young american: easter

Babka is beautiful inside...

Well, Easter has quickly come and gone. And it was great. We started the day by popping in over at Petra's to say hello and deliver some chocolate babka (my extravagant treat for the day. Won't post any process pictures or recipe because it might put you off trying to make it yourself! And I say- why not?), then Sarah, Pasca and I went to church. I'd been craving some kind of ritual leftover from so many Easters with my family in the states, and once I saw in the paper that one of our local churches had an organ, I was determined to go check it out for myself. The organ itself was heartily disappointing, after being spoiled with the magnificent ones at Spreckels and Foothills, but still enjoyable in a funny kind of way. And I was happily surprised to turn around during the greetings in the service and see our guests for the weekend, Sarah's friend Morgan and his wife Dina up from Melbourne. We're all interested in the social rituals and psychology of practicing religion, so it was a nice diversion. Then back home, and greeted by more guests, Sarah's brother Robert, his wife Querida, and their two adorable daughters, Phoebe and Vivienne. They had all had a hunt for chocolate eggs while we curious few were in church, and then we all headed down to the Sunday market. A quick look around just as the stalls were packing up for the day, then a quick rest and chat on a little lawn before everyone but me caught the last ride of the day on the old tourist train. I headed back up the hill to the gardens, said hello to Timothy at the cafe, and had a quick Skype session with a friend back home. Then back home to meet up with everyone and have some dinner. It was definitely a day of good eating, we had babka for breakfast, enchiladas for lunch, and a giant vegetable potpie for dinner. Delicious. And finally, after the sun had gone down and everyone was stuffed on pie and chocolate, we broke out the Paas kits. American style Easter egg dyeing! A bit out of order, and sadly no hunting, but still lots of fun. The kids loved dipping the eggs in dye and then decorating them further with stickers, shrink-wrap and glitter. And I think they turned out beautiful! And made a wonderful addition to some wholesome gribiche the next day. Seems like life here at Hightor is revolving around the kitchen lately, and I love it!