What is for Easter?

Although we are not church-goers, Easter is a special day for us, as it symbolizes the rebirth in Nature and the constant renewal in our lives.

Easter breakfast was my favorite meal as a child. My mom used to buy a special Easter bread, which was the centerpiece of a beautifully arranged breakfast table with steaming hot cocoa and colored boiled eggs.

 

For this Easter, in addition to the colored eggs (I will try the Shake-n-Egg kit from our dollar store), I will make my favorite chocolates with walnuts. For breakfast, we will have some home-baked banana-oatmeal muffins (I will modify the recipe with 1:1 whole wheat to unbleached flour). 

For lunch there will be stuffed chicken or rice with chicken liver and cabbage salad. The recipes are included below.

As the weather report promises a sunny and warm Easter Sunday, there will be some gardening work, but also a few relaxing long walks. 


My first daffodils cheered up the garden just a few days ago and I am expecting a spectacular display of Spring flowers soon.


Happy Easter and happy Spring, everyone! Catch some sunshine this weekend.

Cabbage salad
Cut some cabbage, an apple (or a pear), grate a few carrots, mince a clove of garlic, add salt, lemon juice and olive oil to taste. Garnish with crumbled feta cheese and sunflower seeds. Optional: raisins.

Rice with chicken liver
The ratio of rice to chicken liver depends upon your taste. First, wash the chicken livers and boil. In another pan, soften one large sweet onion in two Tbsp of olive oil. Then add a cup of rice, stir it with the onion for 3-4 minutes and add water (refer to the rice package directions for the ratio of water to rice). Once the rice is cooked, add the livers, salt, crushed mint, and black pepper to taste.

Stuffed chicken
Remove everything from the chicken body cavity, wash the chicken well, and trim the fat. Prepare the stuffing with onions and rice. Soften the onions first, then add the rice (1/2 cup) and fry a bit by stirring the rice-onion mixture all the time. Add a cup of water, but do not cook the rice fully, as it will continue cooking inside the chicken. Season with black pepper, paprika, dried peppermint, and salt. Once the chicken cavity is filled with the rice, place the chicken in a pan, add some whole or halved peeled potatoes around the chicken, drizzle with olive oil and salt and bake at 400°F for 2.5 hours with foil on top. Remove the foil for the last 20-30 minutes of baking.