Happy Easter, for those of you who celebrate. I'm pretty secular so our family celebrates holidays as an opportunity to get together. My 2nd mom used to host but circumstances have changed and I'm now the host for these family gatherings. My house is tiny but we cram ourselves in, gather around the table, and have a good time.
Even though we're secular, we're pretty traditional about the meal. It's always a ham, usually with green beans. I make a side dish which takes a lovely healthy vegetable (cauliflower) and, by the addition of cream cheese, cheddar cheese, bacon and green onion, turns it probably alarming levels of unhealthy but absolutely delicious. Mom2 usually makes a sweet potato dish. No one else in the family will eat it so it's just more for us! This year dessert was a sugar-free lemon cheesecake made in the Instant Pot, a round cake that was actually slices of 4 different cakes - white, lemon, strawberry and carrot cake (my birthday was earlier in the month so that's why the cake) and macarons. We were all pretty stuffed and no one ended up eating those. I can't say I'm sorry that all those lovely macarons are going to end up being my treats this week!
Reading
I finished Demon Daughter and it was as delightful and enjoyable as the other Penric and Desdemona books. I know she's written like a bazillion books - I just wish there were more of this particular series.
I then read a book that I'd had sitting on my library wishlist - Hounded by Kevin Hearne. Interesting because it was set in the college town that's near me and it was kind of cool having the local places be the setting. This is part of a series and I don't think I'll be continuing it. It was fine but something about the dialogue annoyed me. However, if you like Jim Butcher's Dresden books, then you might want to check this out because the main character has very similar vibes.
When I went to the Libby app to return that book, I saw that another book I had put a hold on was available - The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai. I think I read about this on NPR's site. Oh my gosh, it's so sweet! It reminds me very much of the TV series Midnight Diner (which I think is still on Netflix). The owners of a restaurant recreate dishes from a person's memory and, as the blurb on Libby says," -dishes that may well hold the keys to their forgotten past and future happiness." Such a lovely book so far!
Well, the kitchen is cleaned up from the holiday dinner and all I have to do is relax. I'm going to go enjoy my library book and the rest of my weekend.