2013 Easter Dinner

Easter dinner has become the holiday meal hosted by the Richey/Larkin residence now for two years
- and we love it! Last year was our first attempt at a formal dinner for our guests and although it was a stressful first time experience, we did learn a lot and were able to better prepare for the dinner this year.

Steve and I decided to keep several menu choices the same as last year because everyone seemed to really enjoy them, but we did decide on a few new dishes (all of the recipes have their links below).

Here is what we made for dinner:

• Balsamic Maple Glazed Ham
• Green Bean Casserole
  NOTE - I chose to use Cream of Chicken instead of Cream of Mushroom
  
• Creamy Chive & Onion Sweet Potato Mash with Pecan Topping
• Glazed Rainbow Carrots with Pecans & Dried Cranberries
  NOTE - I chose to use pecans and dried cranberries instead of walnuts and raisins
•  Lemon Parmesan Broccoli

And for dessert we made Creme Brule!

This year I also decided to stop into Sweet Janes
in downtown Halifax for a few Easter treats at everyone's place - it was a great surprise for everyone and a nice way to help decorate the table.



Notes from dinner:

• Steve takes care of preparing, cooking and carving of the Easter ham. And he does a great job! Our ham this year was delicious and juicy!
• The green bean casserole has turned into my brother's favorite dish we make! I made this dish last year as well and felt that it would be best to use the cream of chicken (instead of the cream of mushroom) to ensure that everyone around the table would like it - I do not like mushrooms!
• My Dad loves sweet potatoes, so we decided to make the sweet potato dish again. It continues to amaze me just how much the chives and the cream cheese enhance this dish
• I regularly refer to the Inspired Magazine (from Sobeys) for recipe ideas, especially for holidays. And this year I loved that they had a full Easter menu planned out - so I decided to try two of their dishes: Glazed Rainbow Carrots and Lemon Parmesan Broccoli. Both of these recipes were great and added lots of color to the menu. At first several of our guests were not sure what to think of the Rainbow carrots but eventually came around to them and loved them! The only mistake that I made to the entire dinner was adding a bit too much lemon to the Lemon Parmesan Broccoli (I decided to half the recipe, but forgot to half the lemon needed - so needless to say there were some sour faces around the table).
• The creme brule was a new adventure to me. It was my first time making a custard and using the mini blow torch (Steve had bought it for me for Christmas!). I decided to pre-make the creme brule the night before and let them sit in the fridge over night. About an hour before we were going to eat them, I sprinkled on the brown sugar and perfectly torched them. The final product was deliciously sweet and creamy!

Overall we had a wonderful time hosting Easter dinner again at our home! Thank you to our guests who made it all worth it!

Bon appetite & enjoy!