Easter

Carrot Zucchini Easter Cake

March 30, 2018

I want to preface this post by saying that I originally did not plan on sharing an Easter recipe this year, mainly because I shared an entire brunch a few years ago and some intricate cupcakes last year, and for some reason this time around, I just wasn’t inspired by anything. Then when I had lost all hope, I came across this recipe in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine at my mom’s house. What drew me to it the most, wasn’t how adorable it is because obviously it is, but it was how simple the recipe is. I know know, it might look difficult but really it’s not hard at all. I love that it’s a single layer cake recipe and doesn’t involve decorating with piping bags or fancy decorating tips. You don’t even need a mixer at all. You can make this completely by hand. That’s always a plus in my book. It’s all completely edible which is another great aspect of the recipe. The carrots on top are made of marzipan that comes ready made from the store. All you have to do is tint it orange and shape them into tiny carrots. It’s a lot easier than you might think. I’m not a cake decorator at all, so I always say that if I can do it, you definitely can as well. It’s the perfect cake to add to your Easter brunch or dinner table. You don’t want to miss out!

…

Loaded Baked Potato Casserole

March 23, 2016

Let’s be honest, we really don’t need any excuse to make a cheesy potato dish loaded with crispy bacon and lots of melted butter. The only excuse we need is to be hungry. That’s plenty. Did I mention cheese and butter and bacon and potatoes are involved? Let’s get excited just because of that. This is the only way we’re going to get through the week, and if that means we need to eat copious amounts of cheesy potatoes, then so be it. This Loaded Baked Potato Casserole has everything you love in a baked potato but creamier and cheesier and baconier (total word), which I think just makes everything better. In case you’re like me and are a last minute planner, and are still trying to figure out what in the world you’re making for Easter brunch, then I’ve got you covered. You can whip up this casserole in no time and watch as it’s the first dish to go.

For those of you who don’t know I partner up with the American Butter Institute for their Go Bold With Butter Campaign each month to provide them with two new recipes every month. I share some of those recipes on here from time to time, especially when they’re over the top and inviting like this ultimate Apple Pumpkin Pecan Pie. This Loaded Baked Potato Casserole was too good not to share on here, and since I feel like side dishes during the holidays are always the trickiest to plan out, I thought I’d help you out as much as possible. Since I don’t always repost all the recipes though, be sure to follow Go Bold With Butter on all their social media to stay in the loop, or head on over to the site to check out everything else I’ve done. If you love butter (and why wouldn’t you?) then this site is your new best friend.

…

Easter Bunny Cupcakes

March 21, 2016

Easter has always been a big deal in my family ever since I was a kid. Year after year my mamma has made it a grand event and to this day, she still hides eggs for my sisters and I to find, complete with Easter baskets that I’m pretty sure would put the Easter bunny himself to shame. The three of us are well over our twenties, yet during that moment, when we’re pushing and shoving each other to find plastic eggs filled with money, lottery scratchers and candy, we’re instantly transformed into kids again. I’ve come to learn that you’re never too old to get a basket filled with fake brightly colored grass, and stuffed with lots of goodies. As a kid I took it for granted, I think. Now as an adult, I’ve come to look forward to them even more so, and if she were to ever stop, I’m convinced that that’s the year the world ends. It would signify the beginning of the end. Luckily she has no plans of ever stopping, and I definitely don’t have any plans of ever losing that excitement.

Since Easter is right around the corner, I thought now was a good a time as any to share a fun and festive dessert. I mean, you walk into any party or dinner with these on Sunday, and you’re sure to put smile on everyone’s face. That’s what the holidays are all about. You’d win best dessert of the year award (maybe let’s not exaggerate, but maybe you might). So let’s dust off those muffin tins and make cupcakes cool again, just for a day. If you’re in need of any more Easter recipes for your Sunday brunch or dinner, I’d like to remind you of last year’s Easter Brunch menu on the site. There’s a whole menu of items for you to choose from. An appetizer, a main dish, side salad, dessert and cocktail. You’ll definitely find something that calls out to you, along with a few table setting ideas. Remember that holidays aren’t meant to be stressful at all, and the least amount of work you do, the better. So plan ahead of time and make things the day before or take as much help from the store as you can! Have a game plan so that on the day of, you’re as cool as a cucumber and actually enjoy yourself. These Easter Bunny Cupcakes are most definitely part of that enjoying yourself part. You need them in your life.

…

Carrot Bloody Marys

March 27, 2015

I’ve been lucky enough to visit New Orleans more than a few times now to spend time and work with my friend Joy but also to sightsee and enjoy the city on a vacation with Julian. The first thing I always want to do right off the plane, like a tradition now, is get a Bloody Mary. Maybe even two of them. Before anything else, even before eating the amazing food there or sight seeing and listening to the super talented street performers. A Bloody Mary is top of the list. The greatest thing about it is that Joy never complains and just allows me to drink my cocktail while walking through the quarter to her place. I think that Bloody Marys are synonymous with Sunday brunch, and I couldn’t picture my life without them. Don’t even get me started on restaurants that offer endless Bloody Marys, those places can be very dangerous. The cold cocktail made with tomato juice and a bunch of spices and seasonings, garnished with celery sticks and everything else but the kitchen sink, just calls out to me. It makes breakfast taste better, doesn’t it?

