Pascha: Easter Sweet Cheese Spread, Updated

In 2009 I posted about Festive Easter Breads and Cheese. My cookbooks are full of margin notes, so I thought I would update my notes on the recipes. This is crossposted with my food blog, Family Food in Feast and Feria.

We enjoy spreading Pascha, the Easter Sweet Cheese Mold on the Paska, just like in one of our favorite children's books, Rechenka's Eggs by Patricia Polacco. At first I was a bit confused, as the name for the dessert cheese is Pascha (or Pashka), very close to the Ukrainian name for the bread. And “Pascha” is the Orthodox name for Easter. Once I got the names sorted out, I was convinced I had to try the cheese. I didn’t have an “official” mold, so used the clean clay unglazed flowerpot. Be sure to make ahead (the recipe says 2-3 days. Wednesday or Holy Thursday is probably the latest). I omit the candied fruit and the almonds, as I want a smoother, creamier texture. My husband always requests this so I have been working on improving this every year.

The recipe I use is from A Continual Feast: A Cookbook to Celebrate the Joys of Family and Faith Throughout the Christian Year by Evelyn Vitz. I’ve had the pleasure to meet her and some of her daughters (and even go on retreat with her and her daughter in law this month!). But I digress…

This is an absolutely beautiful and delicious dish; versions are prepared in Poland, Russia, the Ukraine, and Latvia. It is made in a tall mold (or flower pot), then turned out onto a large platter and decorated. Cool and rich, it tastes like a cross between ice cream and cheesecake. It goes wonderfully with other the sweet Easter breads, such as Kulich, or Paska Or Easter Sweet Bread or with various Easter cakes.

There was some discussion of the "farmer cheese" from the previous post. This is a more difficult ingredient to find. My grocery store carries this, the brand is "Friendship", but you can try ethnic grocery stores. Some people have had success with Mexican queso fresco. It is NOT an aged hard cheese, but a soft and crumbly, almost like ricotta, or a softer version of feta. It is usually found near the yogurt, cottage cheese and/or sour cream, but not in the cheese section. 

If you cannot find farmer's cheese and need to use large curd cottage cheese or ricotta, rinse the cheese with cold water and drain well in a fine colander. Ricotta might need to just be drained. Then take a fine mesh strainer and press the cheese through to make it finely sieved and ready to mix. 

I’ve had trouble over the years having the mixture drain well so it becomes firm. Last year was my most successful year. The flowerpot that works well for me is an 8″ clay flowerpot. But I have found the shorter and wide flowerpot drained better than the tall pot. The picture below shows the two 8″ pots, but the one on the left is the one I use for both the bread Paska and the cheese spread. These are just clay pots made in Italy that I found in my local gardening store. I cleaned well before using.

After covering with cheesecloth, I place a small plate on top, then used a weight (literally, one or two of my husband’s free weights) and then put the pot in a large bowl. Last year the bowl was shaped that the pot was suspended above a few inches, instead of flat on the bottom. This allows more draining.
For decorating I just keep it simple. And face it — no matter how beautiful the presentation, after one small serving it never looks "pretty" again. But that doesn't matter, because it is super delicious and everyone will keep coming back for more.

Pascha
1 whole egg
4 egg yolks
2 1/3 cups sugar
1 cup heavy cream
2 pounds farmer cheese (see comments)
1/2 pound sweet butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups fruit: raisins and/ or dried currants, mixed candied fruit peel (I omit)
1 cup blanched almonds, chopped (I omit)
2 tablespoons freshly grated orange or lemon rind (I use both, enough zest from one orange and 1 lemon)
For decorating:
Candied fruit peel, maraschino cherries, or nuts
Fresh strawberries to place around the base and on top

Beat the egg and the yolks until thick and lemon-colored. (NOTE: Using a stand mixer, this is about 5 minutes.) Gradually add the sugar, and beat until the mixture is thick and creamy. Pour into a saucepan and add 1/2 cup of the cream. Heat over medium-low heat, beating constantly, until the mixture begins to thicken. Do not boil. Remove the pan from the heat and continue beating until the mixture has cooled to lukewarm.

(NOTE: I use a wire whisk to beat while heating. I have a gas stove, and using fresh cream from the farmer the mixture is already very thick. On the heat this takes about 10-15 minutes. You will know it's getting thicker when you see the sugar dissolving. At the beginning it's very grainy. After removing from the heat I either put back in the stand mixer and just beat until cooled to lukewarm, or keep in saucepan and stir with the whisk. I don't do it constantly, but very regularly, while I'm beating the other ingredients.)
In a mixing bowl, combine the cheese, butter, the other 1/2 cup of cream and the vanilla. Cream until the mixture is smooth. Add the egg mixture, then the fruits, almonds, and orange or lemon rind. Blend thoroughly. (NOTE: At this point the mixture is very soupy.)

Line a flower pot or Pascha mold with 2 thicknesses of cheesecloth. Place the pot over a bowl (to catch liquid), and pour the Pascha mixture into the pot. Put a layer or two of cheesecloth over the top, set a plate on it and something heavy on the plate. (The purpose is to press the extra liquid out of the Pascha and into the bowl below.) (NOTE: After pouring into the mold, I put a plate and then weigh it down. I gradually add more weights, my husband's free weights, after the mixture has chilled longer. Try to place a plate that covers the whole top. There will be oozing over. Do not panic.) Chill overnight or for a day or two.

