My Easter Extravaganza

[RPMcMurphy]

This is the first time our families were meeting. I've never had a dinner where 2 complete families met so it was a little exciting. Her parents and Grandparents came and my parents came along with my sister and her boyfriend. We came up with a huuuuge menu. We just kept adding to it....don't mind the "names" much of it was very campy and inside jokey. We've also been watching a lot of Top Chef. We thought it would be neat to print out a menu...

Easter Menu

Hors d'œuvre
Deviled Eggs
Vegetable Crudités with a Cream Cheese and Chives Spread
Pickled Herring with a Slice of Fresh Onion on Rye
Shrimp Cocktail with Homemade Horseradish Cocktail Sauce
Giant Mushrooms Stuffed with Feta Cheese Topped with Fresh Breadcrumbs
Salads
Simple Green Salad with a Variety of Dressings
Traditional Belarusian Potato Salad
Entrée
Smoked Ham Basted with a Tangerine Glaze
Slow-Roasted Turkey Breast
Fresh and Smoked Sauerkraut Over Kielbasa
Swedish Meatballs
Baked Macaroni & Cheese
Sides
Mashed but Fluffy Potatoes
Mrs. Paul’s Famous Sweet Potatoes
Asparagus Roasted with Garlic and Parmesan
Butter Infused Corn
Homestyle Baked Beans
Jellied Cranberry Sauce
Dessert
Fruit Pie ala Timko
Chocolate Brownie Cake
Babka
Cookies
Coffee
Drinks
Miller Light
Coors
Wine
Soda


Easter started a few days ago making Babka's for the family....someone has to keep the tradition!












Oh yeah I redid my office too...




We dyed eggs...



Don't ask...


Laurie took on flower duty. At one point I made a comment alluding to the fact that I thought the flowers grew those bright color. I'll never live THAT one down...












Had to drop by Marshalls on the way to get my hair cut on Saturday and found a few gems in the cookware dept. 2 all-clad pots and 2 calphalon pans to complete my set..






Chocolate Almond Brownie Cake





Laurie had the idea of doing stuffed mushrooms with Feta stuffing...




Easter morning comes....I wake up at 6 to put the turkey on...this was quite the 'experiment' and I was really unsure "if" it would work..it did.



Fresh Rye Bread


Baked Mac and Cheese




Mom and Dad came over, Mom making the herring.




No one touched the salad...Mushrooms and Eggs were a big hit...


Yep and a Ham...


And lots of other stuff...


Dessert

Along with the chocolate cake..

Overall, we had VERY little leftovers.....the things I thought would be a hit that were on the original "menu" were not so much (backed mac, asparagus) and the things we added last minute, were a HUGE hit...(stuffed mushrooms, fruit dessert)

[lentil]

You are too much! I can't believe the sheer number of things on your menu!!! Sounds like you had fun.

Oh, and yes, flowers may very well grow in those colors in a gadda da vida.

[Norma]

Wow! I wish I was there!

[Gummy-Bear]

will you adopt me?

[Spiritwolf]

WOW !!!!!!!! That is spectacular, Mine is never that big or good, Congrats from me, in Aussie land, Brilliant, just plain Brilliant, Thanks for sharing.

[RPMcMurphy]

Thanks guys, most of the recipes were borrowed from the net, so "I" whipped up nothing special.

The mushrooms were a cooks illustrated recipe and I'd not deviate from it one bit it was so perfect! (only I subbed feta for goat cheese)

the ham was the one on the front page of the easter recipes on foodnetwork.

I used the steaming method of doing the mashed potatoes as in cooks illustrated

the chocolate cake was an emerils recipe, really horrible actually .kind of tasteless.

baked mac and cheese was from foodnetwork as well.

The only things cooked without a stolen recipe were the sweedish meatballs, sauerkraut and kielbasa, potato salad, and the fruit dessert.

my homemade horseradish, I tried to attempt, but it did not come out well at all, I'm not sure what the problem is....but dads friend makes some REALLY good so I used that. Mine, maybe it was the root that I got, but it just wasn't really flavorful, and definitely not hot at all. It's just vinegar, and a little sugar and salt right?

[Ishbel]

I use a spoonful of Dijon mustard and either creme fraiche or double cream (heavy cream, I think it's called in the US).

[firerose0801]

Oh my goodness!! Everything looks and sounds absolutely amazing. You put my easter dinner to shame. Great job!