Easter menus and recipes

[ScoutTN]

Are you planning any special food for Easter? 
 

We were going out, but now probably not, so I am thinking about something simple that I can make ahead. Probably brunch. 

[saraha]

Quivers cinnamon rolls, sausage links, bacon and fruit salad for brunch

Ham, scalloped potatoes, deviled eggs, broccoli salad, homemade bread, pineapple upside down cake

starting Saturday, never ending queso pot

Edited March 24 by saraha

[Laura Corin]

Hot Cross Buns for Good Friday- toasted and then spread with thick cream, some prefer butter.

[HomeAgain]

I was planning on grasshopper pie (chocolate, mint, hint of marshmallow).  My children have requested NO SWEETS for Easter, though.  The oldest just had a birthday and his community came through abundantly: ice cream cake from us, homemade cake from his gf, a chocolate pudding pie and 3 dozen specialty cookies from his work friends and something his Friday night group calls 'tea jellies' to round it all out.  It's bad enough that last year's chocolate bunnies are still in the fridge, lol. 

So.

New plans. There will be no baskets or egg hunt. We'll take our annual hike and airplane contest, and then I'll make:

• chicken crepes with root veggies and a light cream sauce
• green salad
• rice pilaf
• asparagus

Dessert will most likely be coffee and a cheese board, if anyone is interested, with a few spreads to complement it.

[Eos]

27 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

It's bad enough that last year's chocolate bunnies are still in the fridge, lol. 

Same for a few of my family members, ahem. Will that stop me from buying more bunnies and chocolate eggs? No. 

My annual Easter party will continue, though with fewer and fewer children each year. We do a big potluck with lots of friends. Our contribution is usually ham, sweet potatoes, and a lemon curd- topped lemon cake with strawberries, plus pretty paper napkins and lots of chocolate.

Edited March 24 by Eos

[almondbutterandjelly]

Well, Dad is in Skilled Nursing with a restricted diet, so we are bringing Easter dinner to him.  It will be beef stew (my husband makes a wonderful beef stew with red wine), and chocolate ice cream sundaes for dessert.  No bread allowed.  Food must have liquid with it.  So that's what it will be.  It's good stew, though, mmm.

[Ditto]

2 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

It's bad enough that last year's chocolate bunnies are still in the fridge, lol. 

 

1 hour ago, Eos said:

Same for a few of my family members, ahem.

It is a huge sacrifice, but you both may feel free to send me your left over chocolate bunnies.😄    Such a thing as "left over chocolate" does not exist in my house!

[HomeAgain]

5 minutes ago, Ditto said:

 

It is a huge sacrifice, but you both may feel free to send me your left over chocolate bunnies.😄    Such a thing as "left over chocolate" does not exist in my house!

I didn't think it would ever be a thing in my house, either!  Oldest ds will eat pretty much anything, but as an adult he's more inclined to buy whatever he wants and moderate well.  He's my one that doesn't like a ton of sweets in the first place.  Youngest ds is very picky, but the bunnies fit one of 3 chocolates he chooses (plain, truffles, or Kinder bars).  The rest he could give or take, it doesn't matter to him, as long as it has absolutely no peanuts or peanut butter.

I don't get it.  This never would have been me as a kid.

[Faith-manor]

I love Easter when it is so close to the start of true spring here in Michigan. We normally do ham packets. Mark starts a fire in the fire ring, gets a good bed of coals going, and we let everyone make up their own veggie and ham or chicken packets.

We provide:

Ham slices

Chicken breast cut into thin strips

Cubed potatoes

Thin sliced carrots

Thin sliced sweet onions

Asparagus spears (the thinner the better)

Fresh green beans

Pea pods

We wash/rinse the veggies, shake off excess water, but do not dry them.

Double layer of aluminum foil, large enough to roll like a burrito for each person. 