Remove the top cheesecloth. Unmold the Pascha onto a large platter, and remove the rest of the cheesecloth.

Decorate the Pascha with the candied fruit peel or maraschino cherries or nuts to form the letters XB or CR (Christ is risen) on one side, and on the other side a cross. You may use the Western cross form or the Orthodox cross, or any other cross design that you prefer. In Russia, Pascha is often decorated with an angel and a lily, as well as the cross.
Around the base and on top of the Pascha, place fresh strawberries. Serve chilled.
Yield: 14 to 16 servings

The best part after making these goodies, was arranging the Easter basket for a blessing at our parish by the pastor. I included our Easter eggs, pysanky, ham, wine, butter lamb, paska and pashka. This year I bought a simple Easter basket cloth made by some Catholic ladies in Johnstown, PA, which I can't wait to use.

Update 2016: After struggling for many years on my molds not draining, a friend suggested I use true
Pascha molds. I got two red plastic ones. The symbols did not leave an imprint on the molds, but they did drain well! I highly recommend going this route.

A blessing on the Paschal feast, and your celebration!


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Paska: Ukrainian Easter Bread, Updated

In 2009 I posted about Festive Easter Breads and Cheese. My cookbooks are full of margin notes regarding these recipes, so I thought I would update and share my notes. Crossposted with my food blog, Family Food in Feast and Feria.

For the Ukrainian Easter Bread, Paska, I now adapt a recipe from Celebration Breads: Recipes, Tales, and Traditions by Betsy Oppenneer. I highly recommend this cookbook– it is very detailed instructions and diagrams.

I find one of the most difficult aspects of baking ethnic recipes is finding the right tools. This is an example — “Paska molds are somewhere between the height of a souffle dish and a 3-pound coffee can.” So this recipe uses either two 3-pound coffee cans or two 8-inch souffle dishes. I have neither on hand, and always forget this until it’s too late. So I’ve made due either with a Pyrex or Corning Ware casserole dish that is 8 inches across, or a wider mouthed (clean) flower pot that is also 8 inches across. (More on the flowerpot in my Pascha update post.)

The details on the recipes are two pages long, but basically you can compare the previous recipe for Paska.

Here’s my adapted ingredient list:

Paska, Ukrainian Easter Bread

Ingredients
For the Dough:
1 scant Tablespoon or 1 (1/4 ounce) package of active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (about 110 degrees F)
1/2 cup warm milk (about 100 degrees F)
8 large egg yolks, beaten
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2-3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon orange peel, zested
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon brandy or rum
4 to 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 to 1 cup golden raisins (soaked in brandy or rum)

For the Molds:
Butter
1 cup dried bread crumbs (I use flour)

For the Topping:
1 large egg
1 Tablespoon cold water

Using a mixer: Sprinkle the yeast in the water to soften in the mixer bowl. Add the milk, yolks, butter, sugar, zest, vanilla, salt, brandy and 2 cups of the flour. Beat on medium-low for 2 minutes, adding the flour 1/4 cup at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides. Add raisins and mix. Change to the dough hook and and continue kneading on medium low, adding a tablespoon at a time.

Put the dough in an oiled bowl and coat the ball of dough with oil. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. (This is one of my frustrations with my kitchen. This always takes longer for me, almost double the amount of time. I’m hoping my “proof” setting in my new oven will change this.)

Meanwhile, heavily grease the pans, and if desired sprinkle the sides and bottoms with bread crumbs. (If skipping the bread crumbs, do flour the pan.)

On an oiled surface, turn out the dough and set aside about one-fourth (1/4) of the dough and cover it. Divide the remaining dough and shape each piece into a smooth ball. Place the dough in the prepared molds. Divide the remaining piece of dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each one into a short dough equal to the diameter of the molds. Snip the ends of each rope about 1 inch. Lay 2 ropes at right angles to each other (the shape of a cross) on each loaf and curl the ends outward.

The decorations on top of the loaf are very individual, and can be ornate. These hints from Ukrainian Easter by Mary Ann Woloch Vaughn are extremely helpful. One year I made a simple cross and made an Alpha and Omega on either side of the cross, reminiscent of the Paschal Candle decorations. (Graphics from Ukrainian Classic Kitchen: )

Cover allow a second rise for about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. with 10 minutes remaining. Right before baking beat the egg with the cold water and brush over the top of each loaf.

Bake for 25 minutes until the internal temperate of the bread is 190 degrees F. Remove the bread from the pans  immediately let cool on a rack.

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Easter Sweet Bread

While preparing my plans for Holy Week, I realized I had taken multiple pictures last year of my Easter Bread and then didn't post anything! This is cross-posted with my blog, Family in Feast and Feria.

My husband requests annually a Paska Cheese Mold. To accompany the sweet cheese spread I made Easter Sweet Bread from Cooking for Christ by Florence Berger. Although published originally in 1949, this recipe is foolproof and delicious!

Easter Sweet Bread

2 cakes yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup lukewarm water
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup scalded and cooled milk
7 cups sifted flour
Melted butter
Sugar
Raisins
Cinnamon
Nuts
1 beