Easter Dinner

I always think that Easter is a holiday worth celebrating. Strip out the religious overtones, and Easter is just plain fun. Easter eggs, giant bunnies, candy, and of course, an excuse to cook a pork-themed dinner.

In the Olhava family tradition, Easter is also a holiday of potential disasters. Two years ago, the oven caught on fire. There were a bunch of years of wine-fueled Olhava cousin Saturday night Easter rib-fests, with the hangovers to prove it. Suddenly, the traditional American Polish breakfast of Polish sausage, hard-boiled eggs and coffee cake makes sense. My brother once threw up all over my cousin (so sorry to have been at Sunday school and missed that spectacle). And last year, my nephew had a complete meltdown, because he really, really wanted to make pie crust with his Aunt Schelley, and by the time he got home, the crust was already chilling in the fridge. Regardless, I'm always game for Easter. It's a tradition.

Invites went out, six brave souls arrived, and Easter dinner happened sans disaster.

Of course, we started with appetizers. I should note, you may get hungry and/or feel slightly full while reading this. I almost always miscalculate food portions, and Easter dinner was a perfect example of too much food. Alas. I made miniature crab cakes and artichoke heart and olive dip. Hilary brought a very excellent cheese ball (recipe courtesy of a now defunct Phoenix restaurant) and Gavin and Elaine brought the always popular spinach dip. Plus wine and champagne, because really, it's a necessity.





Richard was kind enough to carve the ham, glazed with a honey-thyme sauce. A number of dishes accompanied: potatoes au gratin with arugula, spinach and bacon, spanish tortilla (plus a bottle of chalupa sauce, both thanks to Tracy), artichoke hearts poached in lemon and olive oil, lemon asparagus salad, cauliflower and broccoli with some delicious cheese (a la Gavin and Elaine), and dinner rolls. Whew.



Richard labored on a very delicious lemon tart, even cooking the lemons that decorated the tart! I contributed a raspberry chiffon pie, and in a moment of self-congratulations, should say that the crust was one of the best I've ever made: flaky, flaky, flaky.

Lessons learned. First, a big meal, plus wine and champagne, requires time to digest. I should have started dinner about two hours earlier. Second, every single food on the table was on the rich end. A simple, straightforward, non-olive oil/cheese/high-in-fat component would have been a nice swap for something else on the table. But really, there were no complaints.

And finally, leftovers. I'm writing this entry about a week later, and still have a few leftovers to deal with. After a few repeats of the Easter meal, I couldn't take it. So, I chopped up the asparagus and artichoke hearts, sauteed in the olive oil and lemon dressing used in the asparagus salad and added to pasta, along with some parmesan and a few squirts of lemon (I later added spinach, and then later, sausage). Sadly, the potatoes will probably not make it...they're just too rich for another meal. As for the ham, I made a few sandwiches, and later, turned more into a very excellent quiche (I had to do something with the extra pie crust). I don't have a huge amount left, but don't want to waste it. Meaning, it will go in the freezer and at some point, I'll be inspired and use up the rest.

A few final images. First, the bar, ready to go before anyone arrived. I love the bar. My love for the bar is only eclipsed by my love for the new kitchen table, which is all stretched out, covered in food and ready for guests to sit, dine, drink wine and enjoy conversation.

Distractions

The blogging has been a bit sparse in 2009, and for once, I have a good excuse. Two words: Battlestar Galactica. Yes, I've been sucked into the geekdom that is the BSG university. Free time is spent not only working my way through the episodes (thank goodness for the punctuality of Netflix), but reading up on the shows, pondering the plot twists and turns, the what-ifs, the theological and moral messages woven so brilliantly into every episode.

Now, just because I've been eyes glued to the TV does not mean that I have not been cooking and eating (although, the alcohol consumption on board the Galactica and surrounding civilian ships is fairly impressive, the food they eat is barely mentioned or considered, except for one crucial story arc. Moving on). I'm saving a few things for their own entries, but thought that I'd cover some topics:

Crispy Tacos. I am so in love with Smitten Kitchen. Her recipes are rock solid, her writing is fabulous and pictures are beautiful. I've made the crispy black bean tacos with slaw and feta cheese approximately a dozen times, and am still not bored. If the weather doesn't feel like bbq today, it's tacos for me. Speaking of tacos...

