A few weeks before Easter, Connor informed me that he and Patrick didn’t need all the silly things I always put in their big elaborate Easter baskets. Oh really? Fine, go ahead a suck the fun out of my basket shopping!

As a result, instead of the usual big basket of goodies, they each received a little strawberry basket that only had Harkins Theater gift cards and a couple of tubes of bubbles. How’s that for no silly things?

It looks like they had fun with the silly bubbles, to me! I’ll check back with him next spring and see if he might like to go back to the big baskets!

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It’s only April 4th and it’s already been an awful three days. I’m not sure if it has something to do with making a major life change on April 1st, or if that is just a foolish coincidence.

We moved my Mom and her 90-year-old husband, Bill, into assisted living on Monday and it’s been downhill since. I went to their house early yesterday to pack up more stuff to take to them, loading my car to the brim.

I arrived at their new place and only carried in one load before it became apparent that I was going to need to take Bill to the ER. I spent about 3 hours there with him, got him some anti-anxiety meds, and took him back. I wasn’t able to unload even one more thing because I had to get to work.

I dropped him off with a caregiver and headed home to put on some clean clothes and makeup. I was driving to work with my fully packed car when I was forced to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting the large truck in front of me, whose driver had just slammed on his brakes. The three cars in front of the truck weren’t so lucky, they rear-ended each other!

Oh, did I mention that there was an ironing board on the very top of all the stuff in my fully packed car?

No? Well, it came flying towards the front of the car and was literally an inch from slamming through the windshield.

The seat belt’s shoulder strap in the back seat is the only thing that prevented that from happening! I know, CRAZY!

If this continues, there may be fewer posts this month. I don’t know how I’ll keep up on cooking and posting while trying to help out with all this life drama too. We shall see.

OK, enough of the trauma drama… how about a nice little look at my calm, colorful, and relaxing appetizer set up for Easter brunch?

It was a gorgeous day, so of course, we ate outside. I placed my moss runner on the French buffet table and filled glass containers with crudites.

Two types of purchased hummus, from Trader Joe’s, were lovingly scooped in martini glasses.

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I admit it, this recipe looks VERY intimidating. It is long. There are many components. It looks complicated. But I PROMISE it is not hard to do. In fact, it is a wonderful special occasion entertaining dish. For a crowd, no less!

How is that possible, you ask?

It is because none of the components are difficult and all but one can be done 1 or 2 days in advance. So in reality, it comes together quickly and seamlessly at the end.

Even the final, last-minute component, the Hollandaise sauce, is foolproof. I know, you may be ready to quit reading right now… Hollandaise Sauce – Absolutely Not!

But really it is foolproof! No stove is involved! All you need is a blender. You’re still skeptical? This sauce comes from Chef Tyler Florence. It works perfectly and is easy as can be, I may never make traditional Hollandaise sauce again!

As I was beginning to make the crêpes in my usual crêpe pan, I decided that they were too small, so I switched to a larger skillet. This was a personal choice, if you don’t have a medium-size skillet (about 10-inches across the top) a smaller regular crêpe pan is fine. Above you can see the two pans I’m talking about, and below the difference in the crêpe sizes.

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Happy April Fool’s Day.
No tricks today.
Not when a cocktail is always much more fun!

For our Easter cocktails, I offered mango, orange, and cran-apple juices for a make-your-own Mimosa bar.

And since it’s always more festive to buy a larger size bottle of wine or champagne, I did just that. There were only five of us, so I opted for a magnum. How big is a magnum? It is a double bottle or 1.5 liters.

How big can you go? Here are the sizes for champagne:

Split: holds 187 ml – individual size
Half-Bottle: 375 ml – a half bottle
Bottle: 750 ml – standard size
Magnum: 1.5 liters – equivalent of 2 bottles
Double-Magnum: 3.0 liters – equivalent of 4 bottles
Rehoboam: 4.5 liters – equivalent of 6 bottles
Methuselah: 6 liters – equivalent to 8 bottles
Salmanazar: 9.0 liters – equivalent to 12 bottles or 1 case
Balthazar: 12.0 liters – equivalent to 16 bottles
Nebuchadnezzar: 15.0 liters – equivalent to 20 bottles

I’ve seen a Balthazar before, but I’ve never seen a Nebuchadnezzar. Now that would be one great party!

Along with the juices, I offered St. Germain. A flute of St. Germain & Champagne is so refreshing and tastes like spring!

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Happy Easter from our home to yours.

I’m writing this post on Saturday afternoon as I bake, cook, and set up for our Easter brunch on Sunday. I love Easter, not only for the important purpose of the day and joyous celebration – allowing us to focus again on the foundations of our faith. But also for the relaxed family-oriented holiday that it is.

Sunday promises to be a beautiful day! It is expected to be in the mid to high 70’s while we are enjoying our outdoor meal.

Today I give you the recipe for our dessert and one of my impromptu decorating ideas. I’ll share the rest of the decor, tablescape, and recipes in the week to follow. Until then, I wish you all a Blessed and Happy Easter.

