the perfect plan!” He dumped his armload of clothes onto the living room floor. “Here,” he announced, “are my Palm Sunday clothes.”
His choices made great logical sense, if not his sartorial aesthetic. The t-shirt was a pale blue, patterned Hawaii-style with cream-colored palm branches; the cargo shorts were similarly colored yet not coordinating in the least, with their cream base color and vibrant blue-and-orange palm-frond floral. I guess Kiah has a dress reminiscent of palm branches, too, because he knew just what to prepare for her.
This was several weeks ago already, and while I didn’t think we had talked much about the holy day in general, I know we hadn’t discussed any themed clothing options. That said, once I got over the initial second of blinking over the prospect of him showing up at church in that outfit, I felt delighted. Palm Sunday is supposed to be a joyous day, so why not let my five-year-old wear his excitement?
This last Sunday before Easter is marked by celebrations around the globe, in commemoration of when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey in fulfillment of prophecies. The people lined the streets and waved palm branches as he rode by, which seems a little odd to our Midwestern selves but in that era was The Thing to do when welcoming and honoring conquering kings; palm branches were understood to symbolize triumph and righteousness, and the Jews were desperate for someone to come save them.
Little did they understand that Jesus was coming not to bring military victory, but actual rescue.
Now we know that the celebration of his triumphal entry is laden with that both-and aspect that infuses so much of life: both joy and sorrow. Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, which ends with the most dramatic and joy-filled climax ever, but in the in-between gets pretty rough. The tradition of saving and burning Palm Sunday’s palm branches for next year’s Ash Wednesday’s ashes deepens the sense of both-and.
I’m actually looking at a couple stands of palm trees standing tall in the deepening dusk as I type this. No, while we have perpetual arboreal hope and plant trees not necessarily befitting our zone — olive, magnolia, dogwood — this time it’s me instead of the trees that has been (temporarily) imported. My parents, two brothers, and I are embarking on what feels a little bit like a wild vacation at this point in my life timeline. No spouses or kids are along, just us OG five!
Through a series of events, plans led us to San Diego and the surrounding area for a few days, so that’s where I sit, staring at and writing about palm trees. It felt a bit like entering another world to exit the airport double doors and find myself surrounded by waving palms. It made me wonder if Jerusalem’s palm trees were shorter and easier to get branches of off?
I had a few ideas about how to incorporate palms into our recipe this week, leaving the branches for next Sunday and turning instead to hearts of palm (literally the inside of a palm tree trunk) or the fruits of palm (dates!). We are appropriately staying in a little town close to Palm Springs tonight, so anything we eat here is relevant, right?
And I suppose that logic means any clothing with palms on it is appropriate for Palm Sunday, too.
[Date] Palm Sundaes
Bear with me; it was just too fun not to do Palm Sunday sundaes. And then when we found local dates at a farmers market, the idea was clinched — I’ve never had such soft, sweet, rich dates. They’re dried but also basically not: the perfect addition to a sundae with just a few other random ingredients we picked up for at our Airbnb. I almost added some Tajin as a nod to SoCal flavors, but maybe I’ll just try that on my next bowl.
Prep tips: Regular medjool dates will work fine as well, just be a little jealous of ours.
a bowl of simple, quality chocolate ice cream
a dollop of honey-vanilla greek yogurt
2-3 dates, chopped
a drizzle of salted caramel syrup
a dash of salt
In a snacking dish, layer all ingredients in order given. Eat.
