Easter Dinner & A Kidnapped Turtle

Yesterday's Easter dinner was great...... lots of good homemade food, made by both myself and C's mom...... lots of vegetables, which is always a good thing. We had chicken cutlets with smoked mozzarella sauce, brown rice with pecans, carrot souffle, spinach & artichoke casserole, tossed salad, pesto-stuffed biscuits, and a special Angel Food cake for dessert.

I had seen a recipe in a magazine for the cake, and it was easy to do.... and delicious. It called for a store-bought Angel Food cake, but I made my own.... then cut it into three layers. You mix a large can of crushed pineapple (with the juice) with one box of sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix. You mix that into freshly whipped cream (enough for a three-layer cake), and let the mixture sit for five minutes before you frost the cake with it. On top of the whipped-cream frosted cake, you sprinkle fresh blueberries, raspberries, strawberries. Delicious...... and light..... and it looked so pretty on the table. I even took some of my silk butterflies and used them to dress up the cake even more.


About that turtle..... I spoke to my cousin R last night..... she called to wish us a Happy Easter and to say hello. She told me that my Aunt Dolly's turtle was stolen from her backyard. My aunt is upset because the turtle "has been in the family" for more than 25 years. Aunt Dolly always puts the turtle outside in the sun for a little while on nice warm days.... he has his own box that he's been sitting in for years and years... tall sides, so he can't get out. The turtle was out there one day this week for just a little while and when my aunt went outside to take him back in, the box was empty. Even though she knew he couldn't get out of the box by himself, she walked all over the yard looking for him.

I can just picture that... my 94-year-old aunt walking up and down every inch of her property, looking for the turtle. Needless to say, my aunt is heartbroken. My cousin offered to buy her another turtle, but my aunt said no because "it would be a strange turtle." Maybe whoever took the turtle will bring it back? I doubt it. My cousin said she hoped the turtle is in good hands, and not in someone's pot of soup. (I told her not to suggest that to my aunt.)