Sooo.my 3 brothers and sister gave me $50 each they said its unfair fo me to foot the bill...they are soooo good!!! looks like it will be Prime Rib!! YEH!!!!

What's on my Easter menu? Whatever Aunt Theresa makes!

No fewer than five different pies for sure. It's tradition.

Jim

We just made the decision to go to my DM's for Easter...she doesn't even know yet, but she will be thrilled.
I'll take over her tiny kitchen since she really doesn't cook much anymore. That means I have to keep it simple.

Ham (prolly a Honey Baked)
Scalloped potatoes
Pineapple Bake (no cheese) Thanks Alexa!
Fresh green beans or asparagus
Rolls
Tossed green salad
Dessert...I'll ask Mom what she'd like.

Nancy

Im gonna make Prime Rib....accompanied by Shrimp Cocktail,Clams Casino,Creamed Spinache,Mashed potatos,Shoepeg Corn,Ceasar Salad,Stuffed Mushrooms,Lindas Carrot Cake and a couple other things

Ours is usually something grilled. And I haven't decided yet.

However layered salad sounds good. And maybe carrot cake or pies..

If you looked at my link you will see that I assigned dessert to my SIL. She does not cook much at all but when she puts her mind to it she can pull off some pretty good stuff. I so wish I could get her to make a carrot cake but I know she would tell me NO WAY! So I have no idea what she is going to make and that is fine. I just want our family all to be together.:)

I am going to my fiance's family's house for Easter, but am thinking of bringing a broccoli rabe and sausage bread...mmm who needs the ham and other stuff :)

Will be interesting, as I am hosting a Seder the night before (better late than never, but with 14 guests there is no way I can do it during the week).

--Andy

Andy reminded me that i also make Italian Easter Pie for the appetizer table

It's almost set in stone here.

Baked ham
Scalloped potatoes
Home made rolls , butter
Green salad (mixed spring greens)
Fruit salad (this may vary depending on the mood I'm in, what fruits are available, and my budget for the current year.)
Maybe deviled eggs, depending on how many eggs the Easter bunny left behind.
Green beans with parsley
Creamed green peas
Pineapple casserole (Basically like Paula's recipe, see link, and definitely WITH cheese, a good sharp cheddar, in fact)
And for dessert?
A fresh strawberry pie and a coconut cake.

Rusty

Here is a link that might be useful: Pineapple Casserole

This may sound like a dumb question, but does anyone know how/when/why it became traditional to serve ham or pork for Easter? It's just never made sense to me, and yet I remember it was practically a rule that pig had to be on the Easter table.

beanthere_dunthat, maybe because spring is the time of year that hogs are butchered?

Or at least, back in the "olden" days, that's when it was done.

Rusty

I found this.....

Here is a link that might be useful: Origin of Easter Ham

caliloo: Im glad im making Prime Rib...never new all the years making Fresh Ham I was actually a sinner and a heathen...lol....very interesting read Thanks!

Dad's just coming home from open-heart surgery so we'll be out at his place for a scaled-down Easter unless he's up to our usual feast at a friend's house.

Not sure what we'll have but it will include Pizza Rustica (Italian Easter pie). Maybe a pork roast with some sides - we'll see.

Sue

It's all in what you make of it.

Try searching out the origins of the Christmas tree, for example.

It is claimed it also has pagan beginnings.

Rusty

I love pizza rustica and looking foward to a piece yummy cant wait!!!

Rusty, we always slaughtered pigs in the fall, they were born in the spring, we pastured them in the summer, but if you kept anything except breeding stock over the winter they had to be fed, you had to have a constant and unfrozen water source and shelter, at least here in Michigan.

So spring pigs became fall's 300-400 pound pigs, ready for the smokehouse and freezer.

I figured Easter Ham began because it was the only meat still left available before refrigeration was widely used, the smoked meat could be preserved through the winter months when fresh meat could not. Then, as refrigeration became an option, fresh pork became more common.

Easter Lamb, though, I think that's because lambs are born in the spring, so they were widely available then.

At least for farm families, it was all in what was still available in March/April.

Annie

We'll probably be on the road, so Easter dinner is a big question mark.

Sue, I certainly hope your father makes a full and quick recovery.

Sol

I always thought the lamb thing was because ot the "lamb of Christ" connection or something like that. Pork never made a bit of sense to me because, regardless of what happened once Peter and Paul got hold of things, Jesus was supposed to have been Jewish.

Well, it doesn't really matter. Forget I asked. This is the wrong place for it.

I agree with Annie. In my farm family that ham hung in uncle Henry's round stone smokehouse most of the winter and we were happy to have it for easter dinner. I can't believe anything that tasty can be a sin perpetrated by the Devil!! This year we are having Swedish Meatballs, Buttered Noodles, Vegetable and Rolls, and Mother gets to make the Dessert

Steve

Sue, I'm also sending healthy thoughts and good wishes for your father's recovery.

Renee, I think many customs that were adopted by organized religion have their origins in older customs and since they were already traditional, people were comfortable with them.

Annie

Here's the real deal on why ham at Easter.......

After having had turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas my Dad told my Mom he didn't want to see another d@mn bird for another year.....and ham was the only hunk of meat big enough to feed us all at a reasonable price!

ROFL! I think Chase nailed it!!!!!

Alexa

Sounds good to me! :)

I'll be cooking a turkey. I didn't get one at Christmas or at Thanksgiving, as I was sick all autumn and no one else in the extended family picked up the slack. I won't have a huge bunch to cook for, since one brother and SIL will be traveling that week. If I can't get a smallish turkey at a decent price, I may get a huge roasting chicken, which my supermarket has been featuring lately. Weather permitting, I may butterfly it, and DH can grill it.

For sides, I'll have some kind of potato (probably mash), sweet potatoes, roasted asparagus, and maybe something else. I think I'll make pie for dessert since I think I can do a decent facsimile without sugar. I might even be allowed a glass of wine....

Forgive me if I go too far off topic here.
But I want to respond to annie1992.

You may be right about when hogs are butchered, what you say certainly makes sense.
The last time I remember butchering going on, I was in my very early teens, or maybe even pre teens.
That was a LOT of years ago, so I may be remembering wrong.
I do know it had to be done while the weather was cold.
Also, my parents were pretty unorthodox farmers.
As German immigrants, well educated for professional positions, I honestly don't know how they ever made it as farmers.
After losing everything in the depression, & then facing the hatred for everything German during the WWII, they moved from a metropoliten area to a farm.
So we would always have food and a roof over our heads.
They managed that, but just barely.
I have no idea now how they learned how to farm.
Nor do I know if they did everything "right".
We raised all our own vegetables, and a lot of our fruits.
Our meat came from whatever cow didn't produce enough milk.
And yes, the cows all had names.
I don't remember the hogs being pastured, they were in a pen with a shed attached.
So were the chickens.
We also raised the hay for wintering the animals, and the grain, which we had ground into feed for them.
It was a hard life.
But I like to think I am a better person because of it.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programing . . .

Rusty

LOL, Rusty, I don't know if I'm a better person for it, it sounds like my childhood was much like yours, for different reasons, but I do know that it made me very self-sufficient, I can always feed my family, preserve what I grow and make do without much.

Our pigs were pastured for a reason. We had a big orchard of winter pears and apples. We fenced it for the pigs because they would eat the drops and root around the roots, doing both our "maintenance" and feeding themselves in the process. We did supplement that with ground corn and leftover whey from the local yogurt factory. It made some darned fine pork, fed on yogurt, corn and apples, plus all the grass they could scrouge, fallen acorns, whatever.

That was back before we wanted apples for the cider press, of course...

Annie

Eileen;
I'm going to have the usual Ham and Pineapple Sauce, w.
Sweet Potatoes, etc.

I'll make more of the Easter Bread Bunnies, using the Recipe that's in your Artisan bread post.
Maybe some Easter Bread Baskets too.
LOU

My little friend wanted one.

This is still in my PC

Chase, I agree wholeheartedly!

