Easter And Passover Catered Or Home Cooked?

Nothing beats a holiday with a table full of food and tradition especially the. Easter and Passover ones. With them comes the question of catered or home cooked? Would it better and easier on the home chef if the whole brunch or dinner was cooked? Or are family recipes important and vital in keeping up tradition?

Easter may be the easier dinner - especially in the States - to have catered. Every family has different traditions. Southern Italians and Greeks are the most traditional, cooking and baking foods and bread recipes that have been passed down for centuries.Everyone else usually just makes ham and a few sides.Some groceries such as Acme and Stop & Shop will work with you to create the perfect holiday dinner. They'll offer sliced ham and/or turkey along with sides such as potato  and macaroni salads along with throwing in a festive Easter cake.Easter brunch is always popular and there are shops and caterers who will bring in such brunch favorites as quiche, scrambled eggs and even French toast.Of course, all of this can be made at home and there is a lot of control as to the ingredients. If you don't want an elaborate Easter meal, then think of a German style one.It's a roast ham with do it yourself potato salad and handcrafted baked beans. All these are labor intensive but the homemade taste is worth it. Dessert can be a simple lamb, bunny or egg shaped cake, and again these can be baked on Holy Saturday.

Passover is a bit trickier because there are strict family traditions involved.  Some Kosher markets can cater the entire menu, creating even better versions of tsimme  - a sweet stew of carrots and dried fruit and charoset - the sweet paste of apples, cinnamon, and raisins, symbolizing the mortar used in building the pyramids. Many caterers will offer such traditonal dishes as kugel but with a hip twist such as broccoli and spinach added.The main courses could be an entire brisket or roast chicken or both if you're hosting a crowd. caterers can also supply chopped liver and gefilte fish too. yet there is something in making decades old family recipe too.Relatives may want the family version of charoset which is not only rich in flavor but also stories too. They also make want just your matzoh ball soup, because of the way you make the balls or because you add scallions for bite and color. Unlike Easter, Passover lasts  a week and you could easily cook one night and have the second night seder catered. It's up to you and what you can handle.

Catering or home cooked? What makes for a better holiday meal. It's up to you and what you want.

Easter Prep Time

Many home chefs are anticipating Easter.It's  a beautiful spring holy day  bursting with bright colors and tempting foods. It is also a great time to try out the season's best, whether it is the verdant asparagus or the lush artichoke. To make the holiday meal perfect , make sure you're prepped and ready for cooking the big meal.

Luckily baking and candy making can be done the night before. Easy candy treats such as birds nests,a simple mix of chocolate and coconut can be made in minutes and left to set overnight. Any sweet desserts such as cakes and cupcakes can be baked and frosted, all set to go come Easter. The same goes for dyed eggs. By now most families should have those hard boils sporting rainbow colors. However don't set out anything egg, whether the real thing or plastic now, and  let it be left out overnight. Raccoons and even foxes can sniff them out and make a meal of actual eggs or try to chew the plastic ones which is harmful for them. Set the eggs aside and put them out a couple of hours before the hunt begins.Another thing to do tonight is make up any favors and place tags for family .This can be fun for  tweens looking to help out .Also, if you feel you won't have enough time  tomorrow, set the table tonight . It's a few minutes shaved off tomorrow's busy schedule.

The night before is usually a time to start prepping the main meal and side dishes.Ham and lamb can be cooked in a low oven the night before. The first can be boiled first and then cooked tomorrow to give it a nice crackly crust. As for the sides, asparagus and artichokes  are best prepared right before cooking. .However if you're having  the asparagus topped with butter  and hardboiled eggs, then  make the eggs now and then peel and slice tomorrow  If you are making baked beans to go with the ham, however they do have to be soaked overnight before baking..if you know your oven will be in full demand tomorrow , then bake dinner rolls now and then store them in an air tight container to keep them fresh. One must is setting out all the utensils, pots and pans tonight so that it'll be a snap to start cooking tomorrow. Also you won't have to have your own version of an egg hunt, looking for a bain Marie or small fry pan in the whirlwind of food prep.

The night before any holiday is full of anticipation. Lessen some of that anxiety by preparing for the day. Make sure that you have enough dessert or that you have the right pans for cooking. That ill make you Easter a day to enjoy home cooking and good food.

Rebaked Beans

What better to open up the holiday season than with baked beans. Nothing beats them as a side to a good ham and even better with a pork roast. There's a new old way to cook them - in the ground. Yup, that's right , you can bake them in a deep pit for a tastier treat.

This was the subject of an article in today's New York Times Dining section. The article written by John Willoughby,a sometimes contributor to the Wednesday section. He interviews master baked bean maker and chef Chris Schlesinger who is a bit of an innovator in other areas too. He first introduced live fire grilling to New York restaurants via his own his own. HE also is an expert in pit roasting cuts of meat too. Baking beans then was a no brainer. Like slow cooked meat, slow cooked beans are a wonderful blend of tangy and smoky , sweet and tart all at once. It's a slow melding of beans, maple syrup smoked pork along with mustard and flavorings.it comes from the Abenaki Indians of Maine where there are still bean bakes. These rival clambakes as far as with food, flavor and fun

For those ambitious enough to build a baked bean pit, keep in mind that is is labor intensive.You will need to dig a whole a little wider than the bean pot  There does need to be a pot to contain the beans and other ingredients (I imagine nothing fancy).There has to be six inches between the top of the pot and top of the hole.The fire has to be built with cord wood and then add about ten softball sized rocks to maintain the heat. You have to wrap the beans and other ingredients in foil before burying them . the beans have to be cooked for six hours but the taste is worth it however.

Baked beans are always a holiday treat. Baking them in the ground is a new old way of doing such It may be labor intensive but worth it