Cooking Irish can also be found on PETITCHEF and Pinterest.
Easter is my granddaughter Claudia Paige's favorite holiday. No one understands why. She likes it better than Christmas or her birthday. She will be 11 this may and still believes in the Easter Bunny. She thinks he is the coolest thing. Her mother Erin has always made Easter fun with outside Easter egg hunts, basket hunting inside, toys as well as candy. And of course, she always leaves carrots and cookies for her beloved bunny friend. This year Erin wanted the family to go to Disney World. Claudia did not want to miss her Easter celebration so no Florida this year. It reminds me of my son Eli not wanting to miss school so every time his grandparents wanted to plan a trip to take him and his sister to Orlando, he refused. They finally gave up and went by themselves a few times and had a great time I might add.
My grandson Reed Abry
FYI: Do you know how Easter is dertermined on the calendar each year? We all know that it is a moveable feast, but I have only known one other person when asked who could rattle the formula off. The date each year of Easter was determined by Catholics in A.D. 325 and is always the first Sunday after the first full moon [paschal moon] on or after the vernal [spring] equinox. The Council of Nicaea calculated this formula.
My granddaughter Alexandra Eleanor Anne at Easter Brunch at The Stanley
ABRY EASTER MENU [Recipes can be found in the sections in brackets in Pinterest or on this blog.]
Appetizer: Chesapeake Crab Cakes [Hors d'Oeuvres/Appetizers]
Relish Trays: Assortment of hard and soft cheeses, marinated mushrooms, hot peppers, half sour pickles, assorted olives, and raw veggies [I have a beautiful trisection relish servng dish that I use every holiday into which I place a variety of cheeses, in another
marinated mushrooms, and in the other pickles, peppers, olives, and raw vegetables. It always serves to keep the children at the table occupied while waiting for a course they like.]
Soup: Seafood Bisque [Soups/Chowders/Bisques/Stews]
Salad: Asparagus [Salads]
Bread: Irish Cheese Sticks [Breads, Muffins, Scones]
Entrée: Scallop and Shrimp Fettucini Alfredo [Seafood and Fish Entrées]
Vegetables: Green Beans with Prosciutto and Mushrooms, Cauliflower Au Gratin
Dessert: "Simply the Perfect Chocolate Cake" [Desserts/Sweets]
The following is the dinner my mother would make. Growing up the menus never varied: turkey for Thanksgiving, pork roast for Christmas, beef roast for New Years, and ham for Easter. We were Catholic and years ago Lent ended at noon on Easter Saturday. My Irish mother and grandfather [O'Briens] would give up beer for Lent so at 5 of 12 on Saturday, they would open a quart bottle of Schlitz®, pour themselves a glass, and wait at the kitchen table until noon. It was a yearly ritual. 40 days of abstinence were over.
Mom tried to make holiday meals festive and elegant on a limited budget. She always had a beautiful holiday-themed floral arrangement as the centerpiece of the table. When we were really little, she would make the arrangement from flowers in her gardens or in winter months showcase one of her African violets with appropriate holiday knick-knacks. She belonged to the African Violet Society and would always enter arrangements competitively. There were times when we had over 100 violets in the house. I still know how to grow a violet properly from watching her ministrations over the years. Also linens that had to be dry cleaned would be brought out.
A funny story [though not so funny to my mother] about the 100 African violets. One night my parents went out for the evening and left my sister Paige and me and our three cousins Susan, Ellen, and Paula home. It was a very, very cold wintry evening in upstate New York in the foothills of the Adirondacks. In fact, it was well below zero. My sister had entered a contest if I remember correctly with Tobin's First Prize® and had won a small toboggan. Of course, this was the time it was delivered. My parents had warned us not to let anyone in so during the delivery and signing etc.-- which seemed interminable--the front door to the house was left wide open. The next day all the violets were dead. I don't remember ever riding on that toboggan!!
When my sister Paige and I were children our tradition was to find our eggs and baskets as soon as we woke up. My father was a carpenter and craftsman and made wonderful Easter containers beautifully painted in muted pastels. Then off to Mass. Mom would then spend the afternoon in the kitchen, while we snuck candy and were never hungry for dinner. I actually like my mother's menu better and think I will begin making it.
TRADITIONAL ABRY EASTER MENU
Appetizer: Tomato juice or vegetable juice
Relishes: Olive and hot pepper assortment, celery and carrot sticks, radishes, scallions, pickles, and corn relish
Salad: Iceberg wedges with blue cheese dressing and crumbled blue cheese
Entrée: Bone-in ham, shank end, with mustard
Potato: Scalloped Potatoes
Vegetable: Asparagus
Dessert: Chocolate or banana cream pie with homemade whipped cream which my father always whipped in the stand up mixer.