Rusty and Annie:
I think it got to be a common ritual to slaughter a Pig,
after Christmas and before the summer.
Maybe someone could add to this.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Here are some religious beliefs.

by johnthomas1938 on January 28th, 2008

Do you abide by the Old Testament or the New Testament? Is your choice strictly personal? As you may know Leviticus and Duteronomy list dietary restrictions for Jews under the Law. The New Testament shows us the way through Jesus - all people are invited, including all aspects of dietary possibilities.

If you are Jewish, you are expected not to eat pork (it has a cloven hoof, but it does not chew its cud). If you are a Christian, theologically, you are free to eat pork.

If you choose not to eat pork, be certain, through prayer, that you are doing it for God. Otherwise your choice is just a personal peccadillo and should not be combined with a false theological premise.

I don't like broccoli. However, I simply tell friends I don' t like broccoli, should they be rude enough to ask. I do not meld that distaste as some sacrifice for the Lord
- - - - - - - - - - - -

In the Old Testament, the Jews were not allowed to eat certain types of meat because they were considered unclean. With Jesus a new convenant was started and according to Matthew 15:10-11 "Jesus called the crowd to him and said, 'Listen and understand. What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.'"

Then further into Matthew 15:17-20 Jesus is speaking-"Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.'"

Precisely why I said FORGET I ASKED.

I grew up in a Greek household, so we always had roast leg of lamb for Easter. Not any of that rare stuff either. Traditional Greek roasted lamb is pretty well done. The meat was flavored with plenty of garlic, lemon, olive oil, and either rosemary or Greek oregano. Most of the time peeled and chunked up potatoes were roasted in the same pan as the lamb. But sometimes my mom would make mashed potatoes. That was a real treat because the only other time I'd get to eat them was on Thanksgiving. I guess mashed potatoes weren't really a traditional Greek dish.

I'm still debating about whether or not to make a leg of lamb this year. I am pretty sure about making spanakopita and stuffed grape leaves since those are favorites with my family.

I think Alice and I will go into San Francisco for the day so I'll find someplace to have a nice Easter Brunch.

Shambo:
My BIL is Greek and I have had Lamb like you described a few times. Very Good !!!
Go for it ! Make the Leg of Lamb.
I don't know about the stuffed Grape Leaves, it is hard to slice them to make a pocket. lol

At one time Italian families bought Lamb for Easter.
Haven't seen that since I moved from Philly.
Lou

We'll be in NYC for a cross cultural celebration of both Passover and then Easter. Usually whe we do this, we have a big Easter brunch with lots of bagels and lox. Works for us!

Jo - how long will you be in the city? I'm only an hour by train, maybe a quick lunch get together?

Alexa

I ordered my Prime Rib 2-4 rib roasts...not bad $108.00.....but OH SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will be traveling for work on Easter Sunday, so will cook 'easter dinner' on Saturday instead (my 12 year old asked if we could do that)

On the menu:

Spiral cut ham
Scalloped Potatoes
Green Beans or Carrots

It's just 3 of us, so I am not going crazy!

Since hubby is Italian I will make an Easter Pie to nosh on while I am gone ( from Italian Food Forever)

Torta Pasqualina di Nonna
1/4 Pound Italian Salami
1/4 Pound Capicolla Sausage
1/4 Cup Cooked Ham
1/4 Pound Prosciutto
1/2 Pound Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 Pound Provolone Cheese
1/4 Pound Grated Parmesan Cheese
3 Pounds Ricotta Cheese
6 Large Eggs
2 Tablespoons Milk
Pepper
Prepared Pastry For Two Pies, Or 1 Recipe Basic Pastry For Variation

Preheat Oven to 400 Degrees F. Cut all of the meats and cheese into small dice. Mix together the ricotta and 5 of the eggs. Separate the remaining egg, and add the white to the ricotta mixture, reserving the yolk for later. Add the cheeses and meats to the ricotta mixture, mixing well. Season lightly with pepper. Because of the prosciutto and cheese, you will not need to add additional salt.

