Here Comes April

[Taitai]

Easter is just a few days away, and the kids are getting very excited about the Easter bunny, coloring eggs, cookies, egg hunts, Peter Cottontail, the whole 9 yards. April showers also bring May flowers - hoping that Spring is setting up nicely for all of you who do gardening stuff!

[Taitai]

curmudgeon I love charcuterie boards! I second duskymonkey’s suggestion of walnuts and blue cheese. We also sprinkle almonds, thin slices of dried apricots, cranberries, and thin slices of dried figs on ours. A nice aged gouda is always good, plus truffled salami, fois gras pate, Camembert/Brie, and maybe a mellow goat cheese?

Clearly, we have these things too much - we put them together for when friends come over.

duskymonkey Your park plans with the neighborhood kids sounds so nice! I am sure your boys will love to do a little egg hunt and have fun with kids their age. I hope it goes well!

[curmudgeon]

My mouth is watering reading all of these suggestions. I need to make a grocery list ASAP! I have never done a board so this could be the first of many.

Both boys are home tomorrow but it’s not a work holiday for me or H. I think I’ll set them up to dye eggs and make some Easter crafts while I monitor emails.

Yesterday also marked H’s 2nd birthday during covid. We are going to dinner tomorrow, but I’m sad he didn’t get any sort of friend celebration. Especially last year since it was the 4-0. Also because we have no seating for guests. Lol kind of helps keep people away during a pandemic.

[danvers]

We are all ready for a 3 day weekend here. DD2 has her first soccer game this Saturday and I can’t wait to see her. She will either chase the ball or attempt to sit in my lap the whole time. She is an either/or child with no middle ground. 🤦‍♀️

Other than soccer for both girls there will be egg decorating and cookie making and naps (for me, no one else takes them anymore 😂)

Hopefully everyone else’s weekends are restful and full of whatever you need!

[duskymonkey]

danvers I am amazed that your girls allow you to have a peaceful nap. All the power to you! How are our babies already in soccer games and such, she must be well coordinated. Meanwhile my almost 7YO is uncoordinated and awkward, lil fella doesn't appear to be clumsy but is lazier than big bro. Sounds like you have a good weekend planned.
So does Taitai and curmudgeon and taitai has really great suggestions. I myself love Marcona almonds and obsessed with the smoked almonds and we also put out apricots and cranberries! I am also obsessed with Tallegio, Port Salut and Manchego. curmudgeon do you have like a butcher who also carries cured meats? You could try calling them and they can make suggestions for the meat. All this cured meat really takes me down memory lane to my trip to Spain and came back with my backpack full of Jamon, a gigantic pail of caper berries and bottles of Ribera and trying to hop past customs like my backpack was filled with air LOL! Wild times in another life!

[duskymonkey]

So our plans for this weekend is gradually unfolding and the parents sound like they are excited for the egg hunt and picnic. So I decided to make a thing to use up the almond flour I still have from Christmas ( scored a 3lb bag for $6! ) and just completed folding a batch of puff pastry. Hopefully it will turn out ok since my pastry stuck a tiny bit in the last fold and the butter might escape and ruin everything Oy! We shall see how it all turns out tomorrow or actually Saturday when I plan to bake it in the morning. The weather forecast is going to be crazy nice like low 70s. Hope everyone will have a good easter weekend. Ours will also be filled with egg dyeing and eating carrot cupcakes.

[August Blooms]

I’m getting vaccinated tonight! Hooray! It’s not going to change much in our day to day but we are one more step closer to things being back to normal. We don’t have any big plans for Easter, my mom and sister will probably stop by with some treats for the girls and I’m going to make prime rib for Easter dinner. I’m going to buy some eggs for the girls to dye and we’ve already done a few Easter crafts.

[August Blooms]

duskymonkey Sounds like you have a great weekend planned!

curmudgeon Once you start with charcuterie you won’t stop! It’s the best! And so easy, you can make it as fancy and complicated as you want. When I’m too tired to make dinner throw some meat cheese crackers grapes and pickles on a wood cutting board and let the kids go crazy. It’s not a ‘real’ charcuterie board but it works!

[duskymonkey]

Apr 2, 2021 16:52:42 GMT -6 August Blooms said:

I’m getting vaccinated tonight! Hooray! It’s not going to change much in our day to day but we are one more step closer to things being back to normal. We don’t have any big plans for Easter, my mom and sister will probably stop by with some treats for the girls and I’m going to make prime rib for Easter dinner. I’m going to buy some eggs for the girls to dye and we’ve already done a few Easter crafts.

