Leaves, roots and a geriatric bunny

We had to add a leaf to Grandma Mary Jane’s dining room table for Easter brunch this year, which meant we got to grow our roots as well.

I use the word brunch loosely here because we had no eggs ( someone I know –it’s me — doesn’t like them), no ham because the woman who bore me doesn’t eat it, and very little time to prepare because all of us traveled pretty long distances in the past few days.

So, the iced tea steamed a little when we poured it on those cubes, and the asparagus crunched a bit more than it should and dessert turned out to be the chocolate bunnies Grandma Peggy brought for everyone.

But, thanks to Molly whipping one up Saturday night after everyone else had gone to bed, we had a paska that would make my grandma proud. And, also courtesy of Molly, we had morel mushrooms sautéed in butter and miner’s garlic. Along with these items that root us through generations, we had big, fat burgers fresh off the grill, corn on the cob, our first potato salad of the spring and, best of all, we had each other.

We also had a giant, rather suspect stuffed bunny that my husband unearthed during an attic cleanup a few weeks ago. My brother won it in a raffle 50 years ago, and we wondered if any small animals had made its stuffing their home. If so, they thankfully laid low when we held that bunny up for a quick photo sesh.

You’d think the giant bunny would have been the star of our Easter celebration, but the real hero, once again, was the crowded table that supported us all.

That bunny could tell some tails for sure, but the table roots us all.

I hope anyone who ever sat at Grandma Mary Jane’s table feels drawn to come back someday. We’ll always be glad to pop in a leaf and set an extra place or two.