Holidays 🎆 Easter Traditions and Dinner

[gtpeach]

This is the first Easter that PeachFuzz will be old enough to do fun things like "find" Easter eggs. Just wondering if y'all have any fun Easter traditions you'd like to share? I have a basket full of goodies like Veggie Straws and Annie's Mac & Cheese for him, and I stuffed some plastic eggs with candy that we'll "hide" around the house for him to find.

I'm not sure what to make for Easter dinner, though. I hate ham. I could do prime rib, I guess. Any non-traditional suggestions? (We had crab cakes for Thanksgiving, so we're really up for anything. I'm just not feeling inspired to plan it out right now!)

The real question is about desserts. Do I make coconut cake in the shape of a bunny? A lemon blueberry swirl cheesecake? A chocolate cake that looks like a bird's nest?

I need to know what you're doing, so I can steal your ideas!

 

[Salmissra]

Not much help here - we don't "do" Easter now.

Growing up, it was a deal - dad was more into it than mom, but we still did the traditional things like an egg hunt, cute outfits, etc. I remember we sometimes had ham, but when the kids got older it was more like brunch - waffles, fancy eggs, , fruit, etc. I don't remember any desserts like you're talking about. I really like coconut (hint, hint).

 

[Veloise]

My mama always made a cake shaped like a bunny. Bake two layer cakes, cut one in half and place on a plate cut edge down, glue together with frosting. Cut another in quarters, glue two of those together and place as the head. I seem to recall her cutting cardboard into ear shapes and frosting those.

For many years my tradition was to arrive at the Taco Cabana on the south side of the freeway going through San Antonio in time to have lunch, continuing on to Houston to visit my brother and SIL for a day or two. Stop along I-10 to pose in the bluebonnets. Pick up some Elmers chocolate eggs while I was down south.

See if there's an Easter parade nearby. Might be fun to wear a seasonally-themed mask and see some people. Dress up!

 

[TOFB]

My wife's family has a Palm Sunday gathering and Sunday was the first get together we have had since Christmas 2019. I said I dreaded it and was not dissapointed. Horrible.

 

[Maister]

Easter was a thing when I was a kid and we tried to keep up with that tradition when Junior was younger. We colored eggs, did an egg hunt, had an Easter 'treat' basket filled with jelly beans and chocolate, and put up Easter decorations around the house.
One thing we did differently as adults was using plastic hollow eggs for the egg hunt. When we were kids we hunted for the eggs we colored the night before. Then one year I discovered an egg over a month later after it had been hidden

How about an Easter pizza? line toppings up in a bunny shape.

I say just dash off a quick cake and decorate some eggs

and if you're not a fan of ham you could always quickly roast some pork and make a few sides

 

[Bubba]

Desserts were never a big thing for Easter meals on either side of my family - the lunch or dinner meal itself presented enough options to put you into a food coma before getting to the desserts.

 

[Whose Yur Planner]

We did the normal Easter stuff for mini WYP when she was little. I'm trying to cut back on salt, so no ham this year. I will try to find a package of robin eggs candy. I'll be working two of the three Easter services at church.

 

[kms]

We're having a cookout this year.

 

[MD Planner]

I'm frying a turkey with mojo criollo marinade injected into it.

 

[luckless pedestrian]

Pre-pandemic we always held the Easter party for family and friends - I miss having it so much!

Hiding candy filled eggs, coloring eggs for the table, baskets, decorations - I did all of it

Our dinner was simple: Baked ham, mustard coated leg of lamb on the grill, mashed potatoes, asparagus and a big salad and bread

Last year we had a ham dinner - this year everyone admitted they really don't like ham (I love a ham dinner for Easter)

So this year, will do baskets for the kids but not sure what dinner will be - very sad about it

 

[Bubba]

Pre-pandemic we always held the Easter party for family and friends - I miss having it so much!

Hiding candy filled eggs, coloring eggs for the table, baskets, decorations - I did all of it

A rare photo of @luckless pedestrian on Easter Sunday:

 

[luckless pedestrian]

A rare photo of @luckless pedestrian on Easter Sunday:

haahaha I would never wear that jacket but yes to all of it - next year for sure and you're invited!

 

[kjel]

I generally do a ham, we all like it. Some years I've done a pork tenderloin or a roasted turkey breast. Shredded Brussels sprouts sautéed with shallots and pancetta and Au Gratin potatoes are the usual requested side dishes along with rolls and deviled eggs as an appetizer. I usually make a cake for dessert-I think I will make a pineapple upside down cake this year.

