THE ECONOMIST

Hello everyone!  First I'd like to thank all that left well wishes and offered prayers in the previous post.  In world were the news has become ever alarming, it is so good to know that there are kind and gentle-hearted people still on this Earth.  You'll never know how much it means to me.

Now to get to the gist of this post.  This week being Easter, eggs are the lost leaders in many grocery stores.  So now is the time to plan a few meals around them and to stock up.  Did you know that you can freeze eggs?  Just lightly beat them to break up the yolk and pour them into ice cube trays and freeze.  Defrost in the refrigerator.  They last for six months in the freezer.  Since I'm a vegan and rarely bake these days (although I love to), I take advantage of the low prices and buy low.

Which leads me to my next point.  Never berate yourself by calling yourself "only a housewife".  Besides being a caregiver, nurse, chef, decorator, bookkeeper and economist, you are also a commodities trader when you buy low, such as these eggs.  Only you don't sell high, you eat well, and the commodities you invest in are groceries and clothing rather than oil and precious metals! 

There's many ways to prepare eggs; deviled, in a quiche, in an omelet, made into sandwich filling, or how about a plain old meal of eggs?  One of my favorite meals used to be an egg, sunny-side up with a piece of toast and a side of sliced tomatoes fresh from the garden.  Now if you can get farm fresh eggs and a loaf of homemade bread, why it's a meal fit for a king!

Now I'd like to direct you to the picture in this post.  I love Christmas cacti.   They are so reliable.  Well, when I was in the garden center of the Wal-Mart dreaming about spring, I spied these spring cacti.  Had to have one!  As you can see, the regular old Christmas cactus is in bloom too.  They are make a home so cheerful and inexpensive too, especially if you buy them the day after Christmas.

I have to admit that Easter is not a holiday that I spend a lot of time planning for in a celebratory manner.  For me it is more of a time to turn introspective. I think about the sacrifices that our Lord had to make for us and it saddens me that we are not more appreciative.  Is that strange?  However I always manage to have guest expecting something nice for lunch.  My standby  thrifty Easter meal has always been scalloped potatoes with ham, a nice big tossed salad, rolls and a jello salad.  I used to make the jello salads in individual molds.  The boys got a kick out of them when they were small.  To this day, whenever I see those little molds, it always brings back happy memories of little boys and family gatherings.  We never could afford a whole ham back then even if they were on sale, hence the scalloped potatoes and ham.  It only takes one of those ham steaks to feed a crowd.  For dessert we either had lemon meringue pie or strawberry rhubarb if it was up far enough to harvest a few stalks.  One other thing we had was a coconut orange coffeecake from Hamilton's Bakery if we had the funds and the good fortune to purchase one before they were sold out.  Now that we no longer live near by we have to rely on these muffins to get our  orange/sweets fix:

Orange Nut Muffins

1 2/3 C. flour
1/2 C. sugar
1 tsp.  baking soda
1/8 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
1/2 C. buttermilk
1/3 C. frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/3 C. butter, melted
1/3 C. chopped nuts

Combine the dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl, combine the egg, buttermilk, concentrate, and butter.  Make a well into the center of the dry ingredients and add the egg/ buttermilk mixture.  Stir until just moistened.  Fold in the nuts.  Fill 12 muffin cups 2/3 full with batter.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Remove from pans.  Cool slightly and ice.

Icing

1/2 C. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. orange zest
orange juice

Combine powdered sugar. zest and enough orange juice to make a glaze of drizzling consistency.  Drizzle over muffins.

I hope that you will all have a blessed and restful Easter surrounded by loved ones!

Love, Jane