Ramps, Oven Fires, Aluminum Cups and God....
It was a good weekend....VERY short but good.....so here is a bit of a review.
We celebrated Easter today despite a lack of eggs or jelly beans, had a tiny oven fire followed by a broken oven which I didn't realize for awhile which incidentally led to dinner being a good two hours late. Oh well. It was a nice day....and we even actually got all the Lego off the dining room table. Woo-hooooo! My leg of lamb stuffed with greens and feta was good but I don't know if I think it was great. I think I might have liked things better if I'd stuck to my original plan of grilling the lamb and just serving the greens on the side. I loved the greens right after they'd been sauteed and wilted with fennel, green onions and some fennel seed. After being roasted inside the lamb they were a bit more muffled of course. The Greek potatoes were o.k. but the whole baking/oven debacle may have played into them not being better. I think my favorite part of the meal was the appetizer (typical for me) and dessert (highly atypical for me). For the appetizer I just warmed some pita bread (really fantastic pita bread from World Harvest----it does make a difference) and put it on a plate with kalamata olives and some wonderful soft Little Bloom on the Prairie cheese from Prairie Fruit Farms. It was amazing and absolutely perfect. None of us are big dessert people but I made the following and was quite tickled.
Whipped Ricotta with Honey and Mixed Berries
Bon Appetit August 2001
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
4 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons honey
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups mixed fresh berries (such as blackberries, raspberries, and halved strawberries)
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Blend ricotta, cream cheese, 2 tablespoons sugar, honey, andvanilla in processor until smooth. Transfer to bowl. Cover bowl andrefrigerate until ricotta mixture is slightly set, about 2 hours. (Canbe made 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated. Stir before using.)
Combine berries, lemonjuice and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in large bowl; toss to coat.Let stand 30 minutes at room temperature.
Divide ricotta mixture among 6 wineglasses. Top with berries and serve.
I didn't use quite all the honey and sugar----most people probably would want to though----and I just used some fresh raspberries without lemon juice because hey, it was the end of the meal and I forgot. It was lovely and light though and something I will make again.....although I will try to keep it away from Hattie next time....
Oh, and I forgot to say that we started out the morning with scrambled eggs and ramps while watching it pour rain with random rumbles of thunder. Nice, huh? It was hard to get going but we finally got dinner started and I went to get my mother. When we got back Ernie reported that something must have spilled out of lamb roasting pan because he'd had a small fire in the oven but it was out. The lamb finished and I attemped to finish the Greek potatoes---which were partially cooked for God's sake. Evidently the fire had cracked the heating element. So why didn't it occur to me after about an hour that perhaps the oven wasn't working? I don't know...perhaps the same reason I tried to turn the wrong way on a one way street with my mother..... You know....I'm doing o.k. but let's just say....things in my brain just aren't what they used to be..... We made it through and it was a nice dinner with my mom, my BIL Dennis and my three guys.
Here are our beautiful ramps and fresh eggs cooking that morning.....
Oh, oh, oh.....AND there is definitive proof.....Leo is TRULY my son..... We had one old aluminum cup that had been put in the dishwasher and so looked kind of ratty. Leo liked it however so I told him that somewhere in the garage or the basement there was a BIG box of aluminum cups and pitchers and bowls that his mother had obsessively collected a decade or more ago. Ernie finally found it and brought it up and Leo and I were so excited!
He may not look happy in this picture but bear in mind that he LET me take this picture which means that someone else would be leaping with joy.....in fact this IS Leo leaping with joy..... My sweet pea. HE LOVES MY ALUMINUM CUPS!!!! God, I'm crazy about him.....
I spent a good chunk of Saturday looking at things growing in my yard....so I must show you one of my beloved bleeding hearts (Leo loves these too).
In yet another disjointed note about this weekend.....the other night we were watching the rerun of the ER finale because it was the only thing we could agree on and I was too damn tired to argue. What that means is that Owen wanted to watch it. Anyway....at one point Ernie got a bit teary (you know people were dying left and right and we're a little sensitive these days). Owen immediately went over and wrapped his arms around him, patted him and said soothingly, "it's o.k. Daddy". Ernie hugged him and they talked for a minute. Then Owen said reflectively, "when bad things happen to people I love, like Aunt Judi and Grandpa dying, I get kind of mad at God." Then he furrowed his brow and said, "or is it Jesus? Jesus is the kid, right?" I assured him that Jesus was the kid and then he said, "it's o.k. for me to get mad at God though....I mean I get mad at you and we still love each other." Then he sighed and said sorrowfully, "he just didn't have enough power to keep them alive." I swear to God (sorry) I just didn't know what the hell to say....sometimes I can scramble and pull it together but honestly....I just didn't know what to say because I don't understand it either. I understand my father dying....I don't understand my sister dying So I just hugged him and kissed him and told him that sometimes it's o.k. to get mad at God. Today I told him how wonderful he was to comfort Daddy and he just smiled and told me he was hungry.
oh I love my boys....