Easter Feaster

We had the greatest Easter feast yesterday! I actually had quite a great weekend starting with a visit to my hairdresser on Friday for a trim and color. Then, I went to the nail salon for a much-needed pedi. I wanted to go with a light purple, like a violet but I didn’t see the color on the shelf. I choose a darker purple, which is pretty too:

A guy did my pedi, which was a bit awkward at first; I’ve never had a guy giving me a pedicure before, but OMG! He was amazing. He gave the most amazing feet and leg massage for at least 10 minutes, on top of all of the other buffing and moisturizing and painting. He spent an hour on me and it only cost $25. I gave him a big tip because he totally deserved it. Best $35 bucks and 60 minutes I spent all month! Dustin wasn’t that thrilled to hear how much I loved the other guy’s hands on me, LOL. So I suggested he get a pedi next time to enjoy the same blissful experience with me.

It was too late on Friday to do my Easter dinner shopping; the stores and traffic were crazy by late afternoon, so I opted to go home and instead return early the next morning. We woke up at 7:00am and got to Shop Rite in Middletown by 8:00am. It was perfect timing. All of the shelves were freshly stocked but the crowds hadn’t descended upon the store yet. I had virtually first pick of everything and scored a lot of beautiful fresh produce.

Oh, and the Easter Bunny stopped by with goodies for everybody!

Caesar and the kitties all got their own baskets filled with their favorite toys and treats and catnip…

Caesar got new bandanas to be the stylish pup in the neighborhood this spring.

Just candy in my basket this year, which I’ll probably use for baking or let Dustin have them, lol.

Dustin got a boat-size basket of candy. He’s happy about that. The guy loves his chocolate.

While we were preparing dinner, the kitties and perma-puppy played. Or at least Caesar tried to play with the kitties. Mongo is the only one that is semi-responsive, but usually not.

But how could anybody not want to play with this face?! He’s SO FRICKIN’ ADORABLE!!

They sniff, they look. Caesar does his playful prancing…

…but then Mongo gets spooked and runs away, leaving Caesar wondering why he won’t play with him.

Poor Caesar. Left all alone.

China was watching from a safe distance, per usual. China like watching dog-cat drama unfold.

Easter Dinner Menu 2012

• Salmon two ways: Grilled with maple and brown sugar glaze and roasted with parmesan Italian breadcrumb crust
• Roasted maple and brown sugar sweet potatoes
• Butter and milk mashed potatoes
• Roasted asparagus tossed in parmesan cheese
• Buttered organic corn
• Roasted Brussels sprouts
• Roasted carrots with balsamic vinegar and 100% pomegranate juice reduction
• Garden salad with black olives
• Garlic bread
• Chocolate pie (that no one had room for)

The breadcrumb topping is so easy to make:

- Mix ~1/2 cup plain gluten-free rice breadcrumbs with 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese and 1/4 cup dried Italian herbs;

- Drizzle (liberally) extra virgin olive oil over the fish;

- Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the fish and pat the crumbs into the extra virgin olive oil to coat it;

- Bake on 425 degrees F until the topping is browned and crusty

It works with just about any fish; salmon, mahi mahi, tilapia, haddock, flounder, etc. All yummy!

I made a mini salad bar so that when we stored the leftovers they weren’t mixed, which makes the lettuce go bad quicker.

The grape tomatoes were the best I have had since last summer! They were perfectly sweet and crisp. Yum!

We cut the asparagus stalks into thirds, then roasted them in EVOO and tossed them in parmesan cheese as soon as they were done. SO GOOD.

The balsamic-pomegranate glazed carrots were inspired by The Noble Pig’s recipe, but I didn’t follow her recipe at all. I basically just reduced balsamic vinegar and 100% pomegranate juice until it was thickened and poured it over my carrots halfway through roasting in the oven. I previously tossed them in EVOO + pink Himalayan salt.

I’m sure he recipe is even tastier, but these were super tasty on their own. YUM!

Garlic bread: Kerrygold butter mixed with dried parsley and garlic powder and slathered on crusty Italian bread; baked until crispy on bottom.

Roasted Brussels sprouts 

Roasted sweet potatoes with brown sugar and maple syrup glaze; mix 100% pure grade B maple syrup with brown sugar; tossed cubed sweet potatoes in it and roast on 425 degrees F for about 40 minutes or until pillowy soft.

They were amazing!!

Plain mashed potatoes were so boring compared to them.

My dinner plate:

I had lofty ambitions coming off of an 18-hour fast, but I was FULL about 1/3 of the way through.

My salad and bread bowl:

Too much food. Couldn’t finish! SOOO GOOD.

I think this may have been the tastiest holiday feast we’ve ever had!!!

There was a chocolate pie for dessert, but we were way too full for it so we saved it for today I’m still kinda full. It was a fun foodie weekend. Lots of good things to eat but now it’s time to do a little damage control. heh

Off to the store to restock fresh veggies!

Tagged as: asparagus, brussels sprouts, carrots, dinner, Easter, Easter baskets, Easter candy, Easter dinner, feasts, holidays, pedicure, potatoes, salad, salmon, seafood