Happy Friday!

We'll be winging our way back to Mexico two weeks from today! It's going to feel a bit like Mexico here next week, with sunshine & a high of 77F on Wednesday — but not before we get to see more snow! An inch predicted overnight tonight. I feel like I'm talking about the weather a lot, but I know I'm not the only one. heh.

I was chatting with Kate a couple of days ago and Rusty leaned in/over my amaryllis to say HI… Kate said, "WATCH OUT FOR THE AMARYLLIS!" but it was too late, the stem was bent. Rusty leapt into action and we splinted it — luckily the major damage was only on one side, and it seems to have responded well. You can barely make it out in the blurry background, but there's another pot with a flower bud poking up — and there are actually two buds from that bulb, plus another that you can't see. I can't wait for flowers!

I've been cooking a lot this week, for some reason…

• Leek Quiche — I used an NYTimes Cooking recipe as my base, but did my own thing… I used a frozen deep-dish pie crust from the store, threw in some asparagus with the leeks (and will add more next time!), and used 4 whole eggs (instead of 2 egg yolks + 1 whole egg… can that even be called a quiche???) — four is my minimum number of eggs for a quiche!
• My favorite meatloaf recipe — Yes, Virginia, There is a Great Meatloaf, with mashed baby reds & I don't remember what vegetable. My only mods are to use 1/4 cup of Panko bread crumbs instead of bread and to cut back the brown sugar in the sauce. It's a favorite.
• Curried Shrimp & Rice that was unusual for us but really good, except I misread and made probably twice as much rice as needed. I don't remember where I found the recipe…
• Last night, I made Sheet-Pan Gnocchi With Asparagus, Leeks and Peas, another NYT Cooking recipe, and oh my gosh, was that ever good! So good that I'm giving you all the recipe, just click on the link and you should have access (the link is only good for two weeks). Anyway, the only thing I did differently was to cut the recipe in half, mainly because I didn't read correctly and only picked up one package of gnocchi the other day. I don't think it would be as good warmed up (that crisp gnocchi would get pretty soggy), so I'm glad it worked out that way. The recipe says Time: 30 minutes, but that is actual cooking time… add another 30 minutes to prep! Also, the oven time is a little confusing and I'll just say that the veggies took as long in the oven as the gnocchi to look the way I wanted them to. I set the timer and stirred the veg every 5 minutes.

Ali & fam will be coming over for Easter brunch on Sunday — I think I'm going to make that quiche again, along with waffles, some fruit, maybe some sausage. I'm still formulating.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!