How was your holiday weekend?
Ours was very nice. It began with a Passover Seder that was so, so lovely. We are so lucky to have friends who include us in their family celebration.
My parents were really big on religious community and tradition, and I grew up going to church every Sunday and attending traditional events for every holiday: same food, mostly the same people. I really loved that, growing up, but I have not been great about doing anything similar for my kid. On the church side, my husband is not religious at all and has no interest in church, and I am too shy to go to church by myself. These two things are not going to change. Maybe when Carla gets a bit older, she will have an interest in church and can go with me. We’ll see. The tradition thing… that’s a little bit better, but not by much. Maybe, probably, it makes no difference at all whether we eat The Same Exact Thing every Easter. I feel like I’m going off on a tangent that is related to a simmering sense of guilt that I’m not doing enough for Carla’s religious education, that I am failing at surrounding her with community and values and traditions that will provide a strong foundation for her all her life, and we’re not going to dig too deeply into that today.
The Seder was lovely. I love reading through the Haggadah and eating the ritual foods and talking about how the message of Passover is relevant to our lives today. I love spending time with friends who feel more like family. I love watching a passel of kids tear through the house while their parents smile indulgently and occasionally intervene when someone gets a little too adventurous. I was so lucky to have that kind of extended friend-family when I was growing up, and I feel so grateful – for myself and for Carla – that we are being brought into the warm, loving fold of this particular family.
![](https://lifeofadoctorswife.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/eggs.jpg?w=761)
![](https://lifeofadoctorswife.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/eggs-2.jpg?w=660)
We also had a pretty near perfect weekend, I think, just the three of us. Saturday, we went and looked at a house and it was beautiful and I am still a little sad that we decided not to make an offer on it, but it wasn’t our house so it will be okay. (We are not in any hurry to move. We are simply looking for The Perfect House, and if we find it we might try to buy it.) Then we dyed Easter eggs. Then we went to a concert with friends, which was a lot of fun. We didn’t get home until LATE, though, and the Easter Bunny still had to put out baskets and fill eggs with stickers and money (thank you Sarah, for the cash idea!), and hide eggs which meant that my husband and I didn’t get to bed until TWO AM IN THE MORNING, which is something my system has become incapable of handling. Carla, of course, woke up at seven and she is not allowed to go downstairs on holiday mornings without us, so we ALL woke up at seven.
So Sunday we did Easter things, including eating Reese’s peanut butter eggs for breakfast, and then we went our separate ways to do the things that introverts do: video games, elaborate Barbie/Calico Critters dramas, reading. I went for a very long walk by myself, which was perfect. The weather was brilliantly sunny but cool enough that I was glad I’d worn long sleeves; I think this is my preferred temperature. I listened to an audiobook and observed with pleasure all my neighbors doing Spring Is Here kind of things: a big group sitting on the driveway on lawn chairs as kids ran around looking for Easter eggs, a few solitary people weeding garden beds, families out walking together, teens playing basketball in the driveway, kids riding bikes. I saw, from across the street, the woman without her partner, and as I waved and smiled, I thought about you and about how you would want me to say something to her, but I couldn’t find the words and then we were out of range.
While I have seen some popcorn trees and some forsythia in bloom while driving Carla to school and her various activities, and there are a few batches of daffodils and hyacinths popping up in various yards, I haven’t seen a lot of flowering trees in my neighborhood yet. But I did notice that one of the magnolias on my walking route was beginning to bud.
After my walk, I went home and did a lot of cooking.
We ended up not making ham this weekend. I just couldn’t muster any enthusiasm for ham, even though Jen made it sound extremely easy and I trust Jen completely. Instead, we made this feta brined rosemary chicken which had a good flavor but was, due I’m sure entirely to user error, so very very dry. I roasted some asparagus on the side which was good.
