What are You Cooking For Easter Brunch/Dinner?

[Rhonda Dunaway]

What are you cooking for Easter Brunch or Easter Dinner? I'm going to have ham, cheesy potatoes, green beans with almonds, orange rolls, fruit salad, pineapple cream pie, and lemon cake with coconut frosting (decorated like an Easter Basket). I'm not baking the ham myself. Instead, I'm getting one from Honey Baked Ham here in Omaha, so consider this a plug for them. I purchased a ham from them at Christmas, and it was the best ham I've ever had! And best of all, I didn't have to do anything to prepare it -- they even sliced it for me. It's kind of pricey, but so worth it. Also, I found a coupon in last Sunday's Omaha World-Herald to get $5.00 off on a half ham.

I also found a cute idea for an Easter centerpiece. You take some brightly colored Peeps and arrange them in the bottom of a clear glass vase or bowl and then you arrange your color-coordinated flowers on top of them. The magazine picture showed blue and purple Peeps bunnies arranged in the bottom of a vase with fresh flowers in blues and purples coming out of the top of the vase. When I told my son that I was going to be making a centerpiece using Peeps, he immediately got a mischevious gleam in his eye. I told him that I would be counting the Peeps before I put them in the bottom of the vase and that if any bunnies went missing, there would be consequences. I can just see him trying to dig the Peeps out of the bottom of the vase for a snack! Peeps are so sweet my teeth hurt just thinking about them, but the kids seem to love them.

[drobyn]

It's so nice when you can buy some of the stuff already prepared. That frees you to make side dishes and fun things that don't seem to take so much time. It's great that a lot of the supermarkets let you order prepared dishes. Hy-Vee does a good job - so does World Market.

[momof2boys]

Yum! I am coming to your house :) . Luckly I don't have to cook. We still head over to my mother-in-law's house. She is a very good cook so it is always a pleasure having dinner over there. One of my favorite Spring desserts I normally bring over is found at the following link. http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/recipedetail.htm?recipe_id=74114&ctx=
It is so easy and very good. Enjoy.

[paige07]

If your'e bringing that dessert, I'm going to Rhonda's house, too!

[MomAC]

I am happy to announce that I actually talked my family into going out for lunch. This marks the first time in history that my family--me or my parents--will not be cooking on Easter. Well, except that I said I'd make a carrot cake and we could all meet at my house for dessert in the afternoon. If that's all I have to do, I'm thrilled!

[Rhonda Dunaway]

I love that going out to lunch option, too. It seems that in my mom's and grandma's generations, there was a lot of pressure to cook everything and serve a big homemade meal every holiday. I personally find that to be a lot of pressure at times, so I've been trying to make myself take some shortcuts. I say "make myself" because I still feel somewhat guilty when I don't cook everything myself, but I'm trying to let go of feeling like this. I have a really bad virus right now, so I gave myself permission to not only order my ham from Honey Baked Ham, but a couple of side dishes, too. And, truthfully, they'll probably taste as good or better than anything I could make, so why worry? Sometimes, I have the unrealistic notion that I should be able to do everything the way my mom and grandma used to do it, but then I remind myself that they didn't have to do everything I have to do or want to do, like work and run a website. Things change!

Thanks for posting that recipe, momof2boys! I hope it's as delicious as it is beautiful because, in the interest of trying something new, I'm going to substitute it for the Easter basket cake I normally make.

[momof2boys]

I have to admit the cake is wonderful. I would like to also reassure you about ordering food. We did this last year and we had nothing but complements from everyone. Nobody complained about the quality of food (Hy-Vee) or the fact that we did not cook it. In fact, they were pleased that no one had to slave over the stove all day to provide food for everyone. I think as long as you are in good company and with ones you love, who cares what you are eating!!

[Rhonda Dunaway]

I hope everyone had a terrific Easter holiday! All I can say is thank goodness for Honey Baked Ham because they saved my booty! I was sick all last week with a nasty virus and could barely get it together in time to clean my house, let alone cook. So, in addition to ordering my ham from them, I also tried a couple of their side dishes for the first time. Their sweet potato souffle is hands down one of the best dishes I have ever had in my life. They make it with brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans, and it was better than the best pumpkin pie I've ever tasted. Everyone else at dinner agreed. My mom who was sworn to hate sweet potatoes forever is now a sweet potato convert. And my son, who was initially flinching and refusing to open his mouth, swooned and fell on the floor in delight after having one bite. Granted, he is quite the ham and very dramatic (which will serve him well in his Rose Theatre drama camp this summer), but this souffle was incredibly fabulous.

Does anyone have a recipe for a sweet potato casserole that tastes similar to what I'm describing? If you do, would you please post it?

I also have to admit that I loved ordering food. It saved me so much time and energy, and I felt like I could actually relax and enjoy the holiday a little more instead of just collapsing in an exhausted heap after the work was done. Did anyone else order an Easter holiday meal to take home and serve? I know Target had some kind of Easter holiday meal package. I'd like to know what's out there that's good so I can file it away for future reference for holidays to come.