Seasonal Sundays (Week 14) Celebration Breads & Cakes

Still thinking about Easter menus? Last week, I shared side dishes for spring celebrations. This week, I closed my eyes to imagine a dessert buffet, special sweets for spring, simple to sumptuous "celebration breads" and "celebratory cakes". Chocolate? Strawberries? Rhubarb? Yes, yes and yes. Plus, our Easter lunch menu is 90% nailed down. Fingers crossed you find much inspiration!

~ Skip Straight to the Good Stuff ~

Welcome to Seasonal Sundays ...

Hey, all. Thank you for following Kitchen Parade, for checking in on these Sunday recipe collections. It means the world to be welcomed into your InBox and RSS readers and most of all, your kitchens. So thank you! And if you like this week's recipes, perhaps you'll share them with a friend or social circle?

Tis a somber week ahead, for our country as our former president faces down the rule of law but also for Christians who mark Holy Week with Maundy Thursday vigils and Good Friday contemplation.

For many years, I made it a point to re-watch The Passion of the Christ (affiliate link). But there's also room for dyeing eggs and Hot Cross Buns. I was much charmed this week by a young dad who assured me that little girls (he has five!) still get new dresses for Easter.

About the Photo By Popular Request, a Little Insight into the Top Image: What is it about the easy elegance of egg shapes?

May I Suggest ... a Link?

Let me just presume that if you're reading this, well, you're both a cook and a recipe collector. Don't the two kinda go together? And that means you tuck aside interesting recipes all over the place and then, dang, where is that chicken recipe that looked so good anyway? Here's an idea. Start a folder on your phone, call it "Kitchen Parade" or "Alanna" or whatever makes best sense to you. Then save the recipes you're most interested in right there in one place. Easy Peasy.

• Start here?
• Celebration Breads
• Cakes

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SEASONAL INSPIRATION: Seven Celebration Breads & Cakes

• THE RECIPE Hot Cross Buns Sweet buns traditional for Easter.
• ANOTHER TAKE Cranberry Walnut Bread A barely sweet yeast bread studded with dried cranberries and toasted walnuts.

• THE RECIPE Armenian Easter Bread The buttery sweet bread called choereg or choreg.
• ANOTHER TAKE Armenian Tahini Bread Think cinnamon buns, sticky rolls or sweet rolls, a complete surprise and an utter delight!

• THE RECIPE Finnish Strawberry Whipped Cream Cake A real celebration cake.
• ANOTHER TAKE Chocolate Cream Puffs Stuffed with Strawberries & Cream Chocolate, strawberries and cream, just two bites big.

• THE RECIPE Southern Belle Lemon Layer Cake Easy lemony cake with lemony cream cheese frosting. Also cherry layer cake, orange layer cake, many variations!
• ANOTHER TAKE Lemon Pudding Cake with Raspberries Tart lemon + juicy berries.

• MADE FROM SCRATCH Homemade Poppy Seed Cake With a layer of sweet spiced chocolate.
• STARTS WITH A CAKE MIX Easy Lemon Poppy Seed Cake Perfect for baking with kids.

• THE RECIPE Easy-Easy Chocolate Sheet Cake Dark, moist and chocolate-y, even two or three days after baking. Fun sprinkles?!
• ANOTHER TAKE Sugar Cookie Bars Bake, frost and sprinkle all at once.

• THE RECIPE Upside-Down Rhubarb Cheesecake Layers of sour rhubarb and creamy cheesecake in a simple pie or ramekins.
• ANOTHER TAKE Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake Move over, pineapple. Rhubarb's the new kid in town.

What's New?!

Wondering about a recipe from the last while? Check Recent Recipes from Kitchen Parade and Recent Vegetable Recipes from A Veggie Venture.

• THE RECIPE Easy Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole with Hash Browns & Eggs No bread! Just add salsa and cheese, then adapt!

Our Easter Lunch Menu

Easter is so early this year but eight days out, the weather looks warm and sunny so we're planning an outdoor lunch but will move inside if needed. Lunch for how many? The range is six to twelve so the menu is a bit in flux, depending on how many we are.

The one thing I know for sure is that we're smoking two big hams. If ever there's a time to fire up the smoker, it's for a Twice-Smoked Ham. The first one is destined for a Saturday Easter egg hunt with Lots of Littles, the second one for Sunday and to make sure that we've got a bone for Monday's dinner, Ham & Beans.

So we shan't starve ... since it's been so long since we've all gathered for a family lunch, it's easy to return to family favorites plus a few new recipes I've been working on.

The biggest consideration? Mostly, everything needs to be made a day or two ahead. I'm aiming for sides straight from a smokehouse menu, with ham instead of ribs or brisket. Different root beers to drink? I think so! I'm stuck on dessert though.

What's on your menu? Is it fixed, yet? If not, maybe these recipes will spark your imagination ...

Easter Lunch 2023
~ Ballpark Peanuts in the Shell ~
~ A Mix of Different Root Beers ~
~ Estonian Deviled Eggs ~

~ Twice-Smoked Ham ~
~ Famous Mustard Sauce (Carolina BBQ Mustard Sauce) ~
~ Homemade Yeast Rolls ~

~ Mac n Cheese ~
~ Homemade Baked Beans ~
~ Mom's Potato Salad ~
~ Big Cajun Chopped Salad ~

~ Perfect M&M Cookies? ~
~ Make-Your-Own Banana Cream Pudding (or Chocolate?) Cups? ~
~ Rice Krispie Bars with Easter M&Ms? ~
~ Derby Pie Squares? ~

• THE RECIPE Estonian Deviled Eggs It's got a secret ingredient!
• ANOTHER TAKE Deviled Eggs with Tomato-Herb Relish Easy but dramatic presentation of everyone's favorite deviled eggs.

• THE RECIPE Twice-Smoked Ham How & why to smoke a smoked ham a second time.
• DON'T FORGET Spicy Raisin Sauce for Ham My grandmother's recipe, always-always served with the Easter ham, the Christmas ham, the Sunday ham.

• THE RECIPE Famous Mustard Sauce (Carolina BBQ Mustard Sauce) A tiny-bit spicy and a tiny-bit sweet and totally addictive.
• ANOTHER TAKE Homemade Finnish Mustard How to make mustard at home, Finnish-style.

• THE RECIPE Mac n Chicken Just mac 'n' cheese with chicken, just mac 'n' cheese with protein.
• ANOTHER TAKE Sweet Pepper Pasta Skillet Colorful bell peppers in a light cream sauce.

• THE RECIPE Mom's Potato Salad All the tricks for great potato salad.
• ANOTHER TAKE Simple "Sweet Potato" Potato Salad with Hardly Any Mayonnaise

• THE RECIPE Big Cajun Chopped Salad Don't skip the olives!
• ANOTHER TAKE Babe's Naked Fruit & Veggie Salad Such a surprise.

• THE RECIPE Perfect M&M Cookies First grabbed, first to disappear, use pretty pastel Easter M&Ms!
• ANOTHER TAKE Old-Fashioned Chocolate Chip Cookies My husband says these taste "exactly" like his mother's chocolate chip cookies.

• THE COLLECTION Easter Recipes From brunch to bunny hunts and much more.
• ALL THE HOLIDAYS All the Holidays Year-round food for fun and celebration.

Looking Back ...

• Sides for Spring Celebrations (Week 13)
• Cabbage Fever (Week 12 & apparently we're fellow cabbage lovers!)
• Spring Pies & Tarts (Week 11)
• Rotisserie Chicken Recipes (Week 10)
• Dried Beans for Bridge Season (Week 9)
• Breakfast Occasions (Week 8)
• Dinner for ♥♥ (Week 7)
• Winter Salads (Week 6)
• Leaning into Lentils (Week 5)
• Quick Breads (Week 4 & your favorite topic so far this year!)
• Winter Dinners (Week 3)
• Winter Plant-Based Dinners (Week 2)
• A Cozy Cool Down (Week 1)

A Quick Peek Into a Real-Life Kitchen

Just so you know, everything's not all pretty pictures around here, in the background is a pile of dirty dishes. And just like many (all?) of us, come five o'clock, I too draw a blank about what to make for supper, despite so many recipes I so dearly love. Here's a quick peek from the last week, not including the oatmeal, salad dressing and sautéed greens on repeat this time of year.

• THIS WEEK Does anyone else share a kitchen with someone who's known prone to asking, just as he's putting the final touches on a stir-fry, say, "Do we have any rice?" My answer comes with a smile, "Of course we do" and I reach into the freezer for a small container of frozen White Rice or Brown Rice. After all of two minutes in the microwave (and a stir midway through), we do, in fact, have rice.
• FREEZER SURPRISES Surprising Foods That Freeze Well

• THIS WEEK Spring "sprang" here in St. Louis this week and late one afternoon, it was so pretty that I dragged my husband up from his office for a little wine and cheese on the patio. An hour later it was, Dinner, what's dinner? So I warmed up a container of Trader Joe's tomato and red pepper soup (much recommended!) and threw in two containers of cooked navy beans (also from the freezer!) for some heft and protein. PERFECTION.
• THE RECIPE How to Cook Dried Beans from Scratch (Slow Cooker or Oven Slow-Cooking) Easy, economical, delicious.

• THIS WEEK We marked my father's birthday with carrot cake, an 8x8 adaptation of these Cook's Illustrated cupcakes. I doubled the spices, added cardamon, skipped the icing and instead topped the cake with a heavy sprinkle of white sugar and a few pecans before baking. Oh! And I grated the carrots by hand and mixed the cake by hand, too. No reason to lug out the food processor!
• THE RECIPE Carrot Cake Cupcakes Made in the food processor!

Just Updated!

• THE RECIPE Spicy Raisin Sauce for Ham My grandmother's recipe, always-always served with the Easter ham, the Christmas ham, the Sunday ham.
• ANOTHER TAKE Homemade Finnish Mustard How to make mustard at home, Finnish-style.

• THE RECIPE Roasted Beets with Feta & Lemon My favorite way to introduce beets to first-timers.
• ANOTHER TAKE How to Make a Roasted Beet Salad With a little feta, goat cheese or blue cheese.

• THE RECIPE Old-Fashioned Banana Floats Part root beer float, part orange julius.
• ANOTHER TAKE Orange Julius Drinks With extra protein, no refined sugar.

• THE COLLECTION Best-Ever “Most Useful” Recipes 2002 – Present Just one recipe per year.
• AND ANOTHER All Recipes, Sorted by Year

Don't Be a Stranger ...

I'd love to hear from you. Comment, send me a quick e-mail (my current address is in the FAQs), dot-dash in Morse code, build a fire for smoke signals, launch a message in a bottle, send a Christmas letter, get the dog to yip, toss me a note wrapped in a rubberband, write a message in the sky, scratch a note in the sand, listen to a seashell, tuck a question into a plastic Easter egg, whatever.

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. When you make my recipes, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below or better still, on the specific recipe's page.

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