Easter Weekend 2017

It was a beautiful weekend.  It was a time to reflect and be thankful.  It was a time to carry on family traditions and it was a time to spend quality time with the fam.

Good Friday

 I was excited to be able to attend the "Live Stations of the Cross" at my church on Friday evening. I worked until the minute I got into my car and started working again when I returned home 6pm.  It was that busy.  (All Good)

The ceremony and re-enactment was very moving and the weather was perfect for the event- low 60's.

Very glad I had my sunglasses on and so happy I participated.

Once I wrapped up work, I made a few apps for Saturday night.  We were getting ready for the 8th annual Styles and S.M.I.L.E.S Breast Cancer Fashion Show.  Diana would be opening up the show with the Windham Wolverines Cheerleaders and the Batsons were coming over after just to hang for a bit.

I made this awesome Crockpot Spinach Artichoke Dip- Friends- this is a definite winner and SO EASY.

You can find the recipe HERE

and this awesome Chicken Antipasto Salad- delish!

Find the recipe HERE

After I was done, we crashed for the night and prepared for a very busy weekend.

Holy Saturday

It was time to get up bright and early (5am) and start preparing some dishes for Easter.

First off, I made lemon squares.  (Thank you again Pinterest)  They were easy just like the recipe had promised and the family seemed to enjoy them.

Check out the recipe  HERE

I then boiled the eggs so we would have plenty to dye!  Woohoo!! 

Mimi met me at the house while Daddy had the girls at Eva's gymnastics class.  We headed over to the dance studio to meet them and enjoy watching Eva at her dance class.  We had many laughs because at this age, there is nothing more comical and precious!

Once dance was done, we headed home to get baking!  Rob took Diana to Alana's Birthday Party and Mimi, Eva and I got to work.  Rob was able to snap one pic before Diana took off- she got to make one bunny bread before she left. :)

My mom has been making these bunny breads since I was a child.  She got the recipe out of the Boston Globe!  This is how old the recipe is.  Before Pinterest....before the Internet...this is how we found recipes!  I am including it here for you below.

Bunny Breads

Ingredients:

Frozen Bread Dough Loaves

1 egg

Sesame Seeds

Instructions:

Cut each loaf into pieces

Form shapes with your hands- one for head, one for body, two for ears and one for tail

Brush with egg wash- just scramble that egg with a fork and with a basting brush, paint the wash on the bunnies.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds

Put in warm place and let rise- should triple in size within 1-2 hours

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until golden brown

 

After the breads were done, we got started on our Birds' Nest Cookies.  You can find the recipe HERE 

The only thing we do is alternate some nests with jelly beans and some nests with Cadbury Mini Eggs (because everything is better with Cadbury Mini Eggs right?) :)

 We then enjoyed a fun lunch.  I made us Sheetpan Chicken Nachos and took out some of that awesome spinach artichoke dip I made.

Once Diana got home, we started coloring our eggs.

It was so much fun.  I love watching the girls enjoy traditions I have been enjoying since I was a child.

Live Action...

and Eva doing Quality Control ;)

We got so much done.  The fun part, though, is spending the time together and reminiscing!

That night Diana impressed us in her cheer routine at the fashion show.  We only stayed until intermission so we could come home and relax.

Here she is all decked out and ready to rock the stage....

and I actually taped their routine (don't mind the obnoxious mom you can hear on the video) ;)

So cute!

and then we headed home to enjoy the Caymus :)

Mike made his famous wings- one mild batch and one spicy batch- they were unreal!  He knew I would want pics for my blog so he sent me a few that he had Brooks take of him during the process-hysterical

and evidence of us wiping them out!

Long, Productive and Fun Day!

Easter Sunday

I got up at 5:30 and prepped for our dinner.  I made the topping for the spring bruschetta I was making as an app.

Check out the recipe HERE

I set the table, roasted the aspargas and made the Cognac Cream Sauce for the Tenderloin we would be enjoying.

When the girls got up, they were so excited with the baskets that the Easter Bunny brought them!

We then headed right outside for the Easter Egg Hunt.  After our neighborhood hunt last weekend, Eva was already a pro!

We snuck in a little reading before mass too :)

and then we headed to mass one hour early because otherwise, we wouldn't be able to snag an entire bench for our family.  I need to add that this was the warmest Easter I can ever remember.  It was so nice to get dressed up and not need coats.  It was BEAUTIFUL.  Temps topped out at 87 degrees!

After mass we tried to snap a couple of pics but Eva wasn't cooperating.

All of the kiddos (and Mother Mary of course)

Does anyone see Eva?

Papa Bob got this cute pic :)

and then we headed home to enjoy apps and then dinner.

Papa Bob made his famous banana fritters- when he and his brother owned a bakery and store, they would make these by the thousands for Thanksgiving and Easter.  It brought back lots of memories for Rob.

He also makes his own homemade Claret Sauce to go with them

and my mom made an old family recipe- Pastera- in English it means "Spaghetti Pie".  It brought back so many memories for my parents and me.

and we enjoyed my bruschetta of course.

Our dinner was delicious and as you can see, our holiday weekend was full of lots of great food- as Italians, "Food is Love" for us.  It is how we share our love by cooking for people.  We also know that when everyone is gathered around the table, there will be stories and jokes and wonderful memories!

When everyone went home, we absolutely crashed!

I wanted to go over to Cass's as they invited us but I have never been so wiped out.  

We ended up watching "Patriots Day" about the Boston Marathon Bombings.  Today is Marathon Monday and I am keeping it on in the background today as I work.  I LOVE this event every year- it is one of my favorites and so so inspirational.  We have 10 neighbors running the race this year!  We will be cheering them on of course.  No terrorist will ever take it away from us.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!