An unexpected message

We’ve been going full steam ahead for the last few weeks with our spätzle business. On Sundays, our scheduled day off, we’ve either had to make product or have tried to get projects done around the house.

Last night before bed, I looked at the forecast and knew how I wanted to spend my day. I figured since it was going to be raw and rainy, I would relax and have a quiet day. 

We made one of our favorite diner breakfasts this morning, corned beef hash, fried eggs, and buttered toast. The most important part of this meal was that it would be leisurely with a hot cup of coffee. 

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Our mornings always make me feel like I am on a hamster wheel, starting with an alarm clock yanking me out of sleep. I guzzle a glass of water, pour a cup of coffee that I don’t drink until it’s lukewarm. 

I’m like a pinball bouncing around the house, getting ready for everything needed to be done before we start production. I gobble down either yogurt or a banana with peanut butter while feeding the dogs, emptying the dishwasher, and folding laundry.

After breakfast today, I started to menu plan for the week and make my grocery list for tomorrow. I included Easter into the menu planning, which took up more time than usual. 

My dinner menus for the week: Shrimp with Cornbread Waffle Grits, Mongolian Beef with Rice Noodles, Chicken a l’orange with Wild Rice & Green Beans, and Cheese Pizza with salad on Good Friday. We have always eaten pizza on Good Friday’s since I was a kid. 

For Easter, I decided on Pork Saltimbocca, Spätzle or Fresh Pasta with Asparagus & Frizzled Proscuitto, Lemon Tiramisu for dessert. I would also be making two traditional items, deviled eggs, and pizzagaina. I’ll post about mini pizzagaina next week while I am making it. 

I looked up my recipes and jotted down ingredients I needed, then remembered I had to get out my mini tart pans for the pizzagaina, which by the way, is an Italian Easter savory pie. 

I knew exactly where they would be and discovered only one of them; the others were missing. I immediately slipped into WTF mode and started looking everywhere. I used them the last time on Thanksgiving a couple of years ago but always put them back in my baking drawer. 

I gave up looking in the kitchen and went downstairs to the basement. By now, I was swearing up a storm and getting so aggravated with myself. I looked in this old metal kitchen pantry, the only other place I thought they could be. I asked St. Anthony to help me find them when I looked in the copy cat red apple cookie jar that belonged to my Mema. 

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I have one cookie jar on the top shelf in my kitchen, but Mema’s sister, Aunt Bertha, gave me hers as well. I took it in case the other one ever broke. There was some random shit in the cookie jar, including an old case for my contact lenses. Why that was in there, I have no idea. 

At the bottom of the cookie jar was a dollar bill that looked old. It was weird that a dollar would be in there, I looked at it, and the year on the bill was 1935, the year Mema was married. I can assure you I’ve looked in the jar before, especially since I’ve moved with it twice and have carefully wrapped both jars up. 

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When I was trying to decide what to make for Easter dinner, I thought of all the Easter dinners we had a Mema’s house when I was little. She always made ham with pineapples and cherries pinned to the outside of the ham with cloves. I decided not to make ham since it would only be Marty, me, and maybe Noah, who isn’t the biggest fan of baked ham. 

Of course, I started to cry because I immediately knew it was her. While it was such a pleasant surprise, it had me balling like a baby; the child in me missed her so much. I spent some time talking to her and thanking her for the special Easter message. My father passed away on Easter Sunday; that holiday is the hardest one for me to celebrate. 

I never did find mini tart shells. I have other ones that I can use if need be. Being open and always acknowledging messages from Heaven is so important. It baffles me how they do it; it must be tough work and a huge payoff when we recognize the messages. Thank you Mema, I love and miss you so much.