My Easter, Decided.

I finally settled on what I’ll be making on Easter.  It took me so long to figure it out because I was waiting to see how low the leg of lamb prices would go in my area.  I know a lot of America eats ham on Easter but we were never those people growing up.  I don’t actually like smoked ham all that much…or anything smoked for that matter.  I grew up eating lamb on Easter and usually try to do the same, but it’s just so darn expensive that sometimes it’s hard to justify.  Last year I served lamb but in less expensive ground form with this amazing Linguini with Lamb Meatballs and Mint Pesto.  But this year I really had my sights set on a roast of some kind.  So I did a ton of research and finally found the best price in my area for a semi-boneless leg of lamb at Food Lion (not my preferred store for many different reasons, but luckily enough, the lamb is something they don’t package on site, but rather have shipped in already vacuum sealed.)  Their price this week is $5.99/lb., which is very nice.  But…I still can’t justify spending $30-$40 on one part of the day, when I’m used to spending only about half that on everything for all my special occasions.  (In case you’re new to my site, that’s kinda my thing- Creating fabulous things out of the least amount of money using smart shopping, etc.)

Then I remembered that I had a pork roast in my freezer from the last big sale.  I usually buy at least two pork butts whenever they get super low and freeze what I don’t cook up that week.  I make Pickin’ Pork, Milk-Braised Pork Butt, Deconstructed BBQ, among other things with it.  It’s a very easy cut of meat to make delicious.  Anyway, so I knew that would be my back-up if the whole lamb thing didn’t work out.   Even though it’s not ‘Easter-y’, the pork butt would be delicious nonetheless.  I found the roast in my freezer, and pulled it out to thaw yesterday.  When I peeled back the plastic bags I had it in, I realized it wasn’t a pork shoulder or a pork butt.  The label read ‘Fresh Picnic’.  Fresh Picnic!!  As in Fresh Ham!!!  As in just the pork leg before it’s smoked and cured into being a ‘ham‘.  Jackpot.

Now I am very excited about my Easter meal because even though it wasn’t planned that way, it all makes sense.  Even on a tight budget, even though the entire day will now only require me to spend an extra $3 on the brussels sprouts.  I have everything else I need for this special holiday.  My freezer, fridge, pantry and bar are always stocked for a party because I stock up on things whenever they go on a big sale.  That’s why I can always throw a party without really having to buy anything.  I generally build my menu or party theme around what I already have.  And I already have a ton of candy and tiny prizes to be used for the plastic eggs in the egg hunt because I collect things throughout the year.  Whatever candy isn’t eaten during the winter holiday season, gets put aside for Easter and I frequent the Dollar Store and the Dollar Spot at Target and hoard things that I think the kids would like.  I cannot help myself from thinking ahead, I just can’t.

I get so excited for Easter because I can’t wait to watch my kids enjoy it like I used to as a kid.  And that’s what makes this holiday so special to me…being with my family and watching the little ones have a special day.  It’s really all about the kids to me.  Watching them see their Easter baskets for the first time and watching them find the eggs in the yard are some of my favorite things to do.

So here it is.  My Easter Day Menu:

-For Easter Breakfast while the kids have fun with their baskets…

*Carrot Cake Scones  I’m actually going to attempt to make these look like bunnies instead of my usual triangles.  I’m thinking I can cut them into rounds for the bunny face, then cut another round in half, then separate the halves to be used as the bunny ears, and place raisins for the eyes and nose, and slivered almonds as the whiskers.  Cute, right?

-For a late Easter Brunch after the annual back yard egg hunt…

*Mini Spring Pea and Parmesan Fritattas (made in muffin tins)
*Pimento-Cheddar Cheese Biscuits (using the biscuit crust recipe from my Southwest Chicken Pie)
*Country Ham
*Fresh Fruit
*Mimosas and Spicy Bloody Mary’s

-For Easter Dinner…

*Roasted Fresh Ham with Orange-Brown Sugar-Rosemary Glaze
*Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad
*Duck Fat Fingerling Potatoes

-For Easter Dessert…

The kids are decorating sugar cookies using whatever edible adornments I have in my pantry (both an activity and a dessert!)  And I have some of my cheesecake in the freezer that I will pull out as well.  I toyed with making a separate dessert but then I realized how much sugar everyone will be ingesting throughout the day and figured there would be no point to do all that extra work.

That’s it.  So, what will you be eating this weekend?

(For a look at my Easter post last year with some other food ideas, click HERE.)