Easter Lunch

Yesterday was delightful. In between church services there was plenty of good food and fellowship.



Em did the flowers:

There were Easter eggs for the children's table:

Cupcakes waiting for dessert:

The table all read and waiting for dinner:

My three boys:

Grandma and David:

Punch to go with the appetizers:

There were Hot Cross Buns, fruit, mini quiches, baby sausages and shrimp:

Trying not to eat too much before lunch:

We made the Pavlova from a recipe in the current issue of Gourmet. It is filled with lemon curd and topped with berries -- incredible! And check out the size -- huge! (I did double the recipe):

Easter candy is so beautiful:

And jelly beans are so hard to resist:

Especially for a certain child and a certain mother (mother not pictured):

The Salad: spinach, strawberries, blue cheese and a few onions:

The dinner: ham, asparagus, sweet potato gratin, potatoes with leeks, fruit salad and buns:

The children's table -- I didn't get a picture of the adults:

The table was so colorful and everyone's outfits added to it:

Then came tea-time:

And the Easter-egg china -- my favorite:

These cookies, made by Carla, were a hit. They were shortbread that melted in your mouth, filled with an almond cream!

Besides Pavlova, cookies, and cupcakes, we also had chocolate covered strawberries!

One happy boy! He is eating a gluten-free cupcake and loving it!

Easter dinner is over for another year. A new week has started and there is plenty to do......

Easter Weekend

First off, the winner of the flower give-away is Megan! So, you'll have to let me know what color scheme you'd like and I'll send one your way!



The first round of baking is in the oven -- citrus cupcakes. I've used good butter and a reliable teaspoon measure. I hope they come out! :)

Andrew and James are off to soccer. They were too excited!

Rachel has pledged her help with all the baking and Baby has his cars lined up on the counter as his way of participating.

I hope you all have a lovely Easter weekend! When I think about the resurrection, I love to think about the fact that the resurrection means God has accepted the sacrifice of Christ for sins on behalf of those who trust in Him! Since Christ arose, I am forgiven and made right with God! It's something to rejoice in everyday of the year.

Hot Cross Buns, Kitchen Nightmares, Etc.

Our Hot Cross Buns are made! And, the crosses turned out much better this year! (I used the cross instructions from this recipe on top of my own bun recipe.)

I made the buns with a friend this year and that was a good idea! It meant the buns actually got made, and it made the whole process seem much easier and faster. I made "mixed spice" from scratch but felt it was too much cinnamon and not enough other spice. I'll have to try again.

The biggest discovery of the day was that the teaspoon measurers I have been using since moving back to the USA are definately totally out of proportion!!!! We used an old plastic set to check the newer stainless steel set I use and the teaspoon was about 1 1/2 times what it should be. How does this happen??!!! I thought teaspoons were regulated and if I bought one it would be accurate. I guess that's not true.

Now I'm wondering if that's why I've had trouble with some recipes since moving to the USA. Recipes that I made over and over again in Scotland with terrific success have not been coming out so well here. It's a possibility that too much leavening is the culprit. I can't wait to buy a new set of teaspoons. I'm also wondering if Wal-mart butter is just not good quality. Of course the flour in Scotland is different, but still, I think the other things I mentioned may be more of the problem. We'll see.......

I did have better success trying a lemon loaf with Land O' Lakes butter this week, but I also used the old plastic teaspoon measure, so now there is no way to tell if it was the butter or the correct leavening. Oh well.

Tomorrow is the beginning of soccer season and an all-day bake/cook-a-thon for me. I'll have plenty of pictures for you next week. Oh, and I will let you know the winner of the flower give-away as well.

Steamy Showers Bring Felted Flowers

My latest business idea is felted flowers -- beautiful, simple, affordable. Not to mention the fact that they are so much fun to make!

They can come in all sorts of colors and color-combinations.

I do love these yellow ones!

The white one is my favorite, and I can't resist pink either.

Which one would you choose? Leave a comment with your favorite flower (in real life) and what color felted flower you would choose, and on Saturday I will draw a winner for this bloggy giveaway! (Giveaway is open to any of you world-wide.)

And, you can now find these felted beauties at the Village Yarn Shop!

April Says Yellow -- #2

April daffodils are just so wonderful! I wanted to take a picture outside today of the soft, April snow falling on the brilliant yellow daffies. However, that did not happen.


There are so many, many varieties of daffodils, and it is fun to see new kinds, as well as the old familiar versions. And I just love the sweet scent that hangs in an aura about their cheery faces!

I spent the day helping a friend with sorting and organizing. It was hours and hours of physical work, but it felt good to be so active and make progress.

The rest of the week feels busy, with Easter at the finish. There is school to be taught, shopping to do, soccer, Rosebuds, ballet and Bible study to attend, friends to enjoy and an Easter menu to shop, cook, and serve! I sure do hope the weather picks up for the weekend!

Michael's Birthday -- Part 2

The day after Michael's birthday, we had some of the family over for dinner. Christina came early for some knitting, which turned into felted flower making. We decided to ditch cleaning up the house and put our energies and time into the flowers, because it is so much fun!

I'm planning a separate post on felted flowers, but here's a sneak-peak:

Michael's favorite is cheesecake:

David left the table, disappeared upstairs, and re-appeared in army attire. The stick (i.e. rifle) seemed a bit dangerous.

"Let's go fight, James," said David as he ran off to the living room.

Another birthday for Michael has passed into the family records.

April Says Yellow -- #1

I associate yellow with my sister and my sister with April -- somehow they are all wrapped up into one. Christina has an April birthday and we always go to the Art Museum Gardens to enjoy the spring flowers (mostly yellows!).



Yellow is a happy color, something we can all use! Funny that it is the one color I just don't wear (I look horrible in it), but it was my favorite color in childhood.

I hope you all will enjoy a beautiful April and be blessed by many happy thoughts along the way.