'Twas The Night Before Easter

For the life of me I can't believe that it's already Easter. I also can't believe that it's so early in the day and I'm finished baking. This is entirely because of the help provided by my mother. A few months ago she mentioned that she would like to come over and give me a hand with my Easter baking. The result was her arriving earlier today with the intent of being my assistant baker. It was our first mother-daughter... err... mother-son baking day :).

I'm not used to baking with anyone so it was quite strange at first. More than a few times I threatened to send my mother home because she couldn't sit still :). But we soon settled into a groove and she was quite a big help, especially with the between recipe clean ups, saving me a tonne of time. I typically don't finish baking and cleaning up until well after 7 or 8pm. This time it was more like 5:30.

Not everything went super smooth, there were some technical issues with ingredients and processes, but I suppose that should be expected from two people who aren't used to working together in this fashion. Not to mention that I'm not really used to being "the boss" :). I usually help my mother with Sunday dinners but she does all the work, I just cut and chop. It was quite strange to be on the other side.

Despite the small hiccups, we came out of the kitchen with a (hopefully) delicious assortment of baked goodies.

In the image you can see my Cranberry Poppy Seed Loaf, my Crispy Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies (which didn't turn out exactly as they should, due to one of the above mentioned mishaps); a slightly adapted Oatmeal Scotchie Bar (pan on the right), courtesy of Peabody; and a slightly more adapted Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Cookie Bar (pan on the left), courtesy Two Peas and Their Pod. As an extra special addition, we (though mainly my mother), made a Challah Bread from Smitten Kitchen. It looks insanely good, and smells even better. I can't wait to break into it tomorrow.

So that's that. Tomorrow will be a day of great family and great food; mostly prepared by (one of) my amazing Grandmother(s), with appetizer highlights by my auntie C; and dessert additions by my auntie J (they know who they are :)).

If you celebrate it, I hope you have a wonderful Easter; otherwise just have a wonderful day hopefully with family and/or friends (and lots of food :)).

~Adam