Delight Your Guests with a Creative Easter Dinner This Year
Easter is a wonderful opportunity for family and friends to gather and celebrate around a table of good food and delicious drinks. If you’ve been tasked with the responsibility of hosting this year, you may have (understandably) grown a bit tired of serving the customary ‘meat and two veg’ dishes that are traditionally offered around the holidays. If this rings true, take this opportunity to spice up your menu, get creative in the kitchen, and delight and surprise your guests.
To set yourself up for success, connect with attendees well in advance to see if they have any food or drink allergies or dislikes. Doing so will ensure everyone is catered to, with nobody going hungry or missing out on any of the day’s offerings.
Skip Seated Starters
While soups and salads are traditionally served as an Easter starter, skip dishes like these that require guests to sit around the table. Instead, opt for canapes and finger foods that guests can enjoy while standing and mingling or while seated comfortably in the living room.
Nibbles and light finger foods are a great starter. They allow guests to stay seated comfortably or move around — it’s common for people to get a bit restless sitting at a dining table for a full three-course meal. Finger foods are light enough so your guests won’t fill up and spoil their appetites before the main course. Further, finger foods are easy to prepare in advance with little to no dishes, meaning that you can spend more time with your guests and less time serving and cleaning up.
Opt for Alternative Mains
Ham is the traditional main of choice at Easter. Switch things up this year and opt for something unique. It’s most likely guests will be tired of meat, having been served it for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Vegan and vegetarian dishes are great alternative options, as are fish and seafood (unlike meat, they suit pescatarian guests, too!).
When looking for seafood, seek out the freshest around and keep sustainability in mind; doing so will guarantee a superior product. If you don’t have a quality fishmonger nearby, specialty services like Lobster Anywhere can help. Here, quality fresh lobster — caught off the coast of Maine — is shipped from the trap straight to your front door — a decadent treat that’s sure to wow your guests!
Serve a Trio of Desserts
Much like heavy starters, heavy desserts can be a bit labour some at the end of a big meal. While cinnamon rolls and hot cross buns are traditional Easter sweets, you can also create a trio of light desserts to cleanse your guest’s palates and satiate their sweet tooths. Great light options include chocolate-dipped strawberries, sorbet, fruit crisp, poached pears and mini lemon tarts.
Serving a trio will guarantee there’s at least one dessert your guests will enjoy — though they’re sure to all be equally tasty!
Fun Extras
In addition to the food that’s served, start some new traditions to make the day extra special.
• Instead of everyone buying Easter eggs for kids — which may result in a chocolate overload before dinner — suggest gifting kids just one egg each and donating to a local food bank instead.
• Create an after-dinner coffee bar with fun toppings and ingredients for guests to serve themselves as and when they’d like.
• Suggest a fun but easily achievable dress code. Having an occasion to dress up is always fun; plus, uniformed outfits make for a great photo opportunity.
Take Away
Use this year’s holiday to change dinner offerings from the usual humdrum and make your Easter dinner extra memorable.