For the little people there's always an Easter basket and candy filled plastic eggs hidden around the house or outside (weather permitting).

 

[gtpeach]

I do have a cute Easter outfit for PeachFuzz and I'll wear one of my "fancy" dresses. Our church is currently meeting outside at a peach orchard, and the trees are starting to blossom. It should actually be really beautiful.

I should mention that I don't really like pork in general. I like the cook out idea - grilled steaks and asparagus would be delicious and it's supposed to be really nice out.

I had forgotten that I was also thinking about making a fruit dessert pizza, which would be a nice, lighter dessert for a cook out.

It's just a matter of how much effort I really want to commit to putting into it, I think. CCG is a wonderful husband and father, but not a good kitchen helper. I had a migraine last night and had planned on making BLTs for dinner, so I figured he could do that fairly easily. He burnt several pieces of bread (in fairness, we don't have a toaster, so he was toasting them in the oven), and asked me a bazillion questions, including in which order to put the B, L, and T on the sandwich itself.

 

[Veloise]

Peach orchard: reminds me of the bluebonnet pics. (Brother and SIL always took their dogs out to a good cluster of them.)
There's photographic evidence that our mama liked dressing us up for an Easter photo, at least when there were only three kiddos. None of four, let alone five. We never went to a church.
You can always evolve your tradition, selecting the ones that work best for you. I've seen many regrets about that shelf elf noise. Maybe the equivalent amount of effort is a Peeps diorama.

 

[gtpeach]

I'm going to see if I can track down some prime rib tonight, and if not, maybe I'll see if I can find some game hens or something like that. I'll have to go to one of the more upscale grocery stores for that, so I also need to make my regular grocery list for a pick-up order tomorrow.

For the record, CCG absolutely does not care one iota whether or not we have nice meals for holidays. In a way it's nice, but it's also really frustrating when I want him to weigh in on what his preferences are!

 

[Veloise]

No one mentioned dying Easter eggs ... or did they?

 

[Planit]

The Girl & her BFF dyed eggs up until a couple years ago.

 

[gtpeach]

I'm sure you're all dying to know that we ended up making a roasted leg of lamb because that's what the grocery store had. It turned out well, but I'm sure that it was not anywhere close to being amazing compared to what you might get at an upscale restaurant. I need better knives for carving, I don't think my particular cut was necessarily a prime selection (I had no idea what I was looking for when I made the purchase). But it turned out well enough that I'd attempt it again after doing some more research.

I cut slits and put slices of garlic into it, and then made a rub with olive oil, lemon juice, and fresh parsley, mint, and rosemary. I broiled on each side for five minutes, and then roasted it at 325 for about an hour and a half, until it reached the right temp, and then I let it rest for about half an hour while I finished making sides. I also made a mustard cream sauce to go with it, which broke because the heat was too high and I wasn't paying that close of attention, but it was good anyway. I hodge podged together a couple sets of instructions and ideas for rubs, so I was relieved that it turned out well.

We also had a caramelized onion and carrot tart that was really good, a lemon asparagus pasta salad that was just okay, mashed potatoes, and coconut cupcakes. I felt like I ran a half marathon after fixing everything, but it was a really fun meal!

PeachFuzz went on an egg hunt through the living room before church. He enjoyed finding eggs and bringing them to me to see what was in them. It was a beautiful morning for outdoor church in the peach orchard with lots of pink blooms, and then the Easter Bunny left PeachFuzz a nice Easter basket filled with goodies when we got home that he enjoyed going through. I don't know if these will be our forever traditions, but it was a really fun day.

 

[mendelman]

We had some fresh bread and homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner.

 

[DVD]

We had lamb. It was good. The Easter bunny hid the eggs, the Easter grinch (not me) wanted to just put the candy filled plastic eggs in the baskets. Later I had a cigar. It was good.

 

[Bubba]

Was just Mrs. Bubba and me for dinner on Easter (we passed on an invite for a larger family gathering in south Georgia for non-Covid related reasons - hopefully we'll be able to take them up on the offer at some point later this year).

Grilled pork tenderloin
Tater salad
Deviled eggs
Sautéed corn and fennel

Washed it down with a nice 2017 Pinot Noir (Kudos - Willamette Valley).

No dessert.

 

[Whose Yur Planner]

I wheezed out after a walk because of sinus and allergy drainage. My Easter dinner was a couple of turkey sandwiches, gold fish and ice cream because my stomach was pretty raw because of the drainage.

 

[Planit]

Grilled steaks, roasted veggies and a Reeses Peanut Butter Egg for dessert