Easter for 15 in 20 Hours.....! The Outcome

With a great sigh of relief, Easter dinner came off without a hitch. It was the right number of guests (my Dad's living area is not large, and the logistics for 15 are a lot simpler than 25), the weather was gorgeous, and everyone seemed to have a great time. The smaller group also gave me the opportunity to spend time on the little things, namely extra little floral arrangements and the Easter pails for my nieces and nephews.

Flowers for the arrangements: daisies, pom-poms, carnations, hypericum berries, baby's breath

Tools of the trade: popover pans, cake pedestals, candlesticks, and serving pieces, all brought from my apartment for the occasion

The finished floral arrangements for the table. The humble, inexpensive flowers were long lasting, visually impactful, and so pretty!

Easter baskets are always a fun part of the holiday, and although my nieces and nephews are really too old for an Easter egg hunt, they will never be too old for a pail of candy. I bought inexpensive metal pails at Target, along with all of their favorite Easter candy. I also stumbled upon edible Easter grass, which was visually appealing, but definitely not very tasty! About 15 minutes' worth of work later, all 4 pails were assembled and ready to serve as placeholders at the kids' table. 

My first big task for Easter morning was preparing the au gratin potatoes. I love this au gratin potatoes recipe found at allrecipes.com...it's simple and absolutely delicious! For my crowd I tripled the batch and baked it in a lasagna pan. I put it in about 4 hours before dinner, alongside the ham, so that it had plenty of time to cook at the much lower temperature (325).

the finely sliced potatoes, about 7 pounds in all

After church we dove into a loaf of banana caramel bread I had made Saturday night, fantastic with a slathering of butter. I cheated and used a mix from Williams Sonoma, but it was a real time-saver and allowed me to concentrate on lunch. 

In my experience, large portions of meat, such as ham and turkey, really taste best when cooked slowly and without a lot of fuss. I did a hickory-smoked shank ham and cooked it in my turkey roaster for about 4 hours. I made a simple glaze of about 2 cups of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of both molasses and pure maple syrup, a pinch of kosher salt, and a splash of water to thin out the glaze slightly. When the ham had about an hour left (I let it be for the first 3 hours, only checking the temperature once), I made a few slashes with a sharp knife into the skin of the ham and poured the glaze on. Once the ham was carved and plattered, I ladled the juices and glaze from the pan onto the slices. Delicious!

The "adult" table. Tablecloth and napkins found at Home Goods for a steal!

The kids' table. The tablecloth is the same toile runner my sister sewed for her graduation party last year

I nestled chocolate candies in pretty wine glasses and placed them among the centerpieces. It also added another shot of color to the table!

Later in the afternoon I brought out my coup-de-grace: a classic cheesecake with caramel sauce and roasted pecans. I have made many different kinds of cheesecake in my life, and if you're looking for a classic that is infinitely flexible, use this recipe from allrecipes. You will never need another cheesecake recipe again! Just make sure to follow the cardinal rules of cheesecake-making: 

• always blind-bake your crust before filling
• always beat the sugar and cream cheese together first for several minutes until light and fluffy
• always add your eggs last, mixing them by hand and only enough to barely incorporate into the batter
• never over-bake. Bake until barely set in the middle, turn the oven off, and allow the cake to cool for several hours (even overnight) in the oven before refrigerating.  

  

  The decadent final product....definitely a family hit!