Everyone places their protein of choice in the center of the aluminum foil, piles on all of the veggies they like, generously sprinkles steak seasoning all over it, adds two pats of butter (which along with the residual water on the veggies helps them steam), and rolls the first layer up like a burrito good and tight. Then we use a large permanent marker to put initials on that layer and blow on it hoping to set enough the ink that at least part will remain.) Turn the packet 180° and roll burrito style with the second layer of aluminium foil. Mark tosses those into the coals, using leather gloves and long tongs to turn regularly, and cooks for about 30-45 minutes. We also, if we can get sweet corn, roast sweet corn in the fire (doesn't take that long so don't start it until 15-20 minutes before the packets are going to come out.)

We make lemonade, and eat up!

This year we have a wedding the day before out of state so we will be traveling and not with our kids or our mothers that day. The moms are going to cook for our sons and dil while we are gone. 

This has been our Easter Sunday meal for about 10-12 years.

[ScoutTN]

@Faith-manor  That sounds yummy and fun!! We do foil packets all the time for camping, but now we will do them at home some too! Thanks for the inspiration. 😎

Edited March 24 by ScoutTN

[ScoutTN]

So, our plans have morphed several times, but I think we are finally settled.

Friday or Saturday b’fast: either Quiver’s cinnamon rolls or blueberry lemon pound cake. 

Saturday night: ham, hash brown casserole, asparagus, spinach and strawberry salad. 

Sunday: Breakfast casserole and fruit for whomever wants to eat. We have four people and three vehicles going to church at different times. Dh sings both services and there will be loads of sweets at church, plus real food for the choir. No kids’ Sunday school, so I am not working, but I have to get my mom there. 

Out for lunch with my mom after church. Upscale pizza and salad place.

Dinner will be leftovers. Dd will have left by then. 

[freesia]

I’m mixing things up around here. We used to live where we could get a free ham if we spent $300 so we had endless ham. This year I think we’ll have:

chicken stuffed with mozzarella and asparagus 

my yummy scalloped potatoes 

broccoli salad?

salad with toppings

a peach cake recipe I found online with whip cream or custard

wine/fizzy apple juice

[LifeLovePassion]

17 minutes ago, freesia said:

I’m mixing things up around here. We used to live where we could get a free ham if we spent $300 so we had endless ham. This year I think we’ll have:

chicken stuffed with mozzarella and asparagus 

my yummy scalloped potatoes 

broccoli salad?

salad with toppings

a peach cake recipe I found online with whip cream or custard

wine/fizzy apple juice

I'd love the peach cake recipe 🙂

[freesia]

23 minutes ago, LifeLovePassion said:

I'd love the peach cake recipe 🙂

Sure: https://www.melskitchencafe.com/peaches-and-cream-cake/

[ScoutTN]

Making the peach cake! 

[LifeLovePassion]

10 minutes ago, ScoutTN said:

Making the peach cake! 

Me too, looks delicious!

[freesia]

19 minutes ago, ScoutTN said:

Making the peach cake! 

 

8 minutes ago, LifeLovePassion said:

Me too, looks delicious!

We will have to compare notes!

[ScoutTN]

On 3/24/2024 at 6:54 PM, freesia said:

 

We will have to compare notes!

The peach cake is a winner here!  
 

I used peaches canned in juice, not heavy syrup. Yummy! I served it warm with milk to drink, but it would also be great with vanilla ice cream or heavy cream or whipped cream. 

[ScoutTN]

On 3/24/2024 at 6:29 PM, freesia said:

Sure: https://www.melskitchencafe.com/peaches-and-cream-cake/

Thank you!!
🍑

Edited March 31 by ScoutTN

[Tina]

Ham, mashed potatoes, pineapple fried rice, roasted asparagus and carrots, deviled eggs, homemade rolls, strawberry cheesecake salad.  Also tried a new recipe for gf brownies with a peanut butter topping.  And I may make a lemon meringue pie, too.

[KungFuPanda]

We did our meal today. We had a lamb roasted with sweet potatoes, lemon chicken, roasted carrots, roasted asparagus, a spring salad, pierogie skins casserole (I treat peirogies like loaded potato skins), and bread. We had a huge charcuterie/cheese platter before the meal and an assortment of pastries afterwards with tea and coffee. 

