Did you guys have a good Easter yesterday? To my non-Christian brothers and sisters, I wish you Peace, Namaste, As-Salamu Alaykum, etc. Easter is about forgiveness, redemption and renewal, so Christian or not... many of us need that in our everyday lives (of loud or quiet desperation). Over the years, my family's Easter meals have become less elaborate... in terms of planning, preparation and number of courses. Easter weekend this year at Casa da fruity was fairly quiet, but enjoyable and delicious nonetheless.
The photo above is a plate of a hefty piece of my sister's best ever date squares and 2 scoops of Neapolitan ice cream. Yes, vanilla would've been a more appropriate pairing, but my neighbourhood grocery store ran out of vanilla (proof that the masses really do have banal tastes). I was standing for about 15 minutes in the store's freezer aisle when an amused man next to me said, "Go with Neapolitan. Chocolate, vanilla and strawberry in one tub? How can you go wrong?" (Apparently, my indecision in life extends to ice cream.) Yum, ice cream with still warm date squares! The smooth date filling was not overly sweet (the brown sugar didn't overpower the taste of dates and orange essence). Wow, the oat crumb topping was buttery and crispy. You could say it wasn't only fruity, it was oaty too! I know, corny.
Next, a photo of a steaming bowl of my Mom's mussels in broth (flavoured with ginger, fish sauce, onions, garlic, spring onions, watercress). I read somewhere that mussels have aphrodisiac properties. Considering I haven't had a date in ages, I probably should have had 2 bowls. Make that 4... or 8. Trust me, it tasted better than it looks. Mussels always look so... strange.
Next, a pan of my unbelievably good lasagna... declared by my father to be "the best ever... ang sarap!" The rest of my family agreed. Really good.
Mmm, alternating layers of pasta, lovely tomato sauce (made with diced tomatoes, puréed tomatoes, fresh Italian parsley, basil, oregano, and sautéed diced carrots & celery & onions & garlic in extra virgin olive oil), green peppers, ricotta cheese, browned crumbly hot Italian sausage & lean ground beef, sautéed mushrooms and thin slices of eggplant browned in olive oil, chopped spinach (steamed first and squeezed of its liquid), and my sister's stunning creamy cheesy white sauce (cream cheese, butter, milk, flour). It's topped with lots of grated mozzarella and baked until hot and bubbly. I rarely ever cook with a recipe (I have a concept in mind)... so yeah, don't ask me for a recipe. Lack of recipes is probably what stops this blog from being a real food blog... ehrr, among other things. Uh-huh.
Down below, a photo of a generous portion of lasagna served with 2 crispy fried chicken legs. Umm, if you take away the fried chicken, ground beef and sausage, it could have been a vegetarian meal. And just as good too.
Lastly, we went to a 12 o'clock Easter Mass at our local church where Bishop John A. Boissonneau (Auxiliary Bishop of Toronto with responsibility for the Western Region) presided over the Holy Mass. He usually comes every Easter. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that our church exceeds its monetary collections quota by 240%. OK, I'm cynical.
Message to my friend Evilgenius: As much as I love your snapped photo of the adorable bunny rabbit, Easter is really about this dude down below:
Adieu,
fruity tomato
P.S. Please bear with me as I try to figure out my blog's focus. I'm experiencing blogger's constipation or rather ennui (bored with blogging). It's not simply a matter of lack of ideas (because my mind is bursting with 'em). I just don't want to write, but I do know that I have to write something... as I'd probably lose my public readership if I went away for a long time. Hi... RE: food blog. I was half kidding, maybe...
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Okay, I am now officially in awe! You definitely should try to be a chef! I cooked lasagna once; it was tasty, yes, but not as mouth-watering as that! DAMN! Like you, I'm a big fan of famous chefs like Jamie Oliver, Emeril Legasse, Wolfgang Puck, and a whole lot more! I am now your fan in cooking!
Come on fruity! Can you do no wrong?! *kneels and bows*
Oh man, your entries make me so hungry! I haven't eaten breakfast while reading your entries. I think I'm gonna go and cook breakfast.
Btw, invite me over for next year's Easter okay? Hehe.
I keep coming to this entry… looking at the mussels! I am so hungry now fruity!
Anyway, I don't know where to put this question. Have you seen the Ipod extra that looks like… or was it a Dildo? I thought I may have seen it here. Hmm…
Kiss
Fendi
There seems to be so much love put into that lasagna… Best ever nga yata?
I wished you a Happy Easter in my e-mail, but I wanted to also comment on this entry! Mmmmm! Wow, that lasagna is fine! The mussels looks good too! Gimme some date squares and chicken!
Hope you had a good Easter too. We enjoyed our trip to South Australia.
That picture of mussels in broth made me miss Pinas so much.
Your blog is really food porn.
Oh man that pic of lasagna made my mouth water hehehehe. Great food you people had for Easter. It's great you and your family celebrate it for what it is and the holiday means something to you.
I am still laughing about the vegetarian comment about this meal heh… Made me smile — I like that about your blog too.
Your lasagna really is making my mouth water even though it has meat. Cuz I can make a tasty one without it, but if I do, I am at risk of eating the whole thing. That must be bad — vegetarian or not.
Happy Easter MP. I spent it watching the Easter parade on a beach with my 90-year old gramma and the rest of my small family.
Voted for you @ the Blogger's Choice Awards site.
You said click on both buttons to vote. Eek!! Navote ko tuloy yung 'Worst Blog of All time' 
I feel bad. *spends the rest of the afternoon trying to climb a coconut tree to get a buko to bash her head with* 
Btw, you were nominated in 3 categories, not 2.
Everything looks delicious! I hope you had a wonderful Easter holiday. Mine was full of lessons and yes, much forgiveness. Thank you for sharing with us — you are wonderful for doing so. God be with you!
Oh wow, everything looks so delicious.
And belated Happy Easter to you.
OMYGOSH… Alllll of that food looks sooooo good! And you didn't you ask me over for dinner? Lol. I'm sure you all had a good time. Nothing better than a big plate of pasta.
Oh man, this is such bad timing. I'm hungry and you bombard me with scrumptious food pictures! Why? WHY!?
Your blogs always make me hungry. I especially love the mussels. And the lasagna. If I go to Canada, will you feed me?
I had a great Easter, but it definitely wasn't as delicious as yours.
See… fruityoaty is a foodie!
Once the page loads… the first thing that will catch your attention are the food pics!
OMG! The first picture just took my breath away. That cake looks sooo delish. The mussels and the lasagna looks good too.
Food is not something I wanted to see right now. Now my stomach is growling and I just woke up. I'm not ready to eat. I'm still sleepy! Glad you enjoyed your Easter.
Your post script caught my attention. What if they really wanted to bare and not bear?
Many people interchange those. 
Your blog has turned into an ultimate food blog! By the way, those dishes look awesome! I wonder what they taste like. I'm getting hungry again.
Omg. Ahlavet! Your camera is amazing.
Kakagutom nman… nice blog aabangan ko.
Nakakagutom naman dito.
Belated Happy Easter!
Your blog always makes me hungry. I think I say that in every comment, but my stomach is seriously growling right now… That lasagna looks YUMMY!! And that cake?! Mmmm…
Thanks for wishing me a happy Easter! I can already see you had a great one. I also have a mental block at the moment with blogging, but I do it anyway. Perhaps not the best thing for my poor readers!
This all simply looks delicious. I get freaked out by mussels, so all apart from that! I don't know why though, I've tried to eat them so that I'd have a justified reason to like or dislike them but I can't bring myself to do it. Like waxing myself.
I've got to dash to get some food now!
Oh no! I miss those mussels! Been ages since I had them.
Kiss
Fendi
All that food is making me wish I had enough money to go out and get myself something yummy. All I have are pretzels. LOL. Yummy. *licks lips*
Wow! You had me at "date squares"! I don't know if I'm getting full or hungry from looking at those yummy pictures!
Oooohhh… the date squares look soooo good! (Overdoing the "o's".)
What are dates anyway?
Mussels. Yum. They look like… never mind. Haha! The lasagna looks yummy too! Gawd. You made me so hungry. Haha!
Wow sarap ng pagkain! Na gugutom ako ah… hehehe.
If that's less elaborate, I just have to wonder what "elaborate" would be. :p
*drools* I wish we had that ice cream flavor in the country. We do have the 3-in-one thingie, but… well… oh well… And dang! Lasagna! You can never go wrong when you cook lasagna! Yours looks especially yummylicious! Seriously, I'm drooling right now. I've just cooked a pathetic recipe of spaghetti, since I don't have a wide choice of ingredients in our cupboard.
Mussels… Tahong… *shudders*
BTW, I've been using the Edit Comment thingie for about a month now… :p
What a sumptuous Easter meal… I don't think we do that over here at home… booohooooo.
Happy Easter.
And you are right, Easter is when you remember that life is about forgiveness and renewal… 
Easter is truly about that and not about bunnies…
You constitute 50% of my readers, so you essentially wished yourself a Happy Easter.
All that food looks simply amazing! I'm glad the holidays went well for you and yours.
Take care!
That is the messiest yet yummiest looking lasagne I've ever seen. I love Neopolitan ice cream. I just can't spell it!
Looking at all that food makes me hungry and I just had a big bowl of Ramen noodles with a snack of Fig Newtons, too. Care to send me some? Lol j/k. I used to go to church for Easter well every chance that I got when I was living with my parents. Now, I only go every now and then with my grandparents when I'm not too tired from the weekend activities. This past Easter was spent driving from one place to the next trying to find a place to buy a new cell phone since I had lost mine on Friday, but alas everywhere just about was closed even the freaking mall. Ok, Old Navy was open so I got to return some clothes and Taco Bell was open so I got my fast food fix. =)
Hey! Can you please send me some of that lasagna? Lol, obviously, I'm joking. That must really taste good, eh? And oh, that made me hungry even though I just had my breakfast!
Belated Happy Easter!
You've made me very hungry. I love me some fried chicken.
Happy Belated Easter, dear!
Oh dear… that seems so yummy that it's making my mouth water!! Especially the lasagna… mmm… the date square looks interesting, but I don't think I can have dates! Heheh j/k.
Mmm… I should come by more often. You can inspire me to have good food!!
Thanks for your comment; I hope that I will find the answer. =)
Thanks so much… and you too!
Well, that all looks deee-licious! A belated Happy Easter to you!
Looks like you had a wonderful Easter, lots of good food. I hope everyone in your family had a good time too.
All those pictures of food makes me want to eat.
fruityoaty!! Do you realize I'm on a diet? Err, come to think of it, you don't hahaha, but I swear I'm getting drooly just looking at the pictures! Especially the mussels ohyummmm.
It seems as though you're in a blog-classifying crisis. But you're who you are, that's why people love reading this blog, or drooling at the pictures. Hahaha.
*drools* That food loooks SO GOOD!
You've made me really hungry.
I hope you had a really nice Easter & God bless.
My blog doesn't really have a point to it either, but I like it that way — it means you can experiment!
LOL, the dude down below ey! Haha I'm not at all religious so it's all about the chocolate for me! To each his / her own though!
This blog is soooo bad for my diet!
And don't worry, fellow seahorse. No power tripping for me. It just crossed my mind and I am voicing out what other people think.
Why are we so stumped lately?
Ooohhh… food… *droolllll*
Yupe… Easter is about the Dude in your pic. I have no pic of Him in digital format though. But… the bunny pic should be better than a weather-related pic…
I also like how the candles turned out in your pic.
YUUMMMMYYYY LASAGNA!!! And fried chicken!! Ice cream!!
You're making me cyberly fat!
Your lasagna looks really delicious!
It's nice to hear you've had a nice Easter. Don't worry about the blogging thing, you'll find something to blog about. And why not a food blog? I would visit every time I don't feel hungry — a look at those pictures would certainly make me. ^^
Yes, I have to take care that I don't neglect my other stuff. N64 it really dangerous to my social life, whoohoo.
Lasagna looks amazing! And before I even read the "vegetarian meal" part, I thought to myself "that would be wonderful without the meaty stuff. And it definitely would.
Glad you had a nice Easter though!
Can't concentrate… too many yummy foods on your post.
Aww… I had quantity over quality. Kainggit!
I thought the ice cream was meat. Lol. But everything looks delicious. You seriously made me hungry this time.
I'm very indecisive too. Whenever my sister and I shop together, she tries to keep me away from the cd and book stores 'cause that's where I take the longest time to decide what to buy.
Hope you'll figure things out. I'm glad you didn't quit. Your blog's one of the best.
Halo fruityoaty, can I eat some of that… It sure look so yummy.
We're going through the same episode in blogging, but for me it's more on the work load at the office. But I do have tons of things to write about. Yes, I also experience laziness in writing that most of my drafts pile up in my draft folder or at the back of my mind. So many issues, but sometimes you're also bugged by the fact that you've established a close knit of readers — who anxiously wait for your next post!
So, hopefully you'll find yourself soon! And blog about it. Whether you'll go foody, techy or whatever, I just like reading your stuff. So, GET A GRIP OF YOUR BLOGGING SELF!
That is indeed a yummy looking lasagna. Haha, kakagutom!
And the date squares look yummy too! *thinks of the plain breakfast I just had* Haha.
And Easter is such a lovely holiday, don't you think? Happy Easter!