Besides ham and devilled eggs, of course.
I’m having unexpected guests for Easter (YAY!) and I’ve decided to go all out. The problem is that I’ve never done Easter, and in my family it was always very casual, so I’m at a loss.
Are there traditional Easter side dishes and dessert?
We do ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, creamed onions, and rolls with strawberry shortcake for dessert. Traditional? I dunno. Fattening and delicious? You bet your bippy!!
My family always does ham, mashed potatoes, peas, corn, carrots, sweet potatos, and dinner rolls.
The traditional Easter dinner (also known as “Ham-O-Rama”) is a honeybaked ham (must had pineapple to qualify for Ham-O-Rama status), sweet potatoes, scalloped potatoes, green beans, corn, rolls, and sometimes broccoli & cauliflower w/cheese sauce. Dessert is never the same twice, although bunny-shaped cakes have made occasional appearances. This year, however, it looks like I’ll be making tira mi su.
We do lamb and whatever anyone else decides to bring. 
It’s at my in-laws’, and there are going to be about 35 people this year – it’s definitely a potluck.
It’s usually an all-out “springtime” recipe-fest. Light dishes, fresh ingredients, that sort of thing. I don’t know of any other traditional dishes, except chocolate bunnies.
FWIW, I’m bringing a carrot cake and a quiche and a rice pilaf. But that’s not traditional, it just sounded good.
In my family, Easter dinner was ham, kielbasa, fresh greenbeans, potatos, fruit salad, filled breads, and nutcakes. Also, don’t forget the golden eggs (just boil them with some onion skins in the water) for good luck the whole year through. The idea behind Easter (from a non-religious standpoint) is to celebrate the end of the cold season and the arrival of all the things spring offers. Think young greens, ducklings, fresh fruits, etc. I think as long as the food is good, and there are Peeps[sup]TM[/sup] for dessert you’re sure to be a hit.
Happy Easter!!!
bella
Pork, pork, and more pork. Last year at Easter, my mother actually served ham, sausage, and pork roast as three different courses. Mom! You have gone INSANE! PUT DOWN THE PORK!
Do you bake? A more religious traditional food item is Easter bread – usually a honey, raisin or nut bread shaped into a round loaf with a cross made of dough on the top of it. If you are not particularly religious, it’s also sort of cool to make this bread with the cross like a braid, so it is more stylistic looking and less like “Mmmmm, pass me some more of that delicious instrument of torture!”
They make Jell-O molds in the shape of Easter eggs, btw.
First, Sue let me say how proud of you I am for recognizing ham and deviled eggs as the essential ingredients for Easter Dinner. Beyond that, let you’re imagination go wild. Green beans, macaroni and cheese, potatoes however ya like em, all good. Pickled okra is important but only if ya live in the southern USofA.
Of course, no family holiday dinner is complete without at least one Hell-o mold :eek:
In my family, we just eat candy all day until we feel sick - thereby relieving all of us from having to cook dinner.
Oh my gosh, I forgot the Butter Lamb!
I have no idea where other people buy them, we buy ours at the local Polish market. It’s a stick of butter, shaped like a lamb, with a little ribbon collar and seed eyes. I have also seen molds so you can make your own. It always seems so cruel to hack into the cute little Lamb of God in order to slather butter all over your muffin, but thems the breaks, I guess.
My side of the family serves ham; mashed potatoes; sweet potatoes; green beans; deviled eggs, cranberry sauce, relish tray, rolls, and pie. Pretty much just like Christmas dinner.
My SO’s side of the family will have ham; pork roast; mashed potatoes; corn; green bean casserole; macaroni and cheese; creamed peas and potatoes; rolls; salad; relish tray; deviled eggs; lemon pie; coconut creme pie; chocolate cake; homemade wine and beer… don’t forget the beer!!
We’re going to my parent’s house for lunch and my SO’s parent’s house for dinner. I can’t wait!!
What do those of you that have ham and mashed potatoes use for gravy? Certainly not ham gravy?
Yeesh. I think I’ll make a scalloped potato dish. That seems to fit better. Mebbe some asparagus with hollendaise, salad and dinner rolls. Bread pudding for dessert with rum sauce and ice cream. What else?
I’ve added two more people to my impromptu Easter. I think I’m insane.
And I refuse to do a jello mold. Over my dead body.
My entire family is a bunch of Polacks (as am I, obviously) so Easter dinner consists of lamb, kielbasa, beef, green beans, dill gravy, bread dumplings, perogies, hard boiled eggs and a bunch of starchy stuff that can’t be good for you. We also do the butter lamb and get a cake shaped like a lamb. The one with the toothpicks baked inside, holding the ears on, so you can stab yourself in the throat if you don’t know what you’re doing 
Except my aunt. Every time she has a holiday at her place, she serves something that just boggles the mind, having no traditional or ethnic connection to the day. Like going to her place for Easter and she’ll be serving mostaccioli
or something 
I’m sure someone will defend her and I’m not complaining about her except to say that it’s pretty weird.
In my family, (German/Croatian/Irish/English) ham, sadly, is the King of Easter.
And normally it’s some godawful dried out ham.
And everybody else seems to love it. One year I sat at the end of the table so I was the last person to get some ham, so I just skipped it and loaded up on the potatoes and vegetables.
That was great.
You’re Polish-Catholic, and you do NOT do pierogie? Straight to hell with thee!
We’re not having them this year, since my parents just didn’t have the time to make them. sigh And I hate ham.
Poopie.
Some years ago my mom bought one of these for Easter – you can just buy them at the regular supermarket, btw – and my sisters, always susceptible to things in the shape of cute little animals, refused to allow it to be slathered on muffins (well, bread, anyway). It sat in the refrigerator for at least two years.
This year I’m staying at school for Easter and can’t cook to save my life so I’ll have a ham-deprived holiday.
Our (Polish) family’s Easter tradition was boshch (no, not borscht - no beets involved). I don’t know the recipe exactly, but it went something like this.
First, get a canned ham. Make a plain, thin soup with water, the ham’s packing gelatin, and some flour for a bit of thickening. Add a little salt and vinegar for seasoning.
Now cut up ham into small pieces or cubes. Do the same with fresh rye bread, cooked Polish sausage, and hard-boiled eggs. Mix them all together. Cover bottom of large soup bowl with this mixture. Take the hot soup you made above and ladle into the soup bowl. Add a little horseradish and/or more vinegar to taste.
When I was a kid, this was ambrosia to me.
(And we didn’t do pierogie, either. 
)
Polish-Catholic tradition at my uncle’s house every year: vodka shots with hard-boiled eggs. (Albeit, I hate hard-boiled eggs and usually just do the vodka straight.)
Nostrovia!