I also got a wild hare and made a pavlova. The pavlova turned out well: dry and crisp on the outside, pillowy and marshmallowy on the inside. But I also made some lemon curd – why not, right? – and THAT turned out horribly. First, I forgot to add the lemon zest, so it was more like lightly lemon-flavored sugar than anything else. Second, I was trying Very Hard to follow the instructions, and to keep stirring until the curd just began to boil (it never did), and managed to turn it into something resembling lemon curd caramel. Which means that when I went to scoop it into the pavlova, it was unscoopable. We had to put it in the microwave for 10 second intervals until it was soft enough to scoop. This morning, it is back to its chewy caramel state. I topped the whole thing with berries and it was SO SWEET. Just like eating a big pile of sugar. I will not be making it again. Carla loves it, though. It’s right up her alley: sugar and fruit. She made me scrambled eggs this morning and then had a big slice of pavlova, so at least I know it will be eaten.
![](https://lifeofadoctorswife.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/pavlova-1.jpg?w=768)
![](https://lifeofadoctorswife.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/pavlova-2.jpg?w=768)
Now that the holidays are over, it will be an eye blink and the school year will be done, and my baby will be a FIFTH GRADER which sounds impossible.
But before I spend any (more) time fretting about that, I need to figure out what I will feed my family this week.
Dinners for the Week of April 10-16
- Tacos: We haven’t had tacos in a while, and Carla will usually eat tacos several days of the week, eating less meat every time until her plate is mainly taco shells and cheese. She has agreed to eat chicken nuggets again, so that’s A HUGE RELIEF.
- Potato Leek Soup: I don’t know. This sounds good, maybe?
- Shish Tawook with Fattoush Salad: This also sounds good. Plus, I impulse bought a bottle of Shish Tawook marinade, so I don’t even have to think about that part.
- Ham Sandwich: This is all I have planned for the rest of the week. (If you don’t want to click the link, “ham sandwich” is our new family term for “figure it out yourself.” My husband is the only one who regularly eats an actual ham sandwich.)
- Date Night!: My husband and I are going on a date one night this week while my kid is at a friend’s house.
What was a highlight from your weekend? Anything delicious you are looking forward to eating this week? Are the trees blooming in your neck of the woods?
The “ham sandwich meal plan”…I like it. We’re working our way through our Easter ham. As soon as we run out of sides I’m going to parcel it up in the freezer for quiche later on.
We got a little bit of everything this weekend: we started off with no kids, did a big family dinner, and then finished out with the kids and the dog. It was a nice mix.
Sounds like a very nice weekend! Glad you got time alone together but also time with family.
We went to do an Easter egg hunt with my inlaws over the weekend and it was so lovely to see all of the kids playing foursquare without the need for an adult referee. I do so enjoy being an aunt more and more as the children get older.
Trees are not blooming, but our daffodils DID sprout on Easter, which seemed appropriate. I do think we’re done done with snow, though, so it’s only a matter of time.
That sounds like such a fun way to spend the weekend! And yay for no more snow!
If you would like to talk to your solitary neighbor, you could walk over to her the next time you see her, and just say that you’ve seen her so often and wanted to actually introduce yourself. Sort of an easy way to start a conversation – hi, this is my name and this is why I’m telling you my name. And then it could go on from there, but it’s always the first part that’s the hardest.
Thanks! That’s a good script to begin with!
That sounds like a nice weekend (minus the RE guilt.) I think you’re doing just fine, but then we don’t go to church so other people might have a different opinion about that.
After all my complaining about how I don’t like Easter, I actually had a really nice day. We talked to my son on the phone, and my daughter and I made a carrot cake, which was a fun activity. Maybe Easter isn’t so bad after all.
I agree- the rest of the school year is going to fly by. And then my daughter will be a freshman in high school- gulp.
Oh, I’m so glad you ended up enjoying Easter! Maybe the key is to have low expectations.
I made challah for the first time this weekend and my little family made a Battenberg cake which was a fun family moment and made everything feel more adventurous… Trees certainly are starting to bloom a bit here in the northeast – my bulbs are up, pollen is ruining my face, haha! But this week has some beautiful temps and I hope they will entice me to keep working on my garden and get some fresh air….
Hooray for fun baking projects! Those both sound extremely satisfying.
I’ve never been a fan of ham so I applaud your decision to go non-traditional. I grew up Episcopalian and church-going but my husband was like yours, so we didn’t take our daughters to church. And they’re both fine! We have daffs and hyacinths and soon will have tulips. I love the flowering trees. Your feet must be doing better to take a long walk. Yay for that!
Ha – I’m glad that you and I can share our status as non-ham fans. My feet are doing better, for the most part! Long walks seem to help.
I enjoy non-traditional holiday meals. I’d do a brunch if I hosted an Easter.
Your day yesterday sounded lovely. Our trees are just waking up for spring.
I applaud you for trying pavlova. It looked beautiful. Sorry it didn’t turn out as well as you had hoped.
It was very satisfying to see the actual pavlova work out. And always fun to try new things, even if they turn out to not be my jam.
Sunny and cool enough for long sleeves is also my preferred temperature. I like how you talk about traditions and how they will affect or not affect your daughter. I think a lot of times I just do things the way I was raised (and my husband was raised similarly) without thinking about if they are actually traditions I would like to keep passing down.
Sometimes I think it would be really nice if my husband and I had more similar backgrounds. I mean, we DO have similar backgrounds… but I think our families did things like holidays and traditions differently and/or thought about them differently. Because he can be very stubborn about some things, and because it is no fun to be SOLELY RESPONSIBLE for holiday joy, I think some things fall by the wayside. And it’s fine! There’s no “right” way to celebrate anything. It just feels like a lapse because it’s not the way I was raised.
We have no Easter traditions which feels a little sad, but only because so many other people DO? So I continue to limp along without making Easter traditions and we all survive it 🙂 I love ham, and never make it. Maybe I should make THAT an Easter tradition.
I haven’t been to a Seder in years, but would love to do so again soon.
We had a nice weekend – a few frustrating moments (our car wouldn’t start when we were dressed in Easter finery ready to leave for church on Sunday morning), but lots of family downtime that felt restorative. In Canada, schools/banks are closed Friday and Monday, plus our kids had a weather cancellation on Thursday so it has been a long stretch off for my two.
Oh gosh. Elisabeth, that is A LOT OF DAYS OFF. But it sounds like you are making the most of it, which is great!
I also grew up in a house that was Very Much Part of the Church. We went to church every Sunday, I was in Sunday School and then Youth Group, etcetera. I have not done the same with my kids and I have felt low-level guilt about this at times. But the horse has left the barn, so to speak. The problem is I have some issues with certain parts of church, and I suppose I could have just figured things out, but I didn’t, and long story short, we don’t go to church. Also my husband was raised Catholic and I was raised Lutheran and there seems to be a bit of a disconnect there as well. Anyway! I think my kids are fine. They are very moral people with a strong sense of what it means to be a good person, and we have lots of family traditions, so I guess everything worked out all right.
Anyhoo, we had a nice Easter dinner with my parents on Saturday, since my son worked both Friday and Sunday. I’ve eaten a lot of mini-eggs, so I call that a win.
Yes to the low level guilt. But I love this: “They are very moral people with a strong sense of what it means to be a good person, and we have lots of family traditions, so I guess everything worked out all right.” I really hope that’s how it goes here. It is still a work in progress.
That may very well be a saucer magnolia tree. I’ve always called them tulip trees but just went to look up the proper name and it seems they are a type of magnolia. I’ve earned something new today!
Saturday was nasty with cold and rain but we ventured out in it as we and the future in-laws had a surprise engagement party for the Happy Couple. They were actually surprised!
Sunday was gorgeous and that evening we hosted our friends two doors down (like you, we are blessed that these friends are like family) and had a lovely time – including an Easter egg hunt for the youngest. I made a peach cobbler which never looks pretty but it was good.
I had never heard of tulip trees before, so I am glad to know about them! Glad the surprise party went well.
The pavlova looks AMAZING!! Sorry it wasn’t as delicious as hoped. That’s always a disappointment.
