Easter Dinner

I am still recovering from the feast. I love it when my roommate gets more involved in food preparation. However, this means that the amount of food we prepare increases exponentially.

Here's what we had for Easter Dinner yesterday:

- ham. Plain ol' grocery store ham (6.3 pounds!) baked about 2 hours and basted with honey and mustard. Kinda salty, but that's all that seems to be available these days. I'll be making sandwiches (and omlettes, maybe?) with it all week. That's my favorite thing about big hunks of meat: the leftovers.

- green bean casserole. The standard: canned beans, mushroom soup, onions-in-a-can. That really IS all of the ingredients! I remember not liking this as a child, but it was good yesterday. Have my tastebuds matured or atrophied? Laura was in charge of this (Ben helped). I'm glad she insisted on it.

- asparagus. Nice fat spears this time. I have figured out the secret to good asparagus. Blanch in salted boiling water 90 seconds (less the skinnier the stalks get). Put immediately in ice water until cool. Reheat over low heat with a bit of butter or garlic-infused oil. Salt. EAT. They end up nicely green, and cooked but still toothsomely crunchy.

- bread. Thyme-foccacia from the store.

- deviled eggs. No special recipe: mustard, mayo, cayenne, a bit of salt. However, I have also figured out the secret to good hardboiled eggs. Cover with water, bring to a boil, take off heat and cover for 16 min. Cool immediately in cold water. Much less fiddly than trying to maintain a consistant simmer, and no chance at all of greenish overcooked yolks. These eggs are cooked, but slightly soft and very creamy. I can't remember where I got this method, but it's the one I'll use forever.

And for dessert:

- cherry Jell-o w/ fruit cocktail and Cool-Whip.

This is a VERY traditional Easter (or grandma-type) dinner. It was awfully satisfying, though. Sometimes it's nice to be sumptuous without being fancy-schmancy.