Day 48, Good Friday brings home more Boothies and snow, no joke!

Noah put his shorts on this morning, but it was the wrong choice for the day.  A look out our front door tells the story...

 This is spring break!  Not going to mow the lawn this morning.
 

My little daffodil bowing under the weight of the snow.

My first tulips

  bordered in snow

I was planning to plant my garden this morning, but here is what it looked like in the a.m.  Changed my plans...I just hope it is dumping snow in the Cascades today.  We really need more snowpack to help the irrigation situation around here for the summer.  Without significant late-season mountain snow, a drought is predicted this year. 

This weather was crying out for a warm fire.  We gathered around the fireplace with hot cups of tea and the newspaper this morning.  Not your usual spring break.

breakfast menu:  cold cereal and milk

Cost:  $1.59

9 servings honey smacks:  .84

milk:  .75

Another vegetarian meal on the cheap.  Before this week garbanzo beans haven't been on the menu here in Noah's memory.  In the olden days of Sarah, Jane, and Hilary I had a friend from North India who taught me how to cook traditional Indian cuisine.   I'm resurrecting those recipes today.

Grill-toasted hoagie rolls are one of my favorite foods.

8 oz of sliced cheddar to top the hoagie rolls.

A kettle of curry

A picture of our living room with nothing on the floor except the dogs.  We had to memorialize the accomplishment with a photo.

Since the last of the retreat leftovers have been consumed, it was time for me to make bread.

I'm scraping the dough out of the mixing bowl. We do things on a large scale around here. 

Emily is helping me make 1/4 of the dough into orange rolls to celebrate the return of the twins, and the Easter holiday.

Orange sugar tops the dough, waiting to be rolled up and cut into orange rolls.

While Trudy baked the rolls, I went to sign my tax forms.  When I returned it was already time to eat, so I switched into high gear.  We ate boiled cabbage, garlic potatoes, fresh crescent rolls (thank you, Katie) and fried apples.  Vegetarian again.

Potatoes can be prepared so many ways.   They don't have to be boring.  These certainly weren't.  The entire house smelled richly of roasting garlic potatoes.

I had a few moments before the potatoes were done baking, so Kate and I had a contest about who could do apples the fastest.  I peeled and quartered, and she sliced up 7 apples before the fry pan was heated!  I fried up the apples in 1/4 cup butter, and added a few shakes of cinnamon and 1/4 cup of sugar, with a couple shakes of salt to bring out the flavor.  

 The apples stayed on low heat until we finished supper, then I dished them up with a touch of whipped cream for decoration.  A simple treat, but very special.

Twins are home.  Eppie gives a thousand licky kisses. 

Ray and Jane and baby G brought the twins safely home after a week's visit.  Our house is filling up tonight. 

 Noah is a tired boy, resting on his sister Sarah.  He had a big morning in the snow, and then a big afternoon after the snow melted, and then a big evening at the Good Friday Service and the Secret Lenten Society, and topped it off with the arrival of four family members and presents from the twins.  He sang an operatic rendition of "Edelweiss" for us all before he finally couldn't keep his eyes open any more. 

lunch menu:  curried garbanzo beans, bread and cheese with lettuce

Cost:  $2.09

garbanzo beans (2 cups when dry):1.00

hoagie rolls, toasted:  no charge, the last of the leftovers

8 oz cheddar cheese @ 1.50/lb:  .75

butter for toast, 1/2 cube:  .13

spices:  .20

salt:  .01

sliced tomato for Rodger's sandwich:  no charge, also leftovers

supper menu:  cabbage, baked garlic potatoes, dinner rolls, fried apples with whipped cream

Cost:  $2.56
cabbage, 1 head, chopped and boiled:  .78
chicken broth for cabbage:  .20
5 lb potatoes, diced and baked:  .50
1 tsp onion pwdr:  .05
1 tsp garlic pwdr:  .05
salt:  .01
3 tbsp canola oil for coating potatoes:  .09
crescent rolls, 1 batch:  .39
butter for the rolls:  .10
apples:  no charge, from orchard, held over in cold room
butter for frying apples:  .13
1/2 cup sugar for apples:  .04
cinnamon:  .02
whipped cream:  .20

Today's total, for 8 people:  $6.59
This day seemed like three days all wrapped into one.