Easy Easter Dessert And Entertaining
With Easter weekend quickly approaching, you may be getting nervous about hosting a family//friends brunch or dinner. Entertaining can be extremely tiring and stressful, even for people that like to do it. Here are a couple of tips to help make your experience as stress free as possible.
Enchantment is in The Details
This is true in interior design, in fashion, and in entertaining. You don’t need to make the most complicated recipes, consisting of pistachio gelee and vanilla bean foam. If you are able to create those things and you feel really comfortable doing that, then go for it! But if you don’t, stick with simple, elegant recipies that are well within your comfort zone. For your own sanity, organize yourself. Make a list of the recipes you want to cook, how long you think they’ll take you to prepare, and how long each one takes to cook. Don’t go by the prep time listed on the recipe, that’s like taking the “calories burned” number that comes up on the treadmill seriously. It’s just a guideline. Be honest with yourself and start removing items if you don’t have enough time.
Part of entertaining is taking people through an experience that they probably wouldn’t create for themselves on a regular basis, like entering an enchanted world that tickles your senses and is filled with the warmth of friends and amazing food. Visually, nothing says enchantment quite like delicate flowers suspended in ice. And freezing edible flowers, herbs, or small berries into your ice cubes is so easy and will take only a few extra minutes. Here are instructions in case you need them.
Infusing water with citrus or herbs makes sure that taste buds are delighted even before dinner is served. The water becomes part of the fantasy (even the water is flavored at YOUR house, WOW!), looks beautiful, and you literally can not go wrong. I poured bottled water into my jars, sliced up a lime, put it in the water, and then let it cool in the fridge for a day. You don’t have to wait that long if you’re in a hurry. Get creative with the combos; lime and basil would be nice, and cucumber and mint is a classic. Just make sure you wash the fruit and herbs really well before putting them into the water. There are lots of flavor combination ideas here, but you really don’t have to over think it. If you have an extra lemon or orange on hand, wash them and throw them in a jar with your water. Delicious and done.
By the time guests arrive, your home will be filled with the tantalizing scents of whatever you have been cooking. So you really don’t have to do anything else in scent department. One word of caution, do not use scented flowers or candles on your table. I know I have a hyacinth in the pictures below, but I wouldn’t use that on the dinner or brunch table. I would stay away from lilies as well. Smell is very important to our sense of taste, and a heavy floral or overly sweet smell might give your guests headaches, or at the very least, affect how they taste the food. No bueno.
Creating a simple place setting consisting of textiles, metal, and a small, short note as a placard stimulates the tactile experience. This attention to the smallest details and guest experiences creates a cared for and loving environment, and gives leeway for forgiveness if the meat ends up overcooked. 😉
Easy Easter Dessert
If you are not a baker, or have just run out of time to make dessert, here is a quick and easy idea. Buy cute bunny cookies from your favorite bakery and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream as his/her tail. So cute, so easy. To get fancy with it, you can push the tail section into the scoop of ice cream to stand the bunny upright.
If the thought of scooping perfect fluffy ice cream tails while everyone is watching you and waiting for their plate makes you want to wring your hands and cry, you can actually pre-scoop the tails and line them up on a baking pan. Cover the pan with saran wrap and place them in the freezer until you are ready to go. Then, when bunny dessert time is here, take your pan out of the freezer and dish up your jumping bunnies. Here is a video tutorial.
The most important part of hosting people at your house, or anywhere, is to have fun. If you have fun, other people will relax and have fun as well. This is actually a scientific thing. You are the leader in that situation, everyone is looking to you to see if it’s ok to relax. If you aren’t relaxed, your guests won’t be either. And we really don’t need science to tell us this, everyone has been at a party where the host looks like they are about to keel over with panic, nervousness, dread. It’s not fun for anyone. So try to enjoy yourself and feel the love.
Happy Easter!
ooox,
Nicole
