Just as our meat was ready to come off the grill, a huge storm hit us and about the time we were ready to carry food to the Easter Dinner table, we heard a giant thud. Then, the power went out and we had Easter Dinner in the dark!
The thud was made by three giant limbs from a very old Maple tree hitting the ground ... fortunately not the house or the back deck. The darkness was quickly remedied by candles, because none of my big lantern-style flashlights were working! Who doesn't like candle light?
My daughter grabbed every candle she could find and put them all over the table. We are actually experienced at this "party with no power" thing ... because the year she graduated with her Doctorate ...and we were having a big party for her ... an "inland hurricane" hit Southern Illinois and we didn't have any power! We partied without power! Fortunately, I had prepared most of the food the day before the party/hurricane day and we grilled the meat. We partied on our big back deck in the afternoon, so everything was fine. People just carried flashlights into the dark part of the house when they used the bathroom!
Back to Easter! That bunny brought some nice galvanized buckets filled with goodies!
Our menu was really delicious ... not your typical Easter food, but we are tired of having too much food left. No ham this year! I grilled a nice filet of beef and served Hollandaise Sauce with it. I still cook from scratch, but I happily admit that a few years ago when Hollandaise Sauce came out in a package ... I was thrilled. It won't curdle! It is delicious
Our cheese log appetizer is a favorite blend that we get at a German meat market in Missouri! I always fix carrots for Easter and no matter how much brown sugar and butter I glaze them with, they are never eaten! Phoebe announced that she can only eat crunchy carrots (raw)! I used Pioneer Woman's recipes for Spicy Cauliflower and Creamy Herb Potatoes (which you can find online and I highly recommend). Don't you just love my fresh chives that have flowered?
I was so ready for some new ... non-traditional ... foods! This pastry tart is a Pioneer Woman recipe, too. Well, she inspired me! It is so easy to make. Just use packaged croissant pastry and top it with Swiss cheese slices. Lay fresh asparagus spears over the cheese and bake it according to the directions on the pastry package. I drizzled avocado oil over mine before sticking it in the oven because I wanted to be sure the asparagus roasted nicely. This was scrumptious; easily made ahead and kept warmish; and perfect cold in my sack lunch the next day at work! I'm going to make it again this weekend for another event, but I plan to add some fresh Thyme and Rosemary to the top of it and a few grinds of fresh pepper.
Here's the end of our meal ... This scrumptious Pig Pickin' Orange Cake! You can Google that recipe, too. The history of this cake is all about BBQ in South Carolina! It is popular at whole hog barbecues! You know, you pick the meat off the pig at those kinds of events! I love that stuff and I loved this cake.
So, there you have it! Easter at Grandma Debbie's ... in the dark! We had a very nice time! Miss Phoebe told me that I had "outdone myself" ... She is growing up much too fast!
