KISS

You may know that the title stands for "keep it simple, stupid." I should have written only KIS, since I dislike addressing anyone in a derogatory way, including myself, who is really the one I'm talking to. I have a tendency to get carried away with holiday meal preparations; if we have fewer than three desserts, I feel like a failure. This year, I contemplated taking my family out for Easter brunch or dinner, but in the end I decided on a simple four-item menu: grilled salmon, jalapeno cornbread, roasted asparagus, and an amazing-looking lemon-blueberry cake. Last year we went out, and I felt like it was a big waste of money -- other than the bottomless Mimosas. The food was sub-par, at a restaurant we usually enjoy very much, and the atmosphere was loud and kind of obnoxious. Of course, after indulging in bottomless Mimosas, I won't say we didn't possibly contribute to the level of loudness and obnoxiousness! Usually we are all well-behaved in public, though, so I don't think we were really the problem.

As much as I love my family, I will admit that we have a hard time getting our shit together sometimes. My youngest son's spring break is next week, and I had thought about going to visit him this weekend before I realized it was Easter and I'd be hosting dinner. His semester ended on Wednesday, so he decided he would come up here on Thursday (yesterday). Then my middle son decided to go down to visit the youngest one; apparently they had discussed that some time ago but the youngest thought the trip was off because he hadn't heard from his brother about it for a while. That means that no one will be here until Sunday, and probably not too much before it's time to eat. (This was the reason I considered going out; my recent health issues have not allowed me to do much cleaning, and I wasn't sure I could handle the grocery trip and cooking on my own.) But today, after a six-hour scoring shift, I ran up to the grocery store, which was suprisingly empty, and managed to get supplies. Everything will be easy except the cake, and if I need help I'll hold off on that until the others arrive.

I think my menu plan is perfectly simple and will be delicious. And I don't even feel guilty about serving only one dessert. Oh, I did get chocolate bunnies for everyone, so maybe that counts as a second dessert.