Hope everyone had a lovely Easter. Here the weather was not that wonderful, wet and really rather grey. Also the snow has not yet melted, I do have to wonder if it actually will go away before summer. But on the bright side there are lots of huge puddles, which of course means jumping and splashing and squeals of joy from the kids. I really need some new wellies myself. Hmmm. I believe I saw some nice ones with roses in a store the other day...

Easter we spent just pottering about at home and at nearby Grandparents. The Little Miss was happy to have her Uncle, Aunt and Godfather to play with her on top of the 'usual' family and I got to try my hand at cooking a roast as per my Mother-in-Laws recipe. It came out quite tasty even though I had to somewhat adapt the original recipe due to missing ingredients. Some days I feel like I have trouble remembering my own name, let alone a shopping list left at home. :) As a side dish I made this potato gratin. I replaced the cheddar cheese with some Dutch cheese matured for nine months and it gave a really nice flavor to the potatoes. There was meant to be a fish course as well and I found some nice, fresh salmon on offer so this is what it became. Naturally, though, I had to forget something and this time it was the goat cheese that was left in the fridge. Nobody noticed, however, and the cheese ended up in a nice tuna and olives pizza I made yesterday. 


As some of my activites have been drastically restricted lately because of the pain and weakness in my joints, I have gone quite crazy over cookies. Not eating them so much, as it happens, as making and decorating them. Below are some Easter Egg ones I made using this basic sugar cookie recipe. The icing was made according to my Mothers royal icing recipe. Hers only uses egg whites and confectioners sugar, and the colouring added in the end. I have experimented with using swiss meringue powder but I must say I prefer it the way my Mother makes it. 


The cake below was a pannacotta strawberry mousse cake made by my Sister. The base was made from strawberry flavored cookies, and decorations of whipped cream. I will add the recipe as soon as I get it from her but I must say it was really a nice and fresh cake, not too sweet at all. The only real sweetness came from the cookie base.  


As for the decorations, the 'Easter Tree' was made by my Daughter and myself. We braved the mountains of snow and took a walk by the river with her Father ie. The Husband and picked the branches ourselves. Then we attached the feathers and hung some flea-market found wooden easter eggs on the branches. One, two, three, ready. Just the kind of project to do with kids. Zero need of patience. :)