Monday, March 24, 2008

Easter

Easter has come and gone. We had a wonderful time yesterday and today I feel somewhat "lost" as the focus I've had for the past month or so is suddenly over. Time to relax and take it easy I think. :)
There was plenty to do to get ready for hosting Easter dinner. The family pitched right in and we all worked together on Saturday to get the house looking better than it has ever looked! Thank you Michael and children!!!

Emily came home with flowers and an idea which sprouted into adorable centerpieces for the table.


I wrapped up hot cross buns to serve as name places/favors.

Everything was finally ready and waiting for our guests to arrive!

For a few hours, our living room (the most put-together room in the house) looked quite nice! If only it could look like this everyday! :)

David loves to get out the broom and pretend to help. I run around paranoid that I'm going to be socked in the head with the broom handle.
And I did manage to get something of a group shot of the Easter bunnies.
Grandma arrived early and entertained the children with a story.

We had a lovely assortment of appetizers: mini hot cross buns, veggies, grapes, strawberries with fruit dip, marinated baked olives, and baked brie that was outstanding! (We accidentally baked it too long, but we decided we like it this way as you could just scoop it onto a cracker and let it melt in your mouth.
We had a lovely spinach and apple salad:
I cooked my very first leg of lamb, which I was very relieved to have turn out! I made a Shrewsbury Sauce to accompany it, which was delightful. We had steamed carrots and asparagus, potato slices baked in cream, and a peach-spice jello salad. I can only take credit for the lamb and vegetables, as well as hot cross buns. Everything else was brought by various guests!
The kids had their own little table, and loved drinking the punch (for my British friends -- "punch" in America is usually just juice with fizzy water, so no worries! :) )
The happiest moment for a hostess is seeing her guests enjoying the food and having a splendid time at the table. This made me so happy!

After dinner, it was time to get out the teas and coffees. I love using what I refer to as my "Easter egg teacups". I have 9 of these cups, from 2 different sets. I think they are just perfect for Easter!
We had a three-layer chocolate cake which I did steal a bite of, and it was really, really good! And some wonderful, almond-flavored nut cookies with icing, which I also had a bite of and decided they were very, very good. (And I'm wanting to eat one today) And then we had an incredible Lemon Cheesecake topped with home-made lemon curd and the best rasberries I've tasted in so long!

I should have taken a picture to end with of the table once the meal was over! Many thanks to my mom and other family members who chipped in to help with the clean up as Michael and I and the children dashed away to the evening service!
And what shall the next event be?.........



7 comments:

Lovella ♥ said...

Heather your Easter looks just lovely. I can see the love that you poured into making it so enjoyable for all your guests. I couldn't help it, I started to drool with the food pictures. Oh yummy. Oh and your bunnies are adorable as usual.

Catherine said...

My family always eats lamb with mint jelly for Easter, but you're the only person around here who I have heard of making lamb for Easter! I think next year I'm going to make it even if we go to Josh's family for the main meal. Mmm.

Everything looked beautiful in your pictures!

Alaina said...

Looks so beautiful! And everything sounds so tasty! You'll have to pass on your lamb recipe - or post it on your recipe blog!

Christine said...

Boy I wish I was with you guys!! It sounds like you had a great time.

willow said...

It all looks wonderful, you certainly have a talent for setting the scene beautifully. The food looks good too.

Heather Anne said...

What a lovely family celebration! You are so very blessed to have dear one close enough to come for a wonderful time! Everything looked so pretty, tidy, and yummy! I've been thinking that we need a 'next' celebration too - something to look forward to, and plan happy surprises for. I like it better when Easter falls in April - falling so early this year has kind of left a void, don't you think? We'll just have to go all out for April Fools next week! I have started to work on a gift for my mum for Mother's Day ... shhh!

Wendee said...

Looks so nice! Wish we could have been there! =o)