easter bunny

happy friday, everyone! 

i am so excited for this easter weekend - we have a nice mix of fun and low-key plans, which include happy hour and dinner with friends in the city tonight; gym, housecleaning, and errands tomorrow; and easter on sunday!

i love easter. my earliest childhood memories of the holiday are gathering with my dad's extended french-canadian family at my grandparents' house (salient points: almost no one spoke english; there was a lamb-shaped cake that was covered in coconut and therefore looked furry.)  

as we got older, we had easter at our house. my dad would hide about 50 plastic eggs filled with candy or loose change in the yard after we got back from church. my brothers and i each got a basket, and we would run around like crazy trying to find the most eggs. this might sound like a lovely family event, but in reality it was more like the hunger games: i usually ended up bleeding, my youngest brother would be crying, and my middle brother would smugly count the lion's share of the spoils in the corner. i would share a picture, but i think it might be too traumatic for all of us.

this year, the boyfriend and i will be skipping egg hunts in favor of a delicious dinner at home. here's a peek at our menu!

to start:

grandnana's deviled eggs 

(my great-grandmother's recipe: she knew curry was great stuff way before it was trendy!)

ingredients:

a dozen hard boiled eggs

mayonaise

dijon mustard

curry powder

salt

pepper

paprika

1. cut the eggs in half. gently remove the yolks and put in a mixing bowl. 

2. add a little mayonaise, dijon mustard, and curry powder to the yolks and mix with a fork. adjust amounts to your taste - the end result should be a creamy and smooth mixture. season with salt and pepper.

3. spoon the yolk mixture into a large plastic bag. snip one corner so there is a small hole and pipe the yolk mixture into the egg white "bowls."

4. sprinkle some paprika over each egg to garnish

the main event:

boneless stuffed leg of lamb

pan-seared smashed new potatoes

roasted asparagus

we are planning on stuffing the leg with pancetta, lemon, and rosemary and then grilling it.

the potato recipe is simple:

1. cut new potatoes in half (i plan on 4 whole potatoes per person - they're small.)
2. parboil the potatoes until they are fork-tender.
3. heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat.
4. place potatoes in saute pan and smash the tops of them with the bottom of a glass.
5. cook over the heat until the bottoms are golden brown and crispy.
6. season with lemon zest, salt, pepper, and parsley.

i will roast the asparagus in the oven at 425 degrees for about 12 minutes. to prep, cut/snap the ends, place stalks in an oven-safe dish. drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and shaved parmesan if you like. the cooked asparagus should be tender but not mushy.

the finale:

coconut-carrot layer cake with cream cheese frosting

i am improvising with this one: i couldn't decide between coconut cake and carrot cake, so i am making both! 

i plan to use recipes from the hummingbird bakery cookbook and/or the sono baking company cookbook, and my thought is that i will sandwich a layer of carrot cake between two layers of coconut cake, with cream cheese frosting between each layer and covering the outside. then, in homage to the furry lamb cake of my childhood, i can cover the entire outside of the cake with coconut. we shall see how this turns out!

i promise photos next week :)


best wishes for a happy passover, easter, and weekend! 

[image via]