Thursday, Mar 29

There she goes again!  Emily at Jones Design Company has inspired me to get a jump start on my Easter entertaining preparations.  Take a look at all of her darling table setting ideas!  I purchased her Lindsay Letters Easter print package.  The link to purchase the PDF is at the bottom of the above post.

This will be the fourth year in a row that I have hosted Easter dinner.  Every year, I make Tyler Florence’s grilled lamb with lemony chickpea puree, raisin caper salsa verde, and mache with mint salad.  Who is Tyler Florence?  Funny you should ask.

Here we are just hangin’ out, talkin’ recipes.

Okay, so it was a cookbook and wine bottle signing at Wegman’s last November and I got to talk to him for 2.5 seconds.  I told him how much my family loves these recipes:

Grilled Marinated Lamb with Mache and Mint

Lemony Chickpea Puree

Raisin Caper Salsa Verde

I’m such a dork, I know.  But it was so cool to meet him.  He’s such a nice guy and these recipes never get old, so I’ll be making them again this year.  The best thing about them is that you can make the marinade (which is also the dressing for the mache and mint), the chickpea puree, and the salsa verde ahead of time.  I usually marinate the lamb overnight, then I make the puree and salsa a few hours before dinner.  All I have to do is throw together the mache and mint salad and toss it with the dressing just before we sit down.  The Hubs grills the lamb for us and we eat!  Everyone at the table gets really quiet, except for the sounds of total delight as they eat their delicious meal.

Here’s a pic from last year’s dinner:

Sorry folks, everything was devoured by the time I thought to take a photo.

Dessert last year was a trifle — really simple to make.

Store bought pound cake

Strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries

Store bought lemon curd

Home made whipped cream

Just layer everything in a trifle bowl and all your guests will be impressed.  Ours were!

What are your plans for Easter dinner?