A Happy Easter!

We had a lovely low-key Easter. Only 11 for dinner which is a small holiday around here. I'm just now having time to post, though I've been thinking all day of wishing everyone a Happy Easter.

The twins ended up with two Easter baskets a piece, one each from us, one each from their other grandmother. A bit spoiled I think ;-) We put a few plastic eggs in plain sight for them to "find" and Mr. L was really good at it. Miss S did spot one from across the room though, and we thought that was impressive too.

I thought the series of photos DH took of the twins was pretty funny, so here are a couple.

^Here was the first photo of them in their Easter outfits. Miss S likes getting her photo taken most of the time, so a big smile from her. Not so much from Mr. L

This one really cracked me up. Brother was lifting up her dress and she was complaining!

Finally a smile from Mr. L. He doesn't usually like getting his photo taken.

We had a fun day. My sisters and BIL came down from Phoenix for dinner. I tried out a new recipe with one of my sisters in mind. She loves chocolate and this recipe made me think of her

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chunky-cheesecake-brownies/

DH said the recipe is a keeper. I am not much of a chocolate fan, so a half a brownie was a bit much for me, but all the chocolate lovers liked them. I had made lemon bars too which are one of my favorites, and I had seconds on those.

DH smoked pork and chickens for our meat, they both came out wonderfully. Since we had fewer people than I expected, I put some of the meat into the freezer already. I also made some chicken broth from the smoked chicken carcasses. It makes amazing soup.

I kept the menu pretty simple. I made homemade rolls (white and wheat) and the desserts yesterday. Today I just had to make the sides since DH was handling the meat for me.

Oh, one of the sides I often make for holidays is a great recipe to pass on.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/southern-butternut-squash/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=southern%20butternut%20squash&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe

I make a couple of changes to the recipe though. I half the white sugar, and use 2% milk instead of the cream. I also normally make a double batch, and use one butternut squash and four or five sweet potatoes. Even today, when I only needed one batch, I made a double batch and froze the second batch before baking. I've done that several times, and it works just fine. I often make too much of something and freeze part of it for a later meal, it's especially helpful to have ready made meals when quilting all day!

I hope you all had a wonderful day.

He is Risen!