“On the avenue, Fifth Avenue, the photographers will snap us. And, you’ll find that you’re in the rotogravure.  Oh, I could write a sonnet about your Easter bonnet.  And, of the girl I’m taking to the Easter parade.”  I have such memories of Easter that I even tried to maintain for my children, though I think that I lost the battle with the grandchildren.  I did not grow up in an affluent wealthy community, but we were rich in traditions and beliefs.  I can remember every parent and child looking their very best for Easter Sunday, as we walked to church, and actually plenty of people back then actually did walk to church, because where I grew up, I bet in a twenty block area there must have been a dozen churches from cathedrals to store fronts and they all had full attendance, especially on Easter.  I think children were excited to get something fancy to wear, not to mention that there would be an Easter basket or gift for them.  The other great memory was that we would be eating at our grandparent’s home, just because it was Sunday, but on Easter it was an extra special treat.  In this house we maintained having an Easter dinner, of course we even celebrated all the birthday people in the month as well, for a festive day.  A great tradition until this year, when a power-hungry brand-new governor with no real experience, shut down the state for commerce, education and for the citizens.  It was emphatically stated that people could not visit, even on Easter, this fiat came after the start of Passover.  I mean most people that I know would have been smart enough, not to mention that most of us had by that time already experience at least fifteen days of solitary confinement, so if we had been ill, it would have been apparent.  This was not good enough for the hob-nailed booted petty satrap that wanted total allegiance to her.  She had even in her infinite wisdom announced that home-schooling was not allowed, which had to be changed by her, when even some of her lackies had the common-sense to point out how bad of an idea that was.  Anyways, as I stated in the prior article, my Bride and I celebrated Easter at our home alone, and she watched Mass on the television, because attending church was also verboten.  We dressed up for our Easter Sunday and there were gifts, just like when we were kids. 

The only difference on gifts nowadays, is that at our age, we get items and will tag them for special occasions.  I mean she may buy a blouse and say it is for Easter and that is great, well there was a “toy” that we have watched being used a couple of times, and I even remarked that I could see her getting one eventually, well eventually was Easter.  We now have the Joule Sous Vide by ChefSteps in white.  What is Sous Vide?  Joule cooks food Sous Vide, by heating water to a precise temperature for perfect, predictable results.  The claim is that anyone can cook Sous Vide; one simply sets the Joule in a pot of water, place food in a “Ziplock style” bag, and drop the bag into the heated water.  Joule will let you know when it is done to the exact temperature that you want.  I have read some articles and there are two school of thoughts, some feel that the meat should be seared first, and others feel that the meat should be seared after; I guess it will take some experimentation to discover the best method for us. 

This year, my Bride did not give me an Easter basket, but a nice gift bag with a card and the required chocolate candies, alas not my one marshmallow peep, those candies that could probably survive in a time vault and still be “edible.”  Underneath all of that candy was a box, containing The Durand.  Now to back up the narrative, on another Social Media site I saw a very curious type of corkscrew being used on a very old bottle of wine with good success, and I have to admit that I have some very old bottles of wine.  Most of the time the corks crumble and I must decant the wine through a coffee filter in a funnel.  The Durant is a combination of two corkscrews that work in tandem with each other.  First you use a part of the tool that is a classic version of a corkscrew with a very impressive worm.  The second part of The Durand is the corkscrew that some call the “Ah So;” the tool that has two ribbons of thin steel that is slowly inserted between the cork and the glass bottle.  I think this two-part endeavor will be perfect.  Looking forward to trying it, but I will watch their instructional video on their website a couple of times, before I attempt the first one.  Another Easter has been put to sleep, and hopefully we won’t have another one like this.