One of my favorite nieces and her son will be joining us for dinner tonight. On the way to grocery shopping today, Elegante Mother suggested that the next time my niece came to visit we should plan a different meal. It seems that we’ve done the same meal for them for the last several visits! I hadn’t realized. I’ll have to ask her what she has a taste for next time.
Tonight we’ll be having medium rare flank steak with broiled steak seasoning, lemon pepper and garlic salt, huge baking potatoes (and I’ll put out sour cream, butter, bacon bits and shredded cheddar cheese for those who want them), steamed cauliflower with browned bread crumbs and sliced green onions, roasted asparagus with Kosher salt and minced dry onion, Caesar salad, strawberries, and maybe chocolate cupcakes.
We rarely eat this way at home. Normally, I offer a much more trimmed down meal, with fewer condiments, and simpler veggies, but we seem to go all out for my niece and her boys. We’ll be hosting Easter in a couple of weeks. The preparation for tonight’s meal is similar to what we do for Easter, Of course, those who come to have Easter dinner with us will bring dishes to pass. Dear Husband and I will do all the cooking tonight. He cooks the flank steak and makes the Caesar salad. I clean the romaine, cook the cauliflower, roast the asparagus, clean and slice the strawberries, make the cupcakes, and clean the kitchen.
Hopefully, a good time will be had by all, and I’ll go back to lighter meals for the end of the week.

We’ve had several record-breaking warm days. I stalled on getting our spring cleanup started, and now I regret it. This afternoon our temps are going to drop from the 80s to the 40s as a cold front moves south over the Chicago area. It’s bringing showers that will come and go throughout the rest of the week. I can expect the ground to remain boggy.
On the other hand….. the squill and crocus are blooming, and some of the daffodils have opened. I’ve seen robins, and gold finches and house finches. The chives are easily six inches tall, and there are tulip leaves, day lilies, oregano, feverfew and one more plant that I can’t identify turning green in the herb garden. The honeysuckle along the lot lines and tree lines is leafing out. I think I may need to uncover the rose bushes before Easter.
We are all ready for a gradual warming that will lead to spring. None of us are completely happy about the yo-yo temperatures. We’d feel better if we could acclimate gradually, rather than being thrown into Summer with no preparation. Our climate is surely odd these days.