We don't really have any family traditions when it comes to celebrating Easter, so this year we invited my Aunt Liz and Uncle Wags over to my parent's house for dinner. Whenever family comes for a meal, my mom gets pretty stressed out about making sure things run smoothly and that we stick to a certain timeline, so I try to be as helpful as possible. I love cooking and putting together large meals for holidays. Even if things do get a little hectic, it always turns out great and everyone is happy -- and that's all that matters!
My favorite part of any family gathering is a perfectly put together appetizer platter, complete with cheeses, olives and meats. I don't know what it is about these types of platters, but I love putting them together and, of course, devouring them.
The first dish I made was twice baked potatoes. I have never made them before and I'm not sure if I've even eaten one before because they are usually stuffed with bacon, so I wanted to try something new.
I started by rubbing vegetable oil on the outside of 4 russet potatoes. Then I put them into the oven on 400 degrees for an hour. I poked a knife through them at the end of the hour just to make sure they were cooked all the way through.
After I removed them from the oven, I cut them in half just so that they would cool a little faster.
After the potatoes were cool enough to hold, I scooped out the insides, leaving a small rim of potato around the skin to ensure stability.
I scooped the inside of the potatoes into a bowl and mixed in sour cream, milk, shredded cheddar, green onions, salt and pepper. Now I could have just eaten the entire bowl as is, but I decided it was probably best to follow through with my original plan.
I put a little bit of the filling in each potato shell and then topped with some more cheddar cheese. I did prep these the morning and refrigerate them for a while before putting them back into the oven to warm up for serving.
For a finishing touch, I added more chopped green onions. My dad had cooked bacon for breakfast the day before, so he saved some to add to the potatoes for those who wanted it.
Now I know there aren't many people out there who like cooked carrots, including myself. But in the theme of trying something new and because carrots are strongly associated with Easter, we decided to put it on the menu.
I started with these cute little carrots and cut off the majority of the stems. I wanted to leave a little bit of greenery because I thought it looked nice.
I melted some butter in a sauce pan and added a couple cloves of minced garlic. Once that was melted and the garlic was slightly cooked, I poured it over the carrots. Then I added salt and pepper and popped them into the oven for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
I placed the greenery back onto the platter and added the cooked carrots on top. I think they turned out really well. As my sister said, "they taste like nothing," but I think they were pretty yummy. But most importantly, they looked super festive!
And here was our table! We laid down a spring-yellow checkered table cloth and my crafty mom made the jelly bean and tulip centerpiece.
There was ham, Polish sausage with sauerkraut, lemon orzo, deviled eggs, bread and of course, the absolutely necessary lamb butter. It was quite the feast for only six of us! I also have to thank my family for standing out of my way and being patient while I took a couple photos of our dinner table (#DoItForTheBlog).
My mom and I made these cute little bunny napkins to add a fun little touch to the place settings.
As if we weren't stuffed enough, for dessert Lindsey made a Kentucky Butter Bundt Cake. She wanted fresh strawberries to eat with the cake, but I thought it would be nice to make a strawberry syrup.
It is a very simple recipe that starts with diced strawberries, I used a whole pint, a little bit of sugar, water and a splash of vanilla extract. I hardly ever measure anything when I'm cooking. I think it's more fun just to wing it and see how it turns out.
I put the mixture in a sauce pan on medium-low heat to simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
Once it was done and cooled off a bit, I put it all into a Mason jar and stuck it in the fridge to cool down and thicken a bit before serving with the cake.
It turned out pretty good! The cake was flavorful and sweet and the strawberry sauce absorbed into it to make it even more delicious. And a little squirt of whipped cream never hurt anybody.
It was the perfectly sweet ending to a wonderful day with family. I hope everyone had a great Easter!
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