Typical. You put out a blog post about how cold and grey it is, and barely have the pixels dried on the screen (my understanding of technological hardware may be imperfect) when the sun leaps out from behind a cloud, yelling “TA-DA!” and makes everything springlike. That said, by the time you read this, it’s due to be dull and damp again.
This blog post is brought to you courtesy of the Stoic Spouse’s homebrew (which is actually rather tasty), so don’t be surprised if the final few paragraphs consist mostly of, “I luffs you I do.”
We’re not very good at seasonal celebrations around here, but we seem to be surpassing ourselves this Easter weekend. Between me and the Stoic Spouse, the ritual usually goes something like this:-
Year one: Spouse 1 presents Spouse 2 with Easter egg. Spouse 2 says, “Oops, sorry, I didn’t get you one.”
Year two: Spouse 2 presents Spouse 1 with Easter egg. Spouse 1 says, “Oops, sorry, I didn’t get you one.”
…And repeat.
But this year we’re upping our game, before our children start putting in formal complaints about us. So on Good Friday, the Stoic Spouse sneaked downstairs at preposterous-o’clock in the morning to start baking hot cross buns. Look!
They tasted gorgeous but, poor things, their existence was briefer than the lovely smell of cinnamon they left behind.
Not to be outdone, my plan for Saturday is to bake simnel cake. Oh, and just for the record: Stoic Spouse, if you’re reading, I’ve got you an Easter egg this year.
The twinnage get a better deal than the grownups, of course, and will be certifiably comprised of 90% cocoa solids and uncontrollably manic by this time on Sunday. I do think that the Easter bunny should be encouraged in the giving of broccoli instead, with delicious florets wrapped in coloured foil, and joyful Easter broccoli hunts in the garden involving all the family.
But no, we’re tediously conventional and so we laid out a (chocolate) egg hunt for the twinnage.
Both boys relished the challenge, and never once whined that they’d rather have had broccoli. C’mon kids, couldn’t you have been a little more whingey because none of these treasures contained 30% of your RDA of Vitamin A and pantothenic acid?
Pah! In my day, all we had to look forward to at Easter was playing hunt-the-cold-gruel in the back yard next to the coal shed, and right grateful we were too… (Shall I step back into my Dickensian novel / episode of Monty Python now?)
Anyway, a very happy Easter to you – if Easter is your thing – and may there be much broccoli chocolate in your weekend.
Oh, and did I mention that I reeeeeally luffs you?! Hic!
aha…the brocolli…I gave that up for lent!!!
…which at least means that you can indulge in wild quantities of broccoli-eating now. 🙂
Did you live in a shoebox? We did ? The best place to eat gruel.
Ha, we couldn’t even afford a shoebox. We lived in a small hole in the ground and DREAMED of shoeboxes. 😉
Thanks for another entertaining blog post. Happy Easter!
And thank YOU for your lovely comment. Happy Easter!
😀 😀 I’ll clean the coffee splorp off my screen when I stop giggling!
Oops! Very sorry for messing up your screen. (But thank you for your comment.)
Coincidentally we are having brocolli with our roast beef on Sunday! Didn’t make hot cross buns this year but yours look good. Home made are so much better!
Hope you enjoyed your broccoli! (Oh, and the beef, too.)
I never thought about someone actually making hot cross buns at home. I just assumed everyone bought them in a plastic-wrapped 8-pack.
Must admit that I’ve never made them. But the Stoic Spouse likes to do things properly.
Happy Easter to you too.
We shall be having both chocolate (some is being eaten as I type) and broccoli, although not at the same time. There may also be alcohol 🙂
Yup, you’ve got Easter sorted, then. Enjoy the broccoli (oh, and the other things too).
Oh Phil you are very good medicine with your blog – thank you for making me laugh out loud.
Hope the Simnel cake turns out well. Wonderful husband (Chair of Staff Association at work) made one all on his own (verbal guidance and fruit soaked in brandy by yours truly) and decorated it. Top prize in the Easter raffle outranking the legs of lamb/eggs/cuddly toys.
Happy Easter to you all and enjoy your broccoli. Hugs Sarah x
Wow, sounds as though your husband did a pretty good job with the Simnel cake. (Ours was OK, a little over-cooked.)
And thank you for your kind words about my blog. You’ve made me smile.
Thanks for another entertaining post, and happy Easter to you too.
Thank you. You’re very kind.
Butterflies, broccoli, buns, branches, booze…”This Easter post has been brought to you by the letter “B””. Completely Sesame Street approved Ms T. Enjoy that booze and that stoic spouse. He made hot cross buns and booze?! A keeper.
Thank you. I’ve let the Stoic Spouse know that he can stay, for now. As long as he keeps busy in the kitchen.
I am guessing he took that well 😉
Once upon a time in a far off land I also made the Easter Buns and the Simnel Cake every year and organised the egg hunts complete with rhyming clues … and all without the aid of any homemade brew …… Oh I was deprived!! Your lovely post brought it all streaming back ….. 🙂
Wow, you did it all properly! I bet your daughters were very, very appreciative.
Not at all, one complained the HC Buns were too spicy and she hated my sourdough recipe [that I used for everything anyway and still tells hilarious stories about the farts that resulted from eating my bread]. The other hated the marzipan in the simnel cake [“Mummy, make simnel cake without marzipan puleeze”]. I don’t recall any complaints about the egg hunt though ……….
Oh dear, you can’t win with children, can you? But at least you tried.