A Happy Easter

Those bunnies up there were an edible thank you to my daughter’s sister friends L & L, who were kind enough to help out with firewood stacking: they came through like two true champs. I made them a big batch of this lemony shortbread-y goodness to show my gratitude, and they were devoured within a day. I’m proud of that because one of the Ls is a really picky eater ;-).

The dough is based on whatever short crust recipe you like; I added an egg yolk to mine even though it’s not actually in the recipe, as I wanted the dough a bit more smooth and easy to work with. Also a fair amount of carefully grated lemon peel, on a fine grater and not using a zester (simply because I don’t have one out here in the country, but it’s also better for the cookies, I found.) Vanilla and salt. Didn’t have powdered sugar so I couldn’t make lemon icing. I used egg wash instead.

Lemony Bunny Cookies

Short crust (300-200-100 g ratio flour-butter-sugar)

1 egg yolk

grated peel of 1 large lemon or more to taste

pinch of salt

1 p vanilla sugar

Chop butter into small cubes and in a bowl make a smooth ball of dough from all ingredients, carefully adding drops of very cold water if necessary. Cover and let rest for about 45 minutes.

Roll out on a flour sprinkled surface, about 4 mm thick, cut out desired shape with cookie cutters. Set on a baking sheet, brush with egg and bake for a few minutes at 160 °C.

Let cool on a rack, and enjoy with a good cup of tea :-).

These cookies were the kick-off to a whole cooking spree that began on Holy Thursday, and lasted until Easter Sunday when I handed over the chef’s hat to my husband who made the most amazing leg of lamb, after my gourmet friend M’s French recipe. We felt we needed to treat our son who has been hard at work studying for his final exams, and turned up here for Easter, starved. So we fed him well, and plenty.

Oh, and I was asked about quiche (pic on the right). The dough is a simple pâte brisée, flour, salt, olive oil and water, to which I like to add 1 TSP dried thyme. It gives the quiche a little extra flavor that goes well with most vegetable toppings. In this case, they were spinach and mushrooms, as well as 3 beaten eggs, mixed with 75 ml heavy cream, salt and pepper, and sprinkled with a little Parmesan cheese.

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If you follow this blog, chances are you know him, and care about him enough to keep your fingers crossed starting next week, all through April and early May, please.

It was a good four days, and today I find it hard to jump right back into work mode, so I thought I’d pop over here and chat for a bit. When we came out before Easter, I still had a fair amount of work I wanted to get done; I managed to finish it all, pack up our stuff, and see the hair stylist who agrees with the children’s opinion that I need to keep growing out my shaggy pepper and salt curls. The result you can see above. When we arrived, there was unpacking, heating the house, getting supplies for Easter and do a teeny little decorating.

All good things. My husband’s recent hip replacement didn’t let him do a lot of heavy lifting, and only brief walks, but he did what he could, and all in all we tried to keep expectations down and spirits up – and I’d say it worked out okay. There were other neighbors who were happy to walk Charlie with me, and we spent a lot of time outdoors, which is always a plus. Early spring sunshine, birdsong and fresh air was just what I needed, and I feel very lucky indeed, to be able to look after myself.

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Also, I did some crochet; I’ve talked about the poncho WIP before, and it’s turning out to be one of those projects where I wish I weren’t too dumb or impatient to follow a damn pattern. I was making such good progress, but then I realized I was making it tighter than I wanted it to be (pic on the right); it wasn’t supposed to be all flowy like some ponchos are either, and that’s where I went wrong the second time around. I went overboard with the increasing, and then had to unravel _again_. But now I’m finally on the right track, I think (pic on the left).

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Finally, my Icelandic Sweater came :-), by crafts Artist Særun Osk. It’s a bit bigger than I thought it would be, but both my son and my husband do not mind AT ALL, which seems fair considering I constantly borrow their sweaters. It’s a family affair, and it’s exactly the right thing to wear in this unstable April weather.

Hope you have something pretty to snuggle into yourself. Here’s to a nice and rainy spring – it makes the mushrooms grow come summer and fall. And now it’s back to work for me, duty calls.

January 2021 Post

Welcome to the first installment of this year, here in my little corner of the Internet. I hope you guys are well, and got to enjoy a bit of time off with your families and loved ones.

In the picture above, we were supposed to experience a rare astronomical phenomenon, the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, which was happening on December 21st. We hiked up the only significant hill we have in the city, to have a vantage point as well as less light pollution. Unfortunately, as you can see, the only discernible celestial body was the good old moon, as it was a really cloudy night. Nevertheless, the city lights always look so pretty from up there, and that night, it was a truly magical atmosphere up there on the hilltop. There were at least 5 small bonfires. Some people played music, others just hugged their thermoses (us included) and stared up into the murky night skies, trying to see something exciting, and probably failing. Or not – who knows what they had in their thermoses! I still count the excursion as a success, because we went as a family, which is not a frequent occurrence anymore in this house, therefore these moments deserve to be appreciated. And they are.

The Christmas break began early for the kids, and I’d be lying if I said that it wasn’t nice to skip the alarm in the morning! Over the holidays, we were quite lazy – lots of lounging around in PJs, listening to Christmas music, watching movies and playing with my daughter’s new Switch console. Who knew I’d get into Super Mario Kart at my ripe old age? But it’s nice to still be able to surprise my kids, teehee ;-).

I also made progress on the Waffle Stitch Blanket, and knit a pair of socks for a sweet 18-year old.

My own Christmas present this year is still on its way. It’s an Icelandic sweater, much like the one my husband owns and that I keep stealing:

I found the knitter artist on Etsy, and fell in love with this pattern she used in a cardigan. Isn’t it pretty?

I wrote to her and asked whether she’d make me a sweater with the exact same pattern, and she said she would. I’ll show you when it arrives. Fingers crossed the measurements worked out, and I won’t look like a sausage wearing it! And if you think that sausages are shaped by the contents rather than the skin, shush. I didn’t eat _that_ much over the holidays.

Anyway, after almost a week and a half of not working, I feel ready to tackle the next projects. Tomorrow will see us getting back to work, and both kids will be home schooling. Right now, nobody really believes schools will open again on the 10th. It seems a lot smarter for everyone to stay put a bit longer, and we all hope the ministry of education will decide for safety, much as they did last spring.

See that tree? I must have walked past it a hundred times without really looking at it. On our traditional January 1st walk, I consciously noticed it for the first time, and to be honest, wondered for a minute if it was dead. Realizing it wasn’t gave me pause, and I felt humbled by how nature always finds ways to prevail. To me, this strangely shaped tree seems like a good symbol for my hope for this coming year, and that’s all I’m going to say about it.

I’d like to leave you with a little frozen leaf appreciation, because beauty can be found in strange places.

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Have a good start into 2021, everyone, and thank you for checking in.