Three comforting Easter side dishes, three spring books, and a quiet end to Holy Week
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It has been a busy week and I am ready to slow down and enjoy the holiday.
Holy Week has a particular quality to it — quieter somehow, reflective, even when the calendar has not been. There is Good Friday mass this afternoon, which always makes me think of my grandmother. As children, when we were visiting for Easter weekend, she would ask us to sit quietly from noon to three — to think about the meaning of the day. By sit quietly she meant don’t jump on the furniture, don’t build forts behind the couch, don’t fight, and absolutely no television. Four children were never truly quiet, but we knew enough to know this was a special day and that it mattered to her deeply, even if we didn’t entirely understand why yet. I understand now.
Tomorrow morning is Weekend Meanderings with Kim and Juliet, and then I am closing the laptop. The weekend is for family and Easter and small children with baskets and a sugar high. Let’s get to the favorites.
Food~Easter Side Dishes
Three recipes that would be right at home on an Easter table — comforting, not complicated, the kind of thing that goes with whatever your main dish happens to be.
There is something about a bright green soup that says Easter more than almost anything else. This one is smooth and simple — sweet peas, a little leek, good stock and mint— and it takes about thirty minutes. Serve it warm in small cups before dinner and no one will believe it was that easy. The color alone is worth it.
This is the dish that disappears first and quite honestly is my favorite. I could eat the entire pan myself. Thinly sliced potatoes layered with cream, garlic, and Gruyère, baked until the top is deeply golden and the inside is something close to a dream. It is rich, it is classic, and it goes with lamb, ham, or anything else you are putting on the table. Make it the day before if you like — it reheats beautifully and actually improves overnight. I have never once had leftovers, but theoretically it would.
Roasted Asparagus with Lemon and Parmesan
Asparagus in April is not a suggestion. It is practically mandatory. This version is stripped down to what it needs to be: good asparagus, a little olive oil, roasted until the tips just start to crisp, finished with lemon zest and a shower of Parmesan. Feel like asparagus salad instead? Try Shaved Asparagus Salad.
You will want to add a dessert to that table. I have you covered, this carrot loaf cake is easy and delicious.
Books
Three spring books to read. One is about finding yourself. One is about finding your courage. One is about finding someone unexpected — which is, when you think about it, the same thing.
Mornings with Rosemary by Libby Page
Rosemary is eighty-six, has lived in the same Brixton flat her entire life, and swims at the local outdoor lido every single morning — the place where she fell in love with her husband George, and where she has grieved him since he died. Now developers want to close it. Kate is a young journalist, anxious and adrift, assigned to cover the story. She finds Rosemary. What happens between them is the whole book.
A mother tells her three daughters the story of a summer romance from her past while they’re all stuck together on a cherry orchard during the pandemic. Quiet, gorgeous, about memory and family and what we pass down. Perfect Easter weekend reading.
The Pulitzer Prize winner from last year. A retelling of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim — now James — that is both a reexamination of a classic and an entirely original piece of literature. Funny and devastating in equal measure. You will not stop thinking about it.
You can find all of my book recommendations at My Bookshop. Most are also available from Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org and on Libby through your local library.
Links to Read + Watch + Listen
Millions of Americans are now eligible for Canadian citizenship and many are applying ‘just in case’
Nancy Guthrie went missing two months ago. Why hasn’t she been found?
Is it true that you can never eat too much fiber?
How many blue dots do you see? New optical illusion tricks the brain.
The 27 most beautiful places in the world
Shopping — Outfit of the Week
Sometimes simple is better, and of course the classics never go out of style. Today’s outfit, is a navy linen skirt and a white blouse. You can dress this up with a colorful bag, and sandals or dress it down with a t-shirt and sneakers. I love the easy of a dress or a skirt in the summer.Don’t you?
Click the Images for The Outfit Details
Happy Easter to each of you.
I hope your weekend is filled with the people you love, something wonderful on the table, and at least one moment that makes you stop and feel quietly grateful for all of it.
What are your Easter traditions? Tell me in the comments — I really do love to know.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s Friday Favorites. Don’t forget to join Kim and Juliet tomorrow for Weekend Meanderings.
On My Radar
Happy Easter. Enjoy your time with family.
Thank you Rita, a very happy and blessed Easter to you as well.
Your recipes sounds yummy. I will be trying the potatoes in the near future. I like that Eater is slower and calmer and less food focused than the winter holidays. Our family is smaller now so We do a quiche or ham brunch and backyard Easter egg hunt for the Littles between church services. My husband and son always attend the sunrise service together. And I always get a new dress. ❤️ happy Happy Day.