[Eos]

I was inspired by the peach cake but still wanted lemon so I made this https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017151-lemon-almond-butter-cake?unlocked_article_code=1.g00.gnum.dwK108642j5h&smid=share-url 

Happy Easter!

 

[ktgrok]

I made a crockpot casserole for Easter breakfast before church - and it was gross. Awful. Ended up having fruit and cereal and I had muffins I'd bought from Sprouts. 

After church we had a late lunch/early dinner of deviled eggs, chicken salad sandwiches on croissants (found gluten free sweet rolls for kid with celiac - walmart), Watergate Salad (aka the "green stuff", baked beans with bacon, and fruit. 

Dessert was Pavlova and Frozen Limemade Pie (both super easy). Pavlova has somehow become our traditional Easter dessert - DD14 wanted it and she and I have been butting heads alot so it was nice to do something for her. Only issue was the pavlova was a bit stuck to the parchment paper, so I just cut it and left it on there...and I realized I didn't have a platter big enough so had to serve it on a pizza pan, lol. 

Now I have a sugar hangover. 

[Drama Llama]

18 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

I made a crockpot casserole for Easter breakfast before church - and it was gross. Awful. Ended up having fruit and cereal and I had muffins I'd bought from Sprouts. 

After church we had a late lunch/early dinner of deviled eggs, chicken salad sandwiches on croissants (found gluten free sweet rolls for kid with celiac - walmart), Watergate Salad (aka the "green stuff", baked beans with bacon, and fruit. 

Dessert was Pavlova and Frozen Limemade Pie (both super easy). Pavlova has somehow become our traditional Easter dessert - DD14 wanted it and she and I have been butting heads alot so it was nice to do something for her. Only issue was the pavlova was a bit stuck to the parchment paper, so I just cut it and left it on there...and I realized I didn't have a platter big enough so had to serve it on a pizza pan, lol. 

Now I have a sugar hangover. 

Can I get a recipe for frozen limeade pie?

[ktgrok]

Just now, Drama Llama said:

Can I get a recipe for frozen limeade pie?

I used this, just switched to limeade instead of lemonade because I like lime better, lol. The store only had 12 oz cans, so I doubled the recipe and made two. We are gluten free so I used gluten free storebought graham cracker pie crusts. Personally, I would like it a bit more tart...maybe sub in some straight lime juice for some of the concentrate or something....or add some zest for more flavor. But it really is tasty and stupid easy. 

https://www.thespruceeats.com/frozen-lemonade-pie-recipe-3058033

[Drama Llama]

We had grilled leg of lamb, brown sugar mustard glazed tofu, mac and cheese, spinach salad with berries, asparagus, carrots and radishes, artichokes, and cheesecake.  
 

It all turned out well.

[Drama Llama]

2 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

I used this, just switched to limeade instead of lemonade because I like lime better, lol. The store only had 12 oz cans, so I doubled the recipe and made two. We are gluten free so I used gluten free storebought graham cracker pie crusts. Personally, I would like it a bit more tart...maybe sub in some straight lime juice for some of the concentrate or something....or add some zest for more flavor. But it really is tasty and stupid easy. 

https://www.thespruceeats.com/frozen-lemonade-pie-recipe-3058033

That looks delicious! Maybe I will ask for that for my birthday!  

[knitgrl]

On 3/24/2024 at 4:54 AM, Laura Corin said:

Hot Cross Buns for Good Friday- toasted and then spread with thick cream, some prefer butter.

I have read that the cream in the UK is different than what we can get in the US. The idea of spreading cream onto a bun is a little bit mind-blowing.

[Laura Corin]

6 minutes ago, knitgrl said:

I have read that the cream in the UK is different than what we can get in the US. The idea of spreading cream onto a bun is a little bit mind-blowing.

You can get thick double cream that is designed for spooning rather than pouring. It has 50g of fat per 100ml. Definitely a once-a-year event.

