Happy Easter! In the UK, Good Friday and Easter Monday are official holidays so I’ve been enjoying the time off to get over a rather nasty cold that has been keeping me less than active the last few weeks. The cold hasn’t stopped me, however, from having a lovely Easter Sunday.

In the morning, Alex kindly invited me to join himself, his girlfriend, his mother and his prep school Latin teacher for their annual Easter tradition – brunch at the Brasserie in South Kensington followed by the Latin mass at the Brompton Oratory just around the corner. The Oratory is a Catholic church of nearly cathedral-like proportions and dominates the skyline in the area. After a lovely breakfast, we joined the hundreds of others heading to mass and managed to get seats right near the front. This turned out to be a bit of a problem for me when the service started. Some rather enthusiastic members of the clergy got a bit carried away with the amount of incense (I’d say slightly more than strictly necessary) and I had such a bad coughing fit I had to leave the building for a bit then spend most of the rest of the service standing at the side near the door. At least there were plenty of religious relics and people around for laying of hands should it have become necessary. As it turned out, what was really necessary was water and fresh air and hiding my embarrassment for the rest of the service.

Despite my lung’s lack of cooperation, it was a stunningly beautiful service. I had never seen a service done in this older style with the priest facing away from the congregation and the readings all done in Latin.

After church, I returned home to start cooking my own Easter meal. I had spent quite a bit more than was probably necessary for one person but was very excited for a bit of gourmet (and wanted a chance to try out what I have been told is the best butcher shop in London). The menu included a sirloin steak with thyme and red wine sauce, asparagus sauted in butter and garlic, French green beans and roasted baby potatoes. For dessert, I made a chocolate mousse served with strawberries and cream.

Amazingly, the entire meal went off without a hitch. Everything came out very tasty and which I certainly won’t be spending quite as much on the ingredients again, my kitchen multi-tasking and the lovely flavours have inspired me to try to get a bit more experimental in my cooking. Of course it helps when I have half an afternoon to prepare instead of coming back late in the evening after work.

Overall it was a wonderful Easter – I got to spend time with friends, attend a beautiful church service and eat a delicious Easter meal. What more could one ask for?