Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Easter Week


Before we get too far away from the holiday I thought I'd do a quick recap of Easter Week, which was filled with music, eggs, flowers, food and family!

 

We started with a trip to Detroit to hear the Detroit Symphony -- a wonderful concert of Schumann, Mozart and a couple others I can't remember without looking them up. Being in this magnificent space never ceases to make me smile and admire the beautiful restoration of Max Fisher Hall.

 

A few days later it was off to Southern Exposure for my forsythia wreath workshop -- more on that in another post!.


The next day, Good Friday, was Macaron Day! A year ago, my friend Kate and I made French macarons shortly before Easter (see this post) so we decided on an encore! It went much smoother this year and lots faster. I piped a few minis in raspberry but the greenish ones with lemon filling were full sized and perfect!



A few hours later, Rick was making pizza and friends Mark and Jan came for our annual egg dying and "Life of Brian" viewing.



This year I took a few notes from Rick's book and dyed some raw ones too. I learned (as I was making deviled eggs on Sunday) that next year I need to put them in two separate and well marked cartons, as I ended up with a couple of raw eggs sitting in a container in the fridge waiting for an omelet!


Easter Saturday means go Horrock's, our wonderful market with great veggies and flowers. They have things I have no idea how to cook -- a "Chopped" episode waiting to happen!



But the flowers were fabulous! I bought a hydrangea with eight blooms that I hope to keep alive till planting time and all sorts of lovelies for the house.



Easter Day started with the perfect breakfast -- French toast from Rick's challah bread.


A bit later, I got to enjoy the fun as my neighbors had the annual garden egg hunt for their grandchildren.



There were a lot of eggs hidden out there, even in the trees!

 

With all these so brightly placed, I'm surprised Bushy the Squirrel didn't decide to go for the eggs instead of the bird food. He was caught in the act!


Easter dinner brought the tribe home. Kevin and Molly have just made an offer on a house. Greg finally sold his super-sized chalk Faberge eggs and is nearly finished with a new restaurant mural in the Detroit suburb of Birmingham and has a summer job and all is right with the world.



There is a great joy in sitting around the table long after dessert is done discussing grown up subjects with grown up kids. They have opinions -- they always have. But now they know how to talk about those opinions. To make a case. You may or may not agree with it, yet the discussion is lively and fun.

 

Some weeks just are the way you want them to be.


This was one of them.

22 comments:

anno said...

It looks like the loveliest Easter, Jeanie, with beautiful music, flowers, food, and friends. Really, it doesn't get much better than that! So glad to see that spring is off to a great start in your part of the world; we're beginning to see signs of it even around here...

Dr. Kathy McCoy said...

It sounds absolutely perfect, Jeanie! Every moment! I especially would have loved to have been there for the egg dying and "Life of Brian"! What a great tradition! And I had to smile over your comments about grown up kids, grown up topics and their opinions! How true and wonderful in all ways!

Lisa's Yarns said...

Wow, there are so many great things to comment about on this post! I love your macaron tradition! They look beautiful! That is great that they were easier this time around, too. Looks like you had lots of great eats and even better company. I love that you can all sit around and discuss things as adults, even when your opinions on things differ! That's a mark of maturity and respect!

Jenny Woolf said...

My goodness, you really went to town, how nice that is. We did very little really, although it was a nice day and we spent quite a lot of it with the babies!
How do you decorate the eggs in that beautiful way, I wonder. Is it a kind of marbling?

Maggie said...

Dear Jeanie, what a fun filled week you had, I'm exhausted just reading about it!
Love the forsythia wreath.
Maggie

Castles Crowns and Cottages said...

Colorful, fun and delicious! Even for Mr. Bushy Tail, the tasty treats were abundant. Same here; we had a wonderful day of praise and worship at the basilica downtown (what a fabulous show of music and glory!) and then a quiet afternoon. Now on to SPRING and SUMMER vacations!!!

Anonymous said...

How lovely! David and I don't celebrate Easter at all, so these photos were lots of fun to look at.

Joanne Huffman said...

It sounds like a well deserved delightful Easter. I love that you watch Life of Brian for an Easter tradition (I have it on my iPad for emergencies). The wreath is beautiful (we had forsythias for a property dividing hedge on our side yard and lilacs for the same purpose on our back yard when I was growing up - no fences). Challah does make perfect French toast (I have some in my freezer just waiting to be used). As always, your photos are delightful. Thank you for sharing.

Kitty said...

Thank you for sharing this wonderful week with us. Have a safe trip. God bless you.

Victoria Zigler said...

Sounds absolutely wonderful! I'm glad you were able to have such a great week, with beautiful memories you can look back on and smile at in years to come!

Sally Tharpe Rowles said...

I remember that same Joy of Cooking...it was my mothers copy so many years ago! Glad your Easter was so delicious!

Tante Mali said...

Looks to me like you had a wonderful easter time. A concert visit and the family around the table. That's great!
Happy weekend my friend
Elisabeth

Tammie Lee said...

oh this does sound like a wonderful time with so many good things going on! I am so happy for you all. and look at those cookies, i hear they are not easy to make.

Tracy said...

You know how to party, Jeanie! ;o) LOL... Your macarons are wonderful... lemon and raspberry... YUM! Must have "Life of Brian" at Easter, yes?! Such beauiful decorated eggs! That's something I miss very much. It's not much of tradition with Easter eggs here, and you can't get the egg dye kits or anything. And with just the two of us here--that's be a LOT of egg salad... LOL! Challah French Toast--oh, WOW... wait for me! ;o) Can Rick recommend us a good Challah recipe? Such lovely decorated tables and festive food... LOVE the little lettuces on the table in buckets! Glad you had such a wonderful holiday, and that you shared it with us! ((HUGS))

Angelsdoor * Penny said...

Dear Jeanie,
You cannot ask for more than family. friends, good health and let us not forget, good food.
I would love to taste Rick's French toast.. Looks yummy!
What a lovely family you have.
Thank you so much for sharing this special day.
blessings,
Penny

shoreacres said...

Oh, Jeanie. I always love seeing your Easter photos. The egg dying is a favorite, but I still never have watched the Life of Brian from start to finish. People keep giving me clips, but I need to commit.

Of course I love the Easter Squirrel. As a side note, when I went down to one of my boats this week, there were some lovely, turquoise egret eggs scattered around. Some first-time mama hadn't quite figured out the nest/eggs thing yet!

Anonymous said...

That just looks like the perfect weekend! Those eggs are so beautiful!

Relyn Lawson said...

Ooo... Your tie-dyed eggs turned out beautifully.

Arti said...

What an eventful Easter you've had Jeanie. Those egg hunting photos are lovely. Beautiful pics from a vegie and fruit market. All colourful, ready for spring. As I'm typing, I look out the window in front of me and (gasp) it's snowing outside.

Marilyn Miller said...

Oh I am just loving your new changes to the blog. Also love seeing your adventures in making macarons, Easter, family, and so many other fun things.

psychelyn said...

You had a great Easter activities. It was full of artsy fun and enjoyment with food snd the company of loved ones.

I like that you have an Easter squirrel instead of a bunny :)

~*~Patty S said...

What a glorious post Jeanie...so full of color and renewal and Easter family goodness!
Not sure HOW I missed it...deary me I find it extra challenging to be everywhere this time of year...
ahhh Spring ♥
oxo

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