This is different from clotted cream, which is also spreadable but has been gently heated.

[Harriet Vane]

Easter was definitely a hit here. We had a full weekend house party. My kids and their cousins are all grown up and paired off, so it's a fabulous twentysomething vibe.  

 

Breakfast:

Wild rice with apples, cranberries, and pecans. Spiced it up with cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves. Added maple syrup, milk, vanilla. YUM.

 

Appetizers:

Potstickers (just reheated frozen)

Ginger-coconut rice balls, onigiri, fruit, shrimp spring rolls

I also threw in their grandparents' favorite snacks as a remembrance. (Grandparents passed away a few years ago.)

 

Dinner:

Roast leg of lamb--OMIGOSH SO AMAZING. Dry spice rub. Poked slits and stuffed with garlic and fresh rosemary. Slow roast on grill all day, then steamed on the stovetop with a whole bottle of red wine, then crisped up on the grill. Well worth all that meticulous effort.

And also caesar salad, sun-dried tomato focaccia, ham with apricot glaze, mashed potatoes, roasted broccoli with lemon zest and parmesan.

 

Dessert:

Kransekake (delicious, easier than you think, and so impressive), hummingbird cake, chocolate chip cake

[saraha]

We ended up swapping pineapple upside down cake for mini hot fudge cakes. They were a huge hit and so easy! Baked chocolate cupcakes, then when ready to eat, split the cupcake in half put ice cream in between, hot fudge over the top and whipped cream and a cherry. Tasted just like Frisch’s only a more manageable size. Definitely a keeper

[LifeLovePassion]

The peach cake was delicious! The frozen dough was old so the cinnamon rolls bombed. Will have to make them again with fresh dough. Ham was a little dry and the majority didn't care for the glaze and would prefer a non sweetened ham. But it was a good day!

[Spryte]

This thread inspired me to make GF, DF hot cross buns — and everyone was so happy with them! Also, we made DF scalloped potatoes — another first for us, and it was a huge hit. I don’t usually try to recreate traditional dishes to fit our allergy profile, but this was fun, and everyone loved it. Yay!

[Harriet Vane]

1 hour ago, Spryte said:

This thread inspired me to make GF, DF hot cross buns — and everyone was so happy with them! Also, we made DF scalloped potatoes — another first for us, and it was a huge hit. I don’t usually try to recreate traditional dishes to fit our allergy profile, but this was fun, and everyone loved it. Yay!

Are you able to have eggs? I made DF mashed potatoes using plain unsweetened DF yoghurt, EarthBalance butter, salt, pepper, chives. I incorporated a single beaten egg. The egg contributed a fluffy texture that felt right. 

[Spryte]

9 minutes ago, Harriet Vane said:

Are you able to have eggs? I made DF mashed potatoes using plain unsweetened DF yoghurt, EarthBalance butter, salt, pepper, chives. I incorporated a single beaten egg. The egg contributed a fluffy texture that felt right. 

I’ll have to try that! We added eggs in recently, when one kid outgrew egg allergy. We make mashed potatoes often, just with stock and earth balance, salt, pepper, spices. Egg sounds interesting!

[KungFuPanda]

On 4/1/2024 at 11:44 AM, knitgrl said:

I have read that the cream in the UK is different than what we can get in the US. The idea of spreading cream onto a bun is a little bit mind-blowing.

You can make clotted cream. It’s not hard.  There’s a lot of wait time, but the hands-on part is really easy. It’s like cream and butter had a baby that’s better than both of them. 

[Tina]

On 3/31/2024 at 4:33 AM, Eos said:

I was inspired by the peach cake but still wanted lemon so I made this https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017151-lemon-almond-butter-cake?unlocked_article_code=1.g00.gnum.dwK108642j5h&smid=share-url 

Happy Easter!

 

i wanted lemon, too, but the filling didn't thicken in my lemon meringue pie, so that flopped.  I  will go with the frozen lemonade pie next time.  i was in a rush needing to get the pie baked so i could get the ham in the oven.

Edited April 4 by Tina