Easter Preparations and Tornado Damage!

I've been super busy cooking, cleaning and baking to get ready for an Easter lunch tomorrow. Two of my cousins from out of town were coming in for the holiday, but wouldn't you know it - a tornado ripped through our airport yesterday!! Yes, really.

One cousin got diverted to Kansas City and had to take a bus here at midnight - ugh! The other one was flying in today, but now she can't as the airport is shut down still. Oh well, I'm just glad neither was hurt!

I made some kourambiedes for Easter since this is both American and Greek Easter together this year (often they are at different times due to differing calendars). Kourambiedes (or as I often call them, white cookies) are a buttery cookie with crushed walnuts and a hint of brandy in them. They are covered in powdered sugar and rather messy, but oh-so-delicious! We make them around Christmas and Easter or Weddings - they are a special occasion kind of cookie.

Here they are just after baking...

You then sift powdered sugar all over and then serve them in little baking cups for easy eating...
If anyone is interested in the recipe please comment on this post and I will post the recipe. They are VERY good, delicate cookies.

For lunch we will have ham, pineapple-orange-mustard sauce, scalloped potatoes, spinakopita (a cheese/spinach dish with filo), a green bean-tomato-potato dish my Yiayia makes, and my mother's delicious carrot cake (with pineapple, raisins and walnuts in it - mmm!) and maybe even a key lime pie. Yummy! We dyed our eggs the American way with multi colors, but my Yiayia always makes traditional Greek red-only eggs.

I'll try to remember to take pictures. Hope everyone else is safe and sound and enjoying their weekend. The tornados have hit us hard in Missouri, but so far my family has been okay. I hope that doesn't change as there is plenty of rain and bad weather in the forecast. There have been reports of up to softball sized hail!! Cross your fingers for us as we've had many close calls and had to cower in our basement quite a few times this week. We've been lucky so far, but how long can that hold out?

Happy Easter!