I have to admit that I love Easter, I’m a bit of a sucker for a good egg hunt and a basket full of brightly colored, sugar laden, items replicating bunnies, chicks and eggs. I think I like Easter so much because it reminds me of renewal and rebirth as the sun warms us again and tiny things start to grow. If you are celebrating Easter as a religious event, this too has a meaning of renewal as it celebrates Jesus arising from his death and in the Jewish faith this time of year represents celebration and the release from oppression, so however you chose to celebrate this time of year as snow melts and flowers bloom, make sure you take time to enjoy all the goodness and wonder around you. Then…go shopping!!!
EASTER BASKETS
Crafting our kid’s Easter baskets is a lot of fun to do, but if you are busy or at loss for ideas, sometimes its also exciting to order ready made baskets delivered to your door. 1800baskets.com is running an Easter promotion at the moment, where you will a free upgrade to 2 day shipping with the order of any Easter gifts, in addition to this savings, they are also offering 25% off all Easter related items with the promotion code EASTER25. The site offers a lot of really yummy Easter themed treats like cake pops, petit fours and beautifully made baskets. Make sure you place your order by 4/20 at 2pm EST to take advantage of the expedited shipping.
Of course you can’t go wrong with THE HAPPY EASTER STORE which is your one stop shop for everything Easter related and if you “like” their Facebook Page you will get 20% off your entire order. Of you shop now, you will have your Easter goodies just in time.
EASTER CRAFTS
Maybe you’ve got the Easter basket covered and you would rather spend family time together doing crafts, like egg dying, center piece making and much more to celebrate the upcoming holiday.
Disney’s Family Fun has some really cute craft ideas, so go check out their website, but my favorite is this one:
LITTLE EGG DIVERS….seriously aren’t they just the cutest things. I have a suspicion that ours will look nothing like this, but we’ll take a stab at it. This is what you will need.
Egg dye
White eggs, hard-boiled
Permanent marker
3/4-inch round white adhesive labels
1-inch-wide water-bottle lids
Small rubber bands
White glue or glue gun
Flexible straws
Self-adhesive foam
Small clear glasses or bowls (optional)
Small pitcher (optional)
For each snorkeler, dye the bottom third of an egg, then let it dry. Draw eyes on a label and adhere it to a water-bottle lid. Slip the rubber band around the egg, about a quarter of the way down. Glue the lid over a rubber band.Trim a straw 1 inch above and 2 inches below the flexible section. Bend it into a snorkel shape and glue it in place. Cut foam flippers (trace our template ). Glue them to the egg, adhesive side down, and let dry. Stick the adhesive side to the display surface, or, if you like, to the inside of a small glass or bowl. With the pitcher, gently pour in dye until the egg is partly submerged.
Kaboose.com has a host of different crafts to try, but my favorite are these beautiful tissue flowers. I think I will work with my kids to create an amazing centerpiece for our brunch table.
Check out this fun instruction video.
tissue-paper-flowers-613141-v of these fun flowers…
PETIT FOURS
Finally, these looked yummy to me, I love petit fours and will be attempting to make them for brunch, wish me luck.
Diana’s Deserts has this yummy recipe.
Ingredients:
For Cake:
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup milk
3 egg whites
For Fruit Glaze:
12 oz. apricot or raspberry preserves (or heated jelly may be used instead)
3 tbsp. water
For Icing:
9 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Food coloring, (optional)
| Instructions: For Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C). Grease and lightly flour a 9-inch (23cm) square baking pan. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, shortening and sugar. Beat in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. In a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form; gently fold into batter. Pour batter into prepared baking pan and bake at 350 degrees F (180 C) for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Turn cake out onto a plate or cooling rack; then chill cake in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Remove cake from refrigerator. Cut a thin slice off each side of chilled cake. Cut cake into 1-1/4-inch (3.175 cm) squares. Place squares 1/2 inch (1.27 cm) apart on a cooling rack over a 15 x 10 x 1-inch (38cmX25cmX2.5cm) pan. Apply fruit glaze (See Fruit Glaze Preparation Below)) evenly over tops and sides of cake squares, allowing excess to drip off. Let dry. Repeat if necessary to thoroughly coat squares. Let glaze dry completely. For Preparing The Fruit Glaze: To Prepare Icing: Makes 2 1/2 dozen petit fours. |
