Christ is Risen! The Lord is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!
We are getting more work done on our garden and yard this year than we have in a long time. The blasted Chinese Elm tree is finally looking like it might be vanquished, and we have planted a pink flowering dogwood in its stead. It is the most I have ever spent on a tree in my life. They do well here, though, and are fairly cold and drought resistant, which is necessary for our hot desert summers and below zero frozen desert winters. Eventually, we would like to replace the evil honey locust bean tree weeds with purple beech, sugar maples, blue spruce, and maybe Russian olives, so we still have privacy on the ridge by the irrigation ditch, but we also have color. Rich and I have talked about planting around our house to permit eating outdoors and putting up a tent and having a space where kids can run around, but shading it all a bit more with deciduous trees and shrubs, so they provide lots more shade during the spring and summer, but are bare of their leaves, letting the sun and warmth in during the fall and winter. There is so much to do here.

This week is a normal, well as normal as things get right now, week for us. A few dishes and meals have been moved over to this week, because we didn't get to them for whatever reason. I had to push off the mejeddarah, because I still can't get lentils. I'm hoping to be able to purchase some soon. We used almost the last of our fava beans, too, and those are hard to get in this area, anyway. I miss my weekly knit night. I miss shopping not taking an extra hour because of the stupid Xs on the ground and everyone having to keep six feet apart. I miss a lot right now. It was a rough week. I really didn't think the stay at home order would be that hard for us, because only a few things changed, but the whole atmosphere of the world has changed around us, and that wears us down. We've had a few disappointments, too, on things that have been in the works for a few years that have to be canceled. It's nothing compared to many people, I know, but it does make normal life harder. Anyway, here is our menu, I hope you are all well and in good health.

• Sunday
  Breakfast: Cornish Splits, Fried Eggs, Loin Back Bacon, Bananas, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Greek Pizza with Salami, Kalamata Olives and Feta, Chopped Salad, Date and Carrot Cake
• Monday
  Breakfast: Labneh and Za'atar on Toast with Olive Oil, Green Baladi Olives and Sliced Radishes, Oranges, Milk & Coffee
  Dinner: Persian Chicken and Eggplant Stew, Arabic Style Rice Pilaf, Banana Pudding with Peanut Butter Whipped Cream
• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Cranberry Pecan Rolls with Orange Butter, Breakfast Sausage Patties, Milk & Coffee
  Dinner: Corned Beef, Colcannon, Cucumber and Onion Salad
• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Steel Cut Oats with Brown Sugar and Raisins, Milk & Coffee
  Dinner: Tomato Basil Soup, Cheese Zombies*, Homemade Samoas
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Corned Beef Hash with Potatoes and Onions, Fried Eggs, Toast, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Beef and Bean Layered Tortilla Casserole with Sour Cream and Roasted Pepper Salsa, Oranges
• Friday - Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles
  Breakfast: Yogurt and Jam with Toast, Fruit, Milk & Coffee
  Dinner: Potage Parmentier (Potato Leek Soup), Squash Rolls, Fruit Plate
• Saturday - Feast of Saint Athanasius
  Breakfast: Pancakes with Maple Syrup, Bacon, Fruit, Milk & Coffee
  Dinner: Pastitsio, Middle Eastern Chopped Salad, Kiflice*

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.


Linking to Menu Plan Monday

Labels: Church Year, Faith and Morality, Family, Fesah', Homemaking, Homesteading, Menu Plans, Pascha, Quarantine, Tales from the Kitchen