Easter at our house, with progress on the quilt

Unfortunately I picked up something in Paris, and spent the train trip home wracked with fever, chills, and aches. The fever lasted for about three days but never developed into the flu, as I'd expected. Still, it meant that Easter at our house was decidedly low-key, mostly sitting on the couch watching a rented season each of Scrubs and 24, and Jeremi trying to tempt me into eating some more. The cat loved it of course, and was so chill that this was about all the attacking energy she could muster:That's one spoiled pet.

Jeremi didn't spend all the time sitting with me though - he also began sewing the quilt in earnest. Here you can see the first completed quilt block, quite living up to the computer-generated plan, if you ask me.
Now only 63 more to go!

He's employing assembly-line methods for the other 63 though (commonly known as "sweatshop piecing"), and has set up quite a little workshop in our living room.He's already pieced 6 of the pieces out of a total of 21, so progress is most definitely being made. Updates will follow, naturally.

On Saturday I was feeling well enough to walk into town with Jeremi to buy some groceries, and I even managed to make supper on Sunday, though it took me longer than usual. The menu included endives wrapped in ham baked in a mornay sauce, roast chicken with lemons, mixed vegetables, a giant Ukrainian Easter bread, a bärlauch and quark spread for the bread, and parfaits made with quark pudding and fresh strawberries. Bärlauch is a garlic-flavoured herb that's only available fresh in the springtime, and is wildly popular here. According to Wikipedia it's called Ramsons in English, but I don't think it grows in North America at all, so I only know it by the German name. Here's an overview of the feast:Yes, the bread really was that big.
Unfortunately, as always, the carefully made decorations rose a bit too much, and lost their shape. To try to avoid this I added them just before the dough went in the oven, after it had already risen (at least most of the way). As you can see here, the decorations were pretty elaborate.A woven 6-piece cross, 12 ears of wheat, a bird with cloves for eyes, and a nest made out of rosettes.Unfortunately the very lively bread almost exploded when exposed to the heat of the oven, pulling the poor bird's wings off in the process. Next year I'm going to work some more flour into the dough saved for the decorations, so that they're stiffer and can't rise as well. Since it's only something that I'll make once a year (if even then), it may take some time before I master the finer points. Still, it was impressive and delicious.
And one last picture of the cat, as she spent the meal hidden in this plastic bag, poking her head out in the cutest way possible.