Happy almost mid April!  How did we get here so fast?  I hope you all had a lovely weekend.  We celebrated Easter this past weekend and it was truly fabulous!

We had perfect weather (which never happens) the best company and amazing food (those last two always happen).  But it really just seemed extra great this year!

So…  I’ve got a lot to do.  We actually have a start date on construction.  Did I tell you we are turning two bedrooms into one master suite?  We went from not hearing anything for 2 months to “we can start on April 17th.”  Um… ok.  Great!  But now it’s crunch time.  They are starting in the room that I have ALL my stuff in.  So I have to move all of that by Monday.  That’s a big task.

Also, my cousin made this amazing art piece for her house.  I’m 100% going to copy my brilliant baby cousin.  I want to get that done before they start work on the house.

I took a few days off of laundry and somehow it multiplied exponentially.  How does that happen?  I should be done in 2026.

I need to make egg salad (p. 17 in your cookbook) and deviled eggs (p.62) with all our dyed Easter Eggs.  Also, no matter how many videos you watch about dying eggs with whipped cream/cool whip and food coloring, IT DOESN’T WORK.  Never. Again.  Thank goodness I had some good old Paas on standby.

I need to work in the yard so bad.

However, despite all the things I have not yet done, there is a long list of things I have accomplished recently:

1.  Everyone is still alive in my house.
2. I filed our taxes today.
3. I went to my annual check up.
4. I’m posting a blog.
5. I planted herbs in my pots and some flowers around the mailbox.
6. I’ve done some laundry.  Some things are clean just not put away.
7. I got the girls to taekwondo and cotillion last week and I’ll do it again this week!
8. I found the growth chart stashed in the basement and remembered to get a treat for my girls for their 1/2 birthday.  Remember, I will look for any reason to celebrate so I can eat a dessert.  This year it was Crumbl cookies.  Also, the girls have almost outgrown their growth chart.  They are both over the 5ft mark now but I think we have a few more inches before they are off the chart all together.
9. I’ve made some good food lately.

I’m having a good perspective day today.  I have A LOT to do.  It feels overwhelming.  But I have also done a lot.  I haven’t just been sitting here doing nothing.  Sometimes I think we need to remind ourselves we have accomplished a lot even if everything isn’t yet finished.  I don’t have this perspective often so I’m going to pat myself on the back for it today.

Cooking Info

I have been making good food but no time to photograph and post recipes.  Last night I made Ina Garten’s (a.k.a. my hero’s) Baked Shrimp Scampi.  I didn’t follow the recipe exactly but it was pretty close.

I made/used more marinade than she suggested, bought peeled, deveined and tail off shrimp. I didn’t butterfly the shrimp.  I used our family breadcrumb recipe (p. 108) instead of panko.  I also skipped the shallots (because I didn’t have any) and switched out the rosemary for a little dried oregano instead.  I like oregano and lemon together, like in the lemon chicken on the grill recipe (p.94) that I made the night before for dinner.

I boiled some linguine and served the scampi over that.  The extra marinade (that ends up being cooked with the shrimp; don’t get nervous) is perfect as a light sauce for the pasta.  Just enough so the noodles don’t stick together.  It was a hit!  E asked that I make it every night for dinner.  No.  But, it was easy and can be made ahead.  I might make it the next time I host bookclub.  We shall see.

I hope you all are well and enjoying beautiful weather like we are here in STL.  This will undoubtedly be our most beautiful week of the year.  Highs in the high 70’s/low 80’s, not humid and no rain.  You have to enjoy it while you can!

Ok, that’s it for now.  Wish me patience during this home renovation.  It is not a virtue of mine.