I made plans to do all my cleaning/baking/pre-cooking on the Saturday before Easter but you know how plans go… We had company all day Saturday! Company that we really enjoyed. But boy, did that ever set me behind for Easter. But I got up early Sunday and got ‘er kind of done — enough anyway. Our guests were: my sister Sue from near Duluth, Javid from Orr, David, and Bill and his family from Kerrick. We had an all-homegrown feast of baked ham, garlic-whipped mashed potatoes (with sour cream and cream cheese, of course), carrots, green beans, rolls, etc. I even had some sweetened French soft cheese set out that we enjoyed with hot pepper rings and crackers. So nobody left the table hungry.

Easter was complicated as David had to arrive early so he and I could drive to Orr to pick up Javid. Since Javid he is disabled, he needs to be lifted from his wheelchair to the car and back out again at home. (Will’s back is better but not painless yet.) Then David had to work so I had to fix his dinner first so he could eat and run. The rest popped in about noon and I re-heated dinner for them. Hey, it all worked out great. We all took a walk down to the barn to show everyone how nicely the new barn is coming and to visit the cows and horses. Javid enjoyed visiting with Ladyhawk, our Friesian mare. She absolutely loved him and bent over to lip his jacket and face. And of course granddaughter, Ava, had a great visit with the cows, horses, and her favorite, Spencer. Our grandson, Mason, brought the radio-controlled helicopter we’d given him for Christmas and he amazed us all by flying it around inside the house. Wow — Our own drone!

Ava-Easter
Now it’s back at it again. I’m going to take the meat off the ham bone and add navy beans and can up a big batch of baked beans. Then the bone will be added to more beans for another batch of bean soup. Love those quick, meals in a jar! — Jackie

6 COMMENTS

  1. Your granddaughter is darling. Isn’t it a blessing to see our kids and grands carry on our interests and values. Being a grandma is the best.

    Thanks for sharing your ideas for extending meats. We love having a ham bone for beans and soup. YUM Have you done a cookbook on this topic. I would love ideas for extending beef or pork roasts and so on. I try to get several meals out of all my big meat cooking, but sure get bored with my standard recipes.

  2. Holly,

    Yep, Ava is my “mini-me”. She also loves gardens, flowers and animals. What fun we’ll have in years to come!

  3. Linda Bee,

    No, I baked the ham, then will take bits of leftover meat off of it to dice up and add to the baked beans I’m canning today. Then I’ll boil it to make ham broth and add more beans tomorrow to can up bean soup. (I’ll find more ham bits on that boiled, cooled bone, too, adding that to the bean soup.)

  4. Wow, Jackie! Ava has some of her grandma’s good looks! (She really does look a lot like you….!) I wish I were as competent at canning up leftovers as you are….I still can’t believe Ava’s eyes…..young Jackie!

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