I really just have one bush, a quince, that is anywhere near flowering in the early spring. |
I tried to get everything cleaned up before the kids came home. It's good I have Bridget to help me. She gets annoyed at messy rooms.
I love that moment when they are finally here.
Bridget made Martha Stewart's Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake. Lovely. (As usual I stopped taking pictures sometime before dinner. Trust me, it was all gorgeous. Just too much going on, alas and also fortunately 🙂
 Bridget found her rather well hidden basket first. Just pure luck…
She supervises while everyone else spends rather a long time searching for theirs. Both Will and Sukie brought friends to celebrate with us, and of course they had to have baskets and search for them too. I'm glad for Bridget's sake these grown-ups keep their playfulness.
In the true spirit of hospitality we hid the guests' baskets the most diabolically.
Isa's was in an actual secret compartment built into the house. I can't show you a photo of the discovery, because then we'd have to track you down and use our standard-issue neuralizers on your brains. (Is quoting Men in Black too '90s? Sorry…)
Roxie got a treat too.
Sukie's ham and egg cups (recipe below).
Making bruschetta with Kate.
Annie and John with their sweet family. It's good to have little children around!
Ham and egg cups
Enough slices (somewhat thickly sliced at the deli, or just not thin) of Virginia or other tasty ham and —
Enough eggs for your guests — count on two each for teenagers or recently turned 20-year-olds like Will who need to be fattened up.
2 large onions, finely diced
1 clove of garlic, ditto
8 oz. mushrooms, ditto
pinch of sage
salt
pepper
2 tablespoons cream, sour cream, or crème fraiche
grated cheese or extra cream for the topping which Sukie forgot this year, and that was fine
Caramelize the onions until good and brown. Add garlic and mushrooms and cook off most but not all of the liquid.
Mix in the cream.
Assemble: Put the slices of ham in muffin cups or ramekins, distribute onion/mushroom mix evenly amongst them, crack an egg into each cup, sprinkle cheese or cream on top, and bake for 10 minutes at 375° or until the egg is just set.
Monica says
Leila, my heart skips a beat a little too when I see them coming home. It is the best! I am also in the “twilight of my mothering career”, and holidays are all the more precious now. Hooray for sun in cold New England!
Glenda Childers says
Your home is lovely and welcoming. I love it that you had baskets for your guests. I was often an Easter guest in other homes during college . . . since my folks were missionaries overseas. I was always made to feel so welcomed.
Fondly,
Glenda
Elizabeth says
Love, love, loving your blog! Been linked a few times before but following now after I read through old posts this weekend. Bonus-all the pictures and cleaning tips have inspired me to dust and clean my room! (Or was that due to the spring weather?) It was just like getting advice from my mother and since I'm away at college, the more advice the better!
The hunting for Easter baskets looks so fun for the guests as well as family. I believe when my dad was a young 20-something, his basket was hid smack dab in the middle of the coffee table. My aunt who was perched on the table in front of it just rotated as he moved about the room and he was the last to find his basket!
Happy and blessed Easter to you all!
Sue says
Beautiful! I love that last shot of Bridget with the daffodils. You are always so modest about your home, but it really is lovely!!
Sara says
Happy Easter, Leila! Beautiful pics as usual. Looks like it was fun. I'd love to come to Easter dinner at your house!
Debi says
Your home looks so warm and inviting. It looks like everyone had a beautiful Easter day.
womanofthehouse says
It looks like a lovely time! You have a beautiful family, and the little curly-headed girl looks like an Eloise Wilkin illustration!
Lisa says
Happy Easter! I recognized St. Therese on your shelf in first photo. Your quince branches are so pretty everywhere. And, it looks like all your glassware is clean and shiny! Lovely!
nt12many says
Love it! We hide Easter baskets too and every year I think I need to stop doing it for the older kids but …what's “older”?? This year we included our 11 year old Korean student who left to go back to Korea on Easter Sunday after three months in our home. He is not from a Christian home and was a bit bewildered by all the cleaning, cooking and preparation but he liked his Easter basket (we hid them the night before Easter so he could enjoy the tradition with us).
Btw-hiding Easter baskets is one tradition that my husband really likes to participate in (he he he!).
Jill Farris ” target=”_blank”>http://www.generationalwomanhood.wordpress.com
Nilzed says
I've never encountered hiding the whole basket. But now i have read of it twice in one day. Both on blogs of New Englanders, so maybe that's why. Our baskets were on the table but we had to find the eggs.
Natasha says
I really like your candleabra in the first picture. I will have to take a closer look at it next time we visit. And I think the egg cup idea is awesome! I just suggested that Nick try it out. He also really likes the idea.
margo says
oh goody, I was hoping for the egg cups recipe! I have made and blogged about “baked eggs” which I kind of figured out after reading Joy of Cooking 1953, but it's nice to see what someone else does. I wonder if I could slice my leftover Easter ham thinly enough. . .
and about playfulness: I maintain that anybody can be playful at any age. It's just easier with young ones around! I hope your family always maintains the Easter basket play. Love all the photos!
Bobbi says
You remind me so much of my family…hiding the guests baskets in the most “diabolical” spots. Hehe! My friends used to “fight” about who got to come home with me and meet my crazy family. Crazy in a good way, of course.
CarlynB says
Christ is risen!
I'm definitely going to try the egg cups recipe.
Mrs. Fordyce says
beautiful pictures! I love the grown children looking for Easter baskets. One of the things I love about your blog is seeing the way your grown children get along. It always inspires me to keep pushing ahead through these days of training my children to be kind, agreeable, and helpful to one another, because no matter how difficult the training is, the results are sweet!
Kim says
what a sweet post! I love the idea of hiding the Easter baskets… You are such an inspiration!
Rachel P. says
Can I come have Easter at your house? It looks so nice.
MamabearJD says
Very nice! Thanks for giving us all a peek!