This whole Easter Brunch Bonanza wouldn’t be complete without a brunch time cocktail. At first a mimosa sounded good to me because endless mimosas are just as equally as amazing. There was something holding me back though and then all of a sudden, Bloody Marys came to mind. I knew that I couldn’t just give you a classic every day cocktail that we’re all used to. This Carrot Bloody Mary was inspired by my mother because her favorite juice happens to be carrot juice. I’ve never wanted to drink it myself, but for some reason it just sounds more appealing when vodka is involved. All of a sudden I can’t get enough of it. That’s the power of a Bloody Mary.

Our mega Easter Brunch celebration has come to an end, but before we start crying and throwing things, let’s focus on the positive. We now have five great recipes to make for a delicious and show-stopping brunch. We started the week off with a simple savory pastry that was almost too good to be true, Roasted Asparagus and Prosciutto Croissants. Then we made things super fresh and healthy with this Cucumber and Strawberry Salad, which was the perfect blend of savory and sweet. Plus it made us feel like we were making the right choices in our menu. We then made the brunch menu shine and turned things up a notch with our Spring Eggs Benedict that had all of the things we loved about brunch but with a much needed twist. What’s a meal without some kind of sweet dessert? We rounded out our brunch with Carrot Cake Scones which I swear to you, taste just like carrot cake. It’s something magicians would make without revealing their secrets. And last but certainly not least, we finished things off with these Carrot Bloody Marys and began an obsession with me that I don’t want to talk about. I hope you’ve enjoyed this Easter menu and I hope you’ll give them a try. Let’s make some cocktails, now!

…

Carrot Cake Scones

March 26, 2015

I’ve been making scones for as long as I can remember. I used to sell homemade baked goods out of my tiny kitchen when I was in college, to help my mom with my tuition. She had already put my two sisters through college, by the time I got around to it, so I wanted to help out any way I could. I’m sure it was illegal and it inconvenienced my family because I’d be in the kitchen for hours and hours, but I did it anyway because I was a rebel like that and I actually enjoyed it most days. It was a nice break from all the homework and studying. Really it was just a way for me to procrastinate the things I had to get done. There were two items that I had to make on a daily basis because people ordered them a lot, scones and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I’ve made so many batches of both that I now have the recipes permanently engraved in my brain. It’s helpful. It got to the point where I refused to bake scones because I got tired of making them. At the time I offered the classic flavors, cranberry, blueberry, (and my all time personal favorite) cherry dark chocolate chunk. My family has since then made it a point to relentlessly try and coerce me into baking scones for them or their coworkers, and sometimes I do it. Other times, they’re not as successful. Sorry family.

I’ve taken a break from my scone strike, however, to bring you these Carrot Cake Scones. I think it’s worth breaking my promise to never make scones again, but let’s not get used to it. It’s a phase that will pass. I grate fresh carrots and mix them into my go-to scone recipe, with a few other twists, like a blend of spices, raisins and cream cheese frosting on top with chopped pecans make them taste just like a classic carrot cake. Which happens to be one of my favorite cake flavors. So if you like carrot cake and you like scones, then I don’t think I need to say anything more to try and convince you to make them. They can speak for themselves. “Make me. Make me. Eat me. Eat me.” Can you hear it?

This is our second to last Easter Brunch Bonanza post/recipe and I’m a little sad about it. Sure, I’ve saved the best for last (stay tuned tomorrow to find out), but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s almost over. I’ll still bring you awesome and delicious recipes that’ll get you excited though, and these springtime recipes from this week will now forever live online for all of your brunch needs so there’s no need to cry about it. Let’s get these scones started though, shall we? They wont stop calling out our names until we eat them.

…

Spring Eggs Benedict

March 25, 2015

I make it a point to not cook eggs benedict all the time because let’s be real, it’s a lot of work. I mean poaching eggs and making hollandaise over a double boiler? That’s some intense skills right there that I don’t always have the strength or the energy to create such a fancy dish. I wish I could do it because I think a brunch meal with a big plate of eggs benedict is always the icing on the morning cake. It’s the dish I usually get when I go to a restaurant for breakfast or brunch, mainly because I like to order things I don’t make at home on a regular basis. I’ll usually eat that and wash it down with a few glasses of mimosas. I’ve never turned my nose down to bottomless mimosas. Whoever came up with that concept deserves a holiday named after them. Anyhow, I normally save this dish for a special occasion. I get away with only making it once a year for my family by saying something like, “We’ll all appreciate it more when we have it once in a blue moon. If I made it all the time, we’d take it for granted.” If you think about it, I’m doing everyone a favor really. All I’m doing is making sure that no one gets tired or bored of the dish. That’s very nice of me.

I think I’ve mentioned once or twice (definitely in this Fish and Chips post) that one of my sisters is extremely picky. Like doesn’t like mac and cheese because it’s too cheesy and hates peanut butter because it smells funky to her kind of picky. A weird alien pickiness that I’m glad I didn’t genetically inherit. Sorry Nick, but it’s true. Even with her crazy likes and dislikes, she happens to love eggs benedict and gave this one two thumbs way up. Now, this is really saying something. If it passed my sister’s taste test, the same sister who hates pie crust, then anyone and everyone will enjoy this dish. You can trust me on that.

This is day three of our Easter Brunch Bonanza post and we’re just getting to the really good stuff. Don’t get me wrong, Roasted Asparagus and Prosciutto Croissants and Cucumber and Strawberry Salad are great ways to start a brunch, but the real fun is in the entrée and dessert. Don’t even get me started on the cocktail. Come back tomorrow and Friday for the remaining recipes, you don’t want to miss them! I’ll tell you what else you don’t want to miss, these Spring Eggs Benedict. They’re calling out your name. Can you hear them? I can.

…