Fat Tuesday Feast

Tomorrow being Ash Wednesday and the start of lent I wanted to make a big meal tonight. Not that we fast in this house, but still it felt right to acknowledge the day with good food. One of these days I'm going to get my mom's Carnival cookie recipe. As kids (and teenagers) she would make them almost every year for Fat Tuesday. She says it reminds her of her year in Switzerland.

Anyhoo, if you look at my menu plan I was going to roast a chicken in the crock pot. That plan quickly got  swapped. Yesterday without thinking I picked up Cai while already holding Aiden. And I wasn't careful about it. Cai had banged his head on the floor of the coffee shop we were in and I just wanted to confort him. Of course I ended up hurt my back in the process. So I have been hobbling around ever since. Today has been alittle better as I stretch and take pain meds. But still I'm not at my normal speed. Thus my morning got started late. And putting the chicken in the crock pot didn't happen. So wanted to still have chicken (cause chicken and mashed potatoes sounds soooo good), I started looking for a roasted chicken recipe. Mennonite Girls Can Cook saved the day! My friend Sarah in Kansas showed me this site before we moved. She loves it and I can see why. They have great recipes for home-style cooking. The recipe for Roasted Chicken isn't fancy. But it was easy to follow and I didn't get bogged down with other entries like I might have if i was looking in a big cookbook such as my Joy of Cooking (which I should mention I do use for things such as this). It turned out wonderful. I'm sad to say I didn't take any pictures. :( I served garlic mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and egg bread with it.
Have I mentioned I love my kitchen aid? It's it pretty!

I love my bread hook, and just the ability to make bread without having to knead it myself. Sure I'll admit that there is a peace in kneading bread. But on days like today when I can have my kitchen aid to the work it mean I get homemade bread when I might have not done it otherwise. Because with todays back pain there was no way.

 Boy I do appreciate this little appliance. And the bread, it turned out great. The perfect addition to our feast of food. Everyone ate their fill.

 And after picking up some toys, the boys enjoyed brownies with ice cream. It was a good way to celebrate day.