Posts tagged under Easter. Show all posts.
On Good Friday, the kiddos and I did the classic Easter egg decorating thing but then they wanted to try their hands at something sweeter. I know we had done some great recipes on last week’s newsletters for homemade Easter treats but amazingly my kids don’t really like chocolate so I wasn’t sure how they would go over. What they do like though is marshmallows and any variation on the classic rice krispie square, and we tend to make those every week, using all kinds of cereal for them—corn flakes, bran flakes, whatever we have.
So inspired by our wonderful chocolate nest recipe, we mixed up a batch, substituting some of the rice krispies (actually leftover ones from the holiday season, with the red and green in them) with a mixture of corn flakes and bran flakes to make them look more authentic, as if a bird had really foraged for all the different materials for the nest. (This also had the added advantage of using up a couple of boxes of almost finished cereal—hate those!) Once the mixture was cool enough to touch, the kids had fun making balls of the cereal and then forming them into nest shapes, with a small indent in the middle. Make sure if you try this not to squish and squeeze them too much—you don’t want the nests to be too dense. We then cooled them in a muffin tray to keep their shapes, and when they were ready, we popped a couple of Easter egg candies in the middle to make them look like real spring nests. It was fun and easy—and yummy (all gone by dinner time!). Sure to become a family tradition for us. What’s your favourite thing to cook with the kids?
Who knew that DIY chocolate for Easter was so doable? As long as you’re not aiming for the perfection of the perfect Peter Cottontail inside a big box covered with foil and wrapped with cardboard, I am amazed every year to discover more and more tasty Easter treats that you can actually make at home with the kids. And if you didn’t find a DIY Easter chocolate recipe you wanted to try in our latest edition, we’ve discovered the most amazing list of Easter recipes at razzledazzlerecipes.com. There’s an interesting variation on the birds’ nest recipe we love that uses peanut butter, and the jelly bean bark is definitely going to be a hit at my house. (What’s not to like about jelly beans, white chocolate and butter, really?) And the list goes on to include all manner of make-your-own chocolate egg.
So stock up on some baking basics and have fun in the kitchen this weekend with the family. Chocolate tastes good all the time, but when you made it yourself, it’s even sweeter.
I’d love to hear about your family’s fave Easter treat.
These chocolate nests have been my go-to Easter treats for a few years now, and I must confess that I really love them. I stumbled upon a more complicated version of the recipe many years ago, one which required far more ingredients and time than I had at that point in my life. I’ve since tweaked and refashioned this little gem of a treat, which I now serve each and every year. Using only five ingredients and a no-bake recipe, this is almost the perfect treat for any time-crunched Mom during the spring holiday season.
Ideal for a classroom or preschool party, these treats also make lovely gifts for friends and family when placed in a cellophane bag and tied with ribbon. I’m sending these to school with one of my boys this year, but I’m also working on a new delicacy, which will make use of all those homemade marshmallows I’ve been making.
How about you, what’s your favourite Easter/Spring treat to make?
Find the full printable recipe here: 5-Ingredient Chocolate Nests with Chicks and Eggs
Easter brunch is one of my favourite meals of the year. Whether it’s my small family of four, or a large group of extended relatives, I love serving up pots of steaming coffee, fragrant teas and assorted breakfast breads and quiche. It’s a much easier meal to put together than a traditional dinner, and most things needed for this type of entertaining can be made in advance.
The one must-have item on any brunch menu I put together is a simple honey madeleine. This cake-like-slightly-egg-shaped cookie is hands down my favourite sweet treat, and my kids are such fans of these that my youngest son has his own madeleine pan, brought back for him as a souvenir from Paris.
Here’s why I like madeleines so much:
While I’m not a big fan of keeping one-use-only kitchen items on hand, I do make an exception for my Madeleine pans. We use them so often that they hardly seem frivolous, and are certainly worth the space they take up.
Are you serving brunch this Easter? What are some of your favourite menu items?
Find the full printable recipe here: Honey Madeleines
A quick perusal through the SavvyMom archives unearthed a fabulous list of recipes that would be perfect for your upcoming long weekend. Regardless of which holiday you celebrate, you are certain to find something worth cooking up from the extensive list below.
I’m partial to serving a brunch over the Easter holiday, so I have included some ‘egg-cellent’ options should you be inclined to do the same. If a larger meal is more your thing, there is a great recipe for ham on the list below, as well as a seasonal asparagus dish that is certain to please all palates.
Breakfast/Brunch
Potato and Leek Frittata with Kale Chips
Frittata with Ham, Broccoli and Potato
Mini Spinach Soufflé
Chick-in-the-Hole
Baked Blueberry French Toast
Lunch or Dinner
Maple and Citrus Glazed Ham
Roasted Asparagus with Crunchy Lemon Topping
Grilled Asparagus, Grapes, and Haloumi with Lemon Vinaigrette
Slow-Cooked Lamb Shanks with Lentils, Garlic and Rosemary
Dessert
Spring Blossom Cake
Carrot Cake Cheesecake
What is on your menu this weekend? Do you like to get creative with holiday dinners or are you a little more traditional in your menu planning?
