Happy Easter! Weekend Dog Blogging #30

For those who celebrate the Easter holiday, I hope it was a wonderful one. We got together with The Neighbors for breakfast this morning so the kids could exchange Easter baskets.

Another gorgeous, gorgeous day, we ended up eating outside, savoring sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, Swedish Pancakes, English Muffins and OJ. Oh, almost forgot … and homemade Egg Sandwiches. Because of Nicholas’ newfound love for them, I made some, hoping to trump “the good cooker” at McDonalds. Success – he and The Girlfriend gobbled them down. There was a nice cool breeze outside, and the morning was still peaceful … early enough that people hadn’t started bustling around outside. A nice, relaxing way to start the day.

Between the baskets that Nicholas and The Girlfriend exchanged, and what he got from the Easter Bunny and my parents, there was NO CANDY. Nicholas doesn’t really have that big of a sweet tooth, so he didn’t even miss it. He was just as happy with a humongous bouncing Spiderman ball, a blue soccer ball, a dinosaur pen, Dora colorforms, and other goodies. Don’t get me wrong – he’ll gladly take a red lollipop from the bank or some Mentos from my purchase, but chocolate? Not that interested. He’d rather have a handful of fresh strawberries, cheese, or watermelon. His sweet tooth is a lot like mine and my sister’s … very specific. My Mom, on the other hand, is a total chocoholic.

Easter is one of the holidays that my parents host (I get Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve), so Mom was in charge of cooking and the menu, relinquishing dessert to me. I bought a Strawberry Trifle and an Italian Ricotta Cheesecake from a local wholesale bakery.

Not being one to ONLY bring storebought items, I wanted to make something as well. I found a recipe for an Italian Ricotta Cheesecake (so, yes, there were TWO of them on the table and, interestingly enough, they were completely different in taste and texture) that seemed very simple and straightforward to make. While making breakfast this morning, I quickily mixed up the ingredients and got it into the oven. I definitely had my doubts with this one. The baking time was 45 minutes, but after an hour and a half, it was barely done. But, surprisingly, the end result was really good, shaky baking times notwithstanding. I’ll post the recipe for it tomorrow night. I’d definitely make it again, and it’s nice to have a another traditional Italian dessert in my repertoire.

For dinner, we started with the traditional Antipasto Platter (with assorted meats and cheeses), and Panzanella. The main course was Baked Ham, with a Genovese Pasta & Potato dish, Martita’s Awesome Asparagus (that asparagus recipe I made last week) and Claire’s Pepperoni Pie (a Mom specialty, you can find the recipe here). Everything was delicious, and true to form, hours later, I’m still stuffed.

As part of the Antipasto Platter, my Mom also made the traditional Italian Easter Meat Pie. It’s a huge thing stuffed with cheeses, pepperoni, ham and eggs, and a tradition every year (the Pepperoni Pie is pictured on the left and the cheese platter below has the Easter Meat Pie on it). It can be eaten either cold or hot (I prefer it cold myself), and she got the recipe from my grandmother who made her swear that she wouldn’t give it out. She promised to give it to me … I’m still waiting. ;) We only have it once a year, and it’s a good thing, because while growing up, I remember how long it used to take her to make it on Easter Eve.

Since I know my sister is as much a Peanut Butter Fudge fan as I am, last night I made a batch of the wonderful fudge from last week to bring over. Also, of course, we had the requisite dyed eggs.

Alright folks, that’s it for tonight. I’ll leave you a few more pictures from Easter, and then the Weekend Dog Blogging roundup. Until tomorrow…

A year ago today… lunch with my sister and a grillin’ dinner.

Starting off tonight’s edition of Weekend Dog Blogging, my parents’ dog, Beauregard, makes an appearance:

A new pup and a new participant, it’s Coco from Pork Cracklins. Check out their site for a great dog treat recipe as well…

Checking in from Virginia’s The Moveable Feast Food Blog.

Lulu from Why Travel to France waits patiently at a fresh produce market:

Ziggy from Soul Fusion Kitchen comes back to join in the fun:

Naptime at La Mia Cucina.

Simba from Up A Creek Without A PatL takes time to enjoy the view.

Who’s that peeking through the tulips? It’s Lucky Buddy Bear from Farmgirl Fare:

Meet Rosie, Chekhov and Ollie, a few guest pups over at What Did You Eat?:

The trio from Dispensing Happiness check in:

And last, but not least, a visiting pair from Ragus Pug: