meat, Easter, See's, and orange rolls

My parents showed up most unexpectedly on Easter and brought with them a 10 pound pork roast. They expected me to know what to do with it. I didn't know what to do with it. And I didn't want anything to do with it. I have an aversion to meat, maybe you remember my Thanksgiving turkey experience, so the sight of it (raw) pretty much makes me weak in the knees or queasy in the tummy. I think it mostly started when I was pregnant with Luke. I was outside of a teacher resource store on State Street. Just as I was parking, a dirty pickup truck pulled up in front of me, the driver got out and opened up his tail gate and the shell of the back of his truck. Inside were the bodies and dismembered heads of pigs. They were dirty and there were lots of flies swarming about. I hobbled unevenly to the store I was going in, trying to forget what I had just seen. I also assumed, since they were most likely delivering them to the little restaurant/market next door, that the truck would be unloaded and gone by the time I left the store which was about an hour later. Nope. The truck was still there along with the contents.

Anyway, back to Easter. We tried multiple pots, finally borrowing a giant crockpot from the neighbors to cook our meat. Daisy was hopped up on jelly beans, I found an Easter craft about the resurrection for DaisyI like from a homeschool website lovetolearn.net and we had a nice, semi-chaotic dinner a few hours later. (Thanks for all the comments/ideas on the Easter traditions by the way. Lots to think about) My mom got me one of those giant See's Easter eggs I was talking about filled with See's marshmallow and walnuts. I have to say, I ate the whole thing today, and I'm feeling a bit foggy now as the sugar high is letting down. But I'd do it again. So coming up, we've got our anniversary, Mother's Day, what else. These are days I can use as an excuse to get more See's chocolates. I love that stuff. And I love that only old ladies work there and they wear vintage retail outfits. It's kind of a weird place. It's like hospital meets old-time malt/candy shoppe.

Here's an easy and tasty recipe for orange rolls we made on Sunday. It's from the Essential Mormon Celebrations cookbook by Julie Badger Jensen. That's right, you heard me correctly. Essential Mormon Celebrations cookbook.

ORANGE ROLLS
½ cup butter, melted
½ cup sugar
1 orange peel, grated
18 Rhodes frozen dinner rolls
1 recipe Orange Glaze

Combine melted butter, sugar, and grated orange peel in a bowl. Dip rolls in mixture and place in greased muffin tins. Allow to rise for 4 hours. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Frost with Orange Glaze while still warm. Makes 18 rolls.

ORANGE GLAZE
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons orange juice