Easter Sunday
First things first: what is a good cocktail to serve on Easter to accompany the sweet pleasures of multiple Easter egg hidings and findings? My search led me down several rabbit holes with sickly pink colors and frightening marshmallow flavors until I found something easy and obvious—a Bee’s Knees. Simple and refreshing with only 3 ingredients, it almost qualifies as good for your health. Honey syrup, fresh lemon juice, and gin, Bombay Sapphire. Delicious! Intriguing to the newest member of the household, Iris, who kept her eye on it when we toasted.
Holidays make me a little homesick for Pennsylvania while out here in Wyoming. I miss walking with my gal pals in the mossy woods along the stream discussing the “am” holiday. Easter ham or Easter lamb? That is the question.
I always opt for lamb. It seems more sacramental, Lamb of God. Also, I’ll indulge in ham on any occasion, but lamb is special. I’ve used rack, butterflied leg, whole leg, shanks. But this year’s recipe, found at Damn Delicious, for Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb is the last one I will search for, it’s that good. It’s also easy. And it pairs perfectly with Mini Hasselback Potatoes, also from the Damn Delicious site. Add some asparagus drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with freshly ground salt and pepper and roast it along with everything else and you have Easter Dinner in under two hours.
Rose missed our Easter Saturday White Borscht, so we started with that, with just half an egg per person from Kirk’s Easter egg stash.
Greek Salad is a perfect accompaniment to lamb, here with bright arugula and softer butter lettuce tossed with lots of fresh mint leaves to give a surprise sweet burst around the cubes of feta, Kalamata olives, and tomatoes. If you have some cucumbers, throw them in too. Just keep the dressing simple—3 parts olive oil to one part red wine vinegar, with just a touch of Dijon and salt and pepper.
Our Easter gift from our Alpine next-door neighbor was a remarkable loaf of artisan bread made with wheat and rye flours and grated potato. Sour. Long slow fermentation. Flavor. Dense springiness in a slice. Thank you, Michelle, for another element of our sacramental feast.
Dessert was a delicious Lemon Yogurt Cake made with olive oil that paired well with berries. I would use light olive oil next time, but that is just me. Rose liked it and so did Kirk!
This menu will be our standard in years to come for many more easy Happy Easters down the road!
Yes, that is snow outside our dining room window but the sun was shining that day. Our perfect accompaniment to the lamb was a 2020 Cotes du Rhone (80% Grenache, 20% Syrah) produced by Les Trois Couronnes, sourced from the southern Rhone Valley. Magnifique!
