Easter Sunday!

Today was Elijah's 3rd Easter and Jonah's 2nd. All in all I'd say we did great. We had friends over and we all went on an egg hunt, ate waaaayyy to much and then dyed some eggs. Followed by more eating and conversation. It was a great day. I don't deserve Jesus walking to that cross, and I do not deserve to have my sins hung on an innocent man but I am thankful he did so.

The boys loved their Easter baskets. Pretty much everything Cars2 you could imagine was involved. I was kind of proud that other than 1 bunny each we didn't fill them with Candy. That was my goal. As it is I have a hard time getting the boys to eat, I want to use any and all room in their bellies for wholesome snacks and treats. We (and I do mean the Easter bunny) managed to cram lots of outdoor fun in there. Kites, Chalk, and bubbles. We added some indoors fun with toy cars and coloring books as well. They also got some bath soap and fruit snacks. I'd say it was great!

After hunting Easter eggs I took the candy filled eggs over to the neighbor boys. At least the ones Elijah and Jonah received. I had seen them watching us hunt, and thought I should share the candy. My two got plenty this year, and truth be told I kind of like making others smile. Their Dad came over about 3 minutes later to thank us and tell us how much he appreciated us because "You just don't see that anymore, no one is nice to each other these days". It's so true. I want my boys to be raised better than that. Of course I don't want them to be oblivious to the dangers of the world but how can we possibly be a tight community if we don't even know each others names? The boys next door seemed to like it, through my open kitchen window I could hear "Awesome this one has jelly beans" and "Oh look, gummy bears!". It made me smile, and I know it made them smile. Although my guys are too young just yet to know they gave their candy away, I like to think their happy too. For Elijah it was more about finding the egg and handing it to Dad to find another. Jonah just wanted to eat Jelly beans from his first find.

I made a huge feast, literally. There was enough to send home food with each person and still have some left overs for our fridge. I'd say for my first time cooking a ham I did pretty well. I made Mac and Cheese, Mashed potatoes, Veggies, Veggie trays, Stuffing, Short Cake with strawberry sauce, Banana bread, and drunken apple tart. As promised bellow is the tart recipe. Otherwise, I am heading to bed. This Mommy worked really hard today.

Drunken Apple Tart:

Crust:
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter
4 Tablespoons cold beer (I used Corona, it's just what I had)
1/4 cup sugar

Blend all together until incorporated, but do not over mix. Press into pie pan.

Filling:
6 Medium Apples, cored and sliced
8 ounces blackberry Merlot
1 ounce flavored vodka (I used apple, but really any will do)
1 cup Sugar
1 Teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 Cinnamon sticks OR 1 Tablespoon cinnamon (Make sure to remove sticks after simmer, before placing filling in pan)
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons molasses

~ Add all filling ingredients to large stock pot. Simmer for 45 minutes on medium heat stirring often. Apples will become soft and sauce will thicken to syrup form. Reserve 4 tablespoons of syrup for topping. Remove cinnamon sticks if used and pour into pie pan over crust mixture (raw). Bake on 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes and remove from oven. Cool before serving.