Easter menus, plus a recipe for a sweet yeast bread

I hope that you are having a fabulous Easter weekend! Mine shall be filled with gardening on Saturday, and church and family meals on Sunday. Don't you love knowing what everyone else will be eating on a holiday? I do. Sometimes knowing what someone else is preparing will spur ideas for me. And sometimes, I just like eating vicariously.

So, here's what's cooking in my kitchen on Easter.

Easter Brunch

Scrambled Eggs with Chard

Maple Sausage

Orange wedges

Austrian Almond Braid Bread *

Sage Biscuits

Pineapple Juice

And for Easter dinner. . .

Easter Dinner

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Potatoes Au Gratin

Asparagus

Rhubarb Pie

Coffee and Tea

I like to prepare as much ahead of time as possible, so that I'm not spending all my time in the kitchen and away from the rest of the fun. 

The other day, I stuffed the chicken breasts, rolled up and froze. I'm thawing them overnight in the refrigerator. Tomorrow, I'll bread them and brown in a frying pan, then bake for the remainder of the cooking time. I will hopefully get to the pie this afternoon. I also baked the Austrian Almond Braid, earlier this week.  I wrapped and froze it, to thaw in the morning, and put a glaze on it at the last moment. In case you're interested, here's the recipe.

Austrian Almond Braid 

2 & 1/2  to  2 & 3/4 cups flour

2 & 3/4 teaspoons dry yeast (or 1 packet)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter or shortening

2 tablespoons water

1 egg, at room temperature

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup candied mixed fruit, chopped

1/4 cup chopped or sliced almonds

Almond Icing

(This bread is delicious with a total of 1/2 cup just about any combination of candied and dried fruit. Today, I used some candied fruitcake fruit, dark raisins, and chopped, homemade candied orange peel. I also like dried cherries or cranberries with the almonds.)

In a large bowl, stir together 1 cup of the flour, sugar, salt and yeast. In a microwaveable container (I just use my large Pyrex measuring cup), heat milk, water and butter for about 1 minute (until the butter becomes very soft, about 120-130 degrees F). Stir together. allow to cool slightly. Pour the liquids over the dry ingredients, and beat well, until smooth.

In a small bowl, beat the egg with the almond extract. Add to the dough, and stir well. 

Mix in 1/2 cup of flour. Add the dried/candied fruit and almonds. Add more flour to make a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured counter or board and knead until smooth and satiny, about 5-10 minutes.

Cover dough, and allow to rest for 20 minutes.

Divide dough into 2 parts, one 2/3 of the dough, the other 1/3. 

With the 2/3 dough, divide this into 3 parts. Roll each part into a long strand, about 15 inches long. 

Lay the 3 strands out side by side, and pinch one end of the 3 strands together. Braid these strands. Pinch the bottom ends of the braid together. 

Place on a buttered baking sheet.


Take the 1/3 dough and divide into 3 parts, roll into strands about 18 inches long. Braid these 3, pinching both ends of braid. Lay on top of the large braid and tuck the ends of the small braid under the large braid ends. 

For a soft crust, brush with oil. But truthfully, I never bother with this step -- too much work. Cover with a towel and set in a warm place (80 to 85 degrees F) to rise until doubled, anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Bake in a preheated oven, at 350 degrees F, for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden. Remove to a cooling rack. Once cool, glaze with Almond Icing. Decorate with additional chopped almonds, if desired.

Almond Icing

3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

In a small bowl, stir all together until smooth.

Wishing you Easter blessings!

Found any rocks lately?

My newest area will eventually be filled with yellow daffodils, hostas,
purple grape hyacinth and purple crocus. The daffodils will appear to
spring up from a dry river bed that will meander through
a more natural-looking part of our garden

I have this funny picture in my mind of a geologist, somewhere, googling rocks, seeing the title to my post, coming to my blog, and scratching his head over why a geology site would have scores of posts on cooking, sewing and crafts.

Anyway, I guess I should have given this post a nicer title, like "How we use found rocks decoratively and functionally in our landscape".


A neighbor of ours did a bit of research on the geology of our area. What he discovered was the soil here is littered with rocks due to a massive glacier cascade, a very long time ago.

This is very good news for the stability of our home's foundation. But when it comes to planting, the rocks present a few problems.

Every time I dig even a 1-foot deep hole, I am faced with extracting a bunch of rocks. They can be as small as a pebble, or as large as 2 feet in diameter. Over the years, we have set aside these rocks, in a designated spot in the yard, to use later in the landscape.

The extra large rocks

The very large rocks we use for their sculptural value, placing here and there, but sometimes just getting them out of the soil and leaving them right in that spot.

Here's one that must weigh 100 lbs at least. I can't get it to budge. So it's been left right here, at the edge of a walking path.

The large rocks

low retaining wall

The large rocks (less than a foot in diameter, but larger than 6 inches in diameter), I have used to build low retaining walls, for terracing, such as in this area on a slope. The narrow bed it created is now planted with a dwarf boxwood hedge.

The medium-size rocks

shallow terracing

The medium-sized rocks (less than 6 inches, greater than 4 inches) I use for two purposes, in terracing, and in edging a gravel walking path out to the woods. For the terracing, here, I stack 3 rocks for a shallow terrace, for the area that drops down from the lawn to the small, lower pond. I usually have to touch-up this one each spring, as freezing and heaving cause some movement of the stones.

edging a gravel path

For the walkway edging, I place 2 rocks side by side, then top with a third rock. The purpose here is to keep the gravel from being scattered outside the path, by us as we walk to and from the woods.

I don't have a photo, but I also use this size rock to mark where invasives, such as oxalis and ivy, are not allowed to cross. I simply lay them in a line, within a bed -- one side of the line for invasives, the other for more favored plants. Anyone in the family can come out, and know where to pull the ivy or oxalis that has crossed the line, keeping my perennials safe from an invasion.

The small rocks (what I think as river rock)

stone mulch under a tree

The small rocks (what I think of as river rock sized) are what I use under trees, as ground cover, and at the base of daffodils. The river rock prevents many weeds from taking hold as seeds are scattered, and they form a nice ground cover under trees where lack of sunlight and competition for water & nutrients from the tree overhead, might prevent good growth of grass.

stone mulch up against house

These small rocks are also the ideal size for placing at the base of the stone front to our kitchen, between a paver path and stone exterior wall. Again, as a weed barrier in a spot I don't wish to be constantly patrolling for weeds.

The tiny rocks (more like pebbles)

decorative edge to a bluestone path

The tiniest of rocks, more like pebbles, I use decoratively along the walkway down to a pond in the sunken garden. We've laid bluestone steps in the center here. The tiny stones, along with sandy soil underneath, make a good medium for succulents, like hen and chicks, to edge this walk, and minimize weeding for me.


I was moving some daylilies yesterday from their cramped quarters, to a more spacious area. I'm thinking of laying small "river" rock at their base, as I do with the daffodils. I like the look of the flowers in a dry river bed of rocks. One step at a time, though. Developing our yard is turning into quite a significant project. But I'm enjoying every step of the way!

Is gardening your thing? Or is it something that you do because it needs to get done? I think it's a lot like rearranging furniture. I get an idea that I'd like to move this over here, and that over there. Fortunately, moving plants is a lot easier than moving sofas!

Thanks for reading, today!