My Easter TOP 5

So if you are hosting or you are attending an Easter celebration this weekend you may see a lot of the traditions: ham, potatoes, hard-boiled eggs... and I'm thinking maybe a Peep or two?  In our family, my Dad likes to shake things up now again with an experimental vegetable, but pretty much we stick to the staples on the Easter dinner table. Here are the top 5 Zilly/Gilmore traditional items that make our life complete:

#1 Easter Ham ... Spiral Sliced is our favorite; brown Sugar glazed, honey glazed, maple dijon glazed... we like them all.  I like to dump the packet that comes with it and make a home-made glaze to perk that ham up. A couple tips: Glaze toward the end, so it doesn't burn and buy a big one! Leftover ham is always good!

Maple Glazed Ham

#2 The Potato Dish... My mom prefers a good twice-baked potato. You may enjoy mashed, baked, sweet or even hasselback.    It's hard to go wrong with a potato. Last year I made 80 hasselback potatoes (regular and sweet) for a cast dinner and wow that was ridiculous. BUT 6? 10? even 20? Easy Peasy. 

How to make Hasselback potatoes

It's really not hard, but here is a good explanation on how to make this fun recipe. 

#3   The Vegetable...  Ok here is where you can get crazy! HA! Asparagus? Green beans? Carrots? A green salad? A vegetable medley? There are so many choices that work.    When I was looking up asparagus recipes (it's not hard, snap off the woody ends, and just steam them and serve with butter and salt!)  I stumbled upon an old favorite of mine, so I thought I would share this fancy go-to recipe of mine... I'm just showing off now... 

 Phyllo Wrapped Asparagus

#4   The Deviled Eggs...  Wow, There are many ways to make these! You can be simple and add mayo and mustard. Some add pickle relish ... some people add Garden Vegetable cream cheese... and often you see a dash of paprika or dill. Here is the SIMPLE recipe.Deviled Eggs   How to make them REALLY fancy is to use a decorator set and how to keep them cold is to use a nice ice-pack lined carrier. Deviled Eggs that have been sitting out for a while get dumped! So keep them cold: The Pampered Chef can hook you up. Cool & Serve Square Tray   and Easy Accent Decorator Set

And last... the drum roll please...

#5 The Bunny Cake... It isn't Easter without the Bunny Cake. We always like to put it on a bed of green-tinted coconut...

Whatever your Easter tradition, I hope you enjoy something special with someone you care about. Happy Spring, friends.