So, How Was Your Easter?

I hope you had a wonderful day with family and friends on Easter. My day was busy (surprise, surprise). I packed a lot into 24 hours. We decided on an Easter lunch following church, as I had a project to work on in the evening.

So, our menu. I had mentioned that I had a ham in the freezer, and several other ingredients with which I could pull together an Easter dinner. I had planned on going out Friday and picking up some asparagus and maybe strawberries. Best laid plans . . . Thursday afternoon I had to run out and get envelopes for taxes (3 sets of taxes). While our running those errands, my car decided to quit. I was stranded in a parking lot for several hours, waiting for a tow truck for the car, and family to come get me. My car needs some major work, including a part which won't be in until Wednesday. I have been without a car since Thursday afternoon. So, back to Easter dinner, no asparagus or strawberries. However, I did put together a menu with what I had.  And here's what I had in my kitchen to work with:

• a frozen ham
• bag of potatoes
• cans of sweet potatoes
• pecans
• canned green beans
• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
• onions
• bread
• frozen plum halves
• frozen pie pastry
• frozen mounds of whipped cream
• pickles and olives
• cream cheese
• chives in the garden
• boxed crackers
• sparkling apple cider

When I look at it, that's a pretty amazing list of delicious foods to draw from. Here's what was on our Easter table:

• baked ham, sliced
• mashed potatoes
• green bean casserole, using this substitute for the canned, fried onions
• sweet potato souffle, topped with pecans, brown sugar and butter
• chive and cream cheese spread for crackers
• olives and pickles
• open-faced plum pie, topped with whipped cream
• sparkling cider and hot tea

That's a pretty decent meal for a holiday, considering I couldn't get out to buy special ingredients. The bonus was that I made enough of everything except the pie, to have leftovers for dinner on Monday!

I Haven't Really Looked Around Much Lately

I've had my head in projects, taxes, and problems so much so that lately, I just haven't noticed all of the beautiful stuff happening in the garden. I was outside for an hour yesterday afternoon, and this is just a sampling of what I saw.

The tulips look fabulous. I counted 50 blooms on this patch!

Not only is the cherry tree full of blossoms, but there were so many bees in it yesterday.

Springtime flowers looking amazing after so much gloom of winter, here.

A year ago, I bought a bunch of primrose plants that were way past their prime, on clearance. A Year later, they look terrific!

The violets are everywhere.  I'll be adding some to the top of a cake that I'm making this week. They're edible, but this variety has no flavor.

I have so much rhubarb. I need to get busy with the pies and crisps, again!

I hope you had a lovely Easter. It's late and I need sleep. I'll give you the details of our Easter, tomorrow. Have a great day!