Eggs and Easter

So Easter around our house is a really big deal. But so is spring!   That is… when we get one… Here in the Pacific Northwest we haven’t seen much of it yet, but the last couple days with a few bursts of sunshine have given us hope.

Last week my cousin Kylie gave us some eggs fresh from her chicken coop. The kids were tickled and boy has it led to an adventure at our house. We visited her coop several times in the last month and the kids have talked about it nonstop – of course igniting some excitement inside this Momma.  The truth is I feel like the boys are already eating us out of house and home and they’re all under five years old. Having our own eggs would be a huge plus, not to mention a lot of fun for this animal loving brood. So our family has begun the adventure discussing “backyard chickens.”  Reading books, talking to friends, and doing our research.

We have a goal this spring and early summer to get the outside of our home to a refreshed spot. We want to add a deck, some container gardens, and maybe a chicken coop.   Very lofty dreams so we shall see… But I’ll keep you posted.

Now back to these beautiful eggs…
 Last weekend I dove into four of the six eggs and we had a beautiful Saturday brunch. I’ve been experimenting with sweet potatoes recently and made a delicious recipe from my new favorite cookbook (review here) called Happily Homemade . You can check out our brunch here.

Now I’ve got two eggs left and I’m debating if I should bake my mom’s amazing butter rolls or save them for Swedish pancakes…?

Check out those recipes here and let me know what you think….?

My other spring preparations include an amazing Lent Bible study on the YouVersion application to prepare my heart and mind for Easter. I’m also loving all the prep for the food on Easter weekend too. We will have family and friends over Saturday for our local Easter egg hunt and lunch/dinner; and then head to my sister’s on Easter Sunday!  She has all kinds of fun things planned.

As I’m preparing the menu these are some of the things I’m considering! I hope you will weigh in here too…

Appetizer

Asparagus wraps

Baked stuffed artichokes

Side dish

These simple roasted carrots or how about these Maple Dijon ones?

Gorgonzola, Grape and Grilled Chicken Pasta Salad

This is a favorite potato recipe made with grueyere cheese but I might try these Ultimate Scalloped Potatoes this time…

Maincourse

Apple Cider Maple Glazed Ham

Perfect Roast Beef Tenderloin

Chicken Pinot Noir with Wild Mushrooms and Fresh Basil (This recipe might not be large enough or chicken not special enough…. but man this looks tasty!)

Dessert

Lemon mousse

Lime zest fruit salad – just seasonal fruit, diced, and coated with lime juice and zest.

Easter Egg chocolate truffles

Drinks

Shirley Temples – sprite and grenadine

Festive Party Punch

Vanilla Bean Iced Coffee (made with cold brew)

Post Easter breakfast using leftovers

Ham and puff pastry bake

French Dips

The other thing I’m preparing for our some fun festive things for the kids. I have some great ideas this year for their “Easter baskets.”

I grabbed some awesome child sized gardening tools, that feel more like real tools, and will give one to each boy. They are something like these …  then I’m giving Cashel and Camper this awesome book that I’m reviewing called When God Made You and 100+ Little Bible Words for Corban. (Stay tuned for those reviews.)  My hope was to stay away from too much junk so I raided Target and Goodwill today and added a few extra finds!   At Target I grabbed the kids adorable bunny canvas bags to replace their Easter baskets. They are super durable and could be used to hunt Easter eggs and also to display their Easter treats on Sunday morning. Plus they’ll be so much easier to store, they lay flat, then actual baskets! I also snagged some fun rubber squishy balls for Corban who is completely obsessed with balls, a coloring book for Camper, and Cashel gets an activity pad. At Goodwill I was able to snag each of the big boys each a monster truck which will definitely tickle their fancy. Including their new bags the total cost for each boy was under $10 and no candy, plus they are things the kids will really enjoy! (Mind you they will get plenty of treats between the community Easter egg hunt and my sisters house.) I’m just noticing how little they, especially Cashel, play with toys. He prefers “real” play and activities, books, and if he chooses a toy it usually is a car or monster truck. These are sure to be a hit!!

I also found the boys Easter hats at Target, and Corb’s a pair of suspenders to match the ones that the big boys already had. The only thing left was a white shirt for Cashel since he out grew his. I was able to find one on sale at Goodwill too, and in like-new condition! We are ready. Although I have no idea what my pregnant self may wear – ha!

Aren’t these eggs just amazing! I know I keep saying it but having learned about chickens recently I’ve discovered in my research that different breeds produce different color eggs. Kylie has three or four different colored chickens/breeds so that’s why her eggs are so colorful. Fingers crossed that are future four or five ladies produce such lovely legs. Who needs egg coloring when they are this gorgeous.

I always include fun seasonal activities into our routine so our spring to do list also includes lots of reading about spring and Easter. I achieve that by having a collection of spring books right at eye level for the kids. I have a basket next to a small child size rocker and on our family chalkboard I put seasonal books in the chalk tray. (I own a lot of children’s books including seasonal ones, but I also hit up my local library when the seasons change or holidays approach.) This leads to the kids carrying books around all day long (yay!) asking for me to read them fun seasonal stories (double yay!)  The reading often gets coupled with a few very simple crafts that primarily just use supplies we have on hand and leftover trash items. 🙂 Yes you read that correctly. Tip: cutting things into the shape of eggs makes everything feel springy. Check out the awesome paint and glitter eggs we made at an Easter play date a few years ago. We might even dare to do some egg coloring although looking at these beautiful natural colors I’m not sure I’m even that motivated. We shall see! I also keep a bunch of plastic eggs  around for them to do “practice hunts” and they love that. Hope you are inspired to try something fun, easy, and festive.

Don’t forget to share your thoughts on my Easter menu or weigh in on what I should do with those last two beautiful eggs.

Should I make the butter rolls or the Swedish pancakes from the same post…?

 

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  1. Aren’t homegrown eggs the best!? We so enjoy our chickens…when they are laying. This winter we had 2 straight months of almost zero eggs (we choose not to light the coop so the ladies will lay longer into life) and then it was them eating us out of house and home! Ha! Now we are back to 5-6 a day which is wonderful. Come by for a visit anytime! And all your Easter food options sound amazing. Have a great holiday with your family!

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