Holiday=Food+Family

Pretty much the same equation all through the calendar year.



My parents made it down for the afternoon. Lunch was an eclectic mix, but I think it all worked quite well. Let's see... deviled eggs, Indian-Spiced Braised Chicken (This is actually from Everyday Food, April 2007, but I totally couldn't find it on the MS website which can be such a pain to search sometimes.) basmati rice, asparagus with onion vinaigrette, and Molly's stewed prunes with citrus and cinnamon. We opted to not make or buy bread, but earlier in the week, while searching for a recipe for poppadom, I came across this series of Indian cooking lessons on YouTube and think I'll try out a few.



And there's always dessert. We had cream-filled profiteroles and pecan pie. Both delicious. I struggled all week trying to find the recipe for a pastry cream that wasn't going to result in a custard like the filling of a Boston cream pie. The co-op makes what I wanted, (a very firm whipped cream-like filling,) but they don't give out their recipes. I generally avoid really specific Google searches, but the one I did today when I decided I didn't want to give up on the cream puff idea was: ["pastry cream" recipe "not custard"] which resulted in this conversation on ChefTalk.com. Things always get a little snotty on this type of site, but I found this idea and used it for the filling.

"You can also whip heavy cream (2 c.), splash of vanilla, 3/4 c. sugar, 1 instant pudding (sm pkg of instant vanilla) and marscarpone (6 oz) cheese together to get a similar result that isn't quite as rich. The cheese and the instant pudding really stabilize the cream and it holds well! This tastes better than it reads."

Worked for us. I could eat these things all day.



There was the egg hunt yesterday with a basket full of goodies. Then the Easter Bunny came to the house early this morning and left the boy a full basket. (Candy, stickers, watercolor set, googly eyes, honey sticks, and a book: Max's Chocolate Chicken.) Plus he'd hidden eggs in the yard. And then my parents showed up and it was as if the E.B. had come all over again bringing a whole new round of eggs and candy and, of course, a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread. Man, Santa must have told the Easter Bunny what it takes to impress Calder!



I pretty much let myself go as far as restraining Calder's candy intake yesterday and today. I could see it start to backfire this morning. Things didn't get too out of hand, but lesson learned.