2. I am working on a very long, very profound post that has been swirling around in my murky little brain for a while now. Stay tuned. I think it might be a doozy.
3. I need a good, reliable, uber-tasty lamb recipe for Sunday. I need it by Saturday. But it's for Sunday. See the power of prepositions? If you like, I can teach you a handy song to the tune of "Yankee Doodle" so you'll always remember them. "Preppy Doodle Ditty", taught to me by a very odd language arts (that's what they call "English" class in middle school, just like "History" is for some reason called social studies...okay, whatever) teacher in 6th grade. There was also "Linking Verb Day" (to the tune of "Happy Birthday") and another one about verbs to the tune of "Jingle Bells" that I can sing with total recall though I've forgotten the title. I'm sure if Dharma wasn't so busy moving across the country right now she'd be able to swoop in and remind me as she had the same wacky teacher. The woman loved Pac-Man so much her hall pass was a HUGE, bright yellow Pac-Man. It was not at all embarrassing to a very shy, very sensitive eleven-year-old to be spotted walking to or from the girls' loo in a new school with a giant, wooden, screaming-yellow Pac-Man under her arm.
3a. Back to the lamb. The Viking has requested a "nice meal" for Easter this year. Apparently, he's tired of our usual Easter feast of hard-boiled eggs, jellybeans and chocolate. He's crazy. But he's also very patient and tolerant so when he actually asks for a particular meal for a particular event, I can't say no to him.
Thankfully, he is not a fan of ham. I am not a fan of ham. I have made it (I think it was for Easter) and made it well, but the children don't like it and I really dislike split pea soup and ham salad so once we've gotten our fill of baked ham, there really isn't much else to do with it and we wind up wasting a lot of ham. Lamb is quite a different story. The Viking and I are both great fans of lamb. If you ask The Viking what is the best thing he's ever eaten, he will look dreamily off into the distance and sigh and tell you of the lamb shoulder he had at the pub in Almondsbury on our first evening in England. When he ordered it, the barkeep looked him over and asked, "You hungry?" It was a massive hunk of meat with a large bone sticking out of the end, nestled atop the largest pile of mashed potatoes I've ever seen, very Henry VIII. When we go out to eat all fancy-like, The Viking will always order either the lamb or the salmon. So, how can I deny this man a request for lamb?
Trouble is, I've only made it once and I want to make sure I make it well. Lamb is one of those things you've just got to get right. So, I'm looking through my usual sources for a good recipe. I want it to be the kind of meal that makes The Viking's eyes roll back in his head. I want to see him gazing at me with that goofy grin he gets when I've hit one out of the park. So I will be spending lots of time with America's Test Kitchen, Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, and the Chambers Range Idle Hour Cookbook in the next few days.
Here's what I've got so far, as per The Viking's requests:
-Lamb (Leg of? Boneless leg of? Shanks? Chops? Aye, me!)
-Red skinned potatoes (roasted with some kinds of herbs, rosemary and thyme perhaps)
-Green veg (leaning toward roast asparagus or braised Brussels sprouts)
-Lemon chiffon cake with citrus glaze (I'm really looking forward to making this)
4. Man-Cub, for his part, has requested an Easter Egg Hunt. He said to put them in trees and everything. I didn't think that would be a good idea as the wildlife (starting with our useless dog) would probably ruin any chance of that being a fun event, but then Man-Cub informed me that he meant for us to use the plastic eggs filled with candy and trinkets. I should have known. Man-Cub loves little containers. And he loves trinkets. And he particularly loves little containers filled with trinkets. This is right up his alley. But my mental calculations have already informed me that this will get costly. So I'm thinking of making use of this Follow The Ribbon idea instead, the usage of which is also described here. I'm thinking of getting the children individual (but smaller) Easter baskets this year (they usually share one) and maybe even teensy ones for the adults and making them follow their ribbons all over the house and even outside to find them. This could be fun or this could be madness. I really wish Daria was here to help me!
All this means that I've got to get to work compiling some lists! I've got cooking and baking and shopping and ribboning to do! Not to mention cleaning and ironing and possibly mending. Which reminds me, HEAVENS, what are we all going to wear on Sunday? Add that to the list: going through the clothes.
Well, I'd best be off. The dryer has buzzed and Mom is on her way to pick me up for a quick cup of coffee before retrieving Man-Cub from school.
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