Random 5 for April 21 – Holidays, food, ants, junk, weirdos

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Happy Easter to all who celebrate and Passover too. — We have friends who have an annual Seder. We have gone for the past 15+ years. Always interesting. We are celebrating Easter day with my brother and sister-in-law. They were in a bad auto accident in February and this is one of the first excursions for SIL. We are truly blessed.

So what will we eat? — Celebrations are about food in my family. I can’t properly celebrate any holiday without food or a shopping spree. (OK, maybe Christmas sales don’t qualify as a holiday.) Traditionally Easter is ham but my brother asked for steaks on the grill. The beloved husband does the grilling. The day is unfolding to be sunny and warm with a chance of rain.

When the ants come marching in – It’s the time of the year when I find the “scout” ants on my kitchen counters. Although it has nothing to do with cleanliness, it sparks up the “housecleaning gene” which is rarely engaged. I scrubbed all my cabinets inside and out. I don’t know how food splashes end up on cabinets that are nowhere near the cooking area. Who do people without cats and dogs blame? (Thanks to all the great ant tips I got on Friday’s Sassy Cats post!)

How did that get there? – Cleaning out cabinets means finding stuff. Weird stuff. Some things you didn’t know you had so you bought more and stored them somewhere else. Some expired in 2009 (hey, I know I have cleaned out my cabinets more recently!). Some I had no idea what they are. Maybe from an old Tupperware party? I do this annually or so and I can’t figure out where these items come from. Do they procreate in the drawers? I filled a trashcan with outdated spices. They have stories. I had fantasies of me making fabulous meals in a flowing flowery dresses and serving it on my veranda (which I don’t have).  One was an authentic Chinese dinner. Take-out is too easy but I still had the spices. That reminds me. I have Israeli couscous. I better make something with that! Any suggestions?

The end of the story – If you read my post on the strange guy at my gym, I was able to talk to the manager this past week. She knew him. He is no threat. I still think he’s weird but that doesn’t make him dangerous.

So how was your week?

 

 

60 thoughts on “Random 5 for April 21 – Holidays, food, ants, junk, weirdos”

  1. I love watching cooking shows, but as a result, I have spices now that I don’t know what to do with because it was mentioned in a recipe and I thought I should have it on hand…. just in case. This is despite the fact that my family and closest friends are, like me, meat and potatoes kinds of people! I moved almost 2 years ago, so expired spices got trashed when I was packing. I still probably have at least 25 different jars!

    I’m glad you got to spend Easter with family. Steaks on the grill would have suited me, because we do turkey at Thanksgiving and turkey AND ham for Christmas. Actually, anything I didn’t have to prepare would have been delightful!

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    • Spices are a funny thing. I get all excited by a recipe and occasionally buy the stuff but never make it. My husband is a plain eater. He’s not into anything too wild so I really don’t have the opportunity to use them. Yet I buy them.

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  2. I’m glad you are feeling a little better about the “weird guy” at the gym. I was a little concerned for you, given my overactive imagination!

    I’m confident that Easter with your brother and SIL was very, very special this year. So much to be thankful for there, certainly. I hope the day was lovely in all ways, and that the ants were inclined to observe the holiday and stay in their own little nests!

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  3. Sorry, my pinky hit send. I’ll start over. I’ve never seen to a Seder, but a Jewish co-worker once asked if I would like some gefilte fish, her mother’s specialty for all the Jewish holidays. She asked me because Debbie lived alone and my mom always gave me treats for her whenever she baked. She brought it in and I took it home and I didn’t care for it, but my father did. I raved about it when I went into work the next day – for years after my father was gone, I got gefilte fish ever Passover and other Jewish holidays. 🙂 I was invited to dinner, but as the only Gentile at the Seder table, I was worried about feeling awkward.

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  6. 15+ sedars! You’ve definitely been to more than me!. friend of mine and I were both joking last week how our way of celebrating Passover is to buy the five pound box of matzo, make matzo brie, and then that’s it. You’re more of a Jew than I am. 🙂 – Marty

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    • I know! There were a few years when both of our Jewish friends had Seders and we went to both as they were very different. I’ll save you a place in heaven. I stay away from the matzo! Tastes a lot like cardboard!

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  7. It is that time of year to venture into the party and cabinets – have to start thinking about space for hurricane supplies. (and old tomato paste cans that might leak…)
    Old spices – not just a men’s aftershave HAHA. We have out share…the absorb moisture and look really odd after a while here in they climate.
    One of the discoveries when I lived in Williamsburg as a child, was real smoked hams in smoking in a log/wooden out building/cabin. That was the first time I really liked ham – ahhhhh.
    Love the header picture – great couch! (and cats, of course)

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  8. Header picture is beautiful this morning! I hope you and your family had a wonderful day. Steaks on the grill sound delicious. We opted for Chicken Cordon Bleu that we pick up at the Publix. It was a very quiet Easter, most of the snowbirds had left for home. Very happy to hear that the strange guy is just weird and not a threat… relief, deep breath. Good Morning!

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    • My headers rotate (mostly) so I’m never sure what people see. Steak was wonderful and we have just enough left so I don’t have to cook. I like your option too. Do you like it more or less without the snowbirds or is it just different?

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      • I just got the same header… Sasha on a beautiful floral chair, Morgan, I think, on the matching ottoman in beautiful dappled light. I like it more without the snowbirds in the stores and on the roads but miss the people here within our neighborhood. We love leftovers.

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        • Ok, that’s Gracie. Sasha and Gracie are playmates. Morgan only occasionally. Our neighborhood is different in different seasons. Quiet during the summer as people are taking vacations and kids don’t play outside anymore. Busier in the shoulder seasons as they clean their yards or fluff they outdoor furniture until they hibernate in the winter.

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  13. Happy Easter Kate! Very glad that you could get some reassurance about the guy at the gym! And how nice to be able to go out with your brother and sister in law! I like ham too, but steak is always fine with me. 🙂

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  15. Israeli Couscous ~> saute some favorite veggies in olive oil (onions, peppers, carrots, asparagus, broccoli, etc., . . . stir in the prepared couscous . . . sprinkle with crumbled feta cheese and sliced black olives.

    Have a FUN cook-out!!!

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      • I bet any kind of cheese that pairs well with the veggies you choose would be delish with the couscous.

        Sauteed veggies and pasta, sauteed veggies and rice, sautéed veggies and potatoes (plus couscous, quinoa, grits, barley, tabbouli, etc.) ~> the options are endless!

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  17. The sun just came out here. I’m hoping that we can eat dinner outside on the deck so *finger crossed* that the rain has gone on its way. We’re having ham because… tradition. Hope your steaks are great and that you have a fun day. Happy Easter.

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  18. I’m so glad you were reassured that the weird guy at the gym is not a threat. You can let your imagination go any time, though, because it makes for good reading.

    My cabinets are overdue for cleaning. What’s one more year????

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  19. I do love all the food that comes with the holidays, even though ours is an atheist household. Maybe it’s because traditional dishes tend to be seasonal?

    Okay, not the chocolate rabbits. Those are just yummy.

    Or Christmas cookies. Also just yummy.

    Never mind.

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    • My mother made some dishes that you don’t see much. She cooked (boiled really) a smoked ham (the real kind). It was so moist and wonderful. Most hams are chemically smoked these days. She also made an egg cheese for Easter. I’m trying to remember the Easter desserts. They were often strawberry shortcake or lemon meringue. Technically nothing is tied to Easter except for the egg cheese. I should look for a real smoked ham. We have a farmers market with butchers who do their own smoking.

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