It is hard to believe that it is already time for Peter Cottontail to make an appearance. We both come from families where Easter was/is kind of a big deal, as such, we’ve compiled our favorite hints, recipes, and menu ideas to help you have the best Easter.
As Thanksgiving and Christmas are turkey holidays, Easter (in my family) has always been about lamb. Whether this is done ironically (or because it’s delicious) I’ll never know. JoJo and his family have always been ham (and ham gravy) people for Easter. As they are both delicious options, we alternate yearly. My grandmother’s traditional Easter luncheon generally included: roasted leg of lamb, lamb gravy, white rice (to be covered in lamb gravy), rolls (a la Sister Schuberts), squash casserole,
sweet potato soufflé/casserole (a staple), cherry/pecan gelatin salad, and asparagus. I sadly won’t be attending my families Easter lunch this year, and Jojo and I have decided to prepare something small at home– and this year is a lamb year. A few years back, I wrote a post about a successful Easter dinner party I threw that had everything: a delicious alcoholic punch/cocktail, roasted lamb, a potato dish (which I have not since replicated), sweet potato soufflé, the green beans so delicious even Josh will eat them, and pineapple-carrot cake with brown butter frosting. All recipes can be found in that post.
Also, are you looking for a cute Easter breakfast idea? Check out this adorable idea from Betty Crocker that I found on Pinterest. You can turn their tubed cinnamon rolls into bunnies with raisins and almonds. They’re called, “Cinnabunnies.” I mean, come on. How cute is that? Adorable and delicious!
As a child, my family did a big Easter lunches at our cousin’s house with a menu complete with ham, sweet potato casserole and what seemed like hundreds of deviled eggs. And here’s something to think about when it comes to deviled eggs- you can do all kinds of variations and generally, they are still delightful. By variations, I mean you can add bacon, you can add avocado, you can top them with olives, you can top them with paprika… you can do all kinds of different things to the basic deviled egg. You can even put several different Easter spins on them— since it is likely you’ll have some hard boiled eggs on hand for this holiday.
My favorite Easter decorations are those taken from nature. Newly bloomed jonquils, limbs with leaves and buds bring the green and new rebirth of the season into your festivities. Not all of us live on nature preserves though, and I have often opted for a simple bouquet of tulips from Trader Joes. It all depends upon your level of effort and budget. One suggestion that I do want to share is something my Mom and Dad would always do for me and my siblings: jellybean trails. They would make a trail of jellybeans leading from our bedroom door to our Easter baskets. The first year I didn’t get a jelly bean trail (when I was 22!) I was bereft. My Mom said something to the effect of, “well, you’re an adult now…” I was apparently so crest-fallen that there hasn’t been a year go by (when I’ve been at home) that she’s not done it. Obviously, for homes with pets, this may not be an option, but I wanted to share a special memory that might make it into your repertoire.
There are flowers that are synonymous with certain holidays for me. Easter lilies being the one that I associate with Easter. This past weekend when we made a quick family trip to a big box hardware store, I just could not leave without an Easter lily. Easter lilies bring back memories of my maternal grandmother, Momo, picking flowers from her yard (and her neighbors’ yards) for church on Sundays. And Easter lilies remind me of going to church with my paternal grandmother, Anne, and the altar being covered in Easter lilies on Easter. We may not be going to church on Sunday, but- we definitely will have an Easter Lily among us.
Also you can find my insight on egg shaped salt dough ornaments for an Easter tree. The best take-away from those ornaments is the hand print impression ornament I made of Baby Bub’s tiny little hand.
And I have to say that I had forgotten about Leigh’s jelly bean trail until we started organizing our thoughts for this post- but, I have to say- it is absolutely going to become one of our Easter traditions. And I was talking to some of my bar guests about doing a jelly bean trail and they said they used to hide their children’s Easter baskets. That one year their eldest found her basket in the dryer… that too would be a fun tradition as well. I am thinking that I will also hide plastic eggs outside during the night for when Baby Bub wakes up they will be ready for him to hunt.
I love a good Pas egg kit. It’s messy, but it takes me back. As I’ve gotten older though, I’ve dabbled in some alternative decorating methods and wanted to share my favorites. All of which are, of course, cribbed from Martha Stewart:
Decoupaged Eggs: Use cut outs, print-outs, and (best idea) adorable paper napkins to adorn your eggs. All you need is scissors, Mod Podge, and a paint brush and you are in business.- Silk-Tie Eggs: This one is like real-deal magic and will WOW anyone who sees them. I blew Josh away with this one. Thrift store silk items get a new life and you get super-special eggs. And you know how much I love re-using things.
- Marbleized Eggs: Adding olive oil to the dye batch produces amazing results.
I have posted about dying eggs. I mean, I dyed eggs for Baby Bub when he was 5 months old. And although the use of rubber bands and just your regular ol’ Pas egg dying kit did not turn out exactly how I envisioned, they were still cool. I already have a kit for Baby Bub and I to get down on dying some eggs. I think we will wait until Easter morning. I already have his Easter basket and his first cousins’ Easter baskets fixed and hidden.
It gets really easy to over-do on Easter. I suggested getting Baby Bub a kid’s canoe-thing-y for Easter and Bub quickly put me in check saying a basket would be plenty. I also did my niece and nephew a goodie basket. For all three, I stuffed them with not just candy but their favorite junk foods too. Baby Bub is getting the Pop Tarts. I don’t know how he knows what those are but he had a come-apart at the grocery store recently when I wouldn’t buy him some. And remember when Leigh did the cute little animal top jars, well, I cheated and got some from the $1 Spot at Target. Those are for my sister and her BFF. (I love little surprises!)
What is on your Easter menu? We love a good recipe! What Easter traditions will you be carrying on this year? Do you decorate your house for Easter? And if so, what do you do for your decorations? And finally, will you be dying eggs this year or are you just gonna stick with the plastic ones? Do your Easter plans lean towards the formal side or the casual side? As always, we wanna hear your answers in the comments.
