Happy Easter Sunday, everyone. We hope it's a glorious day for us all. The Easter season always reminds me of the Resurrection and awakening. Living out here in the back country of Fish Springs, you see new life all around. Spring has definitely sprung.
It seems the older I get, the faster the seasons go by. I really used to love autumn the best, but now I can hardly wait for spring to arrive. My husband and I like to hike up the hill behind our house and look down on the entire north end of Fish Spring Flat. Sometimes, after a real wet winter like we had this year, millions of little flowers blanketed the hills around us. It was a gorgeous sight. Coveys of quail would scatter from bush to bush and hide from us and their little nests. They called out loud cackles and grunts of alarm. Just close your eyes and you'll see it, and hear it too.
Our two big, beautiful chickens have been laying large eggs almost every day for the past month. They had stopped laying eggs last November when winter was so cold, but now we get green eggs from our sweet Araucana hen and brown eggs from the production red. The eggs are so delicious and fresh - and I didn't have to dye my Easter eggs as they were already colored by God.
A favorite Easter tradition of our family, and probably yours too, is to hide all the eggs outside from the kids. We still have one young granddaughter living nearby so we'll certainly do that today. I think I'll be on the searching side with her, instead of hiding the eggs this year. That will make me feel like a kid again, and I like that feeling - my rebirth and my awakening.
And to really feel young again, I've got an idea for the upcoming April Fool's Day. I'm going to make my husband a special April 1st sandwich for lunch. I've made him this unique concoction before, but it's been 35 years ago so he's probably forgotten the unusual ingredients.
I start with his favorite bread, stoneground 100 percent whole wheat. I put spicy brown mustard on one slice and spread the other slice with sandwich spread containing lemon juice, onion, red bell peppers, pickles, pimentos, paprika, sugar, salt, vinegar and corn syrup. Next is a big slice of Swiss cheese and a large leaf of Romaine lettuce and a juicy looking slice of ham. The sandwich is complete.
The ingredient that makes it unique is the realistic-looking picture of a slice of ham. I use the paper picture from the plastic package and put it in the sandwich with all the other ingredients. It will probably take a few chewy bites before my husband even notices that something is definitely different with this ham sandwich. Happy April Fool's, honey!
-- Linda Monohan may be reached at 782-5802.
