What a great menu!! You are much more imaginative than I, it sounds professional and gourmet, things which I am definitely NOT. I cannot even bake biscuits, but that is on my list to learn, when the range with its oven is installed.

Just finished my cuppa French press with fat free half/half, while looking at hosta pictures. It is a lovely day here in Mobile, and still cool enough for DH to work in the attic laying more insulation!

Yesterday my Pig Family, the Carolina wrens nested in a pig pot on the deck railing, fledged their five little chicks. I have pictures! So exciting to watch those inept little bits of fluff learn to navigate and to fly. FIVE of them.
Mother nature is so awesome.

Happy Easter.

Nice idea. I celebrate both Passover and Easter. Last night it was a traditonal Passover meal at my cousins.
Today we are going to have appetizers here at home with my DH, DH"s sister and boyfriend and one of my DD's. Then we are going to a favorite restuarant where we can choose leg of lamb, rack of lamb (my favorite) or ham. Then back home for dessert. I made a cherry cheescke and I am sure SIL will bring some treats.
Happy Easter!

Just the words "lemons" and "rosemary" make my mouth water...

We're having Easter dinner with friends later. Right now I'm roasting beets for a salad with walnuts and goat cheese, and draining salted cucumber to make tzatziki. I somehow always end up making Mediterranean-ish food.

Happy Easter!

Coffee sounds good to me too. We just got in from gathering piles of pine needles some one else raked up around town. Every one trying to do a little some thing to clean the town up for spring. I am using them for mulch.

Nothing special planned today. Resting from a busy week and tomorrow another long day and evening at work. sigh

We had oven baked fish and spuds and cole slaw last night. There is a roast out defrosting. Not sure it will make it in time for tonight.

Have a Happy Easter.

Back to work. Chris

Wow Eatrealfood, you are putting me to shame. I have a sink again and I'm still just eating tv dinners. I have threatened the rest of the family with their lives if they splatter so much as one drop on the drawers and doors I have drying in the corner by the sink so we are using it sparingly.

Busy day here! My wife had to work, so most of dinner was on me. I play trumpet, which means EVERY Easter you have a gig, so I played two services this morning. Yesterday, I made baked beans (from scratch). Today, I made mac 'n cheese, ham, heated up the beans, and made cold strawberry soup for an appetizer. My son and his GF (and our granddog) came over for Easter dinner. We're kind of doing it up big, since I'll be headed back to SC this week to work on the house.

Jay, my DH is a trombonist and had two services today, too. Early morning for him. He cooked our dinner yesterday - sauteed mushrooms and onion with brown rice and chickpeas (or garbanzo beans). No one cooked today. I had leftovers from last night and earlier this week(pizza) and DH ate out of the freezer.

Family is gathering tomorrow up in the Thumb (remember, Michigan is shaped like a mitten) for my dad's funeral. He was very ill for a very long time and the docs finally got his wife to make him a no code on Friday, just before he coded for the last time. It is a relief that he is at peace, he suffered too much.

marti-I have seen the work you are accomplishing. Once Your cabinets are done you MUST have someone cook YOU dinner !!! Unfortunately I cannot DIY anything as I have no garage, basement or workbench :)

ellendi; cherry cheese cake :0

mcgillicuddy
roated beets goat cheese & walnuts I love that combination. I make tzatziki too :)

Hi Shades get some rest. You must be wrecked :(

I just finished eating baklava(not homemade but just as good)...

Nancy I'm so sorry. My fil is on hospice now though no one will say how long they think he has. I know that was a hard decision for your dad's wife to make, and you'll all miss him.

I used to drink lots of coffee - I just quit making it a good # of yrs back. Am thinking of cleaning up the pot and checking out a hot cup of it again soon.

you all are using words on here I don't even recognize. I do recognize 'Bob says dinner at 5:00' and 'leftovers' - lol!

nancy - sorry to hear about your dad. I know that yrs ago (14 now) when my mom passed there was a sense of relief for her along with our grief. She didn't know any of us anymore - it was hard on us, but she was no longer in pain (or feeling alone). It's such a strange mixture of feelings.

Nancy-sorry for your loss. It's not easy either way. I lost my Dad August.

Nancy - So sorry to for your loss. Even when it's an expected and good thing for them to no longer suffer, it's difficult for those of us who miss them so. Like Steph, I've lost both my mom & dad, & still have that odd mixture of feelings - relief, grief & loss. Thinking of you,

Eatrealfood - love my morning coffee. About to have some today.

Everyone's menus sounded wonderful! I'm like Steph, - don't even know what some of those things were.

We spent the day traveling to MIL's & visited with family. (around 30 people). Only had hot dogs, Hamburgers & fixings but a great Easter egg hunt for the little people! Tired today.

I'm a tea drinker so I brought my tea in this morning. It's cool and foggy here, more rain expected today and I have no idea when we'll be able to start the addition. Chance of rain all week. Good thing I don't have any chocolate here or I'd eat it all.

McGill I would love the beet salad recipe!

ellendi -- the beet salad recipe is from Gourmet via Epicurious (link below). One of the guests at our friends' Easter dinner has a pistachio allergy, so I used walnuts and walnut oil instead. I also didn't go through the process of creating individual molded salads. Instead, I spread a few cupfuls of pea tendrils in a large stoneware dish, then mounded the dressed beets on top, and then put on dabs of the goat cheese and sprinkled the toasted walnuts on top. I would love to try it sometime with the pistachios.