Rancho Bravo: Capitol Hill now has a taqueria, Rancho Brav. Woo-hoo! Originally a taco truck in Wallingford (tasty food in those taco trucks, as I've discovered since moving to Seattle), they've set up shop in a former KFC. Just about as good as Bay Area taquerias, plus with the added bonus of the soullessness of the former KFC as the taqueria. I'm eager to see how they morph and evolve and become even better.

Vietnamese Sandwiches: After hearing people rave about Saigon Deli in the International District, I finally gave it a try. Wow - the best Vietnamese sandwich I have ever had. Light fluffy bread, a generous helping of pickled vegetables and the meat, oh soo tasty. I have always loved the sandwiches, but Saigon Deli has raised the bar to a whole new level.

Pork and Vegas: I spent a February weekend in warm Las Vegas, visiting Adam and Aimee and their three kids (two more and they have a basketball team!) Somehow, I succeeded in eating some variant of pork with every meal: Adam grilled ribs for dinner (plus bacon in the beans and corn casserole), bacon both mornings for breakfast, pork leftovers for lunch, and I just couldn't resist the spicy shredded pork taco from Rubio's. I've been to Vegas at least a dozen times in the past 10+ years, but this was the first time that I didn't go for work. Except for seeing the hotel skyline - which, from a distance, looks a lot like the skyscrapers of every major American city, only those skyscrapers aren't filled with offices and condos, rather, hotel rooms - I barely knew that I was in Vegas. No crazy days filled with too many meetings in the LVCC, no presentations to stress over, no client/press events, no hangovers. It was really, really nice. Oh, and worth mentioning: Red Rock Canyon is exceptionally beautiful. I highly recommend. And Retro Cupcakes - honey and peanut butter, yum! Finally, I'm awarding Aimee with the best hostess ever prize: she actually emailed me before my visit asking for my breakfast food preferences!

St. Patrick's Day: Mom and Dad came to visit the weekend before St. Patrick's Day, and since it was the season, I decided to make corned beef. Elise at Simply Recipes wrote about baked corned beef, so I gave it a try. The corned beef wasn't bad, and the recipe for caramelized onions and cabbage absolutely rocked, but there is a reason most recipes call for boiling corned beef.

Finally, the weather. I'm not going to lie, and the following statement probably doesn't surprise you: this has been another long Seattle winter. Cold, rain and more snow than I ever expected in the Emerald City. Luckily, the 2008 snowpocalypse hasn't quite repeated in 2009 (although we still have November and December 2009), but there have been plenty of "oh my goodness, more snow" moments. Like when it started snowing about 2 minutes into my 15-minute walk to a bar to celebrate Pete's birthday, and I had to wait in line in the snow for another 10 minutes to get in (I still can't figure out why they didn't let me, a girl, into the *gay* bar). I walked in, found Pete, and he laughed and told me that I looked like a drowned rat. I then spent 5 minutes in the bathroom drying my hair with paper towels. (Pete was properly punished for that comment with a wicked hangover the next day). Or the St. Paddy's Day Dash: nothing really spices up a run more than running in a combination of snow, sleet and driving rain. Or, the Friday morning just a few weeks ago when I left my house at 6 for a run, and was greeted by cars dusted in a layer of snow. That was the most terrifying, when I did the math and realized that boot camp was starting in 6 short days. (First boot camp run: on mud-covered trails, in the rain). But, spring is now here, sort of. The cherry blossoms are gorgeous (check out this link for pictures of cherry blossoms in my neighborhood), flowers are blooming, the Mariners are playing, sunglasses are now worn more often, and I've been opening windows, sitting on my little balcony and renewed my spring relationship with Claritin. Yep, summer is almost here.