Happy Easter
We enjoyed two dinners this weekend – the first was at our home for the Lascos family and on Saturday we joined my family in Oakville. It was soo fattening lol
On Friday, I made “Pork Wellington” served with roasted asparagus and coleslaw. For dessert I made pumpkin pie and Laurie brought a 3-D bunny cake. I also did 5.3km and 2 hours of gardening. It was a great day – very productive and beautiful weather. My crocuses were out (purple, yellow and white) for the guests and I was happy!
The morning started out quite disastrously. We had no eggs, not enough pancake mix and nothing but bread with crunchy peanut butter (which he doesn’t like) to serve Steve’s dad for breakfast. Needless to say, I wished them good morning and ran off to Tai Chi. Later that afternoon, we headed off to Oakville where Mom and Dad served us a feast! It started with an Easter Egg hunt for Timothy – 16 eggs hidden around the house. Fantastically funny. I brought appetizers: cream cheese with chive mini muffins and cheddar cheese with broccoli scones. Quite good actually. Bonnie also brought veggies and dip. Dad made a bread-wrapped baked ham, lamb stuffed with spinach and feta, scalloped potatoes, carrots, beans and peas. Fantastic! The ham in particular was done with whole wheat (Sobey’s didn’t have rye) and gave it an interesting texture because it had been effectively steamed inside the dough. It was also noticeably less salty! For dessert (my favourite part), Meaghan made mini cheesecakes and Mom made a pineapple upside down cake with extra chunks of pineapple inside that gave it more texture. Loved it!
Note to self: I brought Lindeman’s Pinot Grigio and it had a very sour taste. If it hadn’t been a screw top, we all said it was corked lol. Scott also brought us a white on Friday: Orveito Classico (2008) by Ruffino. Sweet tasting, don’t recommend as a sipping wine.
Dad got the meats from Florence Meat Supplies in Oakville, between Bronte and Third Line. They sell: beef, veal, pork, fresh Ontario lamb, poultry, venison, ostrich, and a full line of smoked meats. Prices are better than the grocery store, you get customized cuts and their pulled pork buns are to die for (says Mama). I shall have to go with Steve!
Sunday I spent 5 hours playing in the garden – mostly spreading my newly formed compost!!I made it all by myself and am feeling enormously proud of this dirt for inexplicable reasons lol. I also transplanted all the tulips that squirrels had re-distributed in the lawn back into my flower beds. That was entertaining. For dinners this week I made us chicken a la King (not my sister’s recipe, just a traditional one by Kate Aiken). Quite good really; Steve also thought it was tasty. Her recipe also recommended using a hot flannel cloth to strain the broth as it will catch all the fat. Never considered that! I am going to pick up a J-cloth next time I’m at the store to give that a try …
Wanted to get this up asap. Photos of the ham and bunny cake coming soon!! Recipes to follow this week.
