Printthe next 3 days suck....Easter Help PLEASE!
I work 35 or so hours between Friday at 10am and Sunday at 2pm. The word of the weekend is EXHAUSTED. Here's what I have so far...just 4 of us with the usual stragglers to follow suit.
turkey, brined
screw stuffing...Im not interested.
mashed/gravy
sweet potatoes with cinnamon honey butter, brought home from my job
asparagus with lemon and toasted sesame seeds
honey oat bread, also brought home from work
deviled eggs
I need a dessert...no rolling of pastry or beating of egg whites, please. I am in the mood for lemony berry-iey somethingy, even though it is 9 degrees. The fools I co-habitate with are in the chocolate camp and since I dont see them doing squat to prepare for dinner, I want what I want.
Apps? Nothing life altering but the rules are no seafood, onions, mushrooms, bell peppers or mayo.
Make my Easter dinner satisfying and non-dramatic, please?
Have a safe and happy holiday filled with love, family, Jesus (if thats what your into) and copious amounts of amazingly Serious Eats!
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
24 Comments:
I am serving a custard & fruit tart for dessert. I am making bruschetta with toasted baguette slices as an appetizer. All else is on your no-no list. Good Luck!
crazyspice at 8:01PM on 03/20/08
It sounds like you're busy, harried & already cooking quite a lot.
Why don't you just put out a plate of antipasti :
get some really yummy cheeses (burrata is always a winner),
pates,
olives,
prosciutto,
a couple of styles of different breads you like (sweet batard, levain walnut, rosemary boule or foccaccia),
some candied walnuts, fig jam, extra-virgin olive oil & whatever your favorite fruits are
put them all out on some butcher block cutting boards or serving dishes with bread knife, cutlery, napkins & plates (even if they're paper plates & napkins) and let your guests serve themselves.
You can put them on a coffee table, or get out some folding trays & spread the goodies around the place to keep the traffic moving & keep everyone out of your way while you're cooking.
I wish I had a good lemony dessert for you but I don't. Maybe you can make or buy a really lemony pound cake and serve it with berries & mascarpone that's been whipped with a little confectioners sugar.
Anyway, good luck & Happy Easter. Remember your friends are really there to be with you & have fun. Don't get too frazzled, if you have a good time, they will, too.
lgvw1963 at 8:23PM on 03/20/08
Summer pudding would be very easy on you, gets made a day or so ahead, and you can use frozen berries. You don't even have to thaw them.
Here are 2 from epicurious, but it's pretty basic:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/4451
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/238934
Or you could do a baked bread pudding with lemon zest and add berries to the mixture or make a simple berry sauce.
renzata at 8:31PM on 03/20/08
Renzata - I love your idea of a lemony bread pudding but only because you added the berries! The berries tie it all together and I'm sure it would work beautifully. I thought immediately of a crumble but that would leave out the lemon part of the equation. Crumbles and crisps are my fallback I-need-a-quick-dessert choices.
Chelley - It sounds as though you have all you can handle in the next three days. It's incredibly generous of you to undertake such an ambitious menu seeing as time is so limited. I hope your friends appreciate you!
chiff0nade at 8:59PM on 03/20/08
I am making key lime pie for dessert - its insanely easy and has a fresh spring taste to it.
krispychikin at 9:39PM on 03/20/08
how about a berry cobbler with lemon zest added to give it that extra zing?
lexophile at 10:49PM on 03/20/08
Do a sheet cake coconut or lemon coconut. Do your people not like ham? I always do ham because its easy.
JerzeeTomato at 2:21AM on 03/21/08
Awww...can't we have CHOCOLATE PLEASE???
Just kidding ;)
On a more serious note, you sound so frazzled I would suggest getting a good blueberry pie and vanilla ice cream to cover any sins, and a chocolate cheesecake or lemon pie. You have enough to do.
If you feel you are going to Serious Eats hell if you don't cook, why not make a lemon poundcake, with vanilla ice cream and blueberries served in nice dishes on the side, and a plain or chocolate poundcake, with whipped cream and chocolate sauce in a bowl for the choco-holics.
Poundcake is pretty forgiving and easy. And the rest is just 'plating'
If you have kids, too, a 'serve yourself' idea like this is nice as well, so you can put out toppings in dishes to keep them busy, like candy and such.
But you MUST tell us how this turns out--don't make someone start a thread saying 'what the heck did you serve, oh poor and frazzled cook?'
HeartofGlass at 5:17AM on 03/21/08
For dessert....I like the idea of a lemon pound cake with fresh berries/berry sauce, or try the French-style lemon yogurt cake from Orangette http://orangette.blogspot.com/2004/08/slow-roasting.html.
There are also some good looking lemony desserts in the new issue of Bon Appetit. Good luck!
mainegirl at 9:50AM on 03/21/08
Apparently my link above didn't work, but you can go to "recipesorangette.blogspot.com" and look for the french-style yogurt cake.
mainegirl at 9:56AM on 03/21/08
These are all great options! I love the idea of a lemon pound cake...with ice cream of course!
