Planning an Easter menu

Some families have a strong Easter traditions and others do not. I happen to belong to a non-religious family; our Easter gatherings are more of an excuse to have brunch with the family than about any deeply held religious beliefs or traditions. Particularly since the last of the children have grown into young adults, Easter seems less and less like a critical holiday.

And yet, we still have deeply held beliefs about what constitutes an Easter meal.

Easter meals come in two varieties in my family, depending on the scheduling. We either do a brunch or a dinner. Brunch usually starts around noon. Whereas Easter dinner may start as late as 2 p.m. (Why do we eat so early on holidays? It's a mystery.)

Easter brunch has to include Eggs Benedict as part of the menu. I don't know why. I suppose because it involves eggs and ham, two key elements in the traditional Easter repast. But since the eggs for Eggs Benedict have to be poached, you can't use leftover hard boiled eggs, thus forcing the host to buy even more eggs than they would have otherwise. It's crazy.

Easter dinner invariably centers around ham. I really like ham, even after spending two years in my youth working at a Honeybaked Ham store. Their ham is outstanding, by the way. But you will need to order far in advance, and leave plenty of time for pick-up. The crowds at Easter are insane.

Ham at Easter is a lucky thing, because all ham is already cooked. Basically all you have to do is warm it up and maybe add something special. Here are some delicious suggestions you might want to consider:

• Tangerine-glazed Easter ham with baby carrots
• Tangy honey-glazed ham
• Rita's sweet holiday baked ham

For dessert, how about carrot cake? It has that vague patina of healthiness, and the carrots are sort of thematic. Just be sure to have a second dessert on tap, for those guests who feel that making a cake with vegetables in it is a sin against nature.

Image courtesy Flickr/wEnDaLicious