Here is a link that might be useful: Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

Thanks mcg I am glad I checked back!

nancy, I'm sorry about your father. ((hugs))

I just had a cup of tea--probably shouldn't have, so late in the evening, but I'm still recovering from family 'potluck' dinner yesterday. 18 in attendance, including my three kids, who, along with son's fiance, and a friend, helped get everything set up. I baked a ham, 7 pies (3 diabetic pecan for uncle's family dinner), and 8 loaves of challah, and made 2 dozen deviled eggs. Our young friend is Jewish, and laughed because Passover tradition is unleavened bread. We have challah often on holidays, and everyone gets to take some home. Young friend is flexible, though--my brother brought smoked turkey, but I noticed friend wolfing down challah with a big slice of ham. When in Rome... ;)

LOL at your young friend. Sounds like a wonderful dinner though.

Thanks everybody for your notes of sympathy. I am doing well, just a little distracted at times today. The funeral yesterday was very nice. My brother, who was asked to "say something," ended up learning that he was the WHOLE service a few minutes before the funeral started. He did a wonderful job. He speaks in his church regularly, so has experience. The funeral was held in a small town in Michigan. When we moved there in the mid 1960s, we were surprised at how the locals would pull over to the side of the road in respect when a funeral procession passed going the other way on the road. I moved away when I was 17 years old, so I had no idea that this tradition endures. I was quite moved when the oncoming traffic pulled over as we drove to the little township cemetery only two miles from where I grew up.

Do people pull over to the side of the road for funeral processions where you live?

Aw Nancy So sorry about your Dad. Hope your day was full of good memories.No the people do not pull over here for funeral processions. They do allow them to keep together when crossing intersections and the processions usually have a sheriff escort to direct traffic.

My husband and I were the cemetery sextons for 8 years and I continued to do the secretary and arrangements for another 3 years. We did so many burials. Each one was different. I always thought to write a book but then I never could bring myself to write about burying my friends. Even though some of the happenings were quite comical. Even at such sad times. Believe me I mean no disrespect.

No coffee for me tonight I MUST sleep soon. I am pooped out. Maybe after my meeting tomorrow. Like Steph I have an old percolator up in my loft. I keep wanting to bring it back into the kitchen I can not bear to get rid of it but we use the BUN coffee maker now. There just is some thing special about listening to the perks and the delicious smell. Always seems to smell better perked then dripped.

Here is a link that might be useful: One of the cemeteries we cared for. This one was 6 acres.

Chris, you and your husband have had so many interesting jobs. I had forgotten about your cemetery work. It is a pretty place. Our township's sexton when I was small was an old guy named Harry. He would come by for a beer with my dad. He lived alone, was a retired farmer. Somehow Harry and another guy, Frank, always managed to come by for a plate of turkey every Thanksgiving evening, after guests were gone. It was a standing joke in our family to imitate Frank's yearly refrain, "Turkey seems a bit dry this year, Marge." Yet he could always be depended upon to come and test it!

Enjoy your rest later this week!

Tradition endures in our area, unless it's a highway or business area with multiple lanes. I remember once when I was delivering for a catering company, being behind a funeral procession on a highway. Someone (not in the procession) decided neither she, nor anyone else, was passing the procession, so she held back traffic in the passing lane for several miles. Many unhappy motorists!

When I have the car windows open, I always turn off the radio when I pass our local funeral home, if they are having visitation.

In my little town cars still pull over when a funeral passes. Not on the highways though.

I remember when I was a teenager and the cemetery was across the street from the tennis court. When a funeral procession went by, our tennis coach stopped play and we all stood until all the cars had gone by.

Nancy, don't feel you have to be back to normal today. You've probably been pushing yourself to get through the day for a long time without even realizing it and need to let your mind and body rest. I think everyone would understand if you just wanted to stay in bed all day. (((hugs)))

Just thought I'd stop by, with a cup of jasmine tea :)

We had a crazy Easter! Two men tried to steal some farm items from the neighbors...and one got arrested, the other took off on foot. So we (and the neighbors) were all told that an escaped burgler was probably cutting through our land, to follow the creek back to town. After a few hours of everyone running around, the deputy called to let us know the other man was in custody. I wasn't too worried, since the horses would chase any strangers out of the pasture...or stare at them, if they were out in the field. (They think they're guard dogs! LOL)

So, still haven't had Easter dinner yet (up at my mom's) but we'll probably do something fun this weekend :)

Nancy- So sorry about your father. I'm glad it was a nice service...and yes, people would pull over in our town.

don't know that I've seen a funeral procession out here since I've been here (about 27 yrs).

I do remember reading something about one for Waylon Jennings. I 'spect that was a mass of limos a mile long tho - mega C & W stars here for his funeral.

I think it's weird here tho - most cemeteries have a large generic building to use for services so they don't have to drive from svc building/church to the cemetery.

I've only been to maybe 3 funerals out here (plus 2 funeral homes visitations) that I can remember out here. 1 was at the cemetery and the other I went to the church svc but not the cemetery. by the time the svc was over I was in too bad a shape to go on to the cemetery (that had to do with my disability, not because of the svc).

We have had a number of police or fireman processions. Those stop traffic for miles and miles with people lining both sides of the streets.

Nancy, sorry to read of the loss of your dad. My dad passed in 1981 when he was 70, and my mom in 2001 when she was 84. It felt like okay, my brother and I were now the older generation. Peace be with all our departed loved ones.