Easter cookery

Oh Easter! I have to admit, it was chaos. I agreed to host my sis, then got asked to sing at Mass, then all of a sudden, it was a both sides of the family coming, and I was still singing at Mass. And then I got a skin rash and my sis bails and here I am, left with cooking for this big batch of people I hadn't intended to have over in the first place. Ugh! What a mess. I would have to leave cooking instructions with the moms because I'd be at Mass, leading song. Crike!

Regardless, things turned out well. Let's walk through the menu.

Awhile ago, I saw Paula Dean make these brunch peppers, and ran across the recipe. I though it sounded like breakfast in a pepper, so I decided to make it. :)


HERE is the recipe for Paula's brunch peppers.

Let me say, they're pretty darn tasty! They even refrigerate and re-heat fairly well.


French Toast Casserole, how I love thee!!!! Oh goodness, where to even start???!!?!! This stuff is heavenly. I want to have it all to myself and not share a bite with anyone else, which doesn't work when you have guests over to your house. But it means you get the hoard the leftovers and not share (or "share" but throw dirty looks at your husband when he eats some after you've gone to bed).

Ok, so HERE is the magical recipe. I made a few little changes.

1) I didn't use French bread. Instead, I used Irish Soda Bread, which does not use yeast. And I don't put sugar in mine.

2) I used 2 loaves of the soda bread, and 1 of them was a raisin loaf. I alternated the "plain" bread with the "raisin" bread to make it a little more fancy. I love that it added a little pop to the recipe. It was sort of like having sweet rolls, but without all of the sugar IN the recipe. There was about 1 c. of brown sugar on top, but divided over 8-10 servings, it's a very small amount per person. :)

3) I would suggest cutting the bread into smaller pieces than 1-inch slices. Maybe 1/2 inch slices? WIth 1-inch slices, it was difficult to get them submerged in the batter. I had to make more batter to cover it completely.

ALSO, this recipe must be put in the fridge overnight, so it's not something you can whip up in an hour. Just FYI, it takes a day's worth of lead time.

As I said at the beginning of the post, we were having "brunch" at 1 p.m., but I was singing at Mass at 11:30. Um....I had to leave directions with the moms, who came over early. They did a superb job of getting everything into the oven and cooking so we could eat. It was a bit chaotic (read: I would have gone to an earlier Mass if I wasn't obliged to sing at the late one), but my team really pulled through!

Easter tidbits

ALLELUIA!!!!! :)

I'm celebrating Easter around here ... by painting the closet in the dining room. Festive, I know. ;)

This is one of the first years I've not been to the "traditional" family thing. It makes me a bit sad, but I'm glad my family is chill enough to not make a big deal out of it. To all of you who are racing around to 2+ places for Easter, I tip my hat to you. And I'll do it from the comfort of my very own couch.

Yesterday, I helped a friend's dad set some fence posts. Exciting, no? ;) After setting 4 posts during our patio addition, I have a very healthy respect for what's involved. So I figured "what the heck? I know what I'm doing, and I'm not doing anything else. Why not help?" And I have to say I'm GLAD I did .... because I encountered a new and freakin awesome tool (yes, girls, I get excited about tools!). Are you ready for it???


Now, I realize it looks a bit odd, but you set it flush against your post, and don't have to keep moving the level around. It's way cool.


Not that I particularly desire to install a fence of my very own, but if I ever decided to get serious about it, you can bet I'd spend the $6 it costs to have this gem.

Easter Dress

Remember when you were little ... this time of year it was always time to search for a new Easter dress? (For us, it was an annual tradition.)

Over the weekend, I was chatting with some friends, and we were talking about this.

She said she still goes to get an Easter dress.

I kind of like it. Not that some people *need* an excuse to buy a new dress. But I generally find myself on Easter just staring and thinking "hmmm, I've had that for 8 years. This for 4 or 5 ... nothing really "appropriate" to wear for Easter." ... but knowing other big girls still make the annual trip/tradition, I kind of like it.

Probably won't do it this year, but it's something to think about for next year.

Happy Holy Thursday!

Easter 2009

Don't you just love these as place markers? :)

So, when we knew we'd go down to Wichita for Easter, I asked my sister if she'd be there. She said she wasn't sure ... why did I ask?

