Happy belated Easter everyone! I hope you all had just as delightful a holiday weekend as myself. We couldn’t have had better weather here in East Tennessee, 75 and sunny. Due to the fact that I have a small family, consisting of just me, Momma and Daddy, I always cook for our holidays and unfortunately can’t make it to Mitch’s side of the family events. But this weekend I managed to squeeze in an hour at the river with his relatives while my ham was heating in the oven. We have such wonderful balance in our relationship. I’m an only child who really never had a big family and Mitch comes from a HUGE family who gets together every week for Sunday dinner. Holidays are more like extended family reunions, held at a house on the river that is just for that purpose. I can get overwhelmed sometimes, but he understands and it’s nice to be able to sneak back home to my little world. Anyway, after I left, I got to work on our dinner. Traditionally for Easter I do ham and all the naughty fixins’. Mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, corn, gravy, dressing, deviled eggs, just to name a few. However, since I’ve really put forth an effort to stick to my healthy lifestyle, this year I prepared some lighter, although still as delicious, fare.
- My annual pineapple, mustard glazed spiral sliced ham
- fresh canned green beans from a neighbors garden
- baked sweet potatoes
- pickled and deviled eggs
- THE BUNNY CAKE
For starters, let’s just get to the ham. I don’t mean to brag, but my pineapple mustard glaze is so good you could seriously eat it by the spoonful. It takes a spiral ham from basic to BAM every year. And for such a showstopper, it’s so simple, anyone can do it. Just bring 3 cups of sugar, 2 cups of water and either two cans of sliced pineapples in juice, drained OR two fresh pineapples, cored, cut and sliced, to a boil. Skim off foam, lower heat to simmer, and let it go for about an hour to an hour and a half, skimming from time to time. Let the syrup cool completely, then stir in 1/4-1/2 cup of grainy, course ground, country style dijon mustard (I use Grey Poupon.) I always make the glaze the night before, storing it in the fridge overnight. That way the next morning, all I have to do is pour it over my spiral ham, letting the juices flow over and allowing some pineapples to stick to the ham itself. Heat the ham, covered in foil, and baste it periodicially until it is heated through, 10 mins per pound at 350 degrees. Be sure to serve the excess glaze with a gravy ladle so people can just pour it all over their ham. It’s amazing.
So along with the ham, Momma had some green beans that her neighbor had canned straight from his garden last summer. All they needed was a quick sautee with some bacon for a little flavor. Believe it or not, I used some uncured natural turkey bacon I had in the fridge and they turned out AMAZING. I also baked some sweet potatoes in the oven. There is just nothing more delicious on it’s own than a baked sweet potato from the oven. The natural caramelization that happens within the skin is such a treat. I only added a dash of Jamaican Jerk seasoning. Of course we had eggs. It’s just not Easter without deviled eggs. And I sliced a few pickled eggs as well, because I am a pickled egg freak. Don’t judge me.
All of that dinner lead up to my favorite part of the meal, the annual tradition of..….
When I was a year old, my Momma ripped this recipe from some magazine, thinking it would be a fun (and delicious) Easter activity for us. Little did she know we would still be making this cake every year for 28 years. I love it. It’s probably one of my favorite holiday traditions. This year has to be my favorite yet. I baked a carrot cake with golden raisins and walnuts, smothered it in cream cheese icing and sprinkled it with coconut. Then after we finished dinner, Momma and I decorated like we do year after year with tons of candy. Reese’s Pieces, Cadbury mini eggs, twizzlers, Reese’s eggs and more icing…..sugar overload. I had to cheat on my diet. And cheat I did, polishing off half the poor bastard’s bowtie and one of his ears all on my own before I finally called Mom today and made her take the rest of it to her house. Had I kept it here I’m positive I would have lost a foot to diabetes.
It was a beautiful day with beautiful people.
I also was very happy with my Easter outfit this year. Of course I was pilfering through Ross the other day and found this so cute skirt in my new favorite spring shade of blue, and floral top for like, $15 total. I managed to keep it on the hanger for almost two weeks until Easter. I topped it off with a big beautiful hat and really could not have been any more satisfied with my look. Nothing says Easter in the south like an outrageous hat, the bigger the better! 
My makeup turned out very smooth on Sunday as well. I have to give credit where credit is due though and blame that all on the Naked II pallet. The colors blend so well, it gives an airbrushed finish. And the brush that is included is now a favorite. 
My favorite accessory, as usual, was my hunky babe. His eyes are so complimented in this blue shirt. He’s the best blessing I could have ever received.
I sincerely have never felt more blessed than I do right now which made this Easter the most special one I’ve ever celebrated. From my family to yours, I hope you all enjoyed each moment over the holiday weekend and were able to spend it exactly as you wanted.
Appalachian Barbie 