Easter 2014

I have to confess, working full time and preparing as many Easter breads as usual just didn't work out for me this year. I had so many things to take care of that much of my "free" time was spent worrying if I will be able to do anything for the holiday. Pointless thing stressing, if you think about it. However, things ( as always) did work out by themselves, as the Easter party at work was sooner than I expected and that kind of forced my hand into making the breads on Wednesday, instead of on Saturday as usual.

Well, baking in the middle of the week when you have to go to work early in the morning is not always fun but nothing could compare to the joy that after 4 hours ( I guess it was not as warm in the house as I thought), my Easter breads did finally rise ( from the dead, since I almost threw the dough away)!

Not only that, but I also managed to make some Easter croissants filled with our very own baked plum jam, made with plums from our favorite orchard.

 In a way, I am glad it happened that way because I got to spend much more time with the kids, coloring eggs and enjoying the weekend. Otherwise, I would have spent the whole Saturday hovering over the oven. I'm sure the kids will remember better their colored fingers and the fun they had decorating, instead of me being stressed and snappy over the breads that are being baked.
 

We all prefer this mom, who is holding a spoon and stirring the food coloring the day before Easter, instead of the cranky mom, who is baking and her feet hurt. 

Although, my efforts totally didn't compare to dad's attention to detail, when it came to stirring the food coloring.

 Uh-oh! I guess I didn't stir some of the jars well enough and they didn't pass dad's quality control!

Yup, I better stick to coloring the eggs. It's safer I think! 

All kinds of creativity was employed for coloring those eggs. You have to admire the ingenuity of  the kids when it comes to not getting their fingers dirty. Using yarn to dip in the coloring- clever!

 Just look at the level of concentration on tying this knot! Of course waiting around for the eggs to be colored can be a bit boring, but once all of them are colored, oh my...

At the end, all of the hard work paid off! These are the kids' eggs. The Minecraft creeper is front and center of course.

 

I have to say mom and dad did pretty well too! 

Perfect Honey Glazed Ham Easter Meal

Ah, Easter...lovely, lovely weather, Easter breads, colored eggs, honey-glazed ham...mmmm. It kind of makes you not think about  spring cleaning, doesn't it? Oh, well. Eventually, there will be spring cleaning, there will be renovations, remodeling and endless, endless yard work. For now, let's just enjoy what we all have been dreaming about the whole winter.

And I have the perfect meal to add.

This wonderful recipe for honey-baked ham I got from the Chew Out Loud blog and I have to say it's the best that I've tried so far. I highly recommend it for your Easter lunch.


Add some delicious no-knead Dutch-oven baked bread from the Frugal Living NW blog and you won't need anything else.

But let's not forget the dessert! "Earl Murders Me.." pie shot were just the thing! Check out the SmithBites' recipe, it's out of this world!

 

Happy Easter!

 ( Not that we need an excuse to have such a delicious meal any other time of the year or anything...)