Doing Easter dinner?

[Jenise]

Not cooking one here. I've never warmed to the tradition, owing much to the somber nature of my childhood religion vs. the easter bunny commercialization which it condemned. All of which would be a lot of fun now if there were little kids around to color eggs with and make baskets for, etc., but in our case there isn't.

Anything special going on at your house?

Hell to the no.

rwj

[Jenise]

Hell to the no.

rwj

Not even for the kid?

I'm trying a two part braised-roast lamb recipe from here. Not sure yet that the red wine in the braise is going to work...

Also been making Easter chocs and paper baskets and am about to go start on just one giant hot cross bun.

Happy Easter to you, if it's relevant to you!

Celia

Oh, we'll put together an Easter basket for him. I just don't really get into the whole Easter thing. Dinner tomorrow could very well be tacos, just like any other night.

rwj

Well, since my spouse doesn't do ham and that is my family's tradition, I plan to do a ham and asparagus risotto and will save Michael's serving out before adding the ham. Our son and I love ham and he is home from the univeristy for the weekend, so I have an excuse to indulge.

We will also color some eggs tonight. I will fill baskets for each with both of their favorites: chocolate covered malt eggs and Reeses cups. There will also be some dark chocolate in traditional shapes from the local candy maker that we will try for the first time.

[Jenise]

Well, since my spouse doesn't do ham and that is my family's tradition, I plan to do a ham and asparagus risotto and will save Michael's serving out before adding the ham. Our son and I love ham and he is home from the univeristy for the weekend, so I have an excuse to indulge.

We will also color some eggs tonight. I will fill baskets for each with both of their favorites: chocolate covered malt eggs and Reeses cups. There will also be some dark chocolate in traditional shapes from the local candy maker that we will try for the first time.

Sounds good, Susan. I love that you're going to color eggs. That's SO fun. A friend of ours in Bellingham had a party for adults a few years ago where we all colored eggs--and drank lots of wine. It was a great time.

We have family in town with three kids ranging from 10-17. They don't eat lamb, which is our usual Easter dinner, so we are going the non-traditional route and Len is making his famous back ribs on the Big Green Egg. We are really looking forward to it. We'll dye eggs and have an Easter egg hunt in the yard too, just for fun.

Oh, alright! Venison pie with a salad from the garden. There. Are you happy now Jenise?

rwj

We had grilled lamb at hubby's brother's for our family Easter dinner. It was also a combination birthday dinner for my bil and niece, whose b-days are the 7th and 15th, respectively. Afterward we dyed Easter eggs.

Today we went to church with friends and their kids, and had lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Then we went to PetSmart and got hermit crabs for the kids. We hung out at their house and had dinner of a roast and veggies in the crockpot. It was a busy but nice weekend.

Ham and cheese sandwiches while taking a break from planting, mulching and watering-in an assortment of berries, grapes and trees down on the plantation. Followed by M&Ms and washed down with Gatorade (hey, it was a scorching 83F this afternoon, and I have the sunburn to prove it!).

I did a leg of lamb which I served with red currant jelly for the kids and a madeira wine sauce for the adults. We had mashed potatoes, Brussells sprouts, and carrots too. My husband took my daughter to my parents house yesterday to dye Easter Eggs with her cousins. My son stayed behind with me and my Mother-in-law, since he is allergic to eggs, so no dying for him. But I made paper mache (is that spelled right?) ones and we painted them. So, it was fun. It was such an incredibly beautiful day yesterday, here in NJ!

Nine of us enjoyed roast leg of lamb and gravy, some leftover Virginia ham, flageolets en casserole, roasted Brussels sprouts, glazed carrots, potato bread, and coconut cake. And some wine too.

We went to Sacramento to see our two sons and their families. Our youngest son and his wife had an excellent dinner. Dina made the stuffed flank steaks and our son did the asparagus on his outdoor grill. I have never had asparagus with such a great smokey flavor as these. Also, the dinner included stuffed mushrooms and a great salad that I made, with tomatoes, red onion, fresh mozarella, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, fresh basil. Dessert was a caramelized banana pie with vanilla ice cream, and frosted sugar cookies made by the kids.

The Jamison rack of lamb - 9 ribs - 1.17 # - was a real treat. Painted with a mix of Dijon mustard/smashed, olive oil braised garlic/ minced rosemary then coated with breadcrumbs and roasted. The 99 Pine Ridge Cabernet was perfect.
A nice meal but not Easter dinner.

Yeah, I had to raise my hand. We had 32 guests for a garden party. It was much colder than we hoped for, but we made everyone sit outside on the lower lawn under the garden tents, at least for the meal. Some bocce ball was played which at least warmed up those players, and the 7 children present had a blast playing with Easter gifts, nerf balls and our eldest daughter's dog. I cooked a whole ham for 10 hours at 275 deg. enhanced with a 3 lb. slab of bacon on top and basted with a sweet Riesling, and sides included roasted asparagus dressed with olive oil and lemon, a pasta salad with spinach pesto, fresh berries and pineapple, a Greek salad with locally made herbed feta, roasted salmon with kefir lime reduction sauce, a baked sweet potato gratin, a broccoli salad, and for dessert, a black forest trifle, a pineapple coconut cake and decorated homemade butter cookies. Needless to say, I was trashed today.

[Jenise]

Yeah, I had to raise my hand. We had 32 guests for a garden party. It was much colder than we hoped for, but we made everyone sit outside on the lower lawn under the garden tents, at least for the meal. Some bocce ball was played which at least warmed up those players, and the 7 children present had a blast playing with Easter gifts, nerf balls and our eldest daughter's dog. I cooked a whole ham for 10 hours at 275 deg. enhanced with a 3 lb. slab of bacon on top and basted with a sweet Riesling, and sides included roasted asparagus dressed with olive oil and lemon, a pasta salad with spinach pesto, fresh berries and pineapple, a Greek salad with locally made herbed feta, roasted salmon with kefir lime reduction sauce, a baked sweet potato gratin, a broccoli salad, and for dessert, a black forest trifle, a pineapple coconut cake and decorated homemade butter cookies. Needless to say, I was trashed today.

Ines, that's brutal. But what a spread! Bravo!