Easter Break

Happy Easter! I woke up Easter morning, had two ristrettos and immediately went to work. My mission was to put together a lovely brunch for the three of us. First, I set the table: lemon yellow and lime tablecloth, egg- shaped candles in egg cups, pretty pale blue napkins, chocolate eggs scattered everywhere and a present from the Easter Bunny by Kirstie's plate. Then I went to work on the food- my favorite part! The menu was:

- two types of sandwiches: sourdough with cream cheese, cucumber and alfalfa sprouts, and smoked salmon on multi- grain
-a stollen with mixed dried fruits and marzipan (it was left over from Christmas so basically all I had to do was defrost it)
-a lemon and poppy seed cake which I made the night before and frosted the next morning with creme fraîche mixed with powdered sugar and a scattering of colorful egg- shaped sprinkles
-matze crackers with butter, rosebud jam and marmalade
boiled eggs
-fresh- squeezed orange juice

Quite a bit you might think, and indeed- we were stuffed to the brim after the sandwiches alone! With the exception of the eggs and the juice, everything else was wrapped up and put into the fridge! It's true, I am sometimes guilty of making too much food on such occasions but hey, that's why they call them "special occasions"! We feasted on the rest throughout the day though!

Dinner was simple but tasty- a roast chicken, a salad of lamb's lettuce served with Hans' balsamic vinaigrette and a whole wheat baguette. We also opened a bottle of red Château Bellevue La Forêt, a present from my friend Yolanda which she bought for me in Paris. It was a lovely dinner- the kind that makes your husband make goo-goo eyes at you from across the table!

Today I'm getting ready to make another brunch, this time a little less fussy: whole wheat rolls, Dutch boerenkaas, an omelette with chestnut mushrooms, a simple salad and some freshly- pressed carrot juice. After that we might go check out the fair at our local organic farm. I've thoroughly enjoyed my Easter and I hope you did yours too!