Easter Dinner: Appetizers

Happy Good Friday!

Easter is my favorite holiday. I am hosting an Easter dinner for my family this year, but I really want to be able to enjoy the day without running around like crazy to get the food ready, so today and tomorrow, I am going to get all of my Easter dinner and other things ready.

I finalized my menu last week and did the shopping the day before yesterday. Actually, my husband did the shopping because I have been laid up with a hurt knee all week, but I made a very detailed list for him to follow. :)

My mother, sister, and my mother's fiance are coming to church with us, which is a really big deal to me. My mother is not a Christian and she was very wounded by the church she grew up in. The only time she has been to a church in the past 30 years was when I was baptized last year.

When we get back from church, it will be about an hour and a half before dinner is ready, so I have a bigger slate of appetizers than I usually do.

As usual, we will have black olives and sweet gherkins, which is a tradition in my family for holiday dinners, chips and dip, and crudites - carrots, celery, and broccoli.

I am also going to serve baguette, sliced and warmed in the oven, with a Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip, and of course, deviled eggs. We've got to do something with all those Easter eggs!

Baguette can be made from my favorite French Bread recipe, but I will probably have my husband run up to the bakery because of my knee. I have so many other things to make, I don't want to over do it.

I plan to have all of this stuff ready ahead of time, so I can just warm the bread and dip and put the food out when we return from church.

I will post again later with the dinner and desserts. Also, Easter crafts.