Notes on Easter & Entertaining

Wow! Can it be over already? Has Easter Sunday really come and gone? What greater Feast is there in the year, than the Sunday of all Sundays? I hope yours was lovely.

Our family dinner was a party of 18 all together. When we are hosting so many I generally use the dining (learning) room with its two tables and the living room as well (with a long folding table for six). It worked out nicely today just as it did at Thanksgiving last year.

Now, unfortunately I did not get even one picture of the boys before church. Five minutes into my morning shower I suddenly panicked, remembering how Father said we should all be sure to get to Mass early because he was anticipating a large turn-out. I had not taken that into consideration as we set the morning maneuvers in motion, and once I remembered it became a bit of a scramble to get out! (Of course, we ended up there waaaay early, only one of four cars, lol! That's all right, we had a nice quiet time before Mass began, admiring the altar and inhaling the fragrance of lilies. And oh, how I love that incense!)

So here are the boys' baskets, found very early in the morning:

Along with their baskets, the boys found the missing alleluia. :)

Bookworm and Crackerjack, sharing a fun book and the sunlight.

Now for a tour of the tables ...

You might recognize these as our learning room tables - yesterday they were all dressed up for the great feast.

This was the smallest table, and as you can see by the smaller plates, it was also the children's table. The pansy tablecloth is one I treasure. It was hand-painted by a friend of my grandmother's many years ago. I can't believe I've never used it at Easter before!

This is the larger table in the dining/learning room. It seats eight. My mum bought us this sage green tablecloth and the set of ivory napkins.

And this is the folding table set up in the living room. The keyboard bench and the hope chest stood in for seating duty!

A close-up of the lovely daffodil arrangment my mum made.

The china cupboard was turned into a bar for the day. I thought it was cute to use these ceramic goblets as lemon and lime servers. We bought these many years ago on a trip to Disneyworld. I've finally found a great use for them!

I have to show you the vegetable tray that Bookworm arranged all by himself. :)

Here's the baked artichoke dip and a mountain of French bread to go with it.

During the hors d'oeuvres hour, the boys took most of the party outside with them to look for their hidden eggs. It was a very chilly 40 degrees, but everyone was a good sport about it! Here's Earlybird finding one on the lawn.

Unfortunately, in all the clamor of putting out the dinner buffet, I didn't take even one picture! We followed the menu I outlined in this post for the most part, though instead of the honey-glazed carrots, I made a pan of onion-roasted carrots and red potatoes.

By dessert time I had my camera back in hand.

I have to say, I absolutely adored the paper goods we found for the day. Here's the freshly brewed coffee all ready to go.

My aunt brought these sweet pastel-hued cupcakes, the bunny napkins and the plate of Easter sugar cubes in the background.

Here are some more of the desserts: oatmeal raisin cookies, pineapple angel food cake, lemon meringue pie, toasted coconut marshmallows (Bookworm's request) and cherry jubilee pie. Not shown is the magnificent fruit salad made by our lovely friend, Lois, or the delicious apple-filled spice cake made by my mum.

Naturally, there had to be some chocolates served with coffee!

Hosting Easter got me to thinking, in general, about hospitality and household organization. Getting sick Palm Sunday weekend really put a crimp in our timetable - or lack thereof! Losing those four or five days, I realized how much I wing it, and how much I had left to the last minute.

You'd think I'd have it down pat by now ... but every party that comes up I find myself overlooking the same little things. For instance, trash and recycling should be better thought out, tupperware (with lids!) needs to be plentiful and accessible, hand soap must be refilled, an ice bucket would be handy ... things like that.

Also, I am slowly coming to realize that you really never can start planning and preparing too early. As I realized mid-week, I could have (should have) started preparing much sooner than I did.

And lists! Lists are so important! I think it is high-time I made up a basic party plan with all the nitty-gritty details and a basic time frame to work around. I'm sure I can find one online to work off of - most likely Martha has one - I'll have to take a look. I'm sure I can have something put together in time for Thanksgiving. ;)

Well today is Easter Monday, and it will be a quiet day-off for us here. Lots more cleaning up to do. Then there's a fun week to unfold ~ Field Day, Mercy Sunday, CJ's first soccer game ... and a whole Easter season to follow! I'm already thinking a cookout on Pentecost (Memorial Day weekend) would be great fun!

You know, I was thinking of you all yesterday. I was thinking how wonderful it is to be part of this online community; how we're able to share our thoughts and ideas and give and receive all kinds of greetings through the year. What a blessing the Internet is. I have "met" so many lovely people in this way, and I remember you all in my prayers.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing in our Easter fun! I'm off to have a wee bit of cherry jubilee for my breakfast. Have a wonderful day!