Gather, Gorge & Gab

Easter Dinner. A time for friends to gather, gorge, and gab. Last year we hosted fifteen at our house. This year David & Bonnie hosted nine. The menu included honeybaked ham, Bonnie's homemade rolls, a Jello salad, funeral potatoes, and a green salad. Everything was tasty and those doing The Plan decided to take point-free days. Though most of you know what a Jello salad is, I'm guessing that many of you are not familiar with Funeral Potatoes. Both hold special places in the parthenon of Mormon cooking.

Jello. That wonderful byproduct of horse hooves. Jello has taken on mythic proportions in Mormon culture. In particular, green jello salad is a favorite dish at Ward functions and meals in Mormon households. While not part of the doctrine, it is such a mainstay in Utah that during the 2002 Winter Olympics a collector's pin title "Mormon Soul Food" was released (see pic at right). Growing up my mom made a green jello salad every Christmas that had Cool Whip, grated cheddar cheese, and pomegranate seeds in it. [DISCLAIMER: Though my grandparents we all Utahans, neither I nor my parents have ever lived in Utah except for university.]

The second dish, Funeral Potatoes, is also a big dish in Utah, but is not a Mormon-only tradition. Truthfully, I'd never had it until last Easter when someone brought it to the feast at our house. You can't truly understand funeral potatoes without seeing the ingredient list:

2 lbs. frozen hash browns

2 cup grated cheese

1/2 cup melted butter

1 pint sour cream

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup diced union

Topping: 2 cup crushed cornflakes

Topping: 1/2 cup melted butter

To put it lightly, we're talking about death in a pan here. Kristin put it best when she said, "I never realized how terrible these things are for you until I made them!" They are often served at the post-funeral luncheons that are popular in many faiths and were also commemorated by a pin at the SLC 2002 Olympics (see pic at right). They are mighty tasty, but death on a plate. They've sort of become a tradition with our group of friends as that one dish that you like to eat, but is to fattening that you'll only dare eat it once a year. And Easter is that time for us.

After dinner we sat around talking. I crashed on the couch with Clara and the two of us took a nap for an hour or so. Helped to digest dinner and make room for cake. A word on the cake.

It's David's birthday today. For a birthday cake, Bonnie contacted a catering company David's company uses and asked them to make this chocolate-raspberry cake David is in love with. They usually don't do one-off orders for individuals, but she was able to talk them into it. She had to drive thirty minutes away to pick up the cake yesterday, but it was so worth it.

After cake, we decided we needed some entertainment, so we laid Clara and Michael, Clara's betrothed, down on the floor and let them kick and squeal. Kristin had the camera ready and we especially like the two below. The first we call Stink Eye; the second, Tasty.

We took some video of the two little ones which I'll post once they're done processing on Google Video. Until then, hope you all had a wonderful Easter!