Week 16

I was up early on Easter morning to make orange rolls, and as I opened the front door to let the dog out, there was a commotion in the road. Two vehicles with teenagers were stopped, engines running, and one teen was laughing loudly and saying how he had been up all night. He also appeared to be filming the car in front of him with his phone. I then saw why: three teens hopped out of the back of the other car, donned bunny ears, and started spreading Easter eggs all across our nextdoor neighbor's lawn. They hopped back to their car and drove away. Two hours later, the two little girls who live there were out in their pajamas, delighted by the magic in their front yard.

Later that morning, Joel and I packed up the orange rolls, got on our bikes and dropped the rolls on the front porches of our friends. We got home and took the dog for a sunny walk and stopped at the labyrinth that local artists set up by our neighborhood park. As we got back home, the nextdoor neighbor kid on the other side, a fifth grader, said they didn't get any Easter eggs this year. Later, he asked me to show him how to make a dandelion chain, so I did. After I went back inside, I panicked because I suddenly realized I had not stood the standard six feet away to show him how to make the chain. That guilt hung around me for an hour.

And so another beautiful and weird week began.

Recipes

There were the orange rolls, of course. I'm not sure when my tradition started in making them on Easter, but it's been at least six years. The recipe came from The Oregonian cookbook. (I'm lazy about posting recipes these days, but if you ever want it, you know where to find me.)

And almost exactly a year since the last time, I made these mini almond cakes with spiced chocolate from Milk Street Magazine. They are delightful. I've been having fun posting my baking process on my Instagram stories these past few weeks - feel free to follow along there, too.

Leek, asparagus, bacon and egg pizza, with mozzarella that apparently melted into oblivion

What did we eat for dinner? I can hardly remember. Pizza, I know. We had burritos delivered, too. Joel made a pasta for Sunday. We also had a tomato-y sausage mixture served on polenta. I had Monday off from work and made pasta with broccoli (and anchovies!) for lunch, which was exciting.

Reading

I read Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust this week, which was the kind of fiction I was apparently in the mood for. All the characters, save Tony Last, were just absolutely horrible but I loved the dialogue, the strange plot twists and the general era (though some parts did not age well).

Watching

On Friday, I tuned in to the livestream of Dance Church and had the most joyous workout/solo dance party in my living room. I've long wanted this to exist in Spokane (it's a Seattle gathering), and due to things being the way they are, it now does through the beauty of technology, open to all of us across the world. It's 50 minutes of loosely guided dancing, daydreaming, and stretching.

I also found the movie adaptation of A Handful of Dust on HBO, starring 28-year-old Kristen Scott Thomas in 1988, and watched it on Friday. I was pleased with how well it followed the book.

One night, I turned on Broadway HD and watched the entire production of An American in Paris, the new adaptation from a few years ago. It was so good. The movie with Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron has always been a favorite, but the new stage production incorporates more Gershwin and a bit more World War 2 context, as well as modern art. The dance/dream sequences were breathtakingly artistic and I was covered in goosebumps. I think Best of Broadway was due to send it through Spokane this year, and I hope it still gets here someday (here's a glimpse).

Are we still watching Frasier, you ask? Why yes, we are.

Making

On Monday, I spent part of the afternoon making myself a new makeup pouch. It was relatively easy, up until the end when I was finishing the zipper and cut it to the proper length. When you cut a zipper, you need to create a safeguard so you don't pull off the zip pull. I hadn't done that yet when I pulled off the zip pull. I cursed my stupidity, for making my zip pouch completely unusable for lack of a functional zipper. Then I took a deep breath and eventually was able to guide the zipper sides through the pull. And then I immediately sewed the tab on the zipper end. My father may recognize this liner fabric from a tie I made him.

I'm also wondering what November will be like, when there's an election and we know more than we know now. For those times, I'm knitting myself a new hat. Pattern: Tread by Very Shannon.

Listening

On Sunday, I was struck by how quiet everything was outside. Traffic seemed nonexistent as our grocery stores were closed and people were doing Easter at home. I couldn't even hear the distant rumble of the freeway as I usually do. I stayed outside as long as possible to try to remember this sensation. Birds chirped, leaves rustled, children laughed, dogs barked. It was a real treat.