The days are passing quickly

Freshly squeezed tangerine/grapefruit juice from the neighbor's trees

Tomatoes, basil and fresh mozzarella

 The oleander are especially pretty right now

I thought I'd share a few pretty colors around the house with you.  As if I haven't already, I am going to take a blogging break.  We have a lot going on and I just can't get into the mood for writing. 

Always this time of year, things get a little hectic for me.  I like to have a schedule and traveling always throws me off.  We will be heading north shortly.  We will be visiting my brother and his wife, my niece and family and then further north to spend time with daughter #2 and family.  Then flying to France and spending three weeks in one of our favorite places in the world.  We are very excited to have plans  to meet a blogger who lives in Provence.  We also will be staying very near the Mediterranean, so seafood will be on the menu often. 

The trip will end with 4 days in Paris.  We will try to see what we missed on our last trip to this beautiful city and again repeat favorites such as the Eiffel Tower.

Then we will be heading further West in the US to visit more friends, daughter #1 and family and then to Montana until the fall.

Organizing a wardrobe for all these climates can be challenging, but we always seem to pull it off.

I am planning on blogging about our trip after I get back from Paris and then off and on as the summer continues.  I will be checking in on your blogs after we are back in the States.  Bientôt

Very, very good potato salad

Everyone has to have a favorite potato salad recipe.  As for me, I am always game to try something new.  Our daughter makes fantastic potato salad and we do request it often when we visit.

But, I have found a recipe for potato salad that is rated by us among the top!  I found "browneyedbaker" and her website and this recipe told me I had to try it.  We loved it and will be making it often. 

Best Ever Potato Salad
courtesy of Brown Eyed Baker

Yield:  6-8 servings

4 cups cubed red potatoes
10 slices bacon, cut in 1 inch pieces
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 stalk celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
1/2 medium green pepper, chopped

Boil potatoes until they are fork tender.  Drain and set aside.  (I did not use the red potatoes this time as I had Yukon gold potatoes to use.)

Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a skillet over medium-low heat until crisp.  Remove the bacon and brain on a paper towel lined plate.  Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings.

Add the mayonnaise, mustard, sugar and salt to the reserved bacon drippings in the skillet and whisk to combine.

In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, eggs, celery, onion and green pepper.  Pour the dressing over the ingredients and gently stir to evenly coat.  Stir in the bacon.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

Happy Easter to all!

A blessed Easter to all!  It has been a beautiful day so far.  We so enjoy the church we attend when we are in Florida.  It is large....something like 9000 to 10,000 members.  Therefore, the choir and orchestra and local talent is over the top.  I just love that. 

In contrast, the church we attend while we summer in Montana is very, very small.  Maybe 30 show up on a Sunday morning.  We are at 7000 feet altitude over-looking the mountains and all the beauty of God's world.  It is over the top also.

Easter has changed for me a lot since I was a child.  It was always a family event with church together and a large dinner and then the Easter egg hunt for all the children.  The Trout and I are always alone now, the children living in different states.  They have their own traditions to establish and carry on. 

So this year, no beautiful dyed eggs and not even a piece of chocolate within the walls of this home.  But, we did have a beautiful dinner.  Our outdoor temperature is in the mid-80's, sunny.  Over the top!!

Grilled butterflied leg of lamb, grilled  asparagus and wild rice.  No dessert.  It was a very lovely dinner embraced with a bottle of  Chateau la Couspaude 2001, Grand Cru from France. 

We eat lamb often because we like it so well.  I have a grilled leg of lamb recipe where the lamb is marinated in yogurt.  This time I tried a recipe I found on a German cooking newsletter.   I changed it a little bit, but the meat was very, very tender and tasty.

Lammbraten

Grilled Leg of Lamb

1- 3 lb. leg of lamb

2 lemons

5 springs of rosemary

1 onion, diced

12 cloves of garlic, minced

salt and pepper

A small amount of olive oil to help the marinade cover the lamb

Cut the lemons in half and squeeze the juice into a plastic Ziploc bag.  Cut one of the lemons into pieces and add to the bag.  Slide the rosemary off of the springs and add to the juice.

Butterfly the leg of lamb by cutting around the bone and then flattening the piece of meat until it is quite uniform in thickness.

Marinate overnight.  We grilled on a gas grill though had thought about using the charcoal grill also.  Flip it after one side has crusted nicely.  Temperature at 140 degrees is medium rare and can cook longer to your desire.  Let the meat rest before serving.