I have nothing done. Me, the planner, has nothing done towards Easter. Ok, so the majority of the basket fillings are purchased, but that's about it. No food prepped, no baskets filled, no eggs filled, no eggs decorated with the kiddos. It's just been that kind of week. I'm feeling like a total slacker!
The upside? I have all day to myself tomorrow so I have quite the list of things to tackle. #1 on the list? Hitting the grocery store at 7:30 am to avoid all the crazed shoppers! The aisles of our local establishment will be shoulder to shoulder full of people on a mission. My biggest pet peeve about grocery shoppers? The ones on their phones, describing labels in detail or asking the other person on the line "well, do you think Johnny would like this flavor or that? or should eat this tonight?" Plan ahead people! We all get to the store and draw a blank, but come on! don't hog the entire yogurt section trying to decide what your 2 year old will eat. He won't care. Trust me! Just buy something and move on!
Sorry for the ranting...the mere thought of grocery shopping tomorrow gives me anxiety! Hence, the 7:30 am start time! :)
What's on our Easter menu? Well, one day we're spending with my family and my parents voted for lasagna. Not traditionally Easter, nor are we Italian, but I'm game. I offered to bring dessert (stunning!) So, Strawberry Mousse from Cook's Illustrated and a pound cake bunny will be my contributions. Have you ever made one of these guys?
My mom used to make them every Easter and my mother-in-law confesses to using the very similar lamb form as well. So, I inherited mom's bunny pan and I figured it's time to restart the tradition with my kiddos. I'm actually pretty excited about it!
So, that leaves Sunday dinner at my in-laws. Turkey and stuffing. I offered to make a lemon and strawberry cake, but was turned down in favor of the local ice cream establishment's ice cream cake. Evidently this was a family tradition in my husband's childhood. I find it odd, but who am I to say? So, my contribution will be scalloped potatoes. My husband hates potatoes unless they are crispy (ie. french fries, roasted). So, he will be eating rice and I got to choose what form of taters we will eat. I owe the scalloped potato idea to my boss, who was discussing meal plans today. So, here's my grandmother's recipe which I haven't made in years, but am very excited to resurrect it this weekend!
Nan's Scalloped Potatoes
4 cups thinly sliced potatoes
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
2 cups milk, scalded
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
-preheat oven to 375 degrees
-grease an 8 cup baking dish (I like a lot of crispy browned topping, so i tend to do a wider pan for more surface area, but you can do it in any casserole dish, it will just be thicker)
-combine flour, salt and pepper
-layer 1/3 of the potato slices in bottom of the dish
-sprinkle 1/2 of the flour mixture evenly over the potatoes
-repeat layers, ending with potatoes
-dot the top with the butter
-pour the milk over the top
-cover and bake 45 minutes
-remove the cover and sprinkle with the cheese
-bake uncovered 15 minutes more until cheese is bubbly and potatoes are cooked through
*I am tempted to throw a few garlic cloves in the milk while I'm scalding it so the milk picks up the subtle flavor. It's a technique I use in my mac n' cheese and everyone raves about it, so it's very tempting, but I also don't want to ruin Nana's recipe!
My only contribution to Easter so far for the kiddos...I made Peeps Cookies for their day care. Apparently they were a big hit! As several of my friends said, "those are the only kind of Peeps I'll eat!"
That's it! The bunny will hop hop hop his way to New Hampshire if I can get my butt in gear tomorrow! Happy Easter!
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