A sign of the times

If COVID has taught us anything, it’s an appreciation for Plan B.

Remember early on, the days of toilet paper shortages? I heard one little boy scoured his house looking for gift bag tissue to use instead. (Clever, though probably a bit uncomfortable.)
When masks were recommended, but not always on the shelves, we made quick ones out of old T-shirts. (An idea from the “this won’t last long” phase.)

Later came the great Easter bunny butter shortage.
Butters molded into holiday shapes play a memorable role in our family gatherings. As I wrote back in 2020, after our first, isolated COVID Easter: 

My extended family has a dark tradition of beheading the holiday butters: bunnies, lambs, turkeys. (I think even Santa lost his head one year.)

The role of executioner rotates through the grandchildren. Don't worry, we did not traumatize them at an early age. We waited until their sense of humor veered to the dark side before handing them the butter knife.

Alas, 2020 was the last year I spotted a rabbit in the dairy case.
Enter Plan B — and C.

In 2021, another isolated Easter, our kids created a bunny using a regular stick of butter, with carved strawberries for the ears and a blueberry for the tail.
Adorable. And yes, it lost its square little head.

This year, as you can see in the photo above, I opted for a generic version. No ritual execution this time around, just the usual slicing, one pat at a time. 
The best part? We were able to share that butter at an Easter feast with (almost) the entire extended family. And those who weren’t there were elsewhere for happy reasons, not COVID ones.

Who knows what 2023 — or the rest of 2022 — will bring?
I wonder if strawberries would work for a turkey wattle …

Bunny butter, 2021