The Merry Gourmet getting ready for easter

getting ready for easter

posted on April 15, 2011 by Merry-Jennifer

As my children have constantly reminded me over the last couple of weeks, another holiday is right around the corner. It seems like they are always counting down to the next holiday that either brings with it sweet treats, presents, or days off from school.

But who am I kidding? I look forward to those special days, too.

Easter is on April 24th this year, and I am very ready to spend the day with my family. We have a relatively new Easter tradition of heading out to my folks’ house for an Easter egg hunt. We’ll wake up early that day and watch the kids run to see what the Easter Bunny has brought. Without fail, he brings a new cuddly stuffed rabbit for each child. And, without fail, he brings candy. The Easter Bunny has tried sneaking actual hard-boiled eggs into the baskets, but the eggs get ignored, and I get an egg salad sandwich the next day. Thank goodness I like egg salad. Later that morning, we’ll head out to my parents’ place, the kids with their emptied-out baskets in hand, all ready to fill them with colorful plastic, jelly bean-filled eggs.

And my favorite part — Easter dinner. Our menu isn’t set yet, but in keeping with tradition, the menu will definitely feature a ham as the main dish.

Recently, some very nice people at Pepperidge Farm contacted me with a challenge. Which I accepted. The challenge? My task is to help families enjoy an elevated experience when gathering for special occasion meals – like the Easter dinner.

Which, by the way, is April 24.

So, I’m asking you to help me with this challenge. What tips do you have for making holiday dinners special? Do you break out the fine china? Serve drinks in crystal goblets? Make a special dish? Please share with me all of your special occasion dinner secrets in the comments.

{Disclaimer: Pepperidge Farm provided me with compensation for this project and this post. My opinions, however, are completely my own.}