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Easter Eats

Published on April 25, 2011 By Emily. Updated on July 7, 2013

Every once in a while I feel like I have a day or a weekend that makes up for any lack of serious cooking that has occurred during the week.  This weekend was one of those weekends:  I made a dish to bring to our church’s sunrise service and my in-laws came to our place for Easter lunch.

There was a time (3 months ago?) when I got really stressed out about cooking for other people.  The stress has diminished, but I still worry about providing what other people like to eat.   What’s the point in cooking for other people if they’re not going to like it? Brian and I have been together for almost 8 years (crazy, I know) so I have a pretty good idea of what his family likes.

Coming up with a dish to bring for the sunrise service was a little more stressful.  I sent out a message on Twitter hoping to get some good suggestions.  My mother-in-law, who does not have Twitter but follows my tweets anyway, sent me a recipe for baked French toast with pecans.  Despite not winning any awards for being healthy, it was super easy to make and popular with the other attendees.  Next year I’m definitely making a quiche or some other egg dish though because there were 3 French toasts this year and the couple of egg dishes were gone really fast.

I’ve been planning our Easter lunch for a while.  I realized a couple of weeks ago that I’d be cool with serving the traditional ham for Easter lunch, if I could find one from a local farm.  I posted to the Berkshire Grown Online Farmers Market on Facebook asking if anyone had ham steaks available and received one reply.  I sent that farm an email.  The next day I had 2 emails in my inbox: one from the farm letting me know that they did not have ham after all, the other from our CSA letting us know about a farmer’s market that was happening the next day.  Perfect.  We ventured to the farmer’s market and successfully procured 2 ham steaks.  Beyond that semi-last minute trip, I decided to keep things simple.

Easter Lunch Menu:
Ham steaks (from the farmer’s market)
Potato, Spinach and Goat Cheese Gratin (made Saturday afternoon)
Green beans (from the supermarket)
Bread (picked up at our CSA on Saturday)

IMG_4041

Looking at this tablescape makes me really happy.  I just feel like it looks so nice (maybe because Brian and I rarely eat our meals at the table).  We even broke out the cloth napkins for the occasion.  It makes me very excited for the days when we’ll have a house and I can accumulate more serving dishes and place mats and such.

Dinner was pretty good.  One of these days I’ll learn how to not overcook meat, but we eat it so rarely I never quite know what I’m doing.  Still, it was more than edible.  While prepping the gratin, I went into a brief panic because I’d forgotten that it contained parmesan cheese, which my father-in-law doesn’t like.  I couldn’t come up with an immediate substitution, so I added it anyway.  Turns out he’s changed his mind about parmesan, so it all worked out.  My mother-in-law brought a couple tasty desserts (and left us with leftovers!)  The whole thing was very low-key, which just makes me want to host people for meals even more.  As far as hosting holiday meals is concerned, this Easter was definitely a good place to start and a success.

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Filed Under: food Tagged With: holiday, hosting

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Comments

  1. Carol Pious says

    April 26, 2011 at 8:20 am

    And the fellowship was encouraging! You both made us feel welcome and special. What a perfect way to celebrate Jesus!

Trackbacks

  1. » What I Cooked: Easter Edition » Relishments says:
    April 10, 2012 at 5:01 pm

    […] I hosted Easter dinner for the second year in a row.  Last year my in-laws joined us for a fairly traditional meal of ham, potato gratin and green beans.  This year I had the bright idea to invite Cynthia and her […]

