Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Easter Brunch

My small but wonderful family comes to our house for Easter brunch every year (our youngest sister lives in New Mexico and wasn't here) .  We have hosted brunch since we moved back to Utica, where I grew up.  The weather is always "if-ey" here in upstate New York at this time of year.   Sunday it was pretty nice...not really too warm but nice.  It takes spring a long time to get here!

So here is Easter brunch at our house.  I love pink and white, but especially in springtime.  The table is pink and white and floral.  Is that a real theme???

I apologize for the pictures...they were done quickly as my sisters were arriving and these didn't turn out very well...

There were five of us at brunch so we had the
table opened up
The table setting for the brunch was pretty simple since the menu was....well....brunch
Here's a closer look...
Pink place cards
 This round centerpiece leaves plenty of room for brunch.  We had fresh fruit salad, spinach-egg casserole, parmesan potatoes, bacon and sausage, bagels, asparagus,
and desserts.
I was in a hurry so my pictures leave a lot to be desired!!  I apologize...and I missed out on a few things I wanted to photograph (for instance, the meal!!!).  This little silver butter dish actually held cream cheese for bagels.  Every Easter when we were young, friends of my parents gave them a butter lamb.  It's a Polish tradition and we have one every year for brunch. 
Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of it  :-(

I love putting desserts out on the sideboard...there's plenty of room to spread out sweet treats!  We had small rose-shaped lemon cakes with lemon glaze, a small lemon bundt cake, macadamia nut cookies and lots of easter candy...
Let's start with the little rose cakes
This is the bundt cake with a story (of course-I have to explain all of the little bloopers).  I put it in a container to glaze it and when I moved it to this cake pedestal, some of it stayed in the container...that explains that little chunk out of the front.  I COULD have put that part to the back, but I didn't see it until AFTER the pictures!
I found this cookie recipe in Tea Time magazine.  These macadamia nut cookies are dipped in melted white chocolate when cooled.  I thought it would be fun to make the white chocolate in pastel colors
The basket is filled with all sorts of chocolate goodies
These bunnies are keeping an eye on the jelly beans. 
We had a great meal, great conversation,  AND great Mimosas!

 I  HOPE EVERYONE HAD A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS!

Now for the dish on the dishes:

On the table
  • The rose dinnerware is from Iron Accents...the pattern is called "Lily Red" and I fell in love with it after seeing it in "Victoria" magazine
  • The silverplate is "Vanessa/Francesca which I got on ebay
  • The pink table cloth and pink napkins are both from ebay as well.  I always find wonderful linens there
  • The round butter server is from TJMaxx YEARS ago in Chicago
  • I found the ceramic bunny center piece container at Big Lots...love the pastel colors
  • The tall glasses are Waterford Marquis from TJMaxx from my friend Joanne at work
  • Waterford flutes were our t oasting glasses;a wedding gift from my friend Bill in Chicago. The pattern: Araglin; I use them whenever I can.  The other flutes are from ebay.  We had Mimosas!!!
  • Etched glasses were used for fruit salad and are from ebay
  • The place card holders are Old Country Roses that I found at TJMaxx a few years ago...I made the place cards on the computer
On the sideboard 
  • The little rose cakes are set on a Royal Albert "English Garden " plate set on a silverplate server.  I bought this over twenty years ago at the Oneida outlet store in the factory town about 20 miles from here...they had such GREAT deals!!
  • The bundt cake is on a cake pedestal I found at TJMaxx.  I love that you can change the ribbon woven through it.  I thought the green looked very pretty
  • The cookies are on a silverplate tray from ebay
  • The easter candy is in a silverplate bride's basket, also from ebay (you just find the best stuff there!)
  • The bunnies holding the jelly beans and the blue ceramic basket with the m&ms are from Big Lots last year.
  • Fresh cut flowers from my favorite florist...their flowers always last so long!
So there you have it...I am about to go "table hopping" at Tablescape Thursday on "Between Naps on the Porch".  The link is up to the right so you can hop over there and see Susan's wonderful blog and some of the prettiest tables you've ever seen

Thank you for stopping by...I love hearing from you!

Tess