First the decorating…  I mentioned, in yesterday’s post, that Amy gave me a hostess gift of a mini succulent greenhouse. It was almost too cute to open but open it, but I did.

I transplanted all six of the succulents into vintage silver egg cups.

In the morning, I’ll incorporate them into the tablescape, until then they are hanging out on the vintage green scale in the kitchen along with the cute wooden bunny that Amy attached to the packaging. Pretty cute, right?

Now for the dessert –

First, a couple of quick notes: It is important to plan ahead for this bread pudding. Instead of the usual bread, I’m using angel food cake. The cake takes longer to dry out than bread would. So give it a good 48 to 60 hours to dry before you put the dessert together.

Secondly, I was too lazy to go to the liquor store to buy the amount of banana rum or banana liqueur I needed. I thought I had enough but it turns out the little “airline” bottles only hold 3 tablespoons liquid – I needed 4 tablespoons – so I used 1 tablespoon of mango rum to make up the difference.

Tasted Great!

Point is, to use what you want or what you have on hand. Spiced rum, regular rum, hazelnut liqueur, Galliano, whatever.

P.S. I found the double package of 6 mini angel food cakes at Costco.

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Kim, Amy, Peggy, and Peggy’s daughter, Samme, came over yesterday afternoon to make Silk Tie Colored Easter Eggs. We had a lovely time decorating eggs and relaxing together. Those are my dozen above.

I’ll show you the rest at the end of the post, but before I do, I have to share with you something I am totally in LOVE with and OBSESSED with!

This morning, as I perused through Pinterest, I spotted the most wonderful thing.

I am amazed and in awe of people and their talent.

If someone created these cookies for me, I know that I would never eat one!

No, I would put them on a pedestal. I would shellac them and place them in little individual shadow boxes to admire every day! Call me crazy, but honestly, I would!!

The chalkboard effect is beyond fabulous.

Seriously! Shut the front door!

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I’m working on my Easter buffet and tablescape today.

Here is how I’ll be displaying/arranging my crudites this year.

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Bonus Photo – The full moon setting this morning at 6 am – gorgeous!

Citrus, specifically lemon, is my favorite dessert to make for Easter. The thing is, my guys don’t love citrus as much as Marissa and I do. Since Marissa isn’t coming home for Easter this year (picture my eyes welling up at this moment), I’ve decided to cater to my husband and son and make something different.

As I was strolling leisurely through Costco earlier this week (picture the one in a million chance of that!) picking up a leg of lamb, spiral ham, and other Easter dinner necessities, I spotted this carton of 18 luscious plums.

Immediately, I thought “plum and raspberry” – so I picked up a package of raspberries too.  Since I’m not a natural baker, I searched the web and found this lovely cake on marthastewart.com. I hope my guys like it… and as for my sweet Marissa… I miss you! xoxo

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Challah is an egg bread that holds deep religious significance in the Jewish faith.

“According to Jewish tradition, the three Sabbath meals (Friday night, Saturday lunch, and Saturday late afternoon) and two-holiday meals (one at night and lunch the following day) each begin with two complete loaves of bread.  This “double loaf” commemorates the manna that fell from the heavens when the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years after the Exodus from Egypt. The manna did not fall on the Sabbath or holidays; instead, a double portion would fall the day before the holiday or sabbath.” (excerpt from Wikipedia)

Challah recipes always make enough dough for two loaves. Three important steps to the perfect challah are; three risings instead of the usual two (one of those being a slow-rise in the refrigerator), using two coats of egg wash for a shiny lacquer-like crust, and not over-baking.

Challah is delicious and used the next day for French toast.  Especially loaves with raisins, or in this case, craisins.  I substituted dried cranberries for the raisins, as my family prefers craisins to raisins. We’ll be enjoying the plain loaf with our Easter dinner on Sunday and the craisin loaf for a French toast breakfast on Easter Monday.

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I found this recipe on my friend, Gwen Walter’s, Pinterest page. I immediately repinned it and knew I’d be making them someday – today is that day! I have revised the recipe a bit, re-writing the confusing parts and eliminating 1/4 cup of butter… now they are so much healthier … NOT!

No, these are a once-a-year (at the most) treat… super high in fat and calories, but over-the-top delish!!! As in, “OMG – those are flipping amazing!” They would be perfect for an Easter brunch. They are made like a cinnamon roll but without a drop of cinnamon.

You will only use 3/4 cup of the nearly 2 cups of Meyer lemon curd you make. (Don’t have Meyer lemons? Just use regular lemons, it will still be fab!) Cover and refrigerate the rest of the curd and use on your morning toast and try to keep yourself and family members from sneaking in and devouring it with a spoon. To eliminate this serious threat, I used what was left to make a half batch of THESE lemon bars and have frozen them for when Connor comes home in a couple of weeks.  To do the same – just make half the amount of crust the recipe calls for and use an 8×8-inch baking dish. Then substitute this leftover lemon curd for the filling in the original recipe… yum!

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