The Great Bunny Masacre of 2009

Easter was so much fun! The food was amazing...as usual, AND I won $10 in the egg hunt!!! Thanks Papa!!

The Egg Hunt is quite intense. When I was much younger and there were only a handful of us grand kids we'd go out and find as many eggs as we could, and I was pretty skilled in finding colorful plastic eggs :) However, now that there are 25 of us grand kids...ranging from 30 to 3...there have been many more rules set in place.

• you can only find 1 egg
• each egg has a piece of paper with a number on it (along with candy)
• you bring your number to papa (my grandfather) who has a master list
• each number corresponds to a dollar amount!
  
• You then get your cash :)

The paper number system was set in place after we smartened up and started opening the eggs outside and seeing how much money was in them haha...there was always the "big money" egg, and everyone wanted it!

I don't have pics of all the eats...but a few choice items :)

Some apps:CHEESE!!! Mmmm some of my FAVS!

• 2 Aged Cheddars: a 1 yr and 2yr
• Aged Gouda! This stuff is incredible. My mom brought some back from Holland years ago and ever since the whole family has been obsessed! I believe its either 3 or 5 yrs old.
• Fromager d'Affinois - OH.MY.GOD. If your ever going to by a soft brie-like cheese, GET THIS!!! Its so creamy...spread it on a slice of baguette and it's heaven.

Here's what wikipedia has to say about it:

Fromager d'Affinois (pr. fro-mah-ZHAY dah-fee-NWAH) is a French double-cream soft cheese made from cow's milk. It is produced by the Fromagerie Guilloteau company.

Fromager d'Affinois is similar to Brie in production, appearance and flavour. Unlike in Brie production however, before cheese making the cow's milk undergoes a process called ultrafiltration. Ultrafiltration removes water from the pasteurised milk, concentrating all other components. ^[1] One effect of this process is that it allows the acceleration of the cheese making process. Whereas classic Brie takes eight weeks to make, Fromager d'Affinois can be made in two weeks. Ultrafiltration also results in a milk that retains more nutrients and proteins, and the cheese has a relatively high fat content of 60%.

The cheese is made in 4.4 pound wheels, and has a soft oozing texture inside with an edible white rind on the outside.

Seriously...try it. I also had some organic fig spread on hand...insanely good with all of these cheeses!

Served with crackers and sliced baguette!Olives

There was also delicious veggies and dips! There were many more dips as well, but not pictured.
The main course was Turkey Dinner! Along with ham :) All the sides...including my second favorite: Squash Souffle!I can't even begin to describe how good this is...I'd almost eat it for dessert!! Actually it would make an awesome dessert. I still can't have anything move my beloved stuffing out of first place, but this was SO close :)

The "famous" Easter Dessert in my family is...Bunny Cake, made by one of my aunts.It's a simple chocolate cake, shaped into a bunny and covered in fluffy boiled icing (it's similar in consistency to Fluff!)...and decorated as so.

I wouldn't say it has any WOW factors...its really simple, but just one of the traditions that makes it SO good :)

People might go crazy for Bunny Cake...Ok who cut the eye out!?!?! I've heard rumors it was one of my cousins, but the mystery goes unsolved. I did however take a piece of the ear home with me.

I also contributed a dessert. I have been making similar versions of this the past two years, but usually in a "trifle" form. This year I simplified it as just a cake.
I also used a Cooking Light recipe for the cake and Lemon Curd!! I LOVE lemony things...so tart and tasty :) This curd recipe is much lighter...usually curds call for many more egg YOLKS and much more butter! My only alteration was using 2/3cup sugar instead of 1/2. I read the reviews and someone suggested this sugar increase as it was VERY tart. I might of liked it with just 1/2cup, but when serving to a crowd I don't want to cut TOO much sugar.

I also used regular flour instead of Matzo meal.

I also added some freshly whipped cream to my dessert, as well as used strawberries instead of raspberries...I am not seeing Raspberries ANYWHERE?!

There was also Pavlova!!! YUMM!!!! If you've never had pavlova...go make some! It's light and amazing!

It's basically a giant Meringue...topped with fresh whipped cream and berries!This meringue was so thick it almost tasted like angel food cake on the bottom :)

Amazing Easter!

Don't forget...last day for my Giveaway!!