Re going to church: just go! There are TONS of people who go alone and no one thinks it’s weird or anything. If it’s tugging at you to go, just try it for a few months and see. It’s like almost everything else – the anticipation is worst. (I say this as someone who strongly identifies with all your posts about not knowing what to say or do in social situations. )
I feel very satisfied that the meringue itself turned out well. Even yesterday it was still nicely crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The lemon curd and overall cloying sweetness were disappointing though!
I agree with this!! Totally fine to go to church alone and you see tons of people there alone. I actually went alone on Good Friday. I have gone other times as well. I feel like I ALWAYS see people there alone. Life is busy.. perhaps the spouse is traveling for work, or home with a baby, or just doesn’t practice the same religion.. so many reasons. It’s actually kind of oddly nice to go alone now and then- no distractions at all from your family and quite peaceful. Haha. 🙂
I was raised by agnostics and only went to Sunday school for a couple years during elementary school (and never to church except when visiting relatives) so I don’t feel any particular guilt about not going to church. North actually got curious about religion and they went to a Unitarian church for two years in middle school but then they lost interest. I went several times with them and to some church events and it seemed like a nice community. I wonder sometimes if it would have been a good idea to stay involved with it in a “it takes a village” kind of way.
We didn’t do much for Easter, other than dye eggs on Saturday. (Yours are beautiful, btw.) We got back from our spring break travels on Friday and we spent a lot of the weekend on house and yard work. Oh, and there was an Easter basket with candy for North. (Earlier in the week I mailed candy to Noah.)
Yes, I like the “it takes a village” aspect, too.
We’re going to be in the 70s all this week, so all of the magnolias/tulip trees will open completely, and my walks will be uplifting and awe-inspiring. Sometimes, I feel as if I live for this one week of Springtime.
Our family is not religious at all, but we have a wonderful sense of community through Kindness. We get together and enjoy family tradition in much the same way others do with religious ones. I think that Love is the important thing.
Magnolias are THE BEST. They are so joyful. I would never want to own one, though, because they seem to make an awful mess. But I love to enjoy them in other people’s yards.
I’ve never made a pavlova but want to do so. I make lemon curd a few times a year, so I’m sorry yours didn’t work. I like your ham sandwich meal, not that I want a ham sandwich, but because I like the idea of stating up front one dinner this week will be a sandwich.
Ham sandwich dinner — even if it does not include an actual sandwich — is very freeing. I like knowing in advance that things will be easy.
We have a LOT of Easter food leftovers. I made brunch and made more food than was necessary as usual. Plus I made balsamic chicken and peppers for our house guests on Sat. We have barbeque pork that is leftover from the end of last week. I’m happy about that because with my test today and my driving Mini and friends back to school yeseterday, I don’t have to do any food prep.
Glad your Easter was so nice. I’m very ready for spring. It means I can take the kids I sit for to the park and other outdoor adventures. Hooray.
You definitely planned well if you don’t have to think about cooking today, Ernie! I hope the test goes/went well!
So late to comment, but I think you’re doing fine, great, even, with family traditions and establishing a loving foundation for Carla, even without church.
We missed my oldest, away at college. 😦 That was sad. Our Easter table had Honey-Baked Ham and it was at least better than my usual pre-sliced Publix ham (I’m so lazy), but … it’s just ham. Not that exciting. This year’s deviled eggs were a mess. I love them and make them every year, but they were so hard to peel and the whites kept breaking/ripping. I googled and determined I did it all wrong: should have started them “hot,” meaning, boil the water, then put the eggs in to boil. Tip from me to you! I hate when my deviled eggs have pockmarked whites! (They still tasted fine, thank goodness.)
At least the lemon icebox pie turned out delicious and everyone loved it!
Thanks, Lee! Oh, first holidays without one of the kids must be so hard. And to have deviled egg trouble on top of that — boo! I am very intrigued by your lemon icebox pie. I love lemon and icebox pies!
This one, but instead of 2 cans condensed milk, I used 1 can + 1 8-oz Cool Whip. https://www.restlesschipotle.com/no-bake-lemon-icebox-pie/
Thank you! 🙂
Also! No ads within the text of this post, you must’ve found a setting and changed it! good job!
