Easter Weekend

What a great weekend. I am EXHAUSTED but in the best possible way.

I can't begin to express how refreshing, rejuvenating and AMAZING it was to have Lisa here. She is truly a kindred spirit. We start where we left off every time, no need to small talk or play catch up. We dive right into the good, hard stuff. There are always tears, both sad and glad. While I always wish we lived closer I so cherish these times together because they are that much more precious. I hope everyone has a person like her in their life. I can't imagine mine without Lisa.
We didn't plan anything, didn't do much. We didn't need to. Time was filled with our everyday stuff, parks, picnics, walks and talks, exclamated by the presence of a great gal that fit in like she belonged. It was great.

On Easter we rose early, appropriate I think, and went to an Easter only 8am church service at "our" church. It was horrible. The girls did so well despite the gloom and doom of a service that in my opinion should focus on the hope and glory of the holiday. It was weird and bizarre. There was interpretive dance and venue changes and casual "tell your resurrection story" communion circles. I missed the hymns, the praising of God and the comfort of a familiar service. I don't know what they were thinking. I really REALLY liked our new church, until that service.


We rallied and the rest of the day was great. Ainsley LOVED looking for eggs. She'd spot one and dash across the yard and beam with pride as she THREW the eggs in her newly acquired basket. Then Ian chimed in with a new Easter tradition, "the Easter bunny broke into our house, stole our eggs, and left his stuff ALL over own lawn! That vandall!" Hilarious...I'm thinking that sentiment won't fly.

Ainsley was pretty tired after all the ado so she snoozed while we ate brunch. Then I put on my apron and went to work on dinner. 3 out of the 5 dishes were from an episode of Cooks Country that I stumbled across on our DVR. The Delmonico Potatoes were some of the best potatoes I've EVER had, and this is coming from a potato lovin' gal. They're really not too intense and SO worth the little extra effort (and calories).

Delmonico Potatoes

3 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon grated zest and 2 teaspoons juice from 1 lemon
5 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed and patted dry with paper towels
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped chives

Melt butter and saute onion and garlic until soft, add potatoes, cream, broth and spices, simmer 10 minutes. Put in casserole and bake for 20 minutes and 450. Meanwhile melt a little more butter in the skillet and start to brown the hashbrowns. Take off heat and add cheese and chives. Take potatoes out of oven and spread hashbrown mixture evenly over the top and bake another 20 minutes. Take out and add more parmesan and chives. MMMMMMMM!!!

I also need to give a nod to the cormeal biscuits that I decided to make rather last minute because I had tons of cornmeal and leftover buttermilk with no plan for them in sight. These are far and away the best biscuits I've ever had. Not very corn-bready, just delicious, puffy and crisp and soft all at once.

Cornmeal Biscuits

1 c. cornmeal

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 T. honey

Combine and let sit for 10 minutes

In food processor pulse together:

2 cups flour

1 T. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

Then add:

12 T. butter, cut up into small pieces

pulse until combined (8-10 times)

Mix dry and wet until just combined, roll out to 3/4" thick and cut into circles using a floured drinking glass. Bake on parchment lined baking sheet in 450 oven for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 400 and bake another 8-12 minutes. Slather with butter and honey and ENJOY!

After dinner we enjoyed banana cream pie, wine, and the company of good friends. My only regret is that I didn't get any photos of my first holiday feast.

Lisa is on her way home now. Louise is snoozing away the afternoon, and Ainsley is "watching Ainsley movies mama" on this dreary day.

Today I am thankful for leftovers to last us FOREVER, snuggly girls, a happy well rested husband, clean sheets and diapers and the hope of some sun to finally get our hands dirty again this week. I hope everyone has a great week!