Easter Sunday all of my brothers and sisters and their children gathered at my home, along with my parents and grandparents. Although we all live in the same town, we don't all get together very often. Even on holidays, there is usually one sibling missing.

We had a delicious meal of baked spiral ham and my mom made her specialties - macaroni and potato salads and deviled eggs. My mom makes the tastiest salads around, but she doesn't use recipes, so it is very difficult for me to replicate them.

When she makes her salads, she makes two kinds; one with "green things," otherwise known as celery and green peppers, and one without "green things." My dad won't eat "green things" and when my sons were younger, they decided that just like their Pa, they wouldn't eat salad with "green things."

When I make macaroni or potato salad, the first thing my sons ask is "does it have green things in it?" If I say yes, they tell me that their grandmother makes two salads; one with green things and one without. I guess that's one of the wonderful things that grandmas do for their grandchildren. Maybe when I'm a grandma, I'll make two kinds of salad, but don't count on it.

It was an enjoyable get together, especially since the weather was finally good - sunny and warm. (Of course, today it was snowing - ugh!). My mom wanted to get a photo of all of us to remember the day, and that is a huge project. My husband wanted no part of it, until I reminded him that we spent four hours on our vacation in Delaware getting family portraits taken with his family.

(Disclaimer - although it sounds like I am complaining, I'm really not. I appreciate the power that my mother-in-law wields, because if it weren't for her, there is no way on this earth that my husband and sons would have agreed to have a family portrait taken at the beach in matching clothes. The photos from Delaware turned out beautifully and Malcolm is in them too!)

So we headed out to the back deck for the photo. Immediately, the siblings began our favorite pastime; picking on youngest sibling Missie. My brother Doug started in first. We were waiting for Missie to come out and Doug said "Watch, she'll show up in her wedding dress and say, 'what, this old thing?,'" We all laughed and then it became a free-for-all trying to one-up each other and make everyone laugh. The laughter continued as my husband snapped the photos.

We have a digital camera, so we downloaded the photos on the computer right away and watched the progression of pictures. As each one went by on the computer screen, you could see as we began laughing harder and harder.

The funny thing is, even with all of the laughing, or maybe because of all the laughing, the photos turned out great. Everyone was looking at the camera and smiling. Even all of our clothes complimented each other. There were bright reds, yellows and navy blues strategically placed in the photo. You might think we were placed in our positions by a professional photographer, but it just turned out that way.

Of course, no good deed goes unpunished. My oldest son was at work when we took the picture, so when he came home and saw it, he was not happy. I have a feeling that we will have to hear about this family picture without him for the rest of lives. I'm sure it will come up at every family gathering - "Hey remember the Easter that we had a family picture done and everyone was in it but me?"

When my family gets together, I always think of family dinners when we were all living at home growing up. My brothers would compete to see who could make one of us laugh so hard that food or drink would come out of our mouths, or noses if they were really good. For a certain period of time, both of my brothers could not be at the table at the same time.

My mom would warn us, and my sisters and I would say "but the boys are doing it!" Then Mom would tell my brothers that if they didn't knock it off, one of them would have to "eat on the pool table." (We had a pool table in the basement, so that was where the bad boys had to eat).

My brothers might tell you that the girls would start it, but my sisters and I vehemently deny it, even to this day. I remember ordinary family dinners being some of the most fun we had as a family. We would laugh so hard it would make us physically sick.

A few weeks ago, my father called me after dinner one night to ask me if when we were kids, we used to jump off the neighbor's garage roof onto his house. Of course, it just so happened that one of my sisters and one of my brothers were at my parents'home having dinner that night.

It's dangerous if a few of the siblings are at the parents' house for dinner and you are not. You never know what childhood issue they will bring up. If you're not there to defend yourself, you're going to get the blame. It's just survival of the fittest, or maybe survival of the nearest, in this case.

I had to defend myself by explaining that of course I didn't jump off that poor man's garage roof onto his house. I was the eldest child, the responsible one, the good one, remember? It was my sister and her irresponsible friends who convinced my impressionable young brothers to join them in that endeavor. I'm sure I was home studying or reading a book while the other kids were misbehaving. I couldn't keep an eye on them all of the time, Dad, but I tried my best.

I think I dodged a bullet that time, but from now on, I'm going to have to make sure that if more than one of my siblings is over at my parents, house for dinner, I'm there to protect my sterling reputation.

I've got to give a shout-out to my friend Jim in Florida. Your mom told me that you were in town in February and you called and left me a message at work. I didn't call you back because my train was late, I couldn't get a taxi, my tux didn't come back from the cleaners, there was an earthquake, a fire, a terrible flood, but it wasn't my fault, I swear!!!

(Actually, I accidentally deleted a phone message before I listened to it; that must have been you sorry.)

Send me your favorite spring recipes. Email to laruediane2000@yahoo.com or mail to Diane La Rue, c/o The Citizen, 25 Dill St., Auburn, NY 13021. Reader Mary Heath is looking for a crockpot recipe called "Stay-A-Bed-Stew" and it contained molasses. If you can help, contact me.

Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake

A decadent and delicious dessert from local gourmet Ruth Goldman.

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup butter, melted

Mix together and pat into a springform pan.

In a blender (or food processor), put 3 (8 ounces) softened cream cheese bricks, a 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk, 4 eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla and a 12 ounce package of chocolate chips melted. Beat well.

Pour into the springform pan over the crumbs and bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour. Cool and refrigerate. Remove side of the pan the next day.

Ruth decorates this cake with shaved dark chocolate curls or mixes Kahlua with 8 ounces of Cool Whip and tops each piece. This cheesecake can be frozen.

Citrus Fruit Salad

2 medium seedless oranges, peeled, thinly sliced

1 medium grapefruit, peeled, sectioned

1 medium apple, cut into thin wedges

1 medium pear, cut into thin wedges

1 medium banana, sliced

1/2 cup cubed 2 percent milk shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese (1/2 inch)

1/4 cup coleslaw dressing

2 tablespoons honey

Dash of ground cinnamon

Toss fruit and cheese in medium bowl.

Combine dressing, honey and cinnamon; pour over fruit mixture. Toss to coat.

- from www. kraftfoods.com

Serve immediately.

Mandarin Chicken Salad

To get your recommended servings of fruits, try this citrus salad from one-time cook of the month Jill Odell.

In the first bowl add 5 cups cooked, cooled and cut up chicken, 5 tablespoons salad oil, 5 tablespoons orange juice, 2 tablespoons vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt. Let this stand.

In another bowl, mix 3 cups cooked cooled rice, 1 1/2 cups chopped celery, a 13-ounce can crushed pineapple drained well, an 11ounce can mandarin oranges drained, and 1 1/2 half cups mayonnaise. Very gently toss the chicken mixture into the rice mixture. This is best made the day before you plan to serve it.

Fiesta Chicken Salad Taco

This recipe would make a terrific after-school or before sports practice snack for the kids. Add brown rice or black beans and a side salad for a complete meal

1/2 cup chopped cooked chicken

2 tablespoons thick 'n chunky salsa

2 tablespoons 2 percent milk shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon light mayonnaise

2 taco shells

Mix chicken, salsa, cheese and mayo in small bowl. Break apart taco shells to scoop up salad. Or, spoon mixture onto taco shells and serve.

- from www. kraftfoods.com

Break apart taco shells to scoop up salad. Or, spoon mixture into taco shells and serve.