Easter and the foods we eat

I just had to post this sweet picture of S and me in our Easter dresses. Actually, D was supposed to be in the picture too, but about two minutes before going outside, and after being informed that he needed to stay in his Sunday clothes for pictures, he came down dressed in play clothes. Somehow I think he planned that on purpose! This photo shoot was supposed to make up for the one that didn't go so well this morning. I'm not sure it quite lived up to that purpose, since we were missing half the family, but oh well. We girls looked great!

I've been thinking a lot about food the past day or so. I've particularly been thinking about food and holidays. Now, I'm not really into cooking. The whole menu-planning, grocery-shopping, getting-dinner-on-the-table-every-night scene still throws me for a loop (which, by the way, is why I love the menu planning websites I have linked here!). But in spite of my daily culinary frustrations, there is something about holidays that brings out the chef-wannabe in me. I can't have a holiday without going all-out for a fancy dinner! So, even though we weren't having any company for dinner, and we weren't going to anyone's house this year, I simply could not resist planning an Easter feast fit for a family reunion. My mother-in-law used to keep a journal, and I'm told she often wrote down what the family ate for dinner. I'm not sure I would do that on a regular basis, but I think I might include some of our holiday menus. Who knows, maybe some of my choices will become traditional fare for generations to come? We can hope, anyway. Today we ate ham, cheesy smashed potatoes, broccoli & stuffing casserole, lemon-pineapple gelatin (saying "gelatin" sounds fancier than saying "jello", doesn't it?), and rolls, with angel food strawberry shortcake for dessert.

Now this has nothing to do with Easter, but I also got to thinking about my and J's families and the different food traditions we've gotten from each one. When I think of family dinners with J's family, I'll always think of fried chicken from KFC, ham and turkey on rolls (that was hard to get used to after holiday dinners with an actual ham or an actual turky, not on rolls), mustard pickles--made by J's dad, pot roast with potatoes and carrots, olives, homemade rootbeer, deviled eggs, and Aunt S's rice krispie treats. When I think of my own family meal traditions, I think of chicken and rice casserole, sweet potatoes (when I have brought these to J's family dinners, I've taken them home practically uneaten), and Aunt L's homemade pies. Boy, it seems like my family's list is short. Maybe it's just that to me, the things my family eats seem normal, and therefore I can't think of anything unique to add to the list. I know I'm more adventurous and ambitious than almost anyone in both of our families when it comes to holiday food. Maybe that's why the peas with bacon and grated orange peel that I brought to Christmas dinner didn't get eaten by anybody but me?