Easter - Fat, Dumb and Happy!

Oh my - it is going on 9:30PM and I am still feeling somewhat fat, dumb and happy from today's gorging - oh I mean festivities!  We did Easter Brunch at my brother's house today.  There were somewhere around 15 or so people there - maybe a few more.  The amount of food that was available and that we consumed was somewhat astounding.  At least I feel that way as 9 hours after the meal I am still feeling a bit full.

It was kind of our normal Easter Brunch scenarios that played out with most of the "usual suspects" there.  Typically there is a group of roughly 20 - 30 people who attend our dinners, brunches, BBQ's and such.  Not all of them are always there but on average gatherings like this will bring 15 - 20 people together.  It's a perfect number of folks as you get varied conversations and there are usually enough kids there to keep all the child-like age groups happy.  It is pretty interesting these days as the youngest kids at these events are now pushing 10 or 11 years old, while the majority of the kids are now teenagers.  It certainly shows that both us and our friends are all getting older!

This morning I rose early to build and cook my Easter Brunch creations.  My signature dish for the Easter is a dish that Patty perfected years and years ago.  Everyone likes it so with Patty's passing I have taken over the preparation of it every year.  It is called an "Egg and Cheese Breakfast Strada".  It's basic a big huge souffle consisting of eggs, cheese, bread, milk and spices.  I hadn't realized when I went to the store yesterday that Zack had consumed our last gallon of milk.  (Yes - with Zack the eating machine around I have to buy milk multiple gallons at a time.  My normal shopping trip involves either the purchase of 2 or 3 gallons of milk that will be gone in a matter of 4 - 5 days.)  So the first thing I had to do once I got out of bed was run to Safeway and pick up a couple of fresh gallons of milk as that is a key ingredient in the dish.

Once I had the milk back home it took about an hour to get everything whipped up and in the casseroles.  I was making 2 casseroles today because the number of people who were coming.  The time consuming part of the preparation is to take the crust off the bread and then rip the bread into small pieces that then go in the casserole in layers.  Between each layer of bread you then put a layer of cheese.  Once it is all put together you whip the eggs, milk and spices together and then pour it over the casserole.  You let the eggs soak into the bread for an hour or two before baking.

I put the casseroles into the over to bake around 10:30 and then Zack and I went and picked up Nancy from Cranbrook and took her over to Tim and Celinde's.  I hung out there for a while and then I returned home and pulled the casseroles out of the oven and took them over just in time for brunch to be served.

It was a great meal and everyone seemed to enjoy all of it.  We certainly ate a good bit of food and everyone left pretty darn full.  We all hung out for 3 or 4 hours after brunch sitting around talking and just having a good time.  The TV was turned on to the Master Golf Tournament so it was interesting to watch that as we talked.

We left there around 3:30PM and got Nancy home to Cranbrook and then Zack and I came home and pretty much kicked back as we were too full to do much of anything else.  On top of that the amount of pain from my back that I am experiencing is becoming relatively unbearable again.  Not sure what is going on with that.

I am not going to write too much to night as I kind of wrote my fingers off last night!  But I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Easter and was able to celebrate it in the way that means the most to each of you.  Whether that be at Red Rocks for the sunrise service, having a wonderful meal with your family and friends or just sitting on your couch enjoying a day of rest - I hope you all had wonderful days!

Thanks and peace to all!  ~J