in my family, a holiday with less than 10 dishes associated with it might as well not be considered a holiday. each year, the weeks leading up to easter are spent divvying up who is making what, from brunch dishes to appetizers to main dishes to side dishes to desserts to drinks to after dinner drinks to a meal for the dog to a meal for a stray cat that may be wandering the neighborhood… you get the jist. this year was no different. the same process ensued and not a single open space was left on the table, per usual. the meal basically started at 8:00 a.m., or at least that was when i started eating. oops. my first course consisted of chocolate eggs, marshmallow peeps and jelly beans. breakfast of champions is an understatement. about 10 minutes later, the actual breakfast began of various quiches accompanied by fruit. a nice precursor to the afternoon of noms ahead of me. from 10 o’clock on, the day is a blur. a very delicious blur of traditional, savory italian pies, to be specific. after munching all afternoon, sitting down for dinner seemed almost ridiculous, especially because we knew a light meal was not ahead of us. our dinner included both lamb and turkey flanked by oodles of steaming sides and any unfinished appetizers floating around, in case there wasn’t enough food already. naturally, i filled what little space was left in my stomach with the aforementioned options. luckily for me, a solid hour or so between dinner and dessert provided a sufficient refractory period before another round of sampling. on the up side, i won’t have to eat for the next week or so, just in time for my april vacation.

try not to drool….

xx gabby