Planning an Easter Feast

Whether you choose to serve a simple Easter brunch for your own family or an elaborate Easter dinner party, complete with appetizers or hors d'oeuvres, preparing to serve a special feast entails planning. When planning your Easter feast, consider the following:

• Quantity of guests. Before choosing your menu, decide how many people will attend. If you've invited your brother and his family, remember that his oldest daughter might bring along her boyfriend and extra friends. Determine well in advance how many people will attend your feast so that you can plan to prepare enough food.
• Special diet requirements. Are any of the attendees vegetarians? Do some people prefer beef instead of pork? Will some guests be offended if you serve alcohol? Consider all of the guests you will invite and how your menu may affect their food and religious preferences.
• Formal or buffet meal. Will you set your dinner table with your special China and crystal or will guests be more comfortable with a buffet? Some people prefer to choose their foods from many choices rather than eating at a dinner table with only a few choices. Decide which scenario will make your guests most comfortable.

Once you've answered all of those questions, decide upon the menu for your feast. If you're thinking of a more traditional sit-down Easter dinner, you might choose ham, green-bean casserole, deviled eggs, scalloped potatoes, glazed baby carrots, rolls, and pineapple-upside-down cake for dessert. A large buffet, however, might include all of those foods with the addition of several more items for guests to choose from. Those additional foods might include sweet potatoes, corn, baked beans, tossed salad with dressings, sour cream potato casserole, roast beef, meatloaf, spare ribs, biscuits, rolls, various breads, Jell-O salad, potato salad, coleslaw, and small dishes of pickles and cubed cheeses.

If you choose to serve a buffet, have a separate area reserved just for desserts. Make available all kinds of pies, cakes, cookies, and specialty items such as fudge and caramel popcorn. Desserts should remain simple for a sit-down Easter feast, limited to two dessert choices.