Easter dinner!!!!!

For Thanksgiving, I wanted to have a faux-pre-Thanksgiving invite-over-all-my-friends-and-cook-all-day-together-then-stuff-our-face extravaganza, but it just didn't work out. So, since Thanksgiving, I planned to have a GIANT EASTER DINNER!!! This idea was growing in my mind for 4 months, and on Sunday it came to fruition :)

For 15 people, I picked up a 10 pound fully-cooked ham, so no one would die from it being undercooked. There were scalloped potatoes made with 8 pounds of potatoes, 1.5 pounds of cheese and a half gallon of milk! Wow! The original recipe is below. I also made about 8 sweet potatoes, 4 pounds of green beans, 3 pounds of asparagus, and 2 batches of homemade rolls! INTENSE. I cooked all Saturday night and half the day on Sunday. I am still recovering from all the cooking, if you can imagine!

Seriously, other people brought stuff too, and I had enough leftovers for another party on Wednesday. Do not use the above guidelines for your own easter dinner, unless you plan on having 30 people over :P

Also, this event was so overwhelming that I couldn't manage any pictures. I am still overwhelmed. Seriously.

The recipes!!!!.

Scalloped potatoes, taken from "Where's Mom Now that I Need Her"
4 potatoes cooked, peeled and sliced
3 T salad oil
3 T cornstarch
1 t salt
1/4 t paprika
1/4 t prepared mustard
3 cups milk
2 cups cheese, grated

Layer potatoes in greased caserole dish. In a saucepan, combine oil, cornstarch, salt, paprika, mustard and milk. Stirring constantly bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add cheese. Stir until melted. Pour over potatoes. Bake at 350 F for 35 minutes.

For the candied sweet potatoes, I caramelized 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup orange juice in a pan then let the cooked and peeled sweet potatoes ooze in there for awhile before keeping them warm in the oven.

I boiled fresh green beans before coating them with olive oil and garlic. In the stress of the moment I forgot salt and pepper :(

For the asparagus, I made balsamic butter sauce.

And I doubled this recipe for rolls.

Milky Way Bunnies!!!

I love Easter candy more than any other type of candy. My favorite of all time is: MILKY WAY BUNNIES!!!

I don't even particularly like Milky Way, but once a year, Mars really does it right with Milky Way Bunnies. Compared to the candy bar, Milky Way Bunnies have more chocolate, less nougat and more caramel combined into a winning combination that I look forward to every Easter.

Unfortunately, last year, they left out the nougat!! It was the saddest Easter ever. I called and complained and got some coupons. Today, in the mail, I got an update (and coupon!) from Mars:

At Mars Snackfood US, the consumer is our boss and we take your feedback very seriously. This Spring Holiday 2008 season, we are pleased to announce the return of the delicious nougat layer to our Milky Way Brand and Snickers Brand Seasonal Shapes.

Hooray!!!! Time to stock up :D