Divide the filling mixture equally between the two pie shells. Place the top crust on both pies, and crimp the edge to seal. Mix together the remaining yolk and milk, and brush across the tops of the pies. Using a sharp knife, cut three slits into each pie before baking. Bake 60 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean, covering the edges with foil if it is becoming too brown while baking. Let cool to room temperature, and serve.

lnuzzo:
I haven't had that pie in years. I don't know anyone who makes it now.
Have to make one.
Lou

Looks similar to Pizza Rustica...is it???

Bump bump bump

Its almost here!

A

Alex,
I just saw this again. I am heading in on Sat and returning monday am. I don't it will work this time, but my parents live there so I go a lot.
Jo

OK, Ashley and Elery are both working so it's Amanda, David, the Princess and Bruvver and me. Maybe Mother.

Still, we're having (subject to change, LOL)

Glazed Ham
Cod (maybe with a mango salsa?)
Roasted red, white and blue fingerling potatoes
Sweet potatoes with....something
Green Beans for the kids
Woodie's salad
Rolls and Butter
Tiramisu
Raspberry Ice Cream with chocolate chunks
Cupcakes for the kids

I'm still waffling on how to cook the sweet potatoes and the fish...

Annie

Oh, how to cook the fish... hmmmm

Seriously, your menu looks wonderful!
jo

Hi everybody .
I was invited to a potluck lunch on my friend's church in RI.and since I am in a kick for making fresh pasta I am thinking about either a lasagna with ground lamb or fresh fettuccini with lamb ragu`. I'll let you guys know...
Happy Easter to all ,
Cynara.

Doesn't anyone make anything other than pineapple for a fruit? :( I needed ideas. I'm going to come up short or serve pineapple. Guess it's the wrong time of year for fruit, but I sure like some along with all the rest. I'm ready for summer so we can have some watermelons, peaches.... I could go on, but I won't.

We're doing a turkey because it was free. Pasta salad, dirty rice and a carrot cake??? Can you tell it's at my sister's house and they only eat certain things? As in picky, not because it's not kosher. I'm sure there will be deviled eggs too because they're served at every dinner at her house, but there are never any leftovers. Mmm.

There isn;t a lot of "fresh" fruit that is in season right now so I think that is why some of the imported or canned stuff is featured in the "traditional" type meals. Maybe you could make strawberries with short cake or a strawberry trifle sort of thing? Not sure if the FL crop is available or not.

You also might try the Ambrosia on the Mandarin orange thread, I have decided to add it to my menu jsut because my husband and kids have never seen it or heard of it! LOL!

Alexa

Now there you go Alexa, the ambrosia. That'd even be a reminder of my grandmother who recently died (four months ago). She always made that. It'll be well received. Thanks!

Hey Scubadiver - what about a Greek Pastitsio? I have 2 different recipes, one uses beef and this one uses lamb. Either way it is EXCELLENT! BTW - I think I will put this on the Pasta thread too since it has elbows.

Also Rob, enjoy the Ambrosia and the memory of your grandmother. I love that food reminds us of such good times in the past.

Alexa

*************************************************

Greek Pastitsio

1 1/2 lb. ground lamb or beef
1/4 tsp. pepper
8 oz. elbow macaroni
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1/8 tsp. oregano
1/4 cup flour

1 (10 3/4 oz.) can tomato puree
3 cups milk
1 lg. onion, finely chopped
3 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Prepare macaroni according to directions. Rinse with cold water;
drain. Stir flour into melted butter in a heavy saucepan. Gradually
stir in milk & cook until thickened, stirring occasionally. Cover &
cool the white sauce. Brown the ground beef & onion in a large fry
pan. Pour off drippings. Sprinkle salt, pepper, cinnamon, & oregano
over beef. Stir in tomato puree & cook slowly for 10 minutes. Beat
together egg, & 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese. Gently stir in macaroni.
Gradually stir in 2 cups of the white sauce into the macaroni
mixture. Place 1/2 macaroni mixture into a buttered 11-3/4 x 7-1/2
inch baking dish. Spoon beef mixture in an even layer over macaroni.
Place remaining macaroni mixture over the beef. Pour remaining white
sauce over the top. Bake in moderate 375° F. oven for 20 minutes.
Sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese, & continue baking 20-25
minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let
stand 15 minutes before cutting into squares.

bump one last time!

A