Food Friday

I know Easter is over, but this week I have not done much in the kitchen. Here is a recap of our Easter meal. I love to set the table in an overly festive way. I come by it honest. It is in my genes. I also had other great influences in my life like Mama Swords house at the holidays. She was the mother to Daddy's best childhood friend. There are no words for that woman's decor at the holidays...no words! And there is my sweet "Sassy"( Mrs. Carolyn) who could be Mama Sword's sister when it comes to tablescapes. I love thinking of all the women who shaped me into the gawdy tablesetter that I am!! I know they would have loved to have come and sit at my table with me!

What is Easter in a child's home without a bunny cake?! Mama always made a bunny cake for Jules and me. Yes, this is my second year to give up my beautiful coconut cake for a bunny. It is worth it to see Henry go bonkers over it. He kept walking up to it and chomping his gums in the air...it was so cute! These cakes are truly ugly but super easy to make. I made a carrot cake and used cream cheese icing and coconut. My little family ate the tail end of that bunny real quick! The bakery at Kroger gave me the bunny face for free. All you have to do is ask real nice and you never know what you will get. I would have preferred a non pink face, but free is free! I dyed the coconut blue to offset the pink for my boy!

A 4 layer coconut cake makes me think of my Mawmaw. I love that woman! The whole time I was working on this cake I was thinking of her and being reminded of her showing me how to ice and apply coconut. She is such a good little cake instructor. Mine does not hold a candle to hers, but it was pretty enough. She makes boiled icing for hers and mine comes out of a can...just sayin! I took this coconut cake to my neighbors for Easter. Her mother is very ill and I thought if I was in her shoes, I would want someone to bring me a cake!

Easter is not Easter without a deviled egg. I use my cousin Hollye's recipe. There are 10,001 ways to make a deviled egg, but she is the deviled egg queen of our family so I don't dare detour from her egg path. This year I was out of relish. Randall liked them better without the relish. I was glad he was happy and that Henry ate his fair share of them also! Those are Henry's dyed eggs on the platter...love it!

It is not Easter at our house without a hashbrown casserole Here is the recipe. We have had this recipe in our family forever. I did not feel like typing it out, so I found one very similar online and linked to it....ha! Randall fell in love with it the first time I made it, which was our first married Easter in our little apartment. Fun times! It is such a great compliment to ham.

Henry's first Easter meal. Such a fuzzy picture, but such a fun memory. Last year he was still formula fed, so this year he got to enjoy all the tastes of Easter. He loved it all!

We had our meal on Saturday night because no one came to our house for Easter lunch this year. Sad times, but it was actually really enjoyable for me, afterall. It was a relaxing Easter and much needed for this little hostess with the mostess! Randall knows how much effort I put into holidays and the fact that he Henry were going to be the only ones to enjoy my tablescape and yummy dishes....well, the pressure was on him! He did very well and made me feel like all the effort was worth it for my 2 best boys. What a good man! We were able to have a laid back supper and then just warm up plates after church on Sunday. I might make this a tradition!! Randall took this of the little foodie and me at supper on Saturday night. Henry was focused on that rabbit cake! I cherish these sweet times.

Happy Food Friday!

Abby