Easter Decoration #ShadowshotSunday

Seen recently at a restaurant in our area.

 

This is perfect for an Easter #ShadowshotSunday.

Why not come out of the shadows and join up with Lisa at Lisa's Garden Adventure with your shadow picture? 

A Square Pie for Easter

 Yesterday (Good Friday) my spouse made a Pizza Rustica, a pie that somewhat defeated us the first time we tried to make it.   So we tried again.

This is a pie (as I've blogged before) from my spouse's childhood.  His mother baked this, and other special Italian pies, for Easter but we don't have her recipe.  The usual recipes have a double crust, but we are on Weight Watchers, so decided to skip the upper crust.  Some people use pie crust, and others use pizza dough for the crust.  In other words, this savory pie is easy to customize.

We didn't need a big pie, so decided to use 80% of the recipe we used in 2016.  Additionally, we no longer own a springform pan, so finally decided to try to make it for a 9 inch square cake pan, which we did have.

And now, for another episode of why I will never be a food blogger.

The cut back recipe we used: (sorry, metric readers, you are on your own)

1 refrigerated pie crust, brought to room temperature
3/4 pounds cooked ham, diced (other people use pepperoni, or salami, or a combination)
1 1/2 lb ricotta cheese (we used ricotta con latte, which is a creamy ricotta and seems rich, although it doesn't have more calories than whole milk ricotta).
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, diced
4 duck eggs (chicken eggs are fine; we just happened to have them)
1handful chopped fresh Italian flat leaved parsley
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan romano cheese

Ingredients -  I forgot to take a picture with the mozzarella cheese.  Anyway, moving on, spouse mixed all the ingredients together except for the pie crust.

 

First comes mixing ricotta with Parmesan Romano cheese.

Adding the parsley.

Adding egg and ham, and mozzarella.  Be sure the mixture is well combined.

Spouse then fit the refrigerated pie dough into the square cake pan.  It took a bit of work because you are fitting a round crust into a square pan.

Add the raw mixture. Cover with foil (because no upper crust).  Spouse baked at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes and then baked at 375.  Spouse took off the foil and let it brown.  He had to play with the temperature.  Afterwards, he may have done 350 for at least an hour and then let it brown without the foil

Baked result.  The light over the stove gave a yellowish cast.

When we serve it to family tomorrow, we'll find out how well this worked.

Wishing my readers who celebrate Easter tomorrow a peaceful Easter.

Music for Pet Owners #MusicMoves Me

 It's Sunday, it's time for a day of rest from the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, and, best of all, it's time for music!

Who are the Music Moves Me bloggers? We are bloggers who blog about music each Monday and if you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only-meaning at least one music video, please!)   Our head hostess is Cathy from Curious as a Cathy,  and she is joined by the knowledgeable Stacy of Stacy Uncorked, and little ol' me.  Our founder, Xmas Dolly, has stepped back from blogging for now, and would appreciate your good thoughts as she works through some health issues.

We'd love more music lovers to join our fun group.  All you have to do is join the linky above with a music post that contains at least one music video (there must be a music video).  That's it!

Each month, except December, we have a guest conductor. For the month of April, our guest conductor is none other than ME!  

For today, I am choosing the theme "In honor of Pet Owners Independence Day, let’s use songs with these in the title or band name  dogs, cats, birds, or pets in general.".  I normally post on Mondays, but I was having some problems with the theme and the A to Z letter of the day (noting that I chose this theme before A to Z was announced) so, why not bring some extra joy to this Sunday?

Bunny rabbits are associated with Easter, although maybe not this particular rabbit. Rabbits are also kept by some as pets - one of my cousins ended up keeping a rabbit as a pet for a while.  

So let's get started with Jefferson Airplane and "White Rabbit".

How can I ignore Danny Kaye and "Here Comes Peter Cottontail". This came from a 1971 TV animated special but, in a way, is timeless.

One more in the bunny category - Echo and the Bunnymen and "The Killing Moon" from 1984.  I didn't discover this group for a while, but when I did, it was love.  

How about we pick songs related to more traditional pets?

Let's lighten it up with Three Dog Night and "Celebrate". 

Stray Cats and "Rock this Town" from 1981.

There are people who keep chickens as pets, so I want to end today's set with a song I love - Psycho Chicken.  I've chosen this cover by The Fools because I think they did such a good job on it.

This next song isn't animal oriented, but because I included an Easter song, I am going to include a Passover song.  Here's Six13 and a Billy Joel Passover.

I will end today's post with two bird performances  First, a cockatiel, whistling Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Radio Gaga" while sitting on a Freddy Mercury statue.

Last, a cockatoo dancing to "Gangnam Style". This bird puts many human dancers to shame.

And that's a wrap!

Join me again next week for another installment of "Music Moves Me".

The Strangest Easter

Deserted streets. Almost empty highways.  Many stores closed.  A hush descends.

The birds sing and the wind blows, and it feels so strange.

Many people are feeling that right now as we find new ways to survive and thrive in our "new normal".  Today is Easter, a time when many families get together.  For years, we drove about 150 miles to have dinner with one of my spouse's cousins in a New York City suburb.

That's out.  We are left with our thoughts, a feeling of various emotions, as we spend time watching flowers starting to bloom, and spring unfold in upstate New York.

For my spouse and I, Easter was low key.  No family, although I texted with one of my cousisn and spoke to another on the phone.  I also texted with one of my spouse's cousins.

Easter dinner? Just the two of us, and I am grateful for the company.

These came from my late mother-in-law.

These cherry trees, early bloomers in a neighborhood near us, are courtesy of Mother Nature.

 It's a bit gloomy and breezy, but it is spring, and that is what matters.  The cherry trees bloom for just a short time, and we treasure their blooms for that reason.  We hope our social distance situation is temporary, too. 

Has this Easter been strange for you, too?

Sunday is an off day for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  I resume tomorrow, with the letter K.

The Continued March of Spring

This is a week of rebirth in the upstate New York community where I live.

Where mere days ago, trees were bare, they now are popping with color.  Bare ground is now covered with flowers.  Even with strong winds and a lot of rain, it is still wonderful to witness nature waking up and stretching herself out after a long winter's sleep.

The last of my bloodroot blooms next to a fence.

Brunneria, with its beautiful small blue blooms.

So many colors to choose from.  My yellow jonquils.

My pink hyacinth.

My white (with yellow throats) species tulips.

White hyacinths.

Today, the birds are singing and the sun is shining - for now.

Happy Easter to my Christian readers.
Happy Passover (already in progress) to my Jewish readers.

How is the weather for you today?

Blog Roundup #11 -Easter Sunday

Easter is relatively early this year.  Here in upstate New York, an early Easter usually means cold, dreary weather.

Not this year.

Today, in the Christian world, it is Easter Sunday.  To celebrate, I will feature some links to blog posts that discuss Easter from various viewpoints.

D. Parker blogs "Are you hungry for more?"  It's actually a lot more than Easter that she talks about - it's more about a relationship with food.  In fact, I've read that, in the United States, Easter has become the 2nd largest candy-buying holiday, second only to Halloween.

 Dr. Danny Simon blogs about an Easter theme from a religious point of view, but he asks a question that resonates no matter what our religion is.  It boils down to a discussion of mercy.

Mercy is also a topic of Alice's blog post about what she did on Good Friday (this past Friday).

If you celebrate Easter, I hope you have a wonderful day spent with friends and/or family.

This will be my last blog roundup until May, as I will be participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge next month. I hope you will join me and over 1,000 other bloggers in this annual event.