Easter memories and a good week

I love the seasons and the holidays throughout the year. Perhaps it is the food that I associate with each day. Growing up in New Jersey, we spent many of the holidays with my paternal grandmother and often at her house in Sussex, NJ. We loved her cooking. I have many of her possessions and I treasure them along with the memories of time spent at her house. My sister and I were chatting about her Easter today. Of course, Perfection salad had to be mentioned. I had forgotten about it until she served it a few years back. She found a recipe for a salad with the same name and tweaked it slightly. She is a clever girl! I posted a recipe for this in one of my first blogs and you can find it here. I use Gram's bowl - not only for the sentiment but also to avoid an unmolding disaster.

We are having our dinner today with friends. We are far away from family and our friends have become our families. I recreate the meals I remember. So we shall have ham, asparagus, sweet potatoes, perfection salad, Gram's date and nut bread, Challah rolls. For dessert there will be coconut cupcakes and goodies from Jersey Swirl goblets I used for the goodies. My mother hid jelly beans not eggs and the baskets contained an assortment of goodies from peeps to a chocolate bunny. As we got older, their might be a present from the lingerie department of Lord & Taylor tucked in the mix.

I like to set the table a few days in advance.

I worked on the quilt this week. I purchased the kit from Keepsake Quilting in NH. I was fearful that there was not enough fabric almost from the beginning and I was right. I called customer service and a package is on its way.

The sections on the right are complete but as I moved onto the left side I could just tell I would not have enough for the strips that are attached to the center patchwork strip. 

Those white areas on the design need fabric.

So, a delay. But I was distracted. With much handwringing and math and agonizing, I upgraded my embroidery machine. She is a beauty and I am thrilled.

The guest towels in the bathroom were made on an older one. Jump stitches galore! The new machines cut those stitches and a lot more. I will need some demos next week.

 We are fortunate to have Sirard Chocolate close to us. Ginger and apricot scones will be served with coffee in the morning. Then a quiet day.

Happy Easter! Happy Spring!