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Sunday, March 23, 2008

Easter Surprise!

Last night we got a phone call at 8:00 pm. Our daughter Lauren was on a bus from Florida to Pennsylvania (a 20 hour trip). The bus had made excellent time and she expected to get back to her college before midnight. After some fast talking, my husband Don decided to go get Lauren and bring her home for Easter.

I was sleeping when they got here in the wee hours of the morning but the whole house feels different knowing that she's up there sleeping in her bed. I crawled around the attic last night and quickly pulled out a few of the Easter decorations. Thank goodness I still had some pansies left from my spring planting.

Now it's time to make the traditional Italian Easter Spaghetti Pie. Since I'm not Italian I make it completely differently than the rest of the family so I guess it's not so traditional. I'll take a picture of it later, it's delicious and I'll share my recipe. It's an easy make ahead dish although today I'll make it right before serving.

Oh, if you are Italian and you are reading this and you think "I never knew spaghetti pie was traditional for Easter" you need to remember that I'm only talking about traditional for 4 generations Brooklyn New York Italian. Not Italians in Italy (a world of difference if you ask me and probably them too).

Happy Easter, it certainly will be one in this house!

11 comments:

Bek said...

Happy Easter to you and your family! I am looking forward to see that Spaghetti pie:)

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Cute little gathering melanie !
Glad your daughter made it home for Easter.
This spaghetti pie has me in shock .. can't wait to see the picture and recipe .. I have never heard of it before .. pie and spaghetti can't seem to join as one in my sugar saturated mind !
I do turkey .. pumpkin pie type meal .. yes .. sounds like Thanksgiving .. we just can't change it some how : )
Joy
PS .. are you SURE you have ENOUGH desert ??????? LOL

Robin's Nesting Place said...

I'm so glad your daughter made it home for Easter. I hope you have enjoyed your day with her.

Unknown said...

YAY! I hope you have lots of fun together. We do a Thanksgiving type meal for Easter too, but sometimes do ham instead of turkey.

Your meal sounds interesting, can't wait to see if it looks the way I imagine it.

Connie said...

Have a lovely day with your daughter!

Anonymous said...

I knew it was cause you were going to have a baby!!! I know exactly what you mean about having your children at home in their own bed. My kids are off on their own now and I sill miss them sleeping in their rooms. That is a nice surprise. I'm so excited for you! I cry too--every time they leave after a visit. I love your tablescape! I'm not a spaghetti fan but my dh would love it. He had spaghetti pie for supper. He get's it from a little restaurant not far from us. Happy Easter to you!!

Melanie Chopay said...

Bek, I posted the spaghetti pie, now I want to try to bake your Easter Eggs!

Joy, I'm so happy to have Lauren home but she woke up this morning with a fever of 103.5 and I'm so afraid she's coming down with the flu.

Robin, it was nice to have family unit all together today :-)

Cinj, we always love Thanksgiving food. After the spaghetti pie I served pork cutlets (tired of ham) mashed potatoes and spinach. I also made fresh little berry tartlets for desert but my mother in law preferred her store bought cheesecake.

Connie, I have one more day with her and then she's off to school again.

Anna, I made a tablescape for the kitchen table, the counter and the dining room table. Nobody here said a thing. One visitor put her shopping bag almost on top of the arrangement on the counter and the other put her stuff on my kitchen table.

Still, it was a happy Easter, if my Mom had been here it would have been perfect.

Melanie Chopay said...

Anna, this was like going on an Easter egg hunt. Phew, but it was fun :-) Yes, you figured out my secret, it was an Easter baby! Considering she's 5'9" tall it was quite a tough delivery...ok, no more Easter wine for me.

Unknown said...

You're too funny! Hope you didn't break anything.

WiseAcre said...

I hope you had a Happy Easter and that your daughter feels better already.

Our youngest went off on spring break. Mother's are a wonderful thing - my wife broke into her dorm room and left a surprise (with a note saying we missed her). So we got a call on her return last night. Mix a little love and guilt together and it's surprising how well the girls respond.

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

My mom has made that Spaghetti pie dish, but she just called it baked Spaghetti. For Easter, me & my family make an Easter calzone, which my people have traditionally called "pizza piena." Ricotta cheese, eggs, sausage, baked inside a calzone. Very labor-intensive, unlike your special Easter dish.