Easter Bird Nests

Grandma made the traditional bird nests for us this Easter.  The recipe is rice krispie treats.  

She only uses 1/4 of the butter nowadays.  

She also wets her hands when she works with the stick treats.  

She quickly scoops them in to muffin tins and uses her wet hands to quickly spread them around.  

Earliest Easter for the rest of our lives

Easter Menu March 23, 2008

Appetizer -- Veggie Rabbit (see recipe in previous post)

Leg of Lamb -- I fixed lamb for my Mother.  I found this recipe at http://www.recipezaar.com/55600 and like it much better than what I tried on my Easter 2007 post.  If I didn't cook last year's so long, it would have been much better.  

Spiral Ham (our kids haven't grown lamb tastebuds yet)

Small yellow potatoes with drippings from lamb

Karelian Rice Pastries (see recipe below)

Egg butter

Broccoflower and Carrots, steamed
Jello Eggs on bed of lettuce

Blueberry muffin bunnies

Peeps tulips
Dessert -- Strawberry Shortcake

Title: Karjalan Piirakka (Karelian Rice Pasties)

Description:
Comes from the Eastern part of Finland, Karjala, where Mummo was born. Nowadays they are popular all over Finland. Served often at our Finnish dinners. Always a part of our Christmas Eve dinner.

Ingredients:
For the Rice Filling, use the recipe for Rice porridge on this site (Dec. 2006).   Just omit the sugar.

For the crust:
1 c water
1 1/2 t salt
1 2/3 c rye flour
2/3 c all purpose white flour
Mix water in bowl, salt, stir, add flours slowly. It will be a sticky messy job. If too sticky to roll, just add a little more flour. Can make ahead and put in a ziploc bag and roll out when ready.

For egg butter:
1 cube slightly softened margarine or butter
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped,
a tiny bit of salt since butter already has salt
Mash and mix together.

Directions:
Roll out crust in a thin oval shape. Place rice porridge in the middle. 

Pinch sides of crust up around the filling. 

Place on cookie sheets close together. 

Bake at 375 or 400 depending on your ov

en, until light brown. When light brown, open 

your oven and lift up one to make sure the bottom isn't brown. They do not taste good if they are. One the stove top, melt a stick of margarine and some water in a kettle. Use tongs to remove each pastry and dunk it completely in the mixture. Prepare a couple of old towels laid out with wax paper on them. Place the dunked pastries on the wax paper and then wrap the wax paper and towel combination up over them to keep them warm. This process softens them. Mummo says to keep them under the towel as long as you can stand it. She samples them at many stages.

Serve with egg butter, or cheese or lunchmeat or plain butter on top of the rice part.

Peter Rabbit in Mr. McGregor's Lettuce Bed

Our youngest saw this "Veggie Rabbit" on Studio 5 http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=204&sid=2882245
earlier this week and wants to help me make this Rhodes Rolls Veggie Rabbit for Easter, so we'll do just that!

My Mother often served veggie baskets. Her comment is, the bunny will be easy, it's all the time to prep the veggies. I think that's because her veggies were an art form unto themselves.

Veggie Rabbit

Ingredients:
2 Loaves Rhodes™ Bread Dough, thawed but still cold
sliced almonds
2 large raisins
1 egg, beaten

Cut one loaf of bread into 1/4 and 3/4 portions. Shape 3/4 portion into egg shape for body and place on a large sprayed baking sheet. Shape 1/4 portion into pear shape and place above body for head. Clip side whiskers with scissors. Cut second loaf in half. Cut one half in half again for ears and roll into two 16-inch ropes. Fold together and place on top of head. With remaining half of loaf, divide dough in half. Take one half and cut into two pieces. Shape into 2 large thumper feet and place under bunny. Clip toes. Divide last piece of dough into 1/3 and 2/3 portions. Divide 2/3 portion into two hands and place on side of body and clip fingers. Divide remaining 1/3 dough into two large balls and one small ball. Place two large balls on face for cheeks and one small ball for nose. Place 2 raisins on face for eyes and 2 almonds for teeth. Brush everything with beaten egg, even the teeth. Cover with sprayed plastic wrap. Let rise 15-30 minutes. Remove wrap and bake at 350°F 30 minutes or until browned. Let cool. Hollow out tummy and fill with your favorite dip.

Easter Dinner Menu

This year for Easter we combined some Finnish and American traditions. Our Easter Dinner Menu included:
Spinach Soup with half of a boiled egg on top of it. It's the appetizer my Grandmother (Mummo) served at Easter time in Finland. The recipe is:
Melt 3 tbp. margarine in a sauce pan and add 5-6 tbp. flour. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for a few minutes, but do not let it brown. Add 8 cups milk or meat stock and 1 1/4 cups frozen finely chopped spinach. Simmer for about 15 minutes and season with salt and a little sugar. If you want a richer soup, beat 2 egg yolks and 1/2 c cream in a bowl and slowly stir into the soup.


Leg of lamb with Garlic Yukon Gold Potatoes with drippings from lamb which my Grandmother (Mummo) used to serve each Easter in Finland.
Steamed carrots and Asparagus
Cucumber Salad 1 large cucumber, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp salt, some fresh or dried dill, 1 cup vinegar, 1/4 c water. Wash the English cucumber, leave the peel on, take a fork and break the skin of the cucumber all the way down with it. Slice the cucumber thinly and place in a container. Cover it with the sugar, salt and dill. Put the lid on tightly and shake it vigourously for a couple of minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Leave it marinate. Add the vinegar and water to taste. Garnish with dill when you serve it. Keeps for days in the refrigerator.
Jello Eggs on a bed of jello grass that the kids helped Dad make from a variety of flavors you can probably guess from the colors and pureed fruits.
Crescent Rolls
White grape juice with ginger ale and cherries
and an Easter Bonnet Cake my Mother used to make most Easters. It's 2 angel food cakes with a whipped cream topping and a heath bar grated on top and decorated with feathers.