"Because I want to know if I'll be sitting at the kids table this time." I said to her.

My sister thought I was NUTSO, but c'mon! I'm a married woman!!!! I SURELY deserve to not be at the kid's table.

So when we arrived at the Sheldon's for Easter, this was what we found. Our OWN LITTLE table.


*sigh*


So sad.


But it was just a joke .... we got to sit at the big kids' table. Actually, we decided it was the "young adults" table ... because there were 2 set of twin girls under the age of 3 sitting at the "adults" table. ;)


And .... it was RAINY so the regular egg hunt was cancelled ... and so I hid eggs inside.

Chaos, pure chaos! :)

Priests + Easter Bunnies

Here are Fr. John and Fr. Dan, the associate pastor and pastor at St. Thomas Aquinas. I grew up at St. Thomas and remember several pastors. Fr. Dan came when I was in high school and I remember he and Fr. Sherlock coming to eat at the Garden Cafe. I had fun serving them, because it seems as priests in our parish, they do all the serving of US.

As a visual junkie, I love that Fr. Dan has the white rabbit on the right .... because it contrasts with his gold vestment.


And Fr. John ... I actually met Fr. John when I lived in Independnce. He was in the seminary at the time and teaching Totus Tuus in Coffeyville. I made a few trips down to help the team with whatever they needed.

Ok, back to priests + easter bunnies. A few years ago, Fr. Dan started the easter egg hunt after the noon Mass on Easter. The egg are wooden (you trade them in for prizes/candy) and two have "Easter Bunny" written on them. The bunnies are the BIG prize. Although it's pretty humorous to watch, because it seems when we go, the parents are always hoping one of the children does not find the "easter bunny" egg becausae it might create havoc in the rest of the household/kids. :-) It cracks me up! But ... I guess when I have kiddos, I might be in the same boat!

Easter Egg Hunt No. 2

This is a little bit out of order, but I wanted to share these cute photos of Max and Gianna with Auntie Sarah in Atlanta! (We all MISS YOU SO MUCH, SARAH!). On Easter Sunday, the Mikols family invaded the Sheldon household. We converged with Marie & Gary and their kiddos. Gianna, top, is all smiles and talk. Max, second, is more quiet, but during the Easter egg hunt, had bunches of rowdy fun! (Isn't Gianna's dress cute? I'm told Auntie Sarah got it for her!)

(BTW, Easter Egg hunt No. 1 was at St. Thomas Aquinas before this hunt ... be sure to check back tomorrow for a few photos of that ... but they will be not of kids, but of priests playing!)

The thing of the Sheldon Easter egg hunts is the eggs are filled with one of two things: coins or confetti. If you get coins, you pockest them. If you get confetti, you crack them open over someone else's head (BUT that must be done OUTDOORS!). It's heaps of fun, usually involves chases around the backyard and peals of laughter and shrieks. The above photo of Max is after Gianna smashed an egg on his head. Gianna wanted to know what to do with the egg, so we told her to crack it on Max's head, and she LITERALLY did it...smacked it on his noggin. Oops. She learned how to open them and dump them on people's heads, though ... see Marie help her get her dad, Gary? (side note: Gary used to NEVER let us get him, but his kids are awesome at getting confetti on their daddy-O!)


Check out these smiles! I think Max and Gianna had a blast! (Did I mention they will be our flower girl and ring bearer in September? They are excited, as are Erik and I!)






The twins, Agnes and Clare, were in on a little bit of the romping and playing. Here's Mary carrying Clare around:


I LOVE how you see the teething ring and her little mouth! It sounds like Agnes and Clare are teething, but Clare gnawed on my fingers for a good portion of Sunday, and I didn't feel any teeth .... but she was chewing away regardless!

Lastly, it wasn't the little kids having all the fun. My dad was distracted with his new camera, so Erik took advantage of it and let loose with some confetti...

Easter

Erik joined me at the Sheldon household for Easter. Dad grabbed a few photos.

The twins were over and I spent lots of time holding Clare. She's cute as a button!



I have more pictures to share from the weekend, so be sure to check back!