An Easy Easter Afternoon

Spring is here!  I know that there will be more cold and wet days in Norway.  However, today was GORGEOUS and sunny.  With pops of purple crocuses and yellow daffodils in the neighborhood and the sun shining longer, nature is telling me it will get warmer and I can wear fewer layers soon.

The great weather and Spring blossoms inspired me to get the Easter decorations up.  I have cards that I’ve received through the years.  I put some in windowsills and add some to my ornament/photo chandelier. I string up bunting. Quick and easy decorations.

I love tulips and put a few small arrangements around the living area. I also have a small basket filled with colorful wooden eggs.  Nothing too over the top.  No 5-foot tall topiaries on my dining table with colorful eggs glued to them.  Nor will you find a life size Easter bunny lurking anywhere.  My overarching goal is for it to not look like the Easter Bunny was sick here.

Having my Easter decorations up feels like, well, Spring to me.  Yellows, pinks, and purples sprinkled around the inside of the house.  A few stuffed bunnies, lambs, and chicks here and there.   It makes me smile.

A side effect to having all the decorations in place?  I begin vacillating between whether I should or should not throw a party.  I like having friends and their kids over.  I also love seeing how much everyone enjoys my decorations.  I do worry the weather won’t be great, that the kids won’t have enough to do, and that the date I choose won’t work for my favorite families.  I send out some feelers and then decide if the party is a go or not.

Something I never worry about is what I’m going to serve.  I’ve done variations of this menu.  It is always easy and always well received.

To keep a laid back vibe, I tell my guests that we’ll be having ham sandwiches and champagne.  It sets the expectations low and gets the parents excited. We’re going for yummy not pretentious.  Kids are coming.  I want my guests to show up expecting fun, not fancy.  I am always pleased with their oohs and ahhs. It is an impressive spread.  It is colorful, flavorful, and super easy.  I promise.

The Easy Easter Afternoon Menu includes:

• Crock Pot Ham and King’s Hawaiian Rolls with country mustard and mayonnaise
• Asian Slaw with Ginger-Peanut Dressing
• Fruit Salad
• Veggie Tray with Dip
• Deviled Eggs
• Blue Chips with Mango Salsa
• Lots of Champagne or Prosecco and Lemonade
• Mini Carrot Cake Cupcakes
• Festive Sugar Cookies

If this seems like a lot, here’s the brilliance in my plan – Make deviled eggs, veggie tray and dip, salad dressing, and desserts the day before. Ham goes in the crock pot in the morning. Prepare salads and put chips & salsa in bowls just before party. As guests arrive, pop the champagne!

Since the ham is the main event, I’ll start there.

Remember, I go for easy. I grab a 8-10lb smoked bone-in ham.  I usually get spiral-cut for its pre-cut-ness.  However, I go with whole when I want big chunks.  I place the unwrapped ham (flat side down) in my 7QT All-Clad Deluxe Slow Cooker. Cover it with the lid or with foil if it’s too tall. It needs about 8 hours on low or 6 hours on high.

I hear you asking, “No water? No 2 cups of pineapple juice? No 3 cups of brown sugar?”  To these important questions my response is, “Throw in what you want, but you don’t need them.”  Crazy?  I think that the ham tastes great as is.  It has a smokey flavor, and let’s not forget about the bone and fat are doing a fair bit of flavoring too. I also plan on serving a lot of sweets at my party.  I want the ham to be more savory than sweet.  (If you have to have your ham dripping with brown sugar and maple syrup juices, I recommend Life in the Lofthouse’s CROCK POT MAPLE BROWN SUGAR HAM.)

Crock Pot Ham

Ingredient:

8-10lb smoked bone-in ham

Directions:

1. Place unwrapped ham (flat side down) in crock pot.
2. Cover pot with the lid or with foil if ham is too tall.
3. Cook for about 8 hours on low or about 6 hours on high (145° minimum internal temperature).
4. Remove ham from crock pot and allow it to rest for 5 minutes. It should easily fall apart.  Remove any fat and bones.
5. Place on a serving platter. Serve with King’s Hawaiian Rolls with country mustard and mayonaisse.

Asian Slaw with Ginger Peanut Dressing

I adore Jennifer Segal’s Asian Slaw with Ginger Peanut Dressing Recipe. It is colorful, delicious, and healthy.

Ingredients:

For the Dressing

• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon peanut butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Sriracha sauce (optional)
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 large garlic clove, minced (about 1 1/2 teaspoons)

For the Slaw

• 1 small head shredded green or white cabbage (about 1 quart)
• 2 large carrots, peeled and grated on the large holes of a box grater (about 2 cups)
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 cup cooked and shelled edamame
• 2 medium scallions, finely sliced on a sharp bias
• 1/2 cup chopped or whole salted peanuts
• 1/2 cup loosely packed chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir until the peanut butter is dissolved. Set aside.

2. Combine all of the slaw ingredients in a large bowl. Add the dressing and toss well. Let sit at least ten minutes so the vegetables have a chance to soak up the dressing. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt or Sriracha sauce if necessary. Serve cold.

Fruit Salad

With so many great fruit salad recipes out there, I’m not going to put one here.  I will leave you with this – fruit salads should be as fresh as possible and colorful.  To that end, I play around a bit.  I gather what’s in season or available.  I’ve done watermelon, mango, blueberry, and raspberries. Kiwis, red grapes, strawberries, and bananas. In a pinch, I’ve also mixed a banana, apple, can of pineapple chunks and some of the pineapple juice, green and red grapes, and a can of diced peaches or mandarin oranges.  Don’t judge me. As with the ham, I don’t get too fancy with adding sweetened dressings for this party.  (If you are keen to have a sweeter fruit salad, I recommend Cooking Classy’s Honey Lime Rainbow Fruit Salad. Honey and lime. Yum.)

Veggie Tray and Dip

Find some veg.  Slice it up and serve with a great dip.  Done!  Are you starting to see a pattern here?  There is no wrong way to do this.

I like color.  I find it interesting and, well, decorative.  I love Eddie Ross’s idea of hollowing out a cabbage for the dip.  I don’t get all fancy and arrange my veg in a crudité though. Kids will be at this party, as will semi-drunk parents.  No one wants to be embarrassed when the gorgeous, labor-of-love crudité has been knocked off the table and is laying sadly on the floor.

Most kids like carrots, so I always include them.  My kids like sugar snap peas and cucumbers. I like bell peppers in various colors.  (A bag of mini sweet peppers work too).

With the veg washed and prepped on your serving platter, whip up this dip. I would like to give someone credit for this dip.  I did not come up with it on my own.  Someone told me about it or I read it.  I can’t remember.  I’ve been making it for years now. So, to whoever developed with recipe I say, “THANK YOU! It’s delicious.”

Dip

Ingredients:

• Greek Yogurt (7oz)
• Sour Cream (8oz)
• Zesty Italian dressing packet (about half of a 0.6oz packet)
• Ranch dressing packet (half to most of 1oz packet)

Directions:

Mix yogurt and sour cream.  Add half of the Zesty Italian dressing packet and half of the Ranch dressing packet.  Stir until combined.  Add more of either dressing packet to suit your taste. Refrigerate for 2 hours.  (Overnight is best.)

Deviled Eggs

My husband loves deviled eggs.  I almost need to make him his own plate so he’ll be happy to let others eat some at our party.  If you have a favorite, go-to deviled egg recipe, please use it.  I’ve tried several recipes.  I even bought a cookbook dedicated to deviled eggs.  One year a friend offered to bring deviled eggs to our party and I’ve used a variation of her recipe ever since.