We have been a bit overwhelmed with the work of selling our tiny condo and helping our daughter relocate back to Miami to a larger place after living with us this past year, so we didn’t have our usual Easter celebration. Typically, Malcolm’s mom would dye eggs with red onion skins (they look just like the ones in the picture below) and I’d dye a few traditionally colored ones. We’d set a pretty table with dishes bought specially for the occasion at an estate sale many years ago. If they are available, I always add yellow tulips for the centerpiece.
After our meal of lamb kabobs (it’s been mostly beef and chicken for the past few years) a big pot full of rice pilaf and lots of spring salads tossed with tangy dressings, we’d play egg fight. I’m not sure where the game began and why, but somewhere along the way Armenian’s have claimed it as their own.
Everyone at the table chooses an egg, and then we go around the table, smashing into each other. When your egg cracks on both ends you are out of the game. If your egg survives, you go on to hit the next person’s egg, and so on. The last egg, unbroken on at least one end, wins the prize. Now, of course, a close inspection of the winning egg must be done by an elder member of the family to ensure a fair game. Clear nail polish is barely detectable by the way. Wink, wink 🙂
Even though there was no family gathering, no egg fight and not even a dyed egg this year, Malcolm made the day special for us. Morgan and I had spent most of Saturday afternoon and several hours on Sunday morning packing boxes and organizing everything in the condo for the movers to pick up on Friday. After texting that we were on our way home, tired and starving, we settled into the two hour drive.
Imagine our surprise when we walked into the house and noticed a beautifully decorated spring table and the aroma of delicious food wafting through the air. After taking a few minutes to shower and dress for the occasion, we sat down to an unexpected and very much appreciated Easter celebration. Too famished to even think of taking photos, I did manage to get one of the centerpiece on Monday morning. I added lemons and limes to the display after reading Erica’s post, “When Life Hands Me Lemons”. Leave it to Malcolm to make lemonade!
Signs of Spring
In addition to the photo of the yellow and white centerpiece, I am also sharing this recipe for the very festive and delicious tasting yellow beet salad Malcolm made. I wish I had thought to take a picture, but it looked much like the one I borrowed from the recipe.
Weekly Smile
An unexpected Easter celebration, the remembrance of family traditions and a thoughtful, loving husband is what made me smile this week.
To share your weekly smile, visit Trent’s blog here.
Donna, at Retirement Reflections just created an opportunity to share What’s On Your Plate on the first Wednesday of each month. Her share this week is Mediterranean Smashed Chickpea Salad which I can’t wait to try. I think Malcolm’s Spring Salad (link to recipe above) will fit nicely on her table.
Happy Easter
Picture Retirement 
Hi Suzanne – Happy Easter and I’m glad that you found a way to make it special – another lovely memory to add to the usual Easter traditions. I think we all faced changes with our family get togethers over the last year or so – making those changes into positive ones always brings a smile. Hope the last of the moving goes well.
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All the credit for making it special goes to Malcolm. I was fully expecting to come home to burgers on the grill served on paper plates. Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week.
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Happy Easter, my mother used to colour eggs with either onion skins or the yellow flowers from gorse bushes ….. prickly things that grew along the beach of our Cumbrian village. We used to have egg fights with other kids in our street too. The 1950s is a lifetime in the past!
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Dr. B. I am not familiar with gorse bushes, but I can imagine anything that produces color and isn’t poisonous works! Since I married into the Armenian culture, it is a game I was not familiar with, but have firmly embraced. There is something to be said for simplicity.
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I read Erica’s post, too. Lemons are such a perfect subject. I like your family’s egg game and will remember it. It sounds like fun. We did nothing in particular on Easter, considering we’re still not socializing, waiting for our shots. Best of luck with all your moves.
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Hi Ally, I was fully expecting to do nothing, as well. The timing of the move could not have been more inconvenient, but thankfully, Malcolm came through for us and made it special. I look forward to resuming the egg fight next year when we can get together with the whole family.
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With everything so odd this year, and doubly so for you with the moving, cool that you had a surprise Easter dinner.
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Trent, it has been an odd year and although we are grateful to have sold the condo, the timing wasn’t ideal. Like everything else though, we will get past it and carry on. Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be over to visit more smile entries later today.
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What a lovely gesture from Malcolm to make your Easter special! No big celebration for us this year but it was a great holiday nevertheless as on Good Friday we were able to visit my nephew and his fiancee in the garden of their new home (no indoor mixing of households allowed here yet). My sister and her husband came too. It was the first time we’d been able to see them since mid October, and the first family get-together since last summer 🙂
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Sarah, how nice that you could visit with your family. We look forward to resuming family celebrations beyond just the five of us soon. We are waiting for more family members to get the vaccine. Malcolm did step up big time and I can’t praise him enough for his efforts.
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I love your title, Suzanne. Many of us have happy memories of Easter. And Easter coincides with Spring for us in the Northern Hemisphere. A colourful season filled with hope and renewal. I have never heard about an egg fight before. I tried to envision the inspection and the clear nail polish. It sounds like lots of fun. Your Malcolm is a keeper.❤️ Thoughtful to make Easter special. I cannot imagine how tiring it is preparing for this move. Beautiful photos depicting Spring. Thank you for the shout out and my smile! 🙂
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Hi Erica, creative cheating is part of the fun with the egg game. In years past, each family represented at the gathering would bring one dozen eggs. The game could go on for hours, and of course, the laughter amps up each time a cheat is exposed.
Malcolm is indeed a keeper. Just when I think he can’t surprise me anymore!
