Easter Dinner? Help!

Cafe Society
1

I have to make an Easter dinner, and I barely even remember such things. (Mom and Dad and I usually bailed to DisneyWorld that week, so we weren’t home.)

I’ve purchased a smallish ham, as I seem to recall from my earliest years that Mom baked a ham with pineapple rings on it. I don’t eat pork, and never liked ham anyway, but I liked the pineapple part, so I’m keeping (or re-instating) that tradition.

I color eggs for my son (the old-fashioned way, with food coloring and vinegar – none of those fancy egg-coloring kits for us!) so we’ll have plenty of deviled eggs.

But the last time I was present at a real Easter dinner was about 25 years ago, and I’ve forgotten all but the ham with pineapple rings, and the deviled eggs.

For added fun, I may be hosting a largish group, consisting of me, my SO, my toddler son, my SO’s two teen daughters, my SO’s ex-wife, and the ex-wife’s SO. Wait, add one more daughter of the ex-wife and ex-wife’s SO. So dinner for 4 adults, 2 teens, 1 grammar-school-aged kid, 1 toddler. (Sounds fun, doesn’t it? Gotta admit, like the extended family thing going on here.)

So I have a picky eater (SO) who refuses all vegetables except for green beans, one picky teen who refuses almost everything except for pizza, and a couple of adults about whose eating habits I know almost nothing Nobody is vegetarian, as far as I know. Nobody is allergic to anything, as far as I know. (My kid is capricious in his eating habits, but he’s the least of my worries.)

So what else would make a nice, traditional Easter dinner?

2

Our household did the ham thing and a roast leg of lamb with those nice little red potatos. And lasagna, but that’s just 'cause we’re screwy that way.

How about green bean casserole?

3

Lamb, that could work. Is a leg of lamb expensive?

And some of 'em are part Italian, so lasagna might help. Can I make it a spinach lasagna, or do I have to use meat?

But NOOOOOOO! Not the dreaded green bean casserole! I LOATHE that stuff. :eek:

4

Just think Thanksgiving with a ham…
Of course, there are traditional Easter dishes from various cultures and ethnicities as numerous and varied as Christendom itself.

Potato and/or macaroni salad, baked beans, and yams always seem to be part of the Easter sidedish tradition in my family (not atkins friendly…triple threat! lol). Ham and baked bean sandwiches are pretty yummy on Monday, too.

Just some Easter food links:
http://allrecipes.com/advice/coll/all/articles/522P1.asp

http://allrecipes.com/advice/coll/all/directory/97.asp

http://www.web-holidays.com/easter/recipes/index.asp

http://www.cyber-kitchen.com/holidays/easter/foodlinks.htm

Passover Kosher/Easter Buffet
http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/kgk/0399/kgk032099.html

Hormel’s site
http://www.hormel.com/kitchen/favorites.asp?favoriteid=1

egullet forum… lots of ideas here!
http://forums.egullet.com/index.php?showtopic=37705

5

Good links, thank you! Fun, new ideas, there. Plus, I never knew I could pull out my usual holiday sides for Easter. I’m all set, now (if I could find fresh sweet potatoes, but I can make potato salad instead).

Ham and baked bean sandwiches, though? No thank you… I have to sleep with the SO every night. We’ll pass on that. :smiley:

6

Easters of my youth always went something like:

Ham
Scalloped potatoes
Green beans (cooked with ham hock and onion, not in that silly casserole)
Deviled Egg & raw veggie platter
Jello salad
Freshly baked rolls
Carrot cake

But don’t ask me, I’m serving pasta primavera, spinach salad and fruit with ice cream. :slight_smile:

7

MissGypsy, yeah, if you don’t live in sheep country, lamb can be pretty costly. Also, since it can be gamey & greasy if not done right, I don’t recommend your first attempt to cook it being at a family holiday dinner. Any sort of roast- ham, beef, chicken, turkey is quite appropriate. And of course the suitable trimmings- fancy bread, some sort of potato, veggies (sweet potatoes go well with ham- and they don’t have to be done in a super-sweet syrupy marshmallowy way, smush them up & bake them in a casserole dish with butter or margarine & pecans & some brown sugar & cinnamon- yummy!)

8

I fully support the sweet potato plan. Yum…sweet potatoes. As far as other sides go, a nice green salad never goes amiss.

You might also want to serve some kind of dinner rolls or biscuits. Picky eaters can fill up on bread and ham, and you can use any leftovers to make ham biscuits on Monday.

When I was a kid, we always had ambrosia for Easter dinner. I don’t have the recipe at hand, but it involved whipped cream, coconut, mandarin oranges, and pecans. If you’re interested, I can post it when I get home. Coconut cream pie would make a great Easter dessert, too.

This year, we’re having homemade doughnuts. Not traditional, but damn good. Besides, Left Hand of Dorkness is itching to try out our new FryDaddy.

9

Mac n cheese goes well with ham, and is traditional in our family as there’s always a kid or two hanging about that will refuse to eat nearly everything but they’ll always eat that.

I’m hosting by default here, sorta fun since I’m not quite thru remodeling (we’re living in half the house currently) but at least it’s only immediate family so who cares what they think? :wink:

Since I’m the youngest, all the sisters get to help contribute, so this way everyone’s kids will have a few favorites present.

Our menu is:

Ham
Mashed w/gravy
Baked beans
Deviled eggs
String beans (the bacon/new potatoes/onions type)
Macaroni and cheese
Jello salad
Tossed salad
Sweet Potato casserole
Various dessert thingies

I’m sure the good doctor Atkins will spin in his grave listening to our arteries harden. :slight_smile:

10

I looked at the grocery store, and couldn’t even find lamb (other than itsy-bitsy little chops for a ridiculous price), so I guess that’s out of the question, anyway.

And I just knew you were a Hoosier by your idea of good sweet potatoes, before I even looked at your location. Grew up in central and southern IN, and now I’m homesick. :slight_smile:

Burundi, that ambrosia sounds good, and I have most of the stuff on hand. Just need proportions… Thanks! Do I serve it as a side, or a dessert?

Queen Tonya, I like the mashed potatoes & gravy, but how in the world do I make gravy if I’m baking a ham? Same as with any other meat? I’ve never heard of gravy made from ham drippings, but could just be me… Otherwise, I think I’m on board with the macaroni and cheese, as well as the baked beans.

Obviously, healthy food is out of the question here. We’ll just budget for new, larger pants for the next few months. :smiley:

11

My esteemed mother makes ‘red-eye gravy’ that has something to do with the ham bone itself, however I’ll be cheating and buying pork gravy in a jar. :wink:

Considering all the sweet stuff I baste the ham with, gravy made from those drippings sounds fairly icky.

12

Thanksgiving is symbolized by a turkey, and so we eat turkey for Thanksgiving dinner.

Since Easter is symbolized by a bunny, we should obviously eat rabbit for Easter dinner.