I have not 😬
We used to call ham sandwich night “cold plates” in my house growing up. Now we call it “fend for yourself”, which sounds kind of hunger games (ha) and is not really accurate, since I usually end up fending for most people, I just don’t cook a full meal.
Our easter weekend was lovely, if a little atypical. I will not describe it in detail, because if I did I would probably forget to blog about it because I would think I already had. There was no turkey, which is absolutely fine but felt a little weird, which probably means we have been more traditional than I might have thought.
The one time I tried to make lemon curd it was also a fail. I’m not good with anything that has ‘just until’ in the instructions – I’m an overdoer. Speaking of meringuish things, I tried to make a baked Alaska once, with hilariously disastrous results.
Lemon curd is HARD. Much too easy to end up with scrambled eggs. And yes! I hate instructions that rely on subjective observations. I feel like I never get it right. It’s always over or under done.
I have the same struggles as you about religious ed. I was raised catholic but have some big issues with the church, especially since a couple we are very close to is gay and I don’t really want my kids being taught that is wrong… among other issues. Paul is 5 now so I am more motivated to figure this out.
We had a nice Easter at my MIL’s. She served ham and it was undercooked which is fine since hams are fully cooked. When we didn’t smell ham when we walked in, I knew that was a bad sign. The package instructions are often wrong and specify too low of a temp. She sent most of it home with us so we baked it again on Sunday and that really helped render off the fat. My favorite part of making a ham is using the ham bone to make soup!
I love ham and am totally with Lisa in the fact that I feel like it is so versatile in making soup later, or casserole, or sandwiches for your husband! When I am sick of it at first, I will just toss the remainder in the freezer and pull it back out a month later for some split pea soup, which is my favorite!
I do think you should take some pavlova (or cookies?) over to your neighbor without the partner. Maybe she goes to church every Sunday and you will have a new buddy!?
it is so nice when you get invited to friends and it feels more like family. Glad you enjoyed that.
I get the going to church alone thing. My husband never goes – unless it’s a wedding, baptism or something like that. So I always go alone. While I am ok with that (by now) it is really hard to get some sort of connection. And since I am going to move again I have to go to a new church again. So all that anxiety and fear of not belonging and feeling weird… ughhh
We have a term for your “ham sandwich” here. Or basically it is literally the bowl of cereal. Well not for me I don’t eat cereal… But everyone on its own.
How was the potato leek soup? I LOVE potato leek soup. The recipe I use has water instead of broth, but I think either way would be delicious.
http://porcinichronicles.blogspot.com/2007/03/potage-parmentier-vichyssoise.html
My mom used to call ‘Ham Sandwich’ night, ‘catch-as-catch-can’. We call it ‘fend for yourself’. I think we may need to have on of those this week.
You stayed up until two in the morning, making Easter lovely for your girl; you rock!
I also love those friends who are like family, and they include you in their personal holiday celebrations.
I didn’t know you were looking for the perfect house; that’s pretty exciting. I’m gonna send out some positive manifesting in your Home Search honor.
We have soooo many crepe myrtles around here, and it’s my favorite when I see them starting to bloom. They are just so colorful! We have a few pink and white crepe myrtles in my apartment complex, and I’ve told my mom that I want to plant a crepe myrtle in her backyard just so I could have one myself. That feels like a lot of work, though.
Lots in here but I’m so glad you had a nice Easter weekend with chosen and biological family. ❤ I am curious about your backgrounds given your reference to their similarity but… also a Seder? I haven't attended one in years but so enjoyed them in the past.
I don't celebrate Easter as a) I'm alone, and b) I'm not religious (anymore). I should maybe dive into this someday… it was an interesting journey to where I am now, for sure.
Love the idea of ham sandwich night. Fend for yourself, for sure. 😉
Sounds like a lovely Easter. My family has some tradition around the holidays and I was happy to spend it at home this year.
Potato Leek Soup sounds amazing! Love it.