I happened to make a nectarine crumble this week - no berries, but it does have some lemon zest and definitely tastes summery. I made it on a weeknight and only took 15 minutes of active time, so it might be an option if you really want to make dessert and are pressed for time.
bitchincamero at 10:29AM on 03/21/08
Chelley, glad to see that even though you are stressed, you haven't lost your sense of humor!
As for Apps, why not just stick to cheese and crackers? You could do plain or fancy, and it wouldn't involve any additional cooking. I went through my mental recipe book (the "easy apps" chapter), and each thing I came up with had a fatal flaw- either onions, mushrooms or mayo.
Kerosena at 10:53AM on 03/21/08
To all my Serious Eaters. It is 11:07 am. I woke up at 6 am to a flat truck tire and had to bear the misery of being nice to my ex-husband because he works for Monroe Brake/Muffler and forced him to plug the tire for free.
I then was a really nice girl and went to Dunkin Donuts for the guys at Monroe since I flew in there like a bat out of hell and demanded tire patching. Upon sitting in the line 4395468 cars deep, I searched my purse for our bank card. Alas, no bank card. I delivered my munchkins and lattes and drove home at the speed of light on my newly patched truck tire. I dumped the contents of my purse and ransacked the house and cars.
I have lost our bank card on a holiday weekend when I am up to my ass in it already. My bank is, of course, CLOSED today for the holiday so I cannot even go and remove cash.
I haven't written a paper check since Christ was an altar boy and how in the hell am I going to swipe for my .89 pack of gum? Cash? BLASPHEMY!
I have already informed my job ( I am Front of the House Trainer at Long Horn...yeah yeah a chain...who cares? The money is good) that its going to be an ugly day and I am wearing yoga pants because I just don't care.
Ahhh, and I am out of toilet paper and the dog felt compelled to do what she does best on my carpet.
Serious Eats is my only solitude. I think Im bringing my laptop to work so I don't hurt anyone with a fork!
ChelleyD01 at 11:16AM on 03/21/08
wow! Good luck, ChelleyD01!! I hope the rest of your weekend goes more smoothly.
bitchincamero at 12:05PM on 03/21/08
I second that good luck!
Take a little time out to breathe ... you are only one person and you can't do it all..and that's OKAY.
Hugs from your seroius eats friends!
bisbee at 12:28PM on 03/21/08
Can't help but chuckle inside at the irony of someone so stressed out in yoga pants.
Not to make light of your situation and streak of bad luck (my stress tolerance is negligible), but you get the idea...
I see people at the grocery store write checks over their bill amount and get cash back all the time. My mom used to do it back in the day. Maybe that could make things a little easier.
renzata at 2:46PM on 03/21/08
I don't know if lemon curd is too much for you....but a pavlova sounds like what you need. Very yummy, topped with lemon curd and berries.
Happy Easter! (why isn't it merry easter?)
Sweetie at 5:23PM on 03/21/08
@ ChelleyD01 - {{{{{{{::::::::}}}}}}} Big hug for you!! What I think you need is a big glass of wine!! Yoga pants are good. Honestly, I am not chuckling, and I may be cringing at the comedy of things gone bad, but I have a feeling, you will have a fantastic Easter Holiday!!
crazyspice at 5:35PM on 03/21/08
Aww ChelleyD01 I feel so bad for you, here's what to do for dessert. Melt a big bar of chocolate in a huge bowl, pour in rice crispies, stir, and hand each of your chocolate-demanding guests a spoon. Then retire to bed with a large Martini, you deserve it!
Linzi at 7:01PM on 03/21/08
Lemon sorbet with fresh raspberries on top and those really thin gingersnaps on the side. Mini-chocolate cadbury eggs in a bowl on the table. No baking, got the lemon AND chocolate in, a little fruit and you're done!
kdjmom3 at 7:35PM on 03/21/08
@linzi - Big guffaw on that one!!
crazyspice at 8:17PM on 03/21/08
Oh my gosh, Chelley, I am wishing you all the best on your survival weekend. It sounds like you're really up against it.
The easy-peasiest dessert I know (short of store-bought lemon sorbet with berries and Cointreau) is a clafouti. Simple custard, poured over the fruit of your choosing, baked briefly. NO reason why you can't use canned or frozen fruit!
Here are a bunch from Epicurious:
http://www.epicurious.com/tools/searchresults?search=clafouti
Good luck!!
klg19 at 7:24AM on 03/22/08
snicker....giggle....chuckle....
7 inches of snow last night. (insert shaking head, sigh, snickering, bitching about the weather, more shaking of head and snickering here _________.)
Im going to trudge out to a managers meeting at 10. I might make it to the grocery store to actually buy food for the dinner I am planning!
I loves me some serious eaters....at least you guys accept my dry, sarcastic humor! Anyone want to come shovel? Bah ha ha ha!
ChelleyD01 at 7:38AM on 03/22/08
Chelley - your life over the last 72 hours sounds like a bad e-mail forward! Kudos to you for keeping your sense of humor!!
Hang in there, sistergirl. {{Hugs}}
chiff0nade at 9:07AM on 03/22/08