Easter and such!

Oh what a weekend! We saw Blades of Glory , which was hysterical, as well as The Reaping with Hillary Swank, which while not funny was still pretty good. Two very different films, both of which kept me entertained. We had dinner before at CPK, which is one of my favorite places to grab a bite and it also made it easier to find things on the menu for a Friday during Lent.

Saturday morning we headed out to check out a couple of estate sales and the Cottage Shop. We scored at our first estate sale and I picked up a dresser, a bookshelf, two end tables and a coffee table. My mother of course was asking, well, what are you going to do with the coffee table you have (which went to the boys since he loved it) and what are you going to do with your end tables (which I really don't know) but for $10 each I could not pass them up and I really like them! The boy and I took yesterday off so we painted the dresser, the bookshelf and two chairs, more pics of the painted finished products to come as well as the preview of the before pics. It is always fun to find such good deals and I am almost done not only furnishing my place, but I think I am turning a few pieces over already. Who knows maybe I will have my own shop one day anyway. I am sore today after painting yesterday though. But it was fun, and I am so glad the boy and I enjoy doing these things together, I don't even know who likes it more!

We got our eggs painted before heading out Saturday for a night on the town, well kind of, for us anyway. We headed up to Ramsey to the place where we had our first date a year ago, Jacob's. The boy's brother and his girlfriend, along with another couple that live up that way joined us. Needless to say, in just a years time the place has changed immensely. A year ago we went there for a couple of beers and to watch The MN Twins play the Yankees. It had a sports bar feel to the place. Not anymore. They bought out the day care center next door and knocked down a couple of walls, added a couple of pool tables and dart boards and the next thing you know, it is a hopping dance club for a bunch of nefarious characters. We did have a really good time though, stayed out WAY too late and really cut up the dance floor showing that younger crowd how to do the bus stop. Okay maybe not the bus stop, maybe it was the Macarena. Oh whatever! It was a good time though.

Easter Sunday was very enjoyable and I am so glad that we are so lucky to have both of our families living so close that we are able to easily spend a holiday day with both families. We had a brunch at my sister's (how I wound up making the majority of the food is beyond me) and then dinner at the boy's parents with his siblings. It was a lot of fun though and a great way to spend the day. This is one of the quiches I made for brunch at my sister's. I made two others because for some reason this did not sound like it would be very good, but I have to admit, it was delicious and I would make it again in a heartbeat! Also, for those of you without access to Bob Evans sausage, I used Jimmy Dean which works just as well, I also substituted a deep-dish pie shell with a roll of pillsbury crescent rolls and baked them in the bottom of a quiche dish. It all turned out very well.

Cranberry Sausage Quiche 1 9-inch frozen deep-dish pie shell ½ lb. Bob Evans Savory Sage Sausage Roll ¼ cup chopped yellow onion ¾ cup dried cranberries 1½ cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese 3 eggs, lightly beaten 1½ cups half-and-half Fresh parsley or sage leaves for garnish Preheat oven to 400F. Let frozen pie shell stand at room temperature 10 minutes; do not prick shell. Bake 7 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Reduce oven temperature to 375F. Crumble and cook sausage and onion in large skillet over medium-high heat until sausage is browned. Drain off any drippings. Remove from heat; stir in cranberries. Sprinkle cheese on bottom of pie shell; top evenly with sausage mixture. Combine eggs and half-and-half in bowl; whisk until blended but not frothy. Pour egg mixture over sausage mixture in pie shell. Bake 40-45 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh parsley. Refrigerate leftovers. Makes 6 servings Recipes shown are in no way related to the recipes used to make items in our restaurants.

Yesterday the boy and I both took the day off to regroup and get some projects done that needed to get done. Things getting painted, his house getting cleaned, his laundry, a trip to the salvation army for drop off, furniture getting rearranged, lot's of fun stuff. He and I had made a list of a bunch of things that needed to get done before he left, and we are still proceeding as if he were leaving this weekend, which he is not, but we don't know when he will be leaving so we want to be prepared and not feel so rushed like we did. It is supposed to snow here tonight, 3-5 inches, and I am about done with this weather. This weather is not even for the birds, unless you are talking penguins! It is back to my house tonight, bring the painted stuff in and get it put in it's place, my laundry, then tomorrow night is a wine event for my wine club which should be fun. Busy week, I am just glad the boy is here at the moment!