Happy Easter!

I woke up at 7:00 AM on Easter Sunday. I filled in the rather extensive Blog entry while nursing a cup of coffee.  I stripped the bed and threw the bedding into the washer. Then I went in search of breakfast.

I was celebrating Easter by making creamed eggs on toast. Now, since it’s just me, I cut the recipe in third. But, I’ll give you the full recipe which serves six.

First I shelled my four eggs (I saved the purple and the yellow ones) but you’re supposed to use 12. Then I separated the egg whites from the egg yolks. I placed the egg yolks into a bowl and mashed them with a fork. I chopped the egg whites into small pieces and set them aside.

Next you would melt a 1/4-cup of  butter in a saucepan set over medium heat. Then you stir in 1/2 cup of flour until smooth. Gradually mix in the 3 cups of milk and 1 tablespoon of chicken bouillon granules so that no lumps form and stir constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. Then you add the mashed egg yolks and mix until dissolved. Finally you stir in the chopped egg whites. You serve that over toast and season with salt and pepper.

It was a good as I remembered, and I haven’t had them in a long while!

I was just finishing up when B___ called. While we were talking, my old friend, the ground hog, waddled across the front yard. It pleases me that he survived yet another winter, as have I. B___ and I caught each other up and, when we hung up, I cleaned up the kitchen. I threw the bedding into the dryer.

Then I made the dry marinade rub for my lamb chops. I needed two large cloves of garlic, so I went with six small ones. It was my first time trying that peeling concept. I wish I had found aluminum bowls with lips on them, but I couldn’t. So, I put the unpeeled garlic in the one bowl and covered it with the second bowl. Then I shook them like hell for about a minute…

I’ll be damned! They came out perfectly clean! And, my hands didn’t smell like garlic!! Where was this trick all my life???

Anyway, I put the garlic in my food processor, along with about a tablespoon of fresh rosemary leaves, a teaspoon of fresh thyme, a pinch of cayenne pepper and a good helping of coarse sea salt. I pulsed that into a paste. I smeared the paste on both sides of all six lamb chops and carefully put them in a baggie. They went into the fridge to get happy. Note: you have to let them set for at least and hour. I’m going for four or five hours, myself.

Next, I refilled my pill box, shaved and showered and by 1:00 PM I was dressed and ready to go. But, before I get to the clock, I needed to water the bay leaf tree, wind the clock, put ice cubes in the orchid and make the bed.

I did the bed first, and then moved onto the rest of the Sunday chores. I re-watered the new plants, which made quite a mess. My reasoning was to get everything on a weekly watering schedule. But, the water overflowed the saucers on two of the plants. I needed a lot of paper towels to correct that mistake. I wound the clock and then turned the Red Wings game on. I quit watching when it was 5-0 for the Chicago Blackhawks.

Again, I checked my recipes. One of the side dishes for the lamb chops will be mixed roasted potatoes with herb butter. So, I need to parboil the potatoes before I roasted them. So, I peeled a big (2#) sweet potato and four russet potatoes. Sidebar: here’s how I peel potatoes or carrots: I put a plastic grocery bag in the sink and direct the peels into it. This more or less works, and the few escapees are easily gathered and stuck into the bag before I just throw the whole thing in the garbage.

BTW, I am still playing peek-a-boo with those crows. I see them under the feeder, but when I grab the camera and head towards the bathroom window, they fly away. They must have phenomenal eyesight! So, I can’t prove it, but they are huge!!! I gave up and took a picture of a squirrel on the feeder instead.

I cut the peeled sweet potatoes and the russet potatoesinto two-inch cubes. I put them in a pot and added about six unpeeled and quartered baby redskin potatoes. I added a good amount of Kosher salt and boiled them for 10 minutes. I pulled off the potatoes and put them in the metal colander. These have to be dry before roasting.

While they were cooling, I figured out the jig (sigh) I needed to make to route out the hole for the clock mechanism. So, I went out and created it, after pulling the car outside, yet again. I tested it for the correct size on 1/4 inch plywood. So far so good.

But first, I had to hand sand all the end grain pieces on the clock with 400 grit sandpaper. I sanded them twice, just using folded sheets of sandpaper.

Then I ran into a problem. My router bit was too long. I couldn’t get it to retract enough so I could route out 1/2 inch and leave 1/4 inch. I tried it on several test boards and the best I could leave was 1/8 inch. I’m certainly not going to Home Depot on Easter, so the project stalled. I put everything away and pulled the car back in.

I started dinner. I preheated the oven to 400 degrees F. I tossed the potatoes with some olive oil, spread them out on a half sheet tray and stuck them in. I set the timer for 40 minutes. I took the lamb chops out of the fridge to bring them up to room temperature (takes at least 20 minutes).

While the potatoes were roasting, I made the herb butter for them. I used four tablespoons of room temperature butter mixed with one tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley, one tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme and 1/2 tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary. I added salt and pepper and let it sit.

I trimmed the woody ends off the asparagus spears. I put some water in my 12 inch skillet (so I could boil them whole) and got the water hot while I started on the lamb chops.

I got my cast iron skillet smoking hot I seared them on the one side for about two minutes. Then I flipped them over and seared them another three minutes (for medium –rare). I covered them with foil and let them rest.

Meanwhile, I dumped in the asparagus all at once and cooked them until crisp-tender (about one-three minutes, depending on size). I drained them and put them back in the pan. I squeezed a lemon over them and added two tablespoon of butter, a drizzle of olive oil and Kosher salt.

I pulled out the potatoes, put them is a large bowl and tossed them with the herb butter.

Then I plated my Easter Dinner. It was excellent!!! The lamb was perfect, the potatoes crispy and the asparagus had a light, delicate flavor. Perfect!

I started cleaning up when the phone rang. It was Sadie, returning my call from days ago. Since I had moved on, the answer to my tool question was no longer relevant. But, it was good to talk with her.

I watched a little TV, but my back was hurting again. So, I read on the couch until about 10:00 PM, when I went to sleep.