A Coffee Cup in the Wrong Cabinet
On full houses, quiet mornings, and the Easter dish landing this week
Jennifer Ann Blair writes. Food, wine, a German Shepherd named Archie, and whatever the day brings.
The house is quieter this morning.
Not empty. Never fully empty when the people who were just here leave something of themselves behind. A coffee cup in the wrong cabinet. The particular way the light hits the table when someone else has been sitting at it. The good tired that follows a full house, the kind that settles into your bones and stays there like a reminder that something worth having just happened.
This year is shaping up to be the year of visits. People arriving, the table filling, the calendar marked with names rather than obligations. I am not taking any of it for granted.
Gratitude for the full house. Joy for the quiet after. Both true at once.
Easter is coming. This year it finds me at someone else’s table in Temecula — no kitchen, no cleanup, no reduced marinade to watch. Just a meal someone else thought about, wine country in the background, the particular pleasure of being taken care of. I’m looking forward to it more than I expected.
This week, the Easter dish became a tradition the moment it arrived at our table. Doug’s grilled pork tenderloin, a Mexican leftover taco spread that turned dinner into two celebrations, and a citrus tajin margarita that belongs at every spring table from here forward. Make it before Easter. You’ll want it whether you’re hosting or not.
It’s waiting for you.
However your Easter arrives this year, full house or quiet table, kitchen or restaurant, deviled eggs or tacos, I hope it finds you grateful for exactly what it is.
Next Time
Doug’s surprising pork tenderloin recipe, missing from the archives, now included in the regular rotation.
Before You Go
I’m at the table. Write back. I read every one.
If this landed, tap the heart. It helps more people find the table.
Jennifer Ann Blair writes about what’s worth remembering — a recipe, a person, a pork tenderloin that fit right in.