Easter Recipes For Brunch

The story of Easter is the story of God's wonderful window of divine surprise. ~Carl Knudsen

It's always fun to shake things up and plan a brunch instead of a dinner for a holiday meal. Serve it up buffet style and ask for everyone to bring their favorite muffin, bagel or fruit while make other dishes yourself. Here are some suggestions:

Asparagus Frittata

Ingredients:
1 green bell pepper, diced
12 thin asparagus stalks
3 green onions, ends removed, and chopped
1/4 pound Parmesan cheese, grated
8 large eggs
5 fresh thyme sprigs or a tsp. of dried thyme
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon butter or olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Gently break the asparagus stalks off approximately 2 inches from the end. Slice into 2-inch pieces. Beat the eggs into a large bowl until frothy. Add the green onion, bell pepper, asparagus and grated cheese by the handful into the beaten eggs. Strip the thyme leaves from the stems and add to the bowl with salt and pepper to taste.

In a large skillet, melt the butter over high heat. Add the egg mixture and cook until the eggs begin to set, approximately 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 2 more minutes. Place the skillet in the preheated oven and cook approximately 5 more minutes or until the eggs are set on top. Remove from the heat, cut into wedges and serve.

Celery Appetizer:
Stuff celery hearts with a mixture of 3 ounces cream cheese, 3 tsps. mustard, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce, 2 tsp. butter, a dash of cayenne pepper, white pepper and paprika. Mix with fork until creamy. ~1930 Ladies' Home Journal

Strawberry Salad

Ingredients:
4 cups torn salad greens
1 cup watercress (sprouts are nice too)
1 cup sliced, hulled strawberries
1/2 half of a small red onion, thinly sliced
Poppy seed Dressing (homemade or bought)
Edible flowers such as nasturtiums or chive blossoms

In a salad bowl, place greens, watercress, strawberries onion. Top with dressing and toss to coat. Garnish with edible flowers. Chive blossoms and nasturtiums are
peppery in taste. If they are not available to you, fresh mint can be used for garnish. Caution: Be sure that all herbs and blossoms are free of pesticides.

Lemon Fluff

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 stick butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1 large tub frozen whipped topping (16 oz.)
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon lemon rind-outer layer only
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 8 ounce blocks cream cheese, softened
2 small boxes instant lemon pudding mix
3 3/4 cups milk

Mix together flour, sugar, and butter. Press into a lightly greased 13 x 9 pan. Bake crust for 15 minutes. Let cool completely. Blend together the sugar, cream cheese and 2 cups of whipped topping. Spread onto cooled crust. Mix together the pudding and milk. Pour over the cream cheese mixture. Top with remaining cool topping.
Refrigerate overnight before serving.

On OFL we have recipes for lovely lemon desserts.

~Brenda