Saturday, March 31

Up around 7:30, but skipped my exercises, so I could begin preparations for Easter Sunday. Sis and Mother came over mid-morning, and we set to work. The first thing I did was put a ham in the oven, and get a dozen eggs started boiling. Hubbie used the food processor to grate carrots, and then Mother made a recipe of carrot salad, using golden raisins, Craisins, pineapple, and salad dressing. Before any of that could be done, though, Hubbie had to run to the grocery store for carrots, raisins, and other items.

Shortly after Hubbie got home from the store, he cut daffodils, so I could make an arrangement in a white teapot for the dining room table.

I ironed tableclothes, gathered China, stemware, and serving dishes, then spent part of the morning doing a few things to spruce the house, though I didn't do any real cleaning. Hubbie took care of vacuuming and cleaning the downstairs bathroom. We hoped family would overlook any cleanliness inadequacies they might notice.


Checked the ham with a meat thermometer a couple of times after I thought it should be cooked, but it was still not done by noon. So I began to suspect that the oven was not heating properly. Hubbie was not convinced there was anything wrong with it, though, so he went to the store to pick up an oven thermometer. When he checked the oven with it, the temp showed 350 degrees, which is what it was set for.

So I let the ham cook until 1 p.m., at which time the meat thermometer showed it was done. Since it appeared the oven was okay, I went ahead and made a pineapple upside down cake. It seemed to bake just fine. But when I turned it out onto a cake keeper, it was very juicy...so much so that I very nearly lost it onto the floor. Luckily, none of the liquid splashed on me. I figured I might have put too much tub margarine in the bottom of the pan, and it didn't absorb during baking. I decided I should have used stick margarine instead of the tub variety, which tends to be watery when melted. The cake was fine, though...very edible.

Sis had a lot more luck making a bucket cake...an angel food cake drizzled with hot strawberry Jell-o...than I did with the ham and the pineapple upside down cake.

After lunch, I spent part of the afternoon working a very difficult jigsaw puzzle with Mother and Sis. It's a display of colorful flat woven baskets that are extremely challenging.

Later, we had leftovers for supper. Then Hubbie watched NCAA tournament basketball games, while Mother, Sis, and I continued with the puzzle. Around 8 p.m., we sampled slices of the bucket cake with dollops of fat-free topping. Afterward, Sis accompanied Mother to her house, and Hubbie and I watched TV until bedtime. Before we went to bed, I fixed Easter baskets for Mother, Sis, Daughter, and Niece, using little metal containers painted with springtime motifs, in which I put Easter grass, chocolate bunnies, and assorted little chocolates. Mother's also contained a pound bag of Jelly Belly jelly beans. She also received a new jigsaw puzzle.