Happy Easter! Just returned from the east coast at midnight, so we're jet laggin' around. The Easter bunny came this morning and we've been eating eggs all day. No peeps in the house, but the malted eggs called to me, so I made myself a deal to stick to one color only---I ate some white ones---but I got sick of them quickly! My east coast visit was so fun---everyone was SO nice everywhere we traveled. We had a blast in Salem with Besh and her husband----it was not a mild night! lol. The two of them had us laughing and their stories were hilarious! Besh is delightfully charming and has a great sense of humor and I love her style! She has wonderfully expressive eyes and a flawless complexion. (I'm jealous.) Her husband's and her way of telling stories kept us entertained all night long and the place we met at was comfy and full of local color, including a gal dressed like TinkerBell that turned our husbands into rubbernecks! Ha! We loved Salem and picked up the usual tourist stuff: bumper stickers that said "My Other Car Is A Broom" and "Magic Happens" and such. Besh and her husband gave us a wonderful route alternative to Glocester and Rocky Point and the drive was full of small towns and historical architecture---just right! OH! I'll send Marci the pics soon! Further down the coast, we stopped by Mysic Pizza and got a pic of me under the sign; picked up a bumper sticker that reads: "Have You Had A Hot Piece Today? Mystic Pizza." and had a wonderful salad and 'a slice of heaven!' Great people. Drove on to New London and then took the car ferry to Orient Point - one of my favortie places in the WORLD! We stayed at an old inn there and the innkeeper was a nice older lady; a wealth of information. We had dinner at The Fifth Season and it was one of the best meals I've ever had! Lovely restaurant---YUM! We drove all over the place and then headed to Newark airport- how confusing is that place? YIIIIII! The little vacation was just what the doc ordered for DH and me and my girl friend took perfect care of my kids. Nothing was amiss upon my return; it was SO NICE! Anyway, we're back and so I will print, read, catch up, and post again tomorrow. I have a TON of laundry to do--I told my gal pal NOT to do laundry! I gotta do grocery shopping, etc. We are having ravioli and some tomato sauce for dinner and RELAXING the jet lag away..... Tikanas, your meal sounds delish! Hope it's peaceful and everything you wish for! Lynn, my thoughts are with you and your family. Watching parents grow old is very worrisome and touches the heart in a different way---sort of sad. I hope your father mends and gets back into the swing of things soon. (((((((HUGGLES))))))))) Joy to the world!

WalnutCreek, I always make this in the bread machine, although I only use the dough cycle and then shape and bake in the oven. I'm pretty sure it would be fine baked in the machine too, although I tend to get "caved in" tops when I try to bake in the machine. Still tastes good and the texture is still OK, but the tops just collapse, so I'm assuming the machine is over-proofing before the baking cycle turns on. Compumom, I do have a picture of the beer jam. It's really a grill glaze, made with local dark porter, supposed to taste like coffee and vanilla but it mostly tastes like dark beer to me, LOL. I hate beer, so I'm not a good taster. Makayla isn't old enough to drink, Elery dislikes beer and Amanda dislikes beer, so we all made faces but it should be unique enough to draw attention from the judges, who very well may like beer, LOL. Anyway, I'll post pictures when I get them on the computer. Right now I have to go bake Daniel Tiger cookies for Emaline's 2nd birthday! Annie

Gorgeous @porkandham. Love your plates, and your table andchairs are so pretty. Our holiday ended up very higgledy piggledy. We changed rosters and venues and menus more than once. One COVID case (mild), one mono and one strep! Ended up in CT rather than ME, with only 4 rather than 10. Of course that did mean I got to use some of my fave linens that I stupidly bought only for 4 (20 yrs ago?). I made the Tyler Florence Chicken Cordon Bleu. 2 thumbs up. It is baked not fried, but the crumb coating has melted butter and garlic, so you still get a very nice yummy crumb coating. Next time I'd turn them over halfway through baking, as the underside crust was even better than the top. He specs proscuitto and gruyere, and I think they really pack a nice punch. I also made a trifle. I ended up making pound cake from scratch, and custard from scratch. It looked nice but TBH I'm just not a fan of wet cake. I would not do it again.

You all writing about chili make me want to make a batch. I wish I had a pretty red pie for our dessert. Yum! A group of us single ladies are getting together tonight to celebrate our friendship. It will be here. Not much decoration, but it will do. I decided to roast lamb shanks and vegetables, and had a difficult time finding 5 shanks. Apparently lamb isn't readily available right now... don't know why. That and dressing the table are my job and the rest others are bringing. The shanks are now in the oven for their long afternoon roast, and, hopefully, will be wonderfully cooked by 5ish. (We eat early... or whenever the meat is done.) I'm also doing roasted vegetables and am wondering how early to start roasting the potatoes, onion, and ....... (suggestions?) I'm thinking they need about an hour. ??? I was going to do more of a variety, but then found out that someone is bringing a multi-vegetable mixed salad. (More dishes needed.) I'll try to remember to take photos and post later.