I remember these spring holidays as if it were yesterday. I still live in the same house so I clearly see us sitting at the festive table as I walk into the dining room. Wonderful memories.
Easter is my granddaughter Claudia Paige's favorite holiday. No one understands why. She likes it better than Christmas or her birthday. She will be 11 this may and still believes in the Easter Bunny. She thinks he is the coolest thing. Her mother Erin has always made Easter fun with outside Easter egg hunts, basket hunting inside, toys as well as candy. And of course, she always leaves carrots and cookies for her beloved bunny friend. This year Erin wanted the family to go to Disney World. Claudia did not want to miss her Easter celebration so no Florida this year. It reminds me of my son Eli not wanting to miss school so every time his grandparents wanted to plan a trip to take him and his sister to Orlando, he refused. They finally gave up and went by themselves a few times and had a great time I might add.
My grandson Reed Abry
FYI: Do you know how Easter is dertermined on the calendar each year? We all know that it is a moveable feast, but I have only known one other person when asked who could rattle the formula off. The date each year of Easter was determined by Catholics in A.D. 325 and is always the first Sunday after the first full moon [paschal moon] on or after the vernal [spring] equinox. The Council of Nicaea calculated this formula.
My granddaughter Alexandra Eleanor Anne at Easter Brunch at The Stanley
The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado
Appetizer: Chesapeake Crab Cakes [Hors d'Oeuvres/Appetizers]
Relish Trays: Assortment of hard and soft cheeses, marinated mushrooms, hot peppers, half sour pickles, assorted olives, and raw veggies [I have a beautiful trisection relish servng dish that I use every holiday into which I place a variety of cheeses, in another
marinated mushrooms, and in the other pickles, peppers, olives, and raw vegetables. It always serves to keep the children at the table occupied while waiting for a course they like.]
Soup: Seafood Bisque [Soups/Chowders/Bisques/Stews]
Salad: Asparagus [Salads]
Bread: Irish Cheese Sticks [Breads, Muffins, Scones]
Entrée: Scallop and Shrimp Fettucini Alfredo [Seafood and Fish Entrées]
Vegetables: Green Beans with Prosciutto and Mushrooms, Cauliflower Au Gratin
Dessert: "Simply the Perfect Chocolate Cake" [Desserts/Sweets]
The following is the dinner my mother would make. Growing up the menus never varied: turkey for Thanksgiving, pork roast for Christmas, beef roast for New Years, and ham for Easter. We were Catholic and years ago Lent ended at noon on Easter Saturday. My Irish mother and grandfather [O'Briens] would give up beer for Lent so at 5 of 12 on Saturday, they would open a quart bottle of Schlitz®, pour themselves a glass, and wait at the kitchen table until noon. It was a yearly ritual. 40 days of abstinence were over.
Mom tried to make holiday meals festive and elegant on a limited budget. She always had a beautiful holiday-themed floral arrangement as the centerpiece of the table. When we were really little, she would make the arrangement from flowers in her gardens or in winter months showcase one of her African violets with appropriate holiday knick-knacks. She belonged to the African Violet Society and would always enter arrangements competitively. There were times when we had over 100 violets in the house. I still know how to grow a violet properly from watching her ministrations over the years. Also linens that had to be dry cleaned would be brought out.
A funny story [though not so funny to my mother] about the 100 African violets. One night my parents went out for the evening and left my sister Paige and me and our three cousins Susan, Ellen, and Paula home. It was a very, very cold wintry evening in upstate New York in the foothills of the Adirondacks. In fact, it was well below zero. My sister had entered a contest if I remember correctly with Tobin's First Prize® and had won a small toboggan. Of course, this was the time it was delivered. My parents had warned us not to let anyone in so during the delivery and signing etc.-- which seemed interminable--the front door to the house was left wide open. The next day all the violets were dead. I don't remember ever riding on that toboggan!!
When my sister Paige and I were children our tradition was to find our eggs and baskets as soon as we woke up. My father was a carpenter and craftsman and made wonderful Easter containers beautifully painted in muted pastels. Then off to Mass. Mom would then spend the afternoon in the kitchen, while we snuck candy and were never hungry for dinner. I actually like my mother's menu better and think I will begin making it.
TRADITIONAL ABRY EASTER MENU
Appetizer: Tomato juice or vegetable juice
Relishes: Olive and hot pepper assortment, celery and carrot sticks, radishes, scallions, pickles, and corn relish
Salad: Iceberg wedges with blue cheese dressing and crumbled blue cheese
Entrée: Bone-in ham, shank end, with mustard
Potato: Scalloped Potatoes
Vegetable: Asparagus
Dessert: Chocolate or banana cream pie with homemade whipped cream which my father always whipped in the stand up mixer.
I remember these spring holidays as if it were yesterday. I still live in the same house so I clearly see us sitting at the festive table as I walk into the dining room. Wonderful memories.
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