Holidays: the bane of the demi-goddess' existence

The Easter Weekend is upon us.
Some people make peep centerpieces. I bake.

The dough for tomorrow's hot cross buns is proving in the fridge.. Technically, we should have had them today but since SO and I were the on duty mothers in kindergarten this morning, running a breakfast restaurant for 27 toddlers and taking part in a 'jump' class with them - Don't ask, it's a Belgian thing -, they went by the wayside.

My mother is in charge of the paschal lamb and I of desert: coconut cake with physalis and ice cream as well as a lemon meringue cake.
Guess I know what I shall be doing tomorrow afternoon.

In the meantime the black sheep of the family, my uncle, has surfaced again today. My mother has as usual imploded and has retreated in floods. My grandmother of course has welcomed the prodigal son with wide-open arms. You get the picture.

This family just does not do holidays very well, I fear.

Thank God, it's a long weekend and we have an easter egg hunt, some snow and an episode of the L-Word to look forward to.

ETA: photo of cakes.
Because I have to live up to my reputation of domestic demi-goddess...
The hyacinth and narcissus in the background will hopefully flower soon.
The munchkin kindly provided the artwork.

Home for the holidays - part 1

Every year the debate starts raging around this time...

Should Sinterklaas (the Low Countries' equivalent of Santa Claus) be allowed three weeks of business unaffected by the whole Christmas hoopla... Do we want to already be confronted with the horror of Jingle Bells and Rudolph the red-nosed Rendeer (too much schnaps probably) by the end of November?

You will note that they introduced the Halloween concept (brilliant marketing if you ask me) to bridge the holiday gap. Just so we can spend some more money on some ridiculous decorations.
Even though the kitsch factor reaches unseen, unparalleled heights every year again. Heck, even I have already invested in some white feathers and am hunting for some transparent Christmas ornaments as I write this.

Having a child means you are obliged to go along with this whole commercial rigmarole. Gone are the days when you used to be happy just to have a tree, let alone some decorations and even one gift under the tree.

So without further ado, here is some eye candy for you to get you in that 'fantasmagorical' Christmas spirit... only in America... *sighing and shaking head in disbelief*