Egg-ceptional Day In The 'Burbs

We woke up Easter morning to light showers and an impending gathering of fifty neighbors and family members. Had Mr. Sun not decided to have a sudden change of heart, it would have been an all-together different sort of day.

But as luck would have it, the air grew still and the giant clouds that blanketed the sky slowly brightened until they parted, revealing a sun no longer willing to share the blue sky with puffs of cottontails. This is what we got:

I spent all of Saturday cooking and cleaning in preparation for one of my favorite events of the year. While we have always had some sort of Easter gathering at our homestead, I have never been in love with any of our decorations and have vowed (for two, three, maybe four years in a row) to fix that by this time next year.  But as luck would have it, a neighbor asked if I'd like to use some pom-pom garlands she'd made and had left over from a party. I draped them on railings and will do so for years to come. Aren't they sweet?

I also received another incredible gift - these two adorable rabbits on eggs.  I just love them. Every time I walk by the table and see them sitting peacefully, I just smile. Each one makes an impression at almost two feet tall!

Most of our decorations have been purchased the day after a major holiday when everything is 50 - 75% off - like this funky little duck basket. I never know quite how to use it but this year is was home to colorful napkins.

There was a lot of questionable looking desserts brought by the Easter bunny (like this kinda marshmallow-y Hello Kitty pop sorta thing).  Strangly enough, little Miss didn't care for the taste of the lesser quality sweets and decided to toss a lot of them (Bye-bye Kitty!). Could it be...that maybe...just maaaaaybeee - I've conditioned my kids to like only homemade sweets? Made from the finest ingredients??  Just as Mother Nature intended?!?  ;)

I love *details*... *elements* ... *ingredients*.  Here I fancied myself pretty clever with these pyramids of canned drinks. Just look what an expensive design school education can get you!

Oh, the food! There was so much and almost every last piece was gone.  I've posted the menu and links at the end.

The anticipation of the egg hunt got to be a bit much!

And then we cut them loose. Little kids in the front yard...

...and big kids in the back.

Then we sat down and ate, mingled and chat, and ran around and playing tag and hide-n-go-seek.

EASTER BRUNCH MENU

My Mother's Deviled Eggs*

Fruit Salad with Mint

Olive Oil Muffins

Mixed Berry Scones**

Blueberry Sour Cream Crumb Cake

Linguine and Prosciutto Frittatas (shown above - I sub'd bacon for prosciutto :)

Honey Glazed Ham

Lemon Cake, Coconut Cake and Birds Nest Cookies

* My mother doesn't know how she makes her deviled eggs, she just "does it" to rave reviews. I have vowed to make a dozen with her soon and to share her secrets here. Stay tuned.

** These are incredible. I always make them with an equal mixture of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. These and the ham were the only things I made the day off. There is nothing like them fresh out of the oven!