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Emily
New on the blog: a 2 week menu plan featuring the New on the blog: a 2 week menu plan featuring the vegetables from our CSA share at @mightyfoodfarm. Link in my profile.
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#MightyFoodFarm #EatLocal #EatSeasonal #VermontGrown #CSApickup #CSAshare  #KnowYourFarmerKnowYourFood #MenuPlanning #MealPlanning #igers413 #igers413_food #BerkshireFoodies
We finally made it to the @berkshiremtdist tasting We finally made it to the @berkshiremtdist tasting room in Sheffield today after years of talking about it. The indoor and outdoor atmosphere was lovely and we took advantage of the complimentary tasting to try some of the products we haven't had before. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the area and enjoy distilleries.
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#BerkshireMountainDistillers #igers413_food
#igers413 #BerkshireFoodies #InTheBerkshires #DrinkLocal #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #SheffieldMA
On Friday we headed to Springfield for an appointm On Friday we headed to Springfield for an appointment and made a day of it by visiting @forestparkzoo afterwards. For us, the Zoo in Forest Park's size, layout and number of animals (over 225 exotic and native animal residents) is the perfect size for our 2 and 5 year old kids. We went in the afternoon, when day camps were wrapping up and it wasn't busy overall. We were able to easily view all of the exhibits and let our children move at their own pace without interfering with other people. Despite the heat, the animals were pretty active and it was a joy to see my kids spot, identify and appreciate them.
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#ZooInForestPark #SpringfieldMA #igers413 #WesternMass #WesternMassachusetts
Brian and I had lunch at the @firehousecafebistro Brian and I had lunch at the @firehousecafebistro in Adams today. We enjoyed falafel bites, cocktails, papas bravas, and a buttermilk chicken sandwich. All of the food was really delicious and the service was excellent, despite very limited staffing. The patio seating was fun for people watching and enjoying the sunshine. I highly recommend the Firehouse Cafe and Bistro if you're looking for a more upscale lunch or dinner in the northern Berkshires.
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#igers413_food
#igers413 #BerkshireFoodies #InTheBerkshires #EatLocal #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #AdamsMA #FirehouseCafeAndBistro
It's blueberry season in the Berkshires! My favori It's blueberry season in the Berkshires! My favorite girl and I headed to @mountainviewfarm413 this week to pick ours, as is our tradition. We had a great morning resulting in 7 pounds of berries. Some blueberries will be frozen and others turned into muffins, but most of them will be eaten just the way they are. The season is short, enjoy it while you can. @whitneysfarmmarket and @seconddropfarm are doing picky-your-own as well. 🫐
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 #igers413_food
#igers413 #BerkshireFoodies #InTheBerkshires #EatLocal #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #blueberries #BlueberryPicking #MountainViewFarm #LanesboroughMA
We're back from vacation and back to picking up ou We're back from vacation and back to picking up our weekly share of @mightyfoodfarm produce. My latest menu plan using these vegetables is live on the blog, link in my profile.
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#MightyFoodFarm #EatLocal #EatSeasonal #VermontGrown #CSApickup #CSAshare  #KnowYourFarmerKnowYourFood #MenuPlanning #MealPlanning #igers413 #igers413_food #BerkshireFoodies
Tomato season is my favorite season. If there is t Tomato season is my favorite season. If there is the opportunity to eat something that features a combination of tomato, mozzarella and basil, chances are good that I'm ordering it. Yesterday I needed to make a dish to share for a church gathering so I put together this incredibly simple pasta salad. I hope it's useful to you during this time of summer heat and summer gatherings.

RECIPE:
1 lb pasta (I used bowties) 
7 oz fresh mozzarella
1 pint grape tomatoes 
30-50 fresh basil leaves 
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste 

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and place in a large bowl. 
2. Prep the other ingredients: cut the mozzarella cheese in bite size pieces if needed, quarter the grape tomatoes, finely cut the basil with scissors or a knife.
3. Add the quartered tomatoes, mozzarella and basil to the pasta. Drizzle the olive oil into the bowl and miX well.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Enjoy!

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#igers413_food #BerkshireFoodies #caprese #CapresePastaSalad #PotluckFood #SummerFood
I could watch birds on the beach all day long. We' I could watch birds on the beach all day long.
We're wrapping up our time in Wilmington, North Carolina with lots of time at Wrightsville Beach. The ocean never ceases to impress.
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#WilmingtonNC #WrightsvilleBeach #BeachBirds #Beach #Sandpiper #NorthCarolina
This @smittenkitchen Zucchini and Ricotta Galette This @smittenkitchen Zucchini and Ricotta Galette is one of my favorite summer recipes. The crust is perfectly flaky and the mix of squash and cheese is delicious. I always use summer squash and my husband, who does not typically like summer squash, loves this galette. Though it takes a bit of planning ahead - the crust dough needs to rest in the fridge for an hour and the squash needs to be salted for 30 minutes, the recipe is straightforward and the final produce always impresses. I expect it will make another appearance on my table before the fall.
Link in my stories.
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 #EatSeasonal  #SmittenKitchen #igers413 #igers413_food #BerkshireFoodies  #ZucchiniAndRicottaGalette #SummerSquash #galette #BakingFromScratch
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