Like so many facets of the lives we’re used to living, Easter traditions went by the wayside this year. I won’t write why. We all know, and I’ll remember when I look back at this post someday.

This is the first year I’ve celebrated the holiday without going to church on Easter Eve, kneeling beside my mother and grandmother to take Holy Communion, then going out for a big dinner out to break our fast for Lent. It’s my first Easter Sunday not spent with my family, eating Mom’s food, and trying to win the colored egg cracking contest.

Truly, this Easter looks like none I’ve ever experienced. Stuck at home in self-isolation for how many days and counting, relying on video calls to spend time with our parents and siblings and cousins. It’s all new. But one bright shining element of that newness is that now, Nina is here. While I certainly hope next year’s Easter looks more like the ones I know and love, I’ll be so glad to add long cuddles with my baby girl to our traditions.

Our meals this Easter reflect me trying to make the most out of the food in the house, food that we’re so lucky to have to eat. It’s not Mom’s, but I guess in more ways than one, I got to be Mom this year. The question marks say *shrug* I tried.

Deviled eggs a la Ruska salata?

My mom makes the most delicious deviled eggs. This version I threw together was a slight homage to her also famous Russian salad, topped with diced red potatoes and pickles. No ham, of course, since Jon is vegetarian. We had these for lunch with wheat crackers and olive tapenade.

Use-it-up bean salad?

This was going to be pasta salad until I decided I also wanted to make potatoes and veered away from the extra carbs. This dish satisfied my craving for something refreshingly full of the fresh produce we managed to buy this week.

Potatoes a la Malvina?

baby red potatoes | butter | paprika

One of the blessings that’s come with all this physical distancing is that my friends and I communicate more and more throughout the day. Group texts, movies and games over Zoom, and of course, sharing pictures of what we’re cooking for the occasion. Malvina sent a picture of her Easter table and my eyes went straight to the glowing orange potatoes in all their buttery glory. And with that, I knew what I would be doing with the rest of my potatoes!

Yogurtlu patlican?

If this were a Nigel Slater recipe, he’d come up with some gorgeous but hysterically over the top name for it like a quiet stew of nightshades. It’s a random thing I threw together for dinner recently and it became an instant classic. The combination of tomatoes and yogurt reminds me so much of the “yogurtlu kebab” dishes I’ve had in Turkish restaurants and makes me wonder why a vegetarian eggplant version isn’t on those menus.

You might also spy the seared filet mignon I ordered in from F. Ottomanelli in Woodside and cooked for myself to break my pescatarian Lent diet.

If I still have it in me to bake after putting Nina to bed with a story, the last item on today’s menu will be chocolate chip cookies. After 40 days or so without chocolate, it’s only fair.

Disclaimer: I know this post reeks of privilege. I am fully aware of how fortunate I am to have this good food, good health, and a husband and child I love with whom to spend this unprecedented time of isolation. These are things I do not and will never take for granted.