It’s going to snow tomorrow. I’ve lived here long enough to expect one last round of snow shoveling in mid-April, and flurries for a few weeks after that. My parents once considered moving here and visited in late April to look at houses. As we were driving to a nearby town with snow blowing horizontally, I knew that Minnesota had lost out on that chance.
I’ve lived about 1800 miles distant from my family since I finished college, and therefore have created my own local “family” and holiday traditions in the places I’ve lived. Our Easter is usually a celebration of spring with our fellowship – music, stories, conversation, laughter, and food. Tomorrow we will meet online with some of theses folks who have watched Mari grow from 3 to 17. Toddler Mari used to hunt eggs on the grounds of the old one-room schoolhouse where we meet, and older Mari used to hide eggs for the little ones. Between the stay-home order and the snowstorm, it might be hard to make it feel festive, so I’m thinking that there will be a mandatory snowball fight in the afternoon.
I was leafing through a book that I was excited to find on the library discard shelf, Anissa Helou’s Savory Baking from the Mediterranean, and landed on Pan di Ramerino, Rosemary and Raisin Bread. When I read that it was an Easter specialty of Tuscany, and saw that it required only ingredients that are available in our pandemic-depleted kitchen and pantry, I decided that it would be our Easter breakfast. Helou writes, “In ancient Greece and later in the Roman Empire, rosemary was used as a remedy for coughs and liver aches, whereas in medieval times, it was used to repel evil spirits.” Sounds perfect all around.
Wishing you a joyful Sunday whether or not you’re observing a holiday, free of both coughs and evil spirits.
Anissa Helou was in the 4th episode of the new season of Ugly Delicious, which we watched last night. So it’s a coincidence to see that you are using one of her cookbooks. It’s very interesting how we, our society, are collectively learning so much about what is critical to a good life.
be well… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
LikeLike
Your bun looks delicious! April is autumn for us so the weather is starting to turn cooler for us. Perfect time to think about soups and slow cooker meals.
Enjoy your Easter.
LikeLike
I love rosemary–your roll looks amazing. Happy Easter, Happy Sunday.
LikeLike
Sounds like an interesting recipe. I would not have thought to put Rosemary with raisins. We also got snow yesterday for Easter. I am in Wisconsin and you just never know what Easter will bring here. Thanks for sharing your rolls!
LikeLike