Hippity hoppity, Easter's on its way

Yesterday we celebrated Easter in the traditional Dinsdale manner -- with much cooking, a little competition, and a lot of laughter.

Scott and Mary hosted us because their house can hold us all, and because they're really good hosts. Everybody brought food and drinks, and it was an all-day eating fest. Scott roasted lamb (which we tell the kids is "steak") and my mom made a turkey.

I usually bring the drinks, because let's face it, I can't cook. But this year I stepped out of my comfort zone and offered to bring an appetizer. (I figured if I really messed it up, hey, at least there'd be other food!)

I brought a long, skinny baguette that I sliced into little rounds. Scott then watched me slice figs very carefully -- I'd gone to three stores before I found them, so I made sure not to waste them. He said it needed a fat to go with it, so I produced a small bowl of gorgonzola cheese. He was intrigued.

"I add the cheese, then melt it in the oven, and drizzle it with honey," I told him proudly.

"You could use chicken, too, with barbecue sauce, or even with marinara sauce," he said, and suddenly, I didn't like where this was going. "In fact, I have some left-over turkey."

"Don't touch my bread!" I warned, but no one ever listens to me. He spread a layer of marinara sauce, then added a basil leaf, a slice of turkey and topped it with mozzarella cheese. Even I admitted (silently) it looked good, but I wasn't gonna tell Scott that.

My mom also thought it looked good, and did tell him.

"I guess it's all right for left-overs," I told her. "But wait 10 minutes and you can have some fresh appetizers!" Even cooking is competitive with Dinsdales.

We placed our trays in the oven, and Scott tried to cheat by placing mine on top. I didn't know any better, but Mary called him out, saying, "You know everything burns on the top rack!"

He pretended not to remember that, but he got me in the end by turning on the broiler and overcooking the bread.

"Oh well," I conceded. "At least my appetizer was more Biblical than yours. Come on, you can't get more Biblical than figs and honey on Easter!"

He smiled, and held up the meat. "I cooked the sacrificial lamb," he answered, and like my mom says, no matter how funny you are in our family, someone will always be funnier!

Mary made a really wonderful brie and fig jelly appetizer, and her mom Fran made her traditional cheese ball. (It's so good!) My dad said me he'd eaten every kind of cheese ever made, and I don't think he was wrong.

Smed made a "grownup" mac n cheese that was pretty scrumptious too.



The kids weren't impressed with any of the food, and devoured a Costco-sized box of goldfish crackers before lunch. Mark ate so often (every hour on the hour) that I had no idea what his blood sugar was -- he never stopped eating long enough for me to check (you can't check within two hours of eating, or it will just read high).

The kids were then too full to eat lunch, but not too full to gorge on M&Ms and jelly beans they found during the Easter egg hunt.

Waiting for the hunt to begin

No cheating!

The hunt is on.

The victorious hunters with their spoils.

After all the cooking and eating, we took the kids to the park. They went wild, running around like maniacs, and didn't want to go back home. We tried to cajole them back to the house, but they ignored us, until we promised them cupcakes (more sugar!).

All in all, it was a really nice day. It was fun to sit around with the family and just laugh, and to watch the kids all play together. Our holidays are not that extravagant, and they're usually the same (sit around, eat, laugh, drink a little), but that's what makes them so enjoyable. They're the same, but not quite. But the people are always the same, and since they're my favorite people around, it makes for a pretty good day.


Hope you all had a great Easter, too! (Unless you don't celebrate Easter, and then I hope you had a really nice piece of matzah.)