Easter Holiday

Boogie boarding, painting Easter eggs, chasing the kids on the lawn next door -- GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney is taking an unusually long, but well-deserved four-day break from the campaign trail to celebrate the Easter holiday at his beachfront home in the one of the loveliest (and most upscale) beach communities in Southern California. The Romneys seem to be enjoying a traditional Easter weekend, beach-style. On Friday, the campaign posted an Instagram photo of Mitt and Ann Romney, surrounded by grandchildren, painting Easter eggs.

The Easter holiday put many of our Twitter #Weekendeats chat participants in the mood for spring. In addition to the baked hams, Peeps and Easter basket candy, spring fruits and vegetables seemed to dominate everyone's holiday tables. Here's a look at the highlights: Gerry from the blog FoodnessGracious.com shared a recipe for a beautiful roasted tomato and goat cheese galette , AZgrabaplate.com shared a recipe for asparagus and asiago frittata and theAdirondackChick.com shared a recipe for spicy chipotle roasted butternut squash with cilantro lime quinoa . Susan Orlins shared 12 recipes for vegetable dishes including a broccoli soup and glazed onions.

Here in a wooden shed on the desert grounds of St. Andrew's Priory, Benedictine monks mold clay into 60,000 saints, angels and other heavenly characters that are shipped to gift shops all over the country. Father Werner P. deMorchoven, a 73-year-old former missionary to China who is now in charge of promotion for the priory, reports that angels are in great demand this spring.

Strong gains in U.S. auto sales over the last six months eased in April as the Easter holiday, bad weather and fewer selling days ate into the business of some of the largest automakers, includingGeneral Motors Co. andFord Motor Co. But analysts and industry officials don't see the industry slipping further and said the falloff was probably temporary. "Taking it all into consideration, we are holding the trend of a moderate recovery," said Jeff Schuster, an analyst at LMC Automotive.

A former second fiddle and a former undertaker will be appearing on Orange County stages on either side of the Easter holiday. It was as a sideman with laid-back Southern California rock artists like Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt that multi-talented David Lindley first became known before embarking on a solo career in the late 1970s.

Maybe Mother Nature is working things out for herself. Last weekend's rains pushed the just-beginning Northern California strawberry harvest back about a week and probably delivered most of the important Easter holiday sales to Southern California growers. Those same growers, you may remember, missed the first couple of weeks of their season because of the Christmas freeze. This time, the weather was in their favor: The rain blew in and blew out quickly, not lingering on the sensitive berries.

--Consumers are likely to open their wallets this Easter holiday, with total spending expected to hit $16.8 billion on apparel, candy, food and decorations, according to the National Retail Federation. Americans will shell out an average of $145.28, up 11% from $131.04 last year. Nearly half will shop for spring fashions and accessories, while nearly 90% will go for classic Easter candy such as jelly beans and chocolate eggs. “Though the price of gas is on everyone's mind, Easter is one of the few holidays some consumers are willing to stretch their budgets, especially because many children look forward to treats and new outfits on Easter morning,” said Matthew Shay, the federation's chief executive.  --Designer Ralph Lauren has been tapped to create uniforms for the American team heading to the London Olympic Games in July.

The Easter holiday put many of our Twitter #Weekendeats chat participants in the mood for spring. In addition to the baked hams, Peeps and Easter basket candy, spring fruits and vegetables seemed to dominate everyone's holiday tables. Here's a look at the highlights: Gerry from the blog FoodnessGracious.com shared a recipe for a beautiful roasted tomato and goat cheese galette , AZgrabaplate.com shared a recipe for asparagus and asiago frittata and theAdirondackChick.com shared a recipe for spicy chipotle roasted butternut squash with cilantro lime quinoa . Susan Orlins shared 12 recipes for vegetable dishes including a broccoli soup and glazed onions.

