What's more boring than sick kids? A toaster oven

Instead of more talk about my sick kids (back down to one, but the one decided to throw up)... I'm going to talk about my love for my new toaster oven (I'm tired, people. Give me a break.)

As my friend Julie said, "How did you live with out one? Especially with kids."

I agree.

I don't believe I've ever owned a toaster oven before -- not even in college. The regular, two-slices-at-a-time toaster started sending out small sparks, flames if you will, on occasion. I didn't rush out to buy a new one. I just unplugged it when I left the house. At the time, it seemed logical, but now it does seem a bit foolhardy.

The replacement toaster is a toaster oven from heaven (Costco). I've been baking, broiling, warming food to unnatural tempatures, making mini batches of biscuits. It sits all silver shiny on my counter.

How DID I live without this?

An Easter Miracle

Maybe, really good food does bring a family together. I made an Easter feast yesterday for my parents, brothers and us. Usually, I do most, if not all, the cooking, serving and then clean it all up. My family stays the required minutes to be polite and then they are gone.

But this year, as we sat down my father even exclaimed, "This is the most beautiful dinner I've ever seen. The colors and food look great." That's not like my dad. I'm not sure that's like ANYONE'S dad.

My brothers even cleared the table, rinsed dishes and put some in the dishwasher! It's an Easter Miracle!

I suppose I should give credit to the menu planning. I didn't do it. I just copied it from this month's Cooking Light. The food was good and it was beautiful. The Basil-Lime fruit salad was delicious.

Lasagna

I made a lasagna last night for dinner. This is not extraordinary news, I know. Many people make lasagna...

But I made it from scratch... Does that count for something? I made the meatballs from scratch (lots of garlic), baked them and then crumbled them in the lasagna.

I have to say it was pretty good. I don't think I have made (or ate) lasagna in years. Just fell out of the habit. But the husband and I were watching a Throwdown with Bobby Flay and the lasagna looked soooooo good. I had to make some.

I can see why most people don't make it from scratch. It took a good portion of the day. No 30-Minute Meal here!