Easter, Easter, Easter! I'm Starting to Plan Our Easter Dinner

This year's Easter dinner may be the most normal we've had since 2019. That's hard to believe. In 2020, we didn't get together with our son and daughter-in-law (Covid). In 2021, the two of them came over and we had a cookout around our patio fire ring. This year, I'm planning a traditional Easter dinner. Thanks to my two daughters giving me the gift of dinner-cooking for the whole month, I actually want to make a big Easter dinner. The wonderful thing about this year's special holiday meal is that I think I have absolutely everything I need on hand.

Here's the plan, so far.

• I have a half-ham in the freezer that I bought last spring. I plan on baking it a couple of days in advance so I can slice it in advance and reheat on that Sunday. I'll lay ham slices topped by canned pineapple slices in a baking dish, covering with foil and heating, then serving with a mustard sauce along the lines of this recipe but baked instead of pan-cooked.
• I have 2 large cans of yams, some pecans, brown sugar and butter, all the right ingredients to make this praline sweet potato casserole. I can assemble the casserole a day or two in advance and keep refrigerated then bake on Easter.
• I have canned green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and fried onions for the traditional green bean casserole that is on a Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup label. Green bean casserole is quick to assemble, so I will make that on Easter.
• There are 2 small (10 oz) bags of Brussel sprouts in the freezer. I'll oven-roast those just before Easter dinner. I like Brussel sprouts tossed with olive oil and kosher salt then roasted until lightly caramelized.
• I have bulk sausage, peppers, and mushrooms in the freezer. I'm thinking a rice pilaf with those ingredients. I made a similar pilaf for Thanksgiving that was well received by all. We don't have any fresh potatoes right now, so I think a rice pilaf will make a nice alternative starchy dish.

Okay, so the above is my list of dishes I will definitely make. I'm also considering the following:

• hot cross buns or dinner rolls. If I don't do the hot cross buns, I have a really good pan roll recipe that always turns out great and is easier than crescent rolls.
• dessert -- rhubarb custard pie? lemon bars? carrot cake cupcakes? Any easy Easter dessert ideas out there?
• a salad, using whatever I have growing indoors or out. If I have enough kale, a salad along these lines with dried cranberries and almonds in a vinaigrette.

These are my Easter dinner plans. What have you got planned?

Beating the Inflation 2022 Woes

 

Life is getting expensive. Inflation 2022 isn't just in our imagination. It sometimes feels like there's nothing we can do about it. We may not be able to drive down gas, or grocery, or heating fuel prices on our own. But there are thousands of little ways we can save by being thoughtful about our spending. Listing the little ways I'm working to save money is empowering. It really does help me feel like there is something I can do (and am doing) to fight the effects of inflation.

I washed plastic bags and hung them to dry on the clothes rack. I do this about 3 or 4 times per month. I toss bags with holes, that had meat in them, or that feel greasy. I also wash sheets of plastic wrap and hang those on the clothes drying rack. When the sheets of plastic wrap are dry, I hang them over the edge of the stand mixer's bowl. I baked a two-crust pie yesterday and used up the last of my remade and frozen pie pastry. So, I'll be using the cleaned plastic wrap to make more pie dough for the freezer later this week.

I hauled more of the compost that we had delivered by dump truck. I was curious about the price we paid in comparison to what I usually spend when I buy it by the bag. So I did a little math the other day. I normally try to spend about $4 to $5 for a 1-cubic foot bag of compost from Fred Meter. Because we ordered a large quantity of compost to be delivered, we got a good price per cubic yard, about $45. there are 27 cubic feet in 1 cubic yard. Our price per cubic foot, then, was about $1,66, less than half what I'd pay at Fred Meyer if buying by the bag. I should add, this wouldn't be economical at all if we didn't have need for so much compost. It just so happens that I had plans for a large quantity of compost for this year's gardening season. We top-dressed and reseeded our front lawn. We covered many planting areas with a layer of compost, I enriched all of the vegetable and berry beds with compost, we mulched the base of all of the fruit trees and the long hedges that surround both front and back lawns, and we developed a large, new spot for heat-loving veggies, working several inches of compost into the parched and depleted soil in this area. This will be my new pumpkin, corn, pole bean, and pepper patch.

I harvested the slightly tough turnip leaves from turnips that overwintered but never developed sizable roots to use. In early spring, late-summer planted turnips, kale, Swiss chard, and sometimes beets come back. The roots of turnips and beets are often not great, but the leaves of all of these provide nutritious greens for our meals. I pick the leaves even as the plants are beginning to bolt. Here's a turnip that will flower to set seeds soon. The leaves are still edible, although a bit tough. I slice them narrowly across the grain to cut through the fibers, then either sauté them in some oil with onion and garlic or add them to soups and stews. It's basically a free vegetable as a reward for my gardening laziness -- not cleaning out the beds until late spring.

We've begun using a pitcher for drinking water again. We drink tap water, here. Oftentimes, someone has just finished washing their hands or dishes in the kitchen sink, leaving the next water to come out of the faucet warm to hot. Instead of running the water for a minute to get some nice cold drinking water for each glass someone wants, we fill a large pitcher with cold water all at once and pour our glasses from that pitcher. We may only save about a gallon of water per week, but every savings counts toward a larger goal.

We've been using a yearly calendar that one of us received for free in the mail as a car trip planner. When one of us knows in advance of an errand needing to be run, they write it on the calendar. At the next family meal, we discuss our upcoming errands, which direction they'll take us, and how we can bundle errands so we aren't making the same or near-same trip two or more times in a week. Several of us take regular prescriptions. A few months back, we noticed that two different family members drove to the same pharmacy, two hours apart. They could have driven together and saved that extra car trip. Since then, we've tried to bundled our errands as much as possible. Oftentimes, more than one of us needs to go to the bank or library or grocery store. I do believe we're saving a lot on gas these days. I noticed we're not filling the tank near as often as we had previously.

and a bonus

I noticed that when I pour something that is measured, I have a tendency to put just a little bit back. I do this with laundry soap. I pour a capful, then pour back just a little bit into the jug. I also did this with chocolate chips the other day, I poured the amount called for into a measuring cup then I poured back just a little bit into the bag. Am I stingy? I don't know. But this is a habit I've had for a long, long time. I think doing this over and over does add up to savings. Do you do this, too?