Long before there was Spielberg or Lucas, spectacle in Hollywood was spelled Cecil B. DeMille. The director's most ambitious, lavish epic, "The Ten Commandments," has been released in a 35th-anniversary commemorative edition ($65) by Paramount/Pioneer that many will want to glimpse--or even watch all three hours and 39 minutes of--during this Passover/Easter holiday week. For good measure, DeMille himself, as close to the voice of God as ever imagined by Hollywood, introduces the film.

Boogie boarding, painting Easter eggs, chasing the kids on the lawn next door -- GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney is taking an unusually long, but well-deserved four-day break from the campaign trail to celebrate the Easter holiday at his beachfront home in the one of the loveliest (and most upscale) beach communities in Southern California. The Romneys seem to be enjoying a traditional Easter weekend, beach-style. On Friday, the campaign posted an Instagram photo of Mitt and Ann Romney, surrounded by grandchildren, painting Easter eggs.

--Consumers are likely to open their wallets this Easter holiday, with total spending expected to hit $16.8 billion on apparel, candy, food and decorations, according to the National Retail Federation. Americans will shell out an average of $145.28, up 11% from $131.04 last year. Nearly half will shop for spring fashions and accessories, while nearly 90% will go for classic Easter candy such as jelly beans and chocolate eggs. “Though the price of gas is on everyone's mind, Easter is one of the few holidays some consumers are willing to stretch their budgets, especially because many children look forward to treats and new outfits on Easter morning,” said Matthew Shay, the federation's chief executive.  --Designer Ralph Lauren has been tapped to create uniforms for the American team heading to the London Olympic Games in July.

Maybe Mother Nature is working things out for herself. Last weekend's rains pushed the just-beginning Northern California strawberry harvest back about a week and probably delivered most of the important Easter holiday sales to Southern California growers. Those same growers, you may remember, missed the first couple of weeks of their season because of the Christmas freeze. This time, the weather was in their favor: The rain blew in and blew out quickly, not lingering on the sensitive berries.

Easter dawned looking more like Christmas in parts of Southern California on Sunday as snowfall from an unusual spring storm closed the Antelope Valley Freeway and rain chased traditional sunrise services, egg hunts and picnics indoors. Some churchgoers left their holiday best in their closets, opting instead for raincoats and umbrellas.

Long before there was Spielberg or Lucas, spectacle in Hollywood was spelled Cecil B. DeMille. The director's most ambitious, lavish epic, "The Ten Commandments," has been released in a 35th-anniversary commemorative edition ($65) by Paramount/Pioneer that many will want to glimpse--or even watch all three hours and 39 minutes of--during this Passover/Easter holiday week. For good measure, DeMille himself, as close to the voice of God as ever imagined by Hollywood, introduces the film.

Lithuanian leaders meeting in a special session Monday drew up emergency plans for the survival of their economically dependent republic if the Kremlin carries out a threat that could effectively seal Lithuania's borders to critically needed raw materials. The republic's government also approved and sent a conciliatory message to President Mikhail S. Gorbachev calling for immediate negotiations on a whole range of issues that it said were open to compromise.

People who plan to fly out of town for the Easter holidays might do well to shop for airlines and airports. The thrifty traveler can save, depending on the destination and whether the flight carries any restrictions. The following chart illustrates round-trip air fares to New York, Chicago, Miami and Dallas/Fort Worth from John Wayne/Orange County, Los Angeles International, Long Beach, San Diego and Ontario airports. The fares are hypothetical for departure on March 27, returning April 3, 1988.

Lithuanian leaders meeting in a special session Monday drew up emergency plans for the survival of their economically dependent republic if the Kremlin carries out a threat that could effectively seal Lithuania's borders to critically needed raw materials. The republic's government also approved and sent a conciliatory message to President Mikhail S. Gorbachev calling for immediate negotiations on a whole range of issues that it said were open to compromise.

It's not as hectic as Thanksgiving, and it's nowhere near as rowdy as the Fourth of July or Labor Day weekends. But with teen-agers running loose on spring break and tens of thousands of sun worshipers expected to descend on area beaches, Easter weekend still figures to be busy enough to provide some headaches for Orange County law enforcement agencies.