Writing

Since this is the last “summer hours” day off that I have, and since John and I are going up to Cleveland to visit my folks (and far-flung relatives who are making a rare visit) I am baking my Grandma’s Sunshine Cake for the occasion.  I call it the cholesterol death cake since it contains a full dozen eggs and just enough cake flour (1 cup) and other ingredients to bind it all together.  Basically, it is only a half-step away from being a souffle, and once it is in the oven there is a strict “no peeking” rule until it is done and ready to take out, as it could fall if you are not careful.  This rule is very hard to follow sometimes, since the cake smells wonderful while it is in the oven.  It tastes pretty darn wonderful once it is out of the over as well.

Major food holidays are always interesting here at Casa VanRoekel.  Since we live fairly far from our families (4 hours drive, 5.5 hours drive, and 5 hours on a plane, respectively) we spend a decent amount of those holidays at home.

I don’t like to skimp on holiday food, so we often end up with a ridiculous amount of food for just two people.

Brunch:

• Hash browns (Hand grated by me.  Hand grating a potato sucks.)
• Eggs over easy
• Bacon

Dinner:

• Crown roast of lamb
• Scalloped potatoes
• Szechuan green beans

It was all delicious.

And the of course there was also paska, and kolache, and jelly beans, and chocolate eggs, and the chocolate rabbit that I got for John that had foot-long ears (because he mentioned that biting the ears off a chocolate rabbit was one of the best things about Easter), and rice krispie treats that we made with melted peeps.

Two days later, and I am still full.