Easter dinner with Gale & Phil, Pat & George, Jim O

I LOVE getting up early!  I hopped up at 7 AM Easter morning and got tons of stuff done before Michael was up just after 8.  By the time we got done with breakfast (WAFFLES OF INSANE GREATNESS) 

leftovers for later in the week

it was 10 AM and I left him in the kitchen to make potato/carrot mash for Easter dinner.   

equal pounds of potatoes & carrots

add a stick of butter...mash....YUM!

While he was waiting for stuff to cook, he was watching a bird finding stuff for a nest: 

 I headed downstairs to iron and then cut squares for the next set of Clinton embroideries.  I got one stitched out…the first set of quilts were CUTE FISH…this next set are labeled CUTE SEA LIFE (pics tomorrow).    That’s the good news…the bad news is, I have totally used up my bolt of cream tone-on-tone fabric  :~(.  Between my embroidered quits from last year and this year, and the patriotic ones (I cut out for 3 of them)…I have used up 15 yards of cream that I bought last August.  I might have to make a trip to FOUST before their sale THIS August….hmmm…BG is visiting in May…do you think she’d want to go?   

Anyway, by then it was time to head upstairs to put together deviled eggs, 

roll dough, 

 Kentucky corn pudding and get the ham ready for the oven.  Jan gave me a new kitchen towel for Easter....of course the color is perfect and I decided it should make its debut today:

 By the time I was done with the food, I just had an hour to relax, so I read my book until Pat & George, Gale & Phil and Jim O arrived at 3 PM.  We all relaxed in the living room for a bit:

me & Gale

Phil & Pat

Pat & George

even Cookie was with us

Jim & Gale

We had deviled eggs and stuffed clams for appetizers, and finally sat down to a scrumptious dinner (potato/carrot mash, green bean casserole, rolls, ham...the Kentucky corn pudding didn't set up until AFTER dinner  :~( around 4 PM.  Gale’s family has a tradition (and Mary Jo’s family does it too) where they crack eggs against each other around the table.  The person with the uncracked egg at the end is supposed to have good luck all year long….so this year…Pat is the lucky person.   

stuffed clam & one of the red eggs

We sat and talked for a bit after dinner, 

 then Pat served her dessert.  OMgoodness…and to think I complained when she said she was not bringing a chocolate dessert.  This was a luscious (and perfect for spring) angel food cake, with strawberry custard in the layers, and separate bowls of fresh, sliced strawberries or strawberry “sauce” to drizzle over top….HEAVEN!   

 And, since I complained about not getting any chocolate, she brought me an Easter basket (actually it was more like an Easter wheelbarrow) absolutely CRAMMED with every kind of Easter candy imaginable…she is TOO MUCH!!!

 Everyone left by 6:30 PM and I settled in to finish my book.  I was SO SAD to see this book end…and really disappointed that now I’ll have to wait another year or 2 for the next one.  This book CAREER OF EVIL is the third in the series, written by Robert Galbraith (which is the nom de plume of JK Rowling).  The CUCKOO’S CALLING was the first book in the series…which I thought was excellent…but I swear she just keeps getting better and better.  You need to read the books in order, they ARE murder mysteries…but they are so much more than that.  In this third book, you finally get more of the back story on one of the main characters and it was very interesting.   

Michael wanted to watch the end of the golf, so I headed downstairs (actually dragged myself would be a better description) and continued to embroider and sew until 8:30 when I headed back up to collapse on the couch and veg in front of the TV.  It was a wonderful Easter.