I read a great book last week, and had a cooking extravaganza while my son was home! Let’s start with the book.
Alex Pavesi’s The Eighth Detective is “a love letter to classic detective stories with a modern twist, where nothing is as it seems, and proof that the best mysteries break all the rules.”
An editor meets with an author to discuss his book, a collection of seven short mysteries. As they read through and discuss each one, the editor notices strange inconsistencies, and begins to suspect that there’s a real-life mystery behind it all.
I really enjoyed this, even though I was pretty sure I knew what the big “twist” was… and then guess what- I was WRONG. The story took an unexpected turn at the end, which made it extra fun.
On to the eats. I revisited some old favorites that my son hadn’t tried yet- the Buffalo Mac and Cheese from Nora Cooks (that was a huge hit), Gochujang Bowls with tofu- also a hit- and The Best Vegan Cheesecake, again from Nora.
For Easter brunch, I made a Just Egg quiche based on a recipe from… you guessed it… Nora! I’m starting to wonder what we would do without her- would we starve? I left out the mushrooms (ew) and used broccoli instead.
We decided a green dinner would be very spring-like, so my son made pasta with pesto, and I made roasted asparagus, a salad and garlic bread.
Now the holiday is over, my son is back in school, the leftovers have been eaten, and it seems that I still have to cook. Can’t someone else take over for a while? I seriously can’t think of any more dinners for this week. SIGH!
Did you make a special dinner for Easter?
What are you reading now?
23 Responses
I’m reading the 4th book in the Neapolitan Quartet (My Brilliant Friend was #1) and I am loving it. I think I remember that you enjoyed MBF, and if so, perhaps for your summer project you might read the others in the series? Though I feel like you said you wanted non-fiction, which is why I had no ideas, because I can’t read non-fiction for some reason. Too snorey for me.
We had a big birthday party for our daughter on Saturday, so on Easter we took it pretty easy. I honestly don’t remember what we had, except that my husband cooked which meant I didn’t (YAY!) Your quiche and cheesecake both look delicious.
Yes, I saw the post about your daughter’s birthday! You had a lot of epic food for that.
There are SO MANY books I want to read, my head is spinning. The other books in the quartet are on my list, but for the summer I’m still thinking non-fiction.
That quiche looks epic! Boo to this having to come up with meals every night thing.
Was the 8th Detective Similar to Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone? I’m getting a similar vibe from your description.
Well… there are definitely similarities in the themes, but the style and plots of the books were very different.
I only have one more dinner to contend with, and then it’s Friday takeout night! Phew.
Coming up with meal ideas every night forever is one of the worst things about adulting. But you have such a great repertoire.
We have ZERO food traditions at Easter and I’m mostly okay with this! It takes the pressure off. Christmas is honestly our only BIG holiday which feels a bit lame but…again…I kinda love it?
The food also looks delicious. Nora just knocks it out of the park for you! Hooray.
Also, do I spy EASTER CRACKERS? I never knew such a thing existed. How fun! How festive! How whimsical!
Hee hee! Yes, we had Easter crackers. I actually can’t even remember where I got them- I must have found them on clearance after last Easter? I had forgotten all about them, but I was happy to pull them out! And, we don’t have any traditions around Easter dinner, unless pesto becomes our new tradition. It could happen!
You were wrong about the twist! That’s so much fun when you’re reading!!
We did an Easter brunch at the in-laws. It’s always ham, egg casserole, donuts, fruit/veggie tray, and I bring a salad. Someone also brought a poundcake this year that was so delicious I must have had half a dozen pieces. Then we did an egg hunt, which proves to be So Much Fun every year.
You might not believe this, but I currently do not have a book going. I finished both a physical book and an ebook yesterday and haven’t settled in on anything yet. What sort of life am I even living?!
No! What in the world are you doing with yourself? I seriously can’t imagine you without a book.
WHY are egg hunts so much fun? I still hide eggs for my kids.
Oh, I am going to put that book on hold – I love when a twist surprises me! We kind of downplayed dinner on Easter and made one of the weeknight dinners we missed for lunch and then had breakfast for dinner that night. I am sure we will get fancy again someday, but it worked for our pajama-forward holiday, haha!
Oh, I would be all about breakfast for Easter dinner! And, pajama-forward holidays are the best.
That book sounds good; I am going to add it to my list. I always love a good mystery/thriller. Did you ever read the Louise Penny / Inspector Gamache series? If not, you should try the first one and if you like it, I think there are like 20 of them! No pressure to read them in order; I actually started in the middle on accident and it is fine, you just may have the timeline a little off.
Your meals look great! I don’t mind eating leftovers, so I often just make a big batch of something and eat it for days. However, we did have Easter brunch; we made ham and eggs and got pastries from a local bakery. It was very low key and exactly how I like it. We also still have a bunch of ham so it is the gift that keeps on giving!
I have read the Louise Penny books! At least, some of them- maybe the first six or seven. Whenever I don’t have anything else to read, I can always fall back on the next book in the series.
Yum! All of that food looks so good! And the plates with the leaves on them are so pretty and springy! We had turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy on sat – and then ham with mashed potatoes and gravy the next day! We mostly made a ham because we love having leftovers for soups and egg bakes and such.
The detective novel sounds good! I haven’t read something like that in a very long time. Right now I am reading a non-fiction book called ‘The End of Everything’ – It’s written by a cosmologist and it’s about how the universe might come to an end – a long time from now. It’s a bookclub book. Otherwise I never would have read this book. I am keeping an open mind but will be happy to get back to fiction or at least non-fiction that is more of interest to me! But our book club votes on what we read so the majority wanted to read it…
Yes, I probably wouldn’t choose that book either. I’ll be interested to hear what the rest of the book club thinks of it!
I just finished My Last Innocent Year and my god, it was excellent. I don’t know if I’d recommend it to you, because I think you don’t like character driven books, but wow, I loved every last sentence. It was SO GOOD. Ah! I will be thinking about it for a long time to come, I’m sure.
Well, it does sound good! But you’re right… I don’t USUALLY like character driven novels. I’m going to look this one up though because you’ve managed to intrigue me.
You have so many great meal ideas! Most nights since it’s just me I make something easy and mindless like pasta or a stir fry but I’d like to get back into cooking something more elaborate once a week.
For Easter, my mom made brunch (pancakes, vegan sausage and fruit salad) and then for dinner, we had a lemony pasta dish with broccoli and bruschetta. I love when I visit my parents because my mom usually makes some great vegan dishes, and she’s not even vegan, but she’s very accommodating to me and my parents try to eat meatless at least once a week even when I’m not around!
Ashley, if it were just me I would eat VERY simply. Like tonight- my husband won’t be home for dinner, my daughter has some leftovers to eat, and I’ll probably just heat up some chickpeas and whatever vegetable I have around, and add in some rice. I wish I could do that every night.
I wish I lived at your house… my dinners are boring. At least my hubby doesn’t care… just made chili & corn muffins and then beef veg soup.
Still reading Heaven and Earth grocery store – pretty slow but it’s for a book club in May. I have read some other books in between.
Interesting you say that book is slow, because I’ve heard people say it’s their favorite book of the year. Just goes to show how we all have different tastes (I doubt I’ll attempt to read that one.)
Darlene, I would make my meals MUCH more boring if I weren’t cooking for other people!
Ooh, that book sounds really good. I’m adding it to my TBR!
Right now, I’m reading Remarkably Bright Creatures and Ander and Santi Were Here, and I’m loving them BOTH. I just haven’t had a lot of reading time this week, so I am excited to have a low-key weekend and trying to spend a lot of time reading.
A reading-heavy weekend sounds like heaven to me!!! I have so many books I want to read… and so little time.
That sounds like such a clever book! I’ve just read a mystery as I needed something published in 1937 for a challenge, I’m sitting down to write reviews and catch up with blogs this afternoon …