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What a wonderful surprise, Suzanne. It sounds like the perfect thing to come home to after working and driving. The egg fights bring back memories, including one year of holding an egg in boiling water (with the little wire thing you used for dipping eggs in dye) in order to get the egg to settle at the tip. We only played on the narrow end..
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Dan, that is one I haven’t tried before. Thanks for the tip!
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Hi Suzanne,
Happy belated Easter…holiday traditions have been altered this year, but how lovely that Malcolm pitched in to make it special all the same!
We are beginning to do our own packing and organizing as we are off on a monthlong RV trip north beginning 4/30. Taking it slow and exploring some new places on the way.
Best, Nancy
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Hi Nancy, I can imagine how daunting that type of organizing must be – what to bring, what to leave behind? In the beginning, Morgan and I were careful to pack the boxes and label them neatly, but by the end, we were just throwing stuff together and labeling it Misc. It all goes to Storage for about two weeks, then she’ll have to sort it out at her new place.
I would love to be in your shoes with a whole month of travel ahead. Please share your adventures along the way. We are taking off for about 15 days beginning May 15th – some familiar places and some new to us. Can’t wait to get out there.
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What a wonderful Easter surprise – and a fantastic way to make lemonade out of lemons.
I totally get the part of being too famished to take food photos. This happened to me as well this year!
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Hi Donna, the beet salad is really colorful, and perfect for a spring meal. Can’t believe I forgot to take a picture. I guess that means he will just have to make it again!
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Even without the normal Easter festivities, I bet that this one will be remembered for a long, long time. Your husband really knows how to make the women in his life – and many of your readers – swoon.
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Janis, you gotta love a man who knows his way around the kitchen.
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Your husband is a sweetheart! How wonderful to return home after a long weekend of packing and organizing to find a special meal waiting for you…including flowers!
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and a table cover, and cloth napkins…who knew?
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You and your daughter completed the moving project, and your husband saved the day with a delicious dinner. Life is good at your house, and good luck with the sale.
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That’s about the size of it Judy. Her stuff will go into storage tomorrow and the closing is on the 15th. Fingers crossed that all goes well.
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I’m late reading this – it’s been a hectic week. Arriving home to a special surprise dinner after a day of packing is a wonderful way to celebrate. Good luck with the sale!
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You are not late Beth, I just posted on Tuesday. I hadn’t planned a post this week, (due to being busy) but when this happened, I had to share. I hope your week has settled down – unless it’s a good hectic! In that case, carry on! Malcolm and I will go to Miami this afternoon and greet the movers tomorrow morning. Still a few loose ends to tidy up, then we are done.
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Suzanne, I can imagine how you feel. It took a couple of years to sell but when we closed on a rental house last October I was so relieved.
Our hectic week has been mostly good. Everything happens at once.
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Suzanne,
I’m a little late too. We’re busy preparing for a four month journey starting next week and completing taxes, but I never miss your blog. I did dye some eggs for my Mom (93), but wrapping in onion skins is something new to me. Will look into it. Malcom has the rest of us guys feeling like we need to “up our game” a bit. He gets a gold star for a great job! Have a great weekend! Joe
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Hi Joe, like I said to Beth, not you, me. I was late with the post, but it’s nice to know you guys are paying attention. I had to laugh at ‘wrapping in onion skins;’ my bad for not being clear on that. You remove the red onion skins and boil them with the eggs to transfer the color. I’ll pass on your gold star to Malcolm. He certainly earned it! Happy trails….
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How thoughtful of Malcolm. Those are the loving gestures that make our lives so rich. And I love that you added the lemons to your centerpiece…both meaningful and pretty. I had never heard of the red onion skins to dye eggs. Thanks for the clarification above. I might actually try that next year.
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Christie, using onion skins is a fun way to dye eggs. You can also boil beets and then use the water to boil your eggs. It makes for a very rich color.Malcolm certainly earned a lot of Brownie points for his efforts.
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Suzanne, what a beautiful Easter salad; I’ll have to try it. What a thoughtful person Malcolm must be to have this surprise waiting for you. I felt quite blue this Easter because for the second year in a row we have been unable to get together with our kids to share a special meal. Where we live, we are restricted to gathering with household members only, so it was just the two of us. I tried to make it special anyways by baking two pies and dropping off one of them to my daughter’s family.
Jude
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Jude, we all seem to find ways to make special moments, even in these times. I’m sure your family loved receiving the pies. We are fortunate to have our daughter and her boyfriend living with us this past year, and Malcolm’s Mom lives in the neighborhood so all is well. We miss our extended family members who don’t live nearby but will catch up in good time. Almost everyone we know has a vaccine now, so we can’t complain. Wishing you well.
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Suzanne, Your photos of signs of spring are lovely. Malcolm put his love into actions with perfect timing and beautiful results. He’s so thoughtful. All the best with your condo closing and your daughter’s move.
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Natalie, Malcolm is the type of guy who lives by the adage that actions speak louder than words and that is one of the things I love about him. Today, Morgan and I took a day off and sent the guys to Miami to do the final clear-out. Almost there!
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What an amazing and thoughtful husband you have! I’d love me a Malcolm on Easter. 🙂 I’m glad you had a lovely meal and celebration after all. And that spring is offering smiles and chirps. Where are you moving to?
It’s too late to wish you a Happy Easter. Ours consisted of a nine-hour drive – day one – of our trip across the USA! So, no celebrations here. By now, we’ve made it safe and well to MA.
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Hi Liesbet, we were helping our daughter move her things into storage. We owned the condo, but she has been renting it from us for the past 8 years. We decided to sell it because she wants a bigger place and we don’t want to be landlords for anyone else. She recently leased a new place and will move into next week. Sorry for the confusion. Everyone needs a Malcolm on Easter!
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