decorated morning

I stepped outside my sun room door one morning with a cup of coffee in hand while still in my bathrobe.

Sitting down on the door sill I marveled at the morning's ornaments. 

I breathed deeply and the lilacs obliged.

Easter menu

Trimming the lamb in preparation for the marinade 

Easter menu for this year:

Roasted Leg of Lamb with Red Wine Sauce

Risotto with chives

Roasted Asparagus

Deviled Eggs

Yeast Rolls

Lemonade Cake and Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Frosting

The lamb was absolutely delicious this year. It began with me trimming a leg of lamb as close as possible. I then rubbed cloves of fresh garlic over the entire lamb, squeezed fresh lemon juice and continued by rubbing the lemons over the lamb. After seasoning with salt and pepper, almost a quart of buttermilk was poured over the lamb and several sprigs of fresh rosemary were thrown in along with the garlic. The lamb was then put into the refrigerator to be marinaded overnight.

The next morning before church I placed the prepared lamb, minus the marinade, into a pot and roasted it at 350 degrees for about 1 hour. The meat thermometer registered 155 for a medium rare roast of lamb.

Easter dresses

One of the familiar and special things I remember about Easter at my house when I was a child was a new outfit purchased or handsewn by my mother to be worn to church on Easter Sunday. It represented newness and special worship. I have chosen to continue this tradition with my family.

Sometime shortly after the Christmas  holidays, I will choose the fabric for Charlotte's Easter dress. In this way I plan to have several months in order to sew her dress without too much hurrying around. Since her dress this year did not involve smocking and Easter was in late April, I knew it would not need to be a rushed job. The fabric was Westminister/Free Spirit.  I used a simple pattern adaption with lots of fabric in the skirt and a cumberbund.

The same pattern was sewn in silk for lovely friend's dress by her mother, my sewing friend. 

I treasure these days of girly childhood, rummaging through the lettuce patches and running through the  green grass with their dresses hiked up or tucked under their arms for ease. 

 Like all females, they instinctly make do.

the story unfolds

Resurrection Day lives on in our hearts. I look forward to celebrating Jesus's resurrection every year. Because of this season of Spring with new and fresh things jumping out at me everywhere I look, it does seem to linger. That makes it even better and makes this post, two days past, very relevant.

"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him

For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again;

death no longer has mastery over Him. 

 The death He died, He died once for all; but the life He lives, 

He lives to God.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."

Good Friday

A rainy day celebrating Good Friday. A tea of Hot Cross Buns set on a floral tablecloth in the sun room.  Charlotte and I had made the buns earlier in the day, anticipating the time we would gather around the table.

Upon which Rose read from the holy scriptures.

"He sacrificed for their sins once for all when He offered Himself."

Hebrews 7:27

dusk

Here at my house, remembering another time and setting,

Over 2,000 years ago,

A Passover Meal, a new commandment, feet washing
           A Garden, praying, agony
                      A mob, soldiers, a kiss
                                 An arrest, a rooster's crow, a trial

for Justice.

"God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice..." 
                         Romans 3:25







    

beets

I crave beets. 

And this is not some sort of beginning statement of a "Beet Anonymous Group" either. I just get in these pressing moods that only the taste of beets will satisfy.

Usually, I cook the typical purple kind, but now I can also say I have tried the yellow baby beets and they are super delicious! I placed them on a piece of  aluminum foil, drizzled them with olive oil, wrapped and roasted on 375 degrees for about 45 minutes.

You then have an added pleasure which comes with the purchase of a bunch of beets, the greens, sauteed in a bit of garlic and olive oil..wilted greens.

Served over a bed of fresh lettuce greens and chicken, hit the spot on a spring evening.

creme fraiche

A spring in my step these days. The weather is cooperating and creating blissful mornings and evenings.
The list of things that need to be done seem endless, like a race with no end. Therefore, I adore it when I find something that is simple and quick to do, it adds skip to my step too.

A very simple and quick creme fraiche recipe:

1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons of buttermilk

Shake in jar and set it on the kitchen counter for at least 8 hours, until thickened. Stir. May be kept in the refrigerator for about 10 days. Use in sauces, soups, over fruit, etc. But for me...

... it is ready for a new recipe I have been wanting to try using canned tuna. Let me say here, I enjoy canned tuna in a salad for a sandwich, but casseroles made with canned tuna, frankly, gag me! Yet, I am always seeking for a possible tasty dish that will utilize a can of tuna fish.

I found one here. (Molly Wizenberg's, A Homemade Life). These are quite tasty, certainly good picnic fare since I preferred them cold the next day. I husband did not like the color of them (orange), possibly due to the tomato paste, so I am considering leaving that ingredient out and adding fresh chopped tomato and a dab of mayonnaise next time.

silk wrapping

A Saturday afternoon wedding to attend. Desiring a gift wrap that was extraordinary for what I considered just an ordinary gift...but it was on her gift registry after all. All those yards of silk in my stash upstairs gave me an idea to create a lovely package, soft teal-blue moire silk tied with a champagne-colored satin ribbon.

Will she sigh when she sees it?

  I can not imagine the coffee grinder inside causing any sort of  great emotion unless she is in a dire need of a freshly ground cup of coffee at the moment. 

unrolled color

Last year I made Charlotte a pencil case. I still remember the pleasure of simple stitching on felt. Almost every school day this year Charlotte has unrolled this case and displayed her assortment of colored pencils, just like a palette of life savers. She has colored a variety of world geography maps, history sheets, science papers or whatever needed a touch of color. One dear little friend received her own pencil case for her eighth birthday this year.

Charlotte, blanket stitched the berry-red bird and added the snazzy song notes from his bright yellow beak. After it was completed she filled every linear pocket with the assorted colors of new pencils. Now her friend will be able to pull out and unroll her very own pencil case out too. Fun.

yarn basket show off

Another basket, this one is called the "lots of yarn" basket. I see why; a basket any knitter might like to own. I have already filled it with my knitting projects and set it by a chair in the sun room.

I make baskets simply because I like baskets, after all, they are extremely functional.  Enjoying the actual basket making process is low on the list on crafts I like to do, however. But an evening with ladies to chat and laugh with and then going home with a finished basket makes for a warmly wonderful evening.

for whom the cake was baked

 It was a warm spring day twenty-three years ago. In my mind's eye I see an image of Witt wearing shorts and a tee shirt while watching his bare feet run through the green grass. It was the early evening of Maundy Thursday. The redbuds were gloriously in bloom and it was time for my second child to be born.

After his birth just shortly after midnight, (making his arrival on Good Friday), I remember being extremely hungry. The nurse brought me some Rice Krisipies. That was the best bowl of Rice Krispies I have ever eaten. Through the snap, crackle and pop, I smiled all under.

I am still smiling today.  So mature is this young man.

Alan is my child that is satisfied with excursions in the pursuit of new cake recipes. Every year I enjoy baking his birthday cake; of course, we do have our favorites. This year I baked a Hummingbird Cake,  bananas and pineapple, with lemon cream cheese frosting.

frost and turn

One day I shall take a cake decorating class. I will go to the store with my list to buy the needed supplies to decorate cakes. Then I will bake cakes, lots of them I hope, wrap them in saran wrap, place them in a basket and tote them to my specially selected class to decorate with flowers, curlicues, ribbons and such.

Maybe, just maybe, one of the items I will purchase will be a turntable.

But I find my Lazy Susan works remarkably well for frosting cakes, especially cakes with fluffy cream cheese frosting.