Easter Dinner Prep!!

I am playing hostess to Easter this year and I thought it would be fun to toss out the roast and have an indoor picnic! I love cooking comforts food as much as I love cooking foods I remember as a child and this year's Easter dinner is full of comfort foods. Here's what I have planned....

We are going to start with Mom's Pizza Cheina because it's not Easter unless you have that on the table and of course Pastierra because again sometimes traditions shouldn't be broken. Mom is also making a baked Brie with hot pepper jelly.

Our first course is my cream Mac and Cheese with extra sharp cheddar, shell shaped pasta and crunchy breadcrumb topping.

For the main course we are going to get a bit messy with some maple roasted Chicken and Ribs. I am marinating the meats now, with apple cider, maple syrup, whole grain mustard, star anise and cinnamon stick. Tomorrow I am going to splash them with a bit of balsamic vinegar and let the oven do the rest of the work. For the sides, I am going to make smashed sweet potatoes kept simple by just roasting them whole in the oven skins on until tender. Then I will take the skins off, smash them with a little butter and salt and serve. I also am making my version of a succotash with some zucchini, bell pepper and my favorite brand frozen white corn from Trader Joes! One of the more time consuming sides I have tomorrow is my homemade baked beans. I cooked the kidney beans today and tomorrow morning I will make the base and let those beans bake for about six hours in the oven. For the base I will cook together ketchup, brown sugar, cider vinegar, Chinese chili paste, grated fresh ginger and then mix that with the liquid I cooked the beans in and then add bacon and an onion. This base smothers the beans and reduces down as the beans bake in the oven. To soak up all the baked bean goodness, I am going to make some really simple buttermilk drop biscuits just before dinner and to serve them I have a sea salt and honey butter. For something cold and crisp, I have a basic American salad with some golden tomatoes, English cucumbers, fresh radish and homemade Blue Cheese dressing.

Clearly, after that we will have to take a break and watch the kids to the Easter egg hunt! For dessert, I took the easy way out and made a Mocha Icebox Cake, which required no baking at all and is setting up in the fridge right now. Mom is making Monkey Bread and of course Dad's famous Pizzelles! I think this year he is making orange and chocolate flavor. He makes the best!!

Tomorrow I will be sure to snap some photos ( I am taking your advice Erica!!!) and post them for all to see my indoor Easter Picnic!! Enjoy!