YAY!!!! So happy for you and YASSSS! prime rib...

[duskymonkey]

So the thing I am making is a few months later than when it is typically made and eaten. I haven't made it since DS was born but here's it is ready and chilling in the fridge to be baked tomorrow morning! The weather was so nice today and it felt so much like spring which reminded me of cherry blossoms so I just started carving out cherry blossoms. Who knows what it will transform to when it bakes lol! I usually just carve out the typical spirals and chevrons and have never done anything like this. I am a little nervous about my puff pastry puffing. Dough seemed ok with no butter seepage. We shall see tomorrow. Also I was notified by my hospital tonight that I could schedule my COVID vax. You bet your ass I was on it like donkey kong! April 16 first shot. Woot!!!!
ETA. It's a Galette des Rois or a pithivier and usually eaten throughout January to celebrate the feast of Epiphany for anyone who doesn't know what this is. It's a French tradition.

[Taitai]

duskymonkey Omg - that is a beautiful work of art! I am sure it will turn out fantastic - both in looks and taste! I was not familiar with a Gallette de Rois, but it looks amazing. I hope you have a wonderful Easter celebration!

August Blooms Congratulations on getting vaccinated! I’m so jealous of your prime rib! Luckyyyy. Beef is not commonly eaten where we live, due to religious reasons, and finding good quality beef is so difficult (and expensive). Excited for your feast!

CoachTsWife Wohoo for getting the second doses done for you and your H! How nice that you can see your Grandma for Easter as well. It’s great to finally see a light at the end of the tunnel with families being able to get together this year. Think about where we were last year!

[Taitai]

We dyed Easter eggs today, which as usual - we used salted duck eggs for, since it’s impossible to find white chicken eggs where I live. H and I just hid the Easter baskets and a bunch of plastic eggs filled with money and candy all over the house too. Our nanny’s daughters will join for the hunt tomorrow morning (they get baskets as well), and I know they look forward to it every year. We always hide one egg that has like $30 in it, and the girls get really excited to look for it.

Oh, and we watched Here Comes Peter Cottontail - a classic for sure. So many famous voices in that one - Danny Kaye, Casey Kasem, and Vincent Price. The kids always love seeing Peter go through all the holidays.

[curmudgeon]

Apr 2, 2021 16:52:42 GMT -6 August Blooms said:

I’m getting vaccinated tonight! Hooray! It’s not going to change much in our day to day but we are one more step closer to things being back to normal. We don’t have any big plans for Easter, my mom and sister will probably stop by with some treats for the girls and I’m going to make prime rib for Easter dinner. I’m going to buy some eggs for the girls to dye and we’ve already done a few Easter crafts.

I always see people on here having prime rib but I have no idea how to cook it. Any tips or suggestions? I’m so scared I’ll ruin it.

[curmudgeon]

duskymonkey that is so pretty!! Your carving skills are A+. Please share pictures after it’s baked!

[duskymonkey]

Taitai you nanny's kids must be so happy to join in the festivities and love that they are like extended family to you. We are going to dye eggs too tomorrow so it would be an easy lunch of HB eggs and veg. I actually don't know about Peter Cottontail. I'll have to see if Prime has it.
August Blooms I too am curious how you make your prime rib. I only make it 1 way becuase I know it works well and everyone always asks for the recipe plus like curmudgeon, I am scared to screw up such an expensive cut of meat with another recipe. BTW curmudgeon I use Suzanne Goin's recipe. Very easy and always turns out. link For some reason mine always is done ( medium rare ) in less time than the recipe specifies. I too grew up not eating beef due to religious beliefs and not very good about cooking beef. I have since gotten the hang of it cos hubs likes his beef.

[duskymonkey]

We had the egg hunt and picnic today and the kids had such a great time!  We hung out at the park for almost 4 hours and I was happy to stay longer but the kids actually asked to go home because they were tired haha! The weather was so good too. My Galette puffed up with nice layers and since I made a batch of puff pastry I had plenty to make ham, spinach and cheese croissants for our picnic lunch along with the scraps from the galette in the morning. Taitai it's really only available in the month of January in all bakeries in France so unless you're there that time of year, you'll almost never see it. It's actually very easy to make if you can get ready made puff pastry. David Lebovitz has a great recipe.link Mine has creme pat in the filling. 
Here's how it turned out baked and I am happy the puff pastry had no leakage and puffed nicely and I got really nice even striated layers.

[duskymonkey]

PSA. So I've been perusing pinterest to see what other methods of egg dyeing there are and there were lots of pins claiming to be "kid friendly" utilizing rubber cement. PLEASE PLEASE do not let your kid near rubber cement and even yourselves. It contains benzenes and toluene. Benzene is carcinogenic and long exposures to toluene is damaging. I regret the years I used it in college until I started reading about all the bad stuff in my art supplies. Van Gogh cut off his ear due to his exposure to pigments.

[Taitai]

duskymonkey Wow! That turned out beautifully!!! You are such an artist! I’m so happy that you and your family got to spend so much time at the park - my kids always sleep better after having had a full day outside. I am sure your prime rib was amazing as well! I’ll bookmark the recipe you shared for some day when we live in America and can actually get prime rib to make 😂🤣

Also - yes, I really don’t like rubber cement. I remember kids in my 3rd grade class sniffing it and literally getting high (non-stop giggles), and I remember - even at age 8 - being like, the school really shouldn’t let us be using this stuff.

ETA - Here Comes Peter Cottontail - the Rankin Bass production - is on regular old YouTube! I sure it’s on some streaming services too, but we’re lazy and just air play from YouTube. Check it out! I think your kids would like it. Very classic.

[Taitai]

Here are the salted duck eggs we dyed! They turned out really well - I love how vivid the colors were this year. Our nanny’s daughters are very artistic, so most of the multi-colored ones are their work.

Poof


Aaaaand, my H somehow accidentally made a brown colored dye by combining blue and red dyes together (he was trying to do purple), so all of his eggs turned out like this....

Poof

I banished those eggs from the other ones, and made them go in their own “earth toned” display container, lol. DS1 tried to make one of them a St. Patrick’s Day egg, by dumping it in the green dye for a long time. Kind of worked....

[danvers]

duskymonkey everything you make always looks good and sounds delicious - yum! yum!

Taitai those duck eggs turned out great!

We bought an “egg spinner” thing from Walmart last year year where you put the hard boiled egg in it, turn it on, and it spins the egg while you use permanent markers to color designs on it. It still works this year and the girls love it just as much. They have no patience to wait for eggs to dye.

We went to my MIL for lunch after doing our own egg hunt and such this morning at home. She makes the best homemade yeast rolls and it’s my favorite part of holiday meals here. It’s beautiful outside so the girls are riding bikes and playing now. MIL bought helmets to keep here for our girls which was really touching. You all know we don’t see eye to eye with them on child safety but I do appreciate the gestures and that they *sometimes* listen.

[curmudgeon]

I am so so full. My mom made tons of food. The charcuterie board was a big hit and I had to pack up all the leftovers for my dad to continue to snack on since we were leaving. I wish I could take a nap now but these boys are always go go go. How do they never get tired?

duskymonkey your pastry looks even better cooked! The design is really pretty!!

[duskymonkey]

I am so happy to hear everyone was able to see and spend time with family. It has been a tough year for so many. For the first time in a year, I am starting to feel optimistic about actually getting this pandemic under control out here.
Taitai your eggs look terrific and the colors are gorgeous and I actually like your earth tone eggs lol! I would also trade you your duck eggs! I love salted eggs and salted fish too and miss them. My uncle used to make salted eggs...hhmmm I should ask my aunt if she knows how to brine them. I couldn't find Peter cottontail on Prime and dunno why air play for us chokes so we just don't bother. They kids ended up watching Charlie Brown Easter beagle and they were rolling with laughter.
curmudgeon so glad to hear that your Charcuterie board was a big hit! what items you picked which you loved best? and I hear ya about the non stop energizer bunnies. I wish they could transfer some energy over to me...really they don't need it but I certainly DO!
danvers I think food should look as good as they taste haha! your egg spinner thing sounds like a ton of fun and glad to hear your girls had a great day and that you did to despite everything you're shared with us.
We had a pretty relaxing day too. I hid eggs all over the house with change for the kids to find this morning and that kept them busy while we got breakfast, then we dyed eggs. This year I decided to let them paint the eggs using a baking soda slurry and squirting it with vinegar. they were giggling so much watching it fizz. This method was a great hit. I think we'll do it again next year and I'll need to mod the technique because the colors weren't vibrant so after painting, I just had them drop dye directly onto the eggs. Will have to wait another year to experiment lol! 
BTW I found secondary use for milk bottle collars hehe!
DS also drew this when he woke up in this morning...

[Taitai]

duskymonkey That is the cutest little Easter drawing ever! Your DS1 has really nice penmanship. So much better than mine! Also, I keep meaning to thank you for the House of Robots book recommendation! We are almost finished with the first one already DS1 absolutely loves it. A friend also got us the first three books of the How to Train Your Dragon series - looking forward to those as well,

danvers How thoughtful of your ILs to have helmets at their place for your girls! Maybe they are listening more. That egg spinner thing also sounds really neat!

August Blooms CoachTsWife Hope your family time was nice as well!

[curmudgeon]

duskymonkey I played it pretty safe with all choices since I know my parents and in laws are not adventurous at all (even Brie would be considered exotic). I did fresh mozzarella balls in a basil pesto sauce that was amazing on a baguette. And there was a mustard sauce that I thought was really good with a peppered salami. Mmm now I’m excited for lunch and having this again.

[August Blooms]

curmudgeon duskymonkey The rub in the recipe you posted is very similar. We do our prime rib using our sous vide, it’s perfect every time. Once it’s done cooking we run with Mayo and then sear on the bbq or under broil. So good!

Taitai Those eggs look so good! How did you get them so bright?

curmudgeon Enjoy the Charcuterie board left overs!

duskymonkey You are so talented! That design looks great! Glad your egg hunt was a hit!

[August Blooms]

Ended up getting my Moderna shot on Friday, my arm was super sore and I felt off all day Saturday. It felt like a hangover mostly and my arm is still a little sore. My stepfather for Pfiser the same night and was totally fine on Saturday. I ended up binge watching the Great Canadian Baking show since all the rest of the things I watch aren’t kid friendly. Easter was low key, and Saturday was my moms birthday so lots of hanging out in front laws with masks. The kids had fun and that’s what matters.

The vaccines are slow to roll out, the variants are on the rise and ICU hospitalizations of young people who are essential workers and rising. People are sick of the governments nonsensical rules, people can go to malls but small businesses are forced to shut. A coworker of my husband that’s office is beside his tested positive and now half the management team are out of work getting tested at the behest of the management health and safety rep because the local government stopped contact tracing. I’m not worried about him because there is enough distancing and masking to make it low risk. It’s like one step forward two steps back here.

[curmudgeon]

We have a swarm of bees in our tree by the front door. They showed up overnight and look terrifying. We’ve already called a bee removal person, then google said they should leave on their own. I hope so, but they are coming to look in the morning because we are scared to use our front door now.

[curmudgeon]

The bees are still there and seem to have grown some. Bee man came by today and said they are resting and hanging out and not aggressive or a cause for concern. But we may be stuck with them 2-4 days. He did give me a few options if I chose to not wait them out-
Pay him $550 to spray them with my water hose
Spray them myself
Put on a glove and reach my hand in to find the queen, let the bees crawl on my arm and body and carry them off somewhere else

We will be waiting the 2-4 days

[duskymonkey]

curmudgeon , whoa! the buzzing would scare me too. Good thing it's a pandemic so not much going out heh! Do you know if they are honey bees? You could try to find bee keepers locally then and see if they want too come out to rehome them. HBs are in decline and I am sure they would be happy to take them.

[duskymonkey]

August Blooms, how are you doing? happy to hear you got your shot - first right? I can't recall, did your H get his yet? OMG! your SV Prime rib must melt in your mouth. How long did it take to get it cooked? Taitai curmudgeon, you can't go wrong with Suzanne Goin's recipe recipe I shared, I've never had it go wrong. Just make sure to check at 1.5 hrs, I think for medium rare, ours was done under the 2 hour mark.
CoachTsWife, I just saw your post from the last thread, hope you didn't have any reactions from the shot and was able to spend Easter with family. It was your 2nd right?
Taitai DS writing is all over the place and TBH, this was one of his best writing I've ever seen, they're usually illegible When he makes some real effort, they come out well. He usually just draws too and never adds color so he was clearly making a concerted effort. So glad your DS likes HoR. I actually enjoyed reading it myself prior to DS reading it. We're waiting on the 3rd book from the library now. I also need to speed read through it ahead of him Oi! He finished the 2nd book in under 3 days. I actually didn't get to the end before he did oops!