Easter 2009 round-up

I'll keep this brief as I'm supposed to be meeting best-friend-K at the Nova in an hour. Easter 2009 was delightful, commencing with the traditional Good Friday breakfast of hot cross buns at Mum and Dad's place.


I'd stolen Mamma's scales to weigh out pizza dough ingredients the week before, so she had to guesstimate quantities. They came out fluffier than usual and she was somewhat displeased, but they still tasted fabulous.


Housemate DJ and b-f-K were in attendance, all of us still in recovery mode from the night before. Freshly squeezed orange juice, strong coffee and sparkling wine made the breakfast that much more civilised, and DJ's tales of last night's Epic Cloakroom Fail kept us mightily amused.


In the afternoon I went down to Merricks Beach for a spontaneous overnight beach holiday - always the best kind! - at the gorgeous Queenslander beach house our dear family friends P&A have just finished building (we were their first overnight guests). I loved the design of it so much, I felt I had to share photos here on the blog.


One of my favourite features of the Queenslander was the corridor that went around the outer perimeter of the building, with all the rooms nestled in the centre.


It's one storey but there are two pavilions, linked by a stunning circular decking area (with very comfy butterfly chairs).


A made mountains of bruschette. A couple of dozen of their friends (they have an extensive social network in Merricks Beach) dropped in late afternoon for a drink, and these were yummed up in no time.


I fell in love with their Sorrentina coffee machine purely for its aesthetic qualities!


The next morning we went to the Red Hill Bakery and picked up some chicken and chardonnay pies for lunch. On the way back to Merricks we stopped at a roadside stall and picked up a huge bag of fresh juicy cherry tomatoes from a local grower for $3. They made a more than adequate substitute for tomato sauce!


Then on Easter Sunday we did the big fancy lunch with my Italian grandparents back at Mum and Dad's place. The antipasti included bruschette, soppressa, labne balls, prosciutto and the last of the good figs for the season...


VERY controversially this year, Mamma announced she'd be making paella instead of the traditional Italian fare, as she and Dad were eager to christen their new paella pan.


Nonna inspecting the paella with a hint of distrust. :)


All the paella recipes Mamma had compiled seemed to contradict each other, so she just made up an amalgam recipe that worked an absolute treat. The soccarat (caramelised smoky crust that forms on the bottom of the pan) was soooo yummy!


Nonno at ease. After our mains, I was showing my sister Birdie something on my laptop, and Nonno started questioning me about it. He hadn't believed me when I'd told him I could use it to access the internet wirelessly, so I showed Nonna and Nonno YouTube for their first time: Nonno wanted to see the famous speeches of Martin Luther King, JFK and Mussolini, and Nonna wanted to see footage of Domenico Modugno singing 'Volare' at the 1958 Sanremo Song Contest, and Massimo Ranieri singing 'Rose Rosse'. Massimo Ranieri was such a cutie!


For dessert Mamma had made a lovely moist chocolate cake with prunes, served with strawberries marinated in Cointreau. Mmmmmm.


And to think I sometimes wonder where my overly-dramatic hand gestures come from! :)