We had a wonderful Easter. It was my first major holiday in my new home. My parents and 19 year old niece came to my house for the weekend. My friend Carol joined us for the Easter main meal. My niece and I planned and prepared the meal. She made the soup and desserts! Carol brought the beautiful flowers. The tulips were lovely. I did not know about peony tulips before. The daffodils at each place were from Carol’s garden. My niece made the favor baskets. At breakfast we enjoyed Easter baskets. In my family adults enjoy Christmas stockings and Easter baskets. We are not too old for the magic of a holiday.

Breakfast Menu

• Dad’s Easter Basket Bread
• Lamb Butter
• Berries
• Eggs (hard boiled and scrambled)
• Ricotta

Main Meal Table

• Favor / Place cards – Niece designed and made out of paper. Filled with Easter grass and assorted chocolate. Wrote names on basket.
• Napkin Ring – I mostly followed these directions but I used 2 pipe cleaners to make them longer. It was still a tight fit on my napkins.
• Menu Card – I found bunny template online and fit menu onto template. Added mini honeycomb tail.
• Tablecloth – My Mom’s Easter tablecloth
• Placemats – Assorted color rounds

Main Meal Menu

• Asparagus Soup (see image below)
• Bunny Shaped Sourdough Rolls
• Egg shaped butter (spread softened butter into small egg molds)
• Easter ravioli – I used my favorite pasta dough, and added some butterfly pea powder to the dough, I made a small batch with turmeric added to the dough (for the dots) filling – Ricotta, Asiago, salt and pepper
• Pesto Cream sauce – homemade pesto mixed with sour cream
• Garlic and Herb Roasted Carrots
• Cream Puffs (see below)
• Macarons – Nutella, Strawberry Jam (see below)

Bunny Cream Puffs

Ingredients

• 120 g flour
• 100 ml whole milk
• 100 ml water
• 100 ml water
• 10 g granulated sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• 80 g butter
• 4 eggs
• Whipping Cream
• Cocoa Powder
• Powdered Sugar
• Starbursts

Sift the flour. In a saucepan, bring the milk, water, sugar, salt and butter to a boil. Remove from heat, incorporate the sifted flour into the hot liquid, mixing energetically with a spatula until homogenous.

Return the saucepan to low heat and stir vigorously for 1 minute to pull out the moisture from the batter, so that it forms a mass and pulls away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer batter to a large bowl and allow to cool. Add the eggs one at a time, carefully incorporating each into the batter with a spatula.

When homogenous, on a parchment lined baking sheet. pipe into cream puff shape.

Bake at 375 degrees for at least 30 minutes without opening the oven.

Before serving prepare cocoa cream to fill the cream puffs.

Whip whipping cream with some cocoa powder and powdered sugar to taste.

Use metal pastry tip and piping bag to fill cream puffs from the bottom.

Microwave starbursts for about 5 seconds until pliable. Stretch into bunny ears. Use knife to make slits into cream puff for the ears. Add starburst ears to cream puff. Pipe small dots of cocoa cream for the eyes.

Nutella or Strawberry Jam Macarons

Ingredients

• 275 g finely ground almond flour
• 250 g confectioners’ sugar
• 6 1/2 egg whites
• 210 g granulated sugar
• a few drops food coloring

Combine the almond flour and confectioners’ sugar in a food processor and pulse to obtain a fine powder. Sift or strain through a sieve to remove any lumps.

In a clean, dry bowl, whisk the egg whites to a foam. Once they are frothy, add a third of the granulated sugar and whip until sugar is dissolved. Add another third of the granulated sugar, whip for another minute, finally add the remaining granulated sugar and whip for 1 more minute. Using a clean rubber spatula, delicately fold the sifted mixture of ground almonds and confectioners’ sugar into the whipped egg whites. Add a few drops of food coloring to obtain desired color (split the batter if you want more than 1 color). In a separate bowl, beat the remaining 1/2 egg white until just frothy. Then add to the final mixture, folding gently to slightly loosen the batter.

Transfer mixture to a piping bag fitted with a plain tip. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, pipe small macaron rounds. Dip finger in bowl of water to gently smooth out pipped round. Lightly tap the sheet so the macarons spread fully.

Preheat oven to 300 F. Allow macarons to sit uncovered for 10 minutes, then place in the oven.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes until they form a slight crust.

Remove baking sheet from the oven, and with a small glass, carefully pour a tiny amount of water in between the sheet and the parchment paper (lift the paper ever so slightly corner by corner). The moisture and steam that result from the water on the hot baking sheet will allow the macarons to peel off more easily once they are cool. Do not pour too much water as this could cause the macarons to become soggy. Allow to cool completly.

Spread Nutella or strawberry jam between 2 macaron rounds. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

My critique of the meal: We all enjoyed the food, the roasted carrots were a surprise hit. I expect to make them again. It was my first time making cocoa cream. It was delicious in the cream puffs. I definitely want to make it again. We were fortunate to have spent this holiday together. A memorable first holiday in my new home!