A Hartshorn Family Spring Break

The Hartshorn Family took road trip for spring break.

First, we drove to Wilmington, North Carolina to see dear old friends — we knew them before chil­dren and have so many great mem­o­ries! We did a whole lot of noth­ing and the chil­dren got on like a house on fire which warmed out hearts. They spent days in the pool, step­ping out only for a quick visit to the beach and straw­berry pick­ing. The chil­dren were very eager to get pick­ing — but what to do with buck­ets of strawberries?

Daiquiris for cock­tail hour and straw­berry pan­cakes put a dent in our sup­ply. Mac is a fan­tas­tic pan­cake chef so we had break­fast cov­ered.
Below is the recipe that we used for the Daiquiris and they were not too bad!

Strawberry Daiquiris

• 6 cups ice
• 1/​2 cup white sugar
• 4 ounces frozen strawberries
• 1/​8 cup lime juice
• 1/​2 cup lemon juice
• 3/​4 cup rum
• 1/​4 cup lemon-​lime soda

From Wilmington, we made our way to Oxford, Maryland where Mac’s par­ents live. It is a beau­ti­ful, slow paced, his­toric town on the Chesapeake Bay that we love to visit. Easter tra­di­tion is to visit Nana Bib and Grandpop, make our lemon Easter cake, paint eggs and wake up on Sunday morn­ing to search the gar­den for what the Easter bun­nies have left behind.

After church — a sea of pas­tel and hats– Mac and his brother cleaned gut­ters while the girls and I lay on blan­ket and read in the sun. I have to say this was a first and just bliss!

Here is the recipe for our lemon cake — I have been mak­ing it since I was a kid.

Lemon Easter Cake

Cake

• 5 egg whites
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 table­spoon lemon
• 5 egg yolks
• rind of 1/​2 lemon — grated
• 1 cup pas­try flour sifted
• 1/​4 tea­spoon salt

Filling

• One can con­densed milk
• Juice and rind of one lemon

Beat egg whites till stiff then grad­u­ally beat in 5 table­spoons of sugar.
In a sep­a­rate bowl, add lemon juice to egg yolks and beat till thick.
Add lemon rind and beat in the remain­ing sugar.
Pour yolk mix­ture over whites and fold together with spoon.
Sift flour and salt and fold into mix­ture gen­tly.
Pour into 2 unbut­tered 9 inch layer pans and bake 25 mins @ 350 degrees.
Test by dent­ing lightly with fin­ger, if done the cake will bounce back.

Invert the pans on wire and let cool.

While cake is bak­ing, make fill­ing by mix­ing con­densed milk with lemon juice and rind. Put in fridge to thicken up.

Sandwich lay­ers together with fill­ing. Top cake with light layer of frost­ing and dec­o­rate.
Enjoy!