Easter with a contingency

Easter with a contingency

This year I will be making Easter dinner for a couple of friends who are not going to go to their children’s for dinner this year.

Anyone that knows me knows that I will be making ham.

I am a confessed unashamed lover of that piggy.

The contingency in this article is whether or not I can cook outside or I have to cook dinner inside the house. It is of course all depending on the weather and at this time of year that can be very changeable so I will let you know as we go alone what the different approaches to Easter dinner will be in each case.

Of course dinner is on a budget. What is the sense of writing a blog on eating well on two dollars a day if I excuse that statement because of a holiday?

This year I bought the ham at Hannaford’s because they have bone in hams for $.99 a pound. The double bonus here is that it has the bone. That will be good for fresh pea and Champaign soup at a later date.(yes very affordable!)

If I am able to cook outside I will serve ham steaks basted with a brown sugar and pineapple glaze slowly cooked on the grill.

If the ham is cooked inside it will be a whole ham to be sliced at the table later with the same glaze and baked in the oven.

Next are potatoes. Outside it will be potato salad.
 Simple recipe:

5 Potatoes with skin on (I have small red potatoes I bought       at Aldies on sale this week)

½ finely chopped onion

1 celery stalk

1 hard boiled egg chopped 

 2 Tbls mayo

 Small dab of mustard.

Mix together season with salt and pepper.

That’s all there is to it. You can add whatever you want but because I don’t know what these people eat I will keep it simple and save my capers and other adds for another time.

If I have to cook inside the house I will make scalloped potatoes. I would make them from scratch but found Idaho scalloped potatoes at the dollar tree all I have to do is add milk a dab of butter and bake. Pretty easy and I know this brand is good.

Instead of asparagus I will make green beans with almonds. (I bought the almonds at Christmas time and put them balance of what I did not use in the freezer so I could use them during the year).

And of course what ham dinner would be complete without apple sauce? Yes I am using  a jarred apple sauce.

Here is how I will serve it:

1 beaten egg white (beaten stiff)

¼ teas of cinnamon sugar

Mix with small jar of apple sauce and serve.

This is outrageously good. I learned to make this from my grandmother. She did not cook so when she made something it really stayed in my memory. She made two things for the holidays when we were growing up this apple sauce recipe and red cabbage salad. I will share  the second recipe with  you another time. Both very good and easy to make of course.

That’s about it for the main course except for the brown and serve rolls I will pop in the oven to brown and then serve with the dinner.

Now the important part Desert!

Two deserts one was planned that was a traditional pie to serve  inside  and I was still looking for a simpler version that is easy to eat outside. I almost gave up on finding just the right thing when  a friend posted a novel idea on Facebook and it’s something I just have go to try!
Here are the two ideas for desert. 
First if served inside I will make a coconut cream pie easy and inexpensive!

Hers the recipe:

EASY TOASTED COCONUT CREAM PIE 

2 pkg. instant vanilla pudding
2 c. milk
1 sm. container Cool Whip
1 tsp. vanilla
1 sm. can coconut
1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked

Mix the pudding and milk together. Let set a few minutes in the refrigerator. Fold in the Cool Whip and vanilla. Add toasted coconut. Pour into pie crust and top with more coconut. Refrigerate.

To toast coconut, place on lightly greased cookie sheet and bake until light brown, let cool. It takes about thirty minutes to brown. 

If served outside I am going to try the idea I saw today on my friends Facebook. I am going to turn over a muffin pan and cover each muffin area with a sugar cookie dough creating a cookie cup and bake then . When they have cooled a little I will fill each cookie cup with the coconut cream pie filling.

That’s about it. Now the cost $2.00 per person of course!

Happy Easter