Easter Lunch Menu

ETA: For VeggieGirl, you thought my chocolate egg LAST year was big?! In 2004 my mom’s cousin and her husband brought this HUGE chocolate egg straight from Perugia (I was in Italy at the time and spent Easter in Trieste). It was an amazing Perugina egg. Any of you who have tasted any Perugina chocolates know how amazing it is! The egg was hollow, but man was it insanely huge!!!!!

My friend Alex, loving it:

An old family relative, breaking it open with her cane!!!!! (I have a really funny video of this. Please note her really cool eyeglasses):

Once we cracked it open, we put my two little twin cousins in them, one baby in each half! (Yes, I have sparkle eye shadow on. No judgments please!)

Aren’t they so cute?!?!

How’s that for a chocolate Easter egg!!!!!!! 😀

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Back to our original programming…

Easter 2008… This bunny was very productive!

Me attempting to bite into my chocolate egg!

I am just brainstorming a little here.. I want to host Easter lunch at my house since it will be the last holiday that I have my condo! As of June 1st (or maybe earlier) it will be rented! So I will play hostess here one more time…. I am amazed every day at how time has flown. Two years ago today I was touring this condo and fell in love with it. Who knew only 8 weeks after signing (on April 16th) I would meet PhillyBoy?

My Condo:

Versus my PhillyBoy:

(Obviously PB won that battle in a landslide victory! 142 days!!!)

Ok, back to the menu! Here’s what I am thinking so far:

Easter Lunch in Rhodey

Appetizers
*Assorted Nuts
*Mezze Plate with artichoke hearts, olives, prosciutto, fresh peppers, sliced cucumber, lebneh, and hummus
*Mini Caprese Pizzas

Entree
*Beef Tenderloin with Rosemary Potatoes
*Lemony Roasted Asparagus
*Farfalle with Basil Pesto (and Sundried Tomatoes?) and Shaved Parmigiano
*Spring Greens with Grapefruit Avocado Salsa (experiment)

Dessert
*Alessandra and Daniela’s Fried Ricotta Balls
*Chocolate Covered Strawberries
*Easter Chocolates (Hopefully from See’s Candies)
*Coffee & Tea

Special Easter Beverage
*Celebrate Life! Pomegranate Spritzers with POM juice

Does it go together or am I just putting together a hodge podge mess here? Thinking up fun, delicious, crowd-pleasing menus is not very easy! What should I change or add?

Some tips for playing hostess well:

1. Plan ahead!

I can’t emphasis this enough. PLAN AHEAD! If you have a good grocery list ready to go and pick up all your pantry items ahead of time, you will be much more relaxed when it comes time to get into action.

2. Prepare as many dishes or parts of dishes ahead of time as possible.

This means washing your veggies, prepping doughs, etc. in advance. For example, I will make the pizza dough on the Friday before Easter. The day before Easter I will shape it into the minis and half bake them. Sunday right before everyone arrives I will pop them in my super hot oven until melty, doughy and delicious, without having the mess of the flour all over the place!

3. Think about what to serve each dish in.

As you saw at my last party, I like to put a little post-it note on each serving dish with what item will go in it. That way when it is time to plate the dishes I don’t have to scramble around looking for trays or remembering what was supposed to go where.

4. Relax, and have fun with it.

It is only one meal. Don’t stress if something is overcooked or if one dish isn’t ready in time. Your guests will be appreciative of a nice home-cooked meal, so just take it easy, don’t be afraid to get creative, and have fun!

Do you like to play hostess? What are your favorite tips?