An Easter Like None Before

I'm sitting here, still in my pajamas this morning, savoring the sunrise service we "attended" this morning. In this new world we are experiencing now, all of the Easter services we could have attended were cancelled. In their place there were a myriad of online options. We chose the sunrise service at Pretty Place, a camp chapel that sits on the side of a mountain facing east. How beautifully timed the simple service was, making sure that we saw the sun come up just as the sermon and music ended.

This camp holds good memories for our family. I chaperoned school group trips there for both daughters when they were in middle school. We spent several nights at the camp with nature activities filling the days. It is also where J-Daddy proposed to Mommy. It was good to "be there" again this morning.

Like everyone else we know, we are home alone on this Easter. No family here to sit around the table for an Easter dinner. No family photo beside the flower cross in front of our church. No little girls shrieking with delight as they race around finding Easter eggs after church. But none of these things we are missing stopped Easter from coming.

Jessica's table set with her great-grandmother's china.

Friend Joanne was going early this morning to adorn the cross at church with fresh flowers. In normal times church members add flowers to the cross as they arrive for the service. Today it will be decorated by one. For those in town, they can still ride by and see the beautiful cross transformed from its somber black drape into a vision of spring's glory, a sign of God's grace.

Instead of family around the table, we are delivering Easter dinner to my sister and brother-in-law. I promised we would drop it off at their door, providing "contactless delivery" just like Pizza Hut advertises. And I'm sure that later we will swap photos of Easter dinners and Easter activities with both daughters. I imagine the Easter Bunny still came. 

Like so many other grandparents we are missing the grandchildren. We will be thankful when all of the restrictions are lifted and we can smother them with hugs and kisses. But until then we will give thanks for the current technologies (that we may or may not have complained about in other times) like FaceTime and Zoom and text messages that let us stay in touch, and even see what's happening in their houses.

My menu is a streamed down version of what I would have done if I were feeding all 9 of us. (New baby makes 10, but isn't old enough to eat yet.) But we will still have the basics. The ham is in the oven now, making the house smell delicious. I planned ahead and made potato salad and deviled a few eggs yesterday. There are no recipes for either of these dishes. I just make them like my mother did. 

But I did look up recipes here on the blog for baked pineapple and the ham glaze. I have plenty of canned pineapple in the pantry. And glory be, the ham glaze calls for a tablespoons of pineapple juice. I had forgotten that. So those two recipes work hand in hand. 

EASY BROWN SUGAR-MUSTARD GLAZE

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon pineapple juice

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients until well blended.

Brush glaze over ham during last 45 minutes of baking. 

Can also use glaze on pork chops or pork roast.

I had bought a fully cooked, bone-in ham on my first online grocery order. We are following the directions on the label, baking it for 20 minutes per pound at 325 degrees. I scored the outside and covered it loosely with foil for most of the baking time. Daddy-O will add the glaze for the last 40-45 minutes and leave the foil off to finish the baking.

BAKED PINEAPPLE

1/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 (20-oz) can of pineapple chunks in juice, drained (reserve some of the juice)

3 tablespoons of the reserved pineapple juice

1/2 cup crushed Ritz cracker crumbs

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a 1 quart baking dish. (Mine was 6 x 9-inches)

In a bowl, stir together sugar and flour, then stir in cheese. Add the drained pineapple chunks and stir until well mixed. Pour into baking dish.

In another bowl, combine cracker crumbs, melted butter and reserved pineapple juice. Stir gently until combined. Spread crumb mixture over pineapple mixture.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.   This can be easily doubled.

While the ham is baking, I'm headed to get dressed and pull out the ingredients for the two recipes above. Both are quick and easy. Then after our meal delivery we will come back home and enjoy the rest of our Easter Sunday. Easter 2020–unlike any other Easter. 

So from here at Buckner Hill Farm, we send you the best wishes for Easter, the holiday that is a celebration of hope. We need all the hope we can get right now. Take a minute and enjoy our own personal Easter sunrise that happened right outside our back door.