I have been traveling a lot lately so want to make it easy on myself for Easter. I bought a Spiral Cut Ham from Whole Foods (on sale) and some Asparagus, which I will roast. Sides will be Scalloped Potatoes (possibly store-bought, depending on my energy), sliced Pineapple and a Garbanzo Bean, Carrot and Mint Salad I will make ahead. My friend gave me frozen Croissants for Christmas from Williams Sonoma she says are amazing, so I will serve those to go along with dinner, along with some Mango Jam.

For an appetizer, I will make some Whipped Feta spread and serve it with baby carrots I have from Empower Farms and pita chips. Dessert is Angel Food Cake (from Publix) sliced and filled with lemon curd mixed with whipped cream and topped with berries and mint leaves. This idea for a Semi-Homemade Dessert comes from Sharon’s sister Sandie, who made it recently. It looks spectacular and should be pretty easy.

I’ve already set the table, an Easter Woodland theme, with pink napkins and green and white plates. I folded the napkins into a Garden Party design from a book I’ve had forever. I like to fold napkins for Special Occasions and this one is easy and also leaves a little space for a flower, silverware or a place setting.

It’s easier to fold the corners in on the diagonal and then put it squared off when folding under the two sides. You can also flip it up or down, depending on how deep the item you want to tuck it in is and I found it worked better turning the napkin inside out to start.

Happy Easter!

Up Next: Whipped Feta Spread

It was also used as an easy snack throughout the day. Other ideas for using leftover ham: a ham and cheese omelet, quiche, chef’s salad (with hard boiled egg), ham salad, on pizza with pineapple or a flatbread, thrown into Mac and cheese or other pasta dishes, in soup or beans; ham can also be made into delicious, homemade croquettas.

I’ve turned to my good old trusty and cooking-battered Fanny Farmer Cookbook for some of these classic recipes and I love this quote from my 1979 edition:

“It seems almost superfluous to make suggestions for using leftover ham, it has so many uses. In fact, ham is something you never want to be without. As a Virginia-born friend, Edna Lewis, said of her childhood: ‘Ham held the same rating as the basic black dress. If you had ham in the meat house any situation could be faced. On short notice it would be sliced and fried with special red gravy…The smoked shoulder was indispensable as a seasoning for other meat dishes; a slice would be added in to fried chicken, rabbit or quail. It was used also in boiled pots of cabbage, beans, watercress and black-eyed peas’.”

The Fanny Farmer Cookbook, 1979

If you have leftover ham, and can’t find inspiration in any of the above suggestions, this is a very easy recipe from James Beard’s cookbook, Beard on Pasta. I won’t make this because: #1 my family doesn’t like peas (I do) and #2 I have no peas. But ham and peas are a natural combination; farafelle (bow tie) pasta would be perfect for this dish, but most any short pasta will do. If you have no cream, you could just make this with butter.

Ham and Peas James Beard

Very simple. Pour a cup of heavy cream into a saucepan. Let it cook down and thicken slightly, and add some peas and bits of ham. Pour over hot noodles and sprinkle on quite a lot of grated cheese.

Now, if you have leftover hard boiled eggs, the logical first choice is to make egg salad with them. I love egg salad and, once again, turned to my Fanny Farmer Cookbook for the recipe, which used eight of my eggs. Other options: chopped and served over cold asparagus in a vinaigrette as a salad, in Asian soups and noodle dishes, sliced on toast and covered with Bechamel sauce, as part of a grain bowl, or sliced and served on a savory oatmeal. They are also good just sprinkled with toasted sesame salt and eaten out of hand.

Deviled Eggs are pretty much the little black dress of the egg world. Everyone loves them, they’re first to go at potlucks and are endlessly adaptable. They can be mixed with curry powder, chopped scallions and topped with chutney, mixed with siracha and topped with cilantro or chives, mixed with truffle oil and topped with caviar, mixed with Buffalo sauce, chopped celery and topped with blue cheese, or served Bricktop’s style- topped with candied bacon.

Here’s my mother’s recipe for a classic deviled egg.

Deviled Eggs Lyla Lee Rice

• 12 hard boiled eggs, shelled
• 1/2 mayo (Hellman’s)
• 1/4 cup Miracle Whip
• 1 1/2 tsp. hot dog mustard
• 1 tsp. grated onion
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3 T sweet pickle relish

Peel eggs. Slice eggs in half and remove yolks. Mash and add other ingredients. Use a pastry bag to fill egg halves for nicer presentation. Decorate with paprika, chopped parsley or pimento. Makes 24.

If you have both leftover ham and hard boiled eggs, you have the making for a classic Chef’s Salad. If you don’t have all of the ingredients, don’t sweat it. As long as you have lettuce, ham, eggs and dressing, you’re good to go. This recipe, from Fanny Farmer Cookbook, says “This is a main dish for a summer evening or a lunch.”

Chef’s Salad Serves 4

• 1 head iceberg
• 12 radishes, trimmed, sliced
• 2 stalks celery, julienned
• 1 1/2 cups French Dressing (recipe below)
• 4 tomatoes, peeled, cut into 6 wedges each
• 3/4 cup Swiss cheese strips
• 1 cup cooked ham, cut into strips 1/8 inch wide
• 1 cup cooked chicken or turkey, 1/8 inch wide
• 4 hard boiled eggs, quartered
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Core the iceberg lettuce and save four outside leaves for the bed in which to put the salad. Place them around the edges of a large salad bowl. Cut or tear the remaining lettuce into bite-size pieces, place in the bowl and toss with radishes, celery and half of the dressing. Arrange the tomato wedges around the inside edges of the lettuce. Combine the cheese, ham and chicken, toss and spread it over the lettuce and vegetable. Place the hard boiled eggs between the tomato wedges. Salt and pepper lightly over the salad. Spoon the rest of the dressing over the salad.

French Dressing

• 2 T vinegar
• 1/2 tsp.salt
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

In a small bowl mix the vinegar and salt and let stand a few minutes. Add the pepper and slowly stir or whisk in the oil. Taste for acid and salt and add more if too bland. Stir to blend before using or store in a jar with a tight lid and shake before using.

Up Next: Foods to Fight Viruses

The highlight of the week was seeing my grandson Wyatt for an early Easter egg Hunt on Friday. I hadn’t been able to see him, up close and personal, for a couple weeks but since he was leaving for North Carolina the next day, to see his other grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins, A.J. decided it was silly for me not to see him. He arrived in his Sunday best, saying “This is the best day ever!” He had a great time finding the 11 hardboiled dyed Easter eggs and 30 plastic eggs hidden around our backyard.

I changed his clothes (he said he was uncomfortable), fed him Spaghettios for lunch and Zeke and I took him down the trail to look at the stuffed animals neighbors have placed in the trees for children to find during their bike rides. The trail is a couple blocks away from our house and Wyatt kept asking “When am I going to see the animals?”

I said “Wyatt, you have to be patient. Do you know what that means? Sometimes we have to wait a little bit for things.”

This made me think of all of us in the pandemic. It’s been so hard to be at home, to not go out as we used to, to not be able see our friends and family and to self-isolate. But, we too, have to be patient. Of course, it’s not the same when what you’re waiting for is within sight and a couple blocks away. We have no idea how long the pandemic will last and if the world, as we knew it, will ever go back to normal.

The other exciting news our family had this week was that Lauren, my oldest stepdaughter, got into University of Florida’s LLM program for getting her Masters in Tax Law! Yipee! We cracked open the proscecco (although that’s not been that different than every other night the last month) and toasted her acceptance. Now we have to adjust to the fact that we’ll have a Gator in the house. Zeke noted she’s graduated as a Seminole, soon to be a UM Cane graduate, and now UF. Go Gators!?!

I finally got up the nerve and stepped on the scale. I was relieved to find I was the same weight before COVID-19! About five pounds (at least) from where I want to be, but still! I consider this a minor miracle, given the stress eating, boredom eating, take-out food and excessive wine drinking that’s been going on.

When I mentioned this fact to Zeke he said:

“Well, then we need to cut out this” and pointed to his wine glass.

“Are you crazy?” I said. “You are NOT taking away my wine!”

I told him I attributed not losing weight more to eating ribs, pizza and pasta than my wine drinking. I’ve been mixing up the Pinot Grigio with Sauvignon Blanc, Rose and Sparkling, with a little Albarino thrown in for good measure. I get bored drinking the same wine all the time.

Speaking of wine, Total Wine has a great method for getting your wine. You order and pay online. They send you an email when your order is ready to be picked up. You drive to Total Wine, park in one of the designated spots and text them the spot you are in. They will then bring out your wine, stick it in the trunk and you’re set to go. No contact whatsoever and you’ve got a week’s worth of wine that will probably last you three days.

The other new thing we tried was DIY pizza. I had a gift card for Farinelli 1937 in Coconut Grove that I wanted to use. I called up and ordered one pizza special (Truffle pizza $30) and one do-it-yourself pizza (prociutto with arugula $14). Zeke picked them up and brought them home. They give you everything you need to make your own pizza, including the flour. We had a pizza stone which we heated in the oven, while we held the Truffle pizza on low. Our do-it-yourself pizza turned out awesome! I liked it better than the twice-as-expensive Truffle pizza. This isn’t as easy as take-out, since you do have to cook and clean up yourself, but it’s worth trying.

Another big hit was ordering the Family Meal Deal from Sports Grille. For $50, you get a rack and half of ribs, pulled pork sliders, French fries, Cole slaw, macoroni and cheese and Texas toast. It fed six of us with leftovers, so it was a good deal. The Mac and cheese, however, was straight up Kraft from the box. Pick-up was curbside.

Other DIY Miami Restaurants:
Eating House has Pasta Kits. Pollo Tropical has Citrus Marinated chicken. Nave in Coconut Grove has $25 pizza kits. Coyo Taco in Coconut Grove has a Family Pack from $25 to $34. Chug’s Diner in Coconut Grove has Meal Kits for $60.

I’ve been cleaning religiously every morning, the countertops, knobs, light switches etc…

“You know I read this article on MSN,” Zeke told me, “You’re supposed to let the spray sit on the counter for at least 10 seconds before wiping it off. And, when you wipe with paper towels, you need to keep folding it over for every knob, so the germs aren’t transferred from one to the other.”

“So, do you want to start doing the cleaning?” I asked.

“No, I’m just letting you know what I read,” Zeke said.

Yeah, thanks. Likewise, when I’m cooking, he has a tendency to look over my shoulder and make recommendations. When I boiled salted water to put asparagus in for Easter dinner, he pulled out the steamer.

“Steaming is a better way of cooking asparagus,” he informed me.

“Do you want to cook then?” I asked.

No, he didn’t. He just wanted to tell me how to do it.

Easter was a small affair, with just Zeke, Lauren, Rachel, Emma and myself. We had a Publix spiral-cut ham, biscuits, asparagus with lemon sauce, sweet potato soufflé and fresh pineapple salad with raspberries. No one had room for dessert, but we have plenty of leftover ham.

My big outing this week was to CVS for my medicine. I know I should’ve had it delivered (since medicine is an essential need, CVS will deliver it) but I didn’t get my act together in time, so I just went to pick it up. There were signs posted at the entrance saying customers were required to wear masks. I had my mask on and surprise!, so did everyone inside, from customers to staff. In Miami, this kind of compliance is a minor miracle. After picking up my medicine, I ventured into the hair coloring section to look for a tip kit for my hair, which is getting darker by the day. None of the kits looked familiar to me, from when I used to do my hair, so I gave up and went to check out.

The cashier was situated behind a plexiglass window, with a narrow slot in which to slide items. This made it hard to scan some of the bigger items, like my Epsom salts. I had a question about a BOGO, so the manager came up to check on it. He had gloves on, but no mask and stood inches away from me. Likewise, a customer in the checkout lane next to me had no mask on.

“Aren’t people supposed to be wearing masks?” I asked my cashier.

She couldn’t understand me, because of my mask, but finally told me, yes they were.

They are calling these people covidiots and I’ve encountered more than my fair share, like the skateboarder who passed Zeke and I on the sidewalk when we were walking, then doubled back and passed us going the other way. We were near Epiphany Church and hopped up the hill to evade him. He almost seemed amused at this, like he was getting his jollies out of scaring these old people. Some millennials are calling the coronavirus the “boomer remover”. Thanks millennials.

I’ve been looking around my house and noticing things that need to be fixed up and organized, so I ordered a drawer organizer and rubbermaid storage containers for my kitchen and hangers for my closet. My housekeeper has a very specific way of folding my underwear, so I took out a pair to figure it out so I could replicate it. It may be a Marie Kwondo thing, I’m not sure.

Besides that, I REALLY miss my housekeeper Isa. Big, fluffy orange hairballs from our cat Eloise have started accumulating around my house. These, Isa normally took care of with her huge, industrial strength vacuum cleaner. I don’t even have a vacuum cleaner, so I’ve been trying to make due with my dust buster, which I recently ordered on Amazon.

Speaking of Marie Kwondo, I haven’t read her book but did read an article online that said to start with organizing your desk, specifically with your pens. She said, oftentimes, pens we have on our desk are just junky, give-aways, not pretty or fluid pens that “spark joy”. I looked at mine, and sure enough, my pen holder was filled to the brim with crummy pens I’d picked up from one place or the other. I went through each one, testing how it wrote. If it didn’t write easily or hold a good memory for me, I tossed it into a pile for the Vets of America.

They aren’t collecting items now, but I will have a big bag when this whole thing is over. One thing I was going to donate, but decided not to, was a white cotton tablecloth that belonged to my grandmother. It had a lot of rips and holes in it, but I decided I may as well sew it while I’m watching T.V. As I sat in my rocking chair watching The View, the lacy tablecloth draped over my lap, it reminded me of a doll of a little old lady sewing lace, my grandmother had brought me from Brussels.

Other projects I’ve been doing: I made applesauce out of apples that were getting wrinkled, made quick pickles out of a cucumber and made more homemade ricotta. I’ve also been saving the bottoms of Romaine lettuce, celery, scallions to grow in the kitchen and the top to a pineapple to plant. My garden’s looking good and I had a UF Journalism student (Carla) come over to film it for a student project. I talked about how it’s been comforting to have gardening as therapy in the pandemic, as well as a practical source of fresh food for my family.

Alcohol sales are up a lot, Tiger King has a new episode and people apparently are having weird dreams during the pandemic. I had a dream the other night that I went on a cruise with my sister Kelley and sister-in-law Becky. As we got on board our cruise, we were surprised by some friends that had come along for the trip unexpectedly. I’m not the Dream Doctor, but I have a feeling that means we’re all on this crazy ride together. We thought we were going for a three hour tour, but it turns out we’re all stranded on this desert island, for who knows how long? But it’s nice to be here among friends.

Up Next: What to do with Easter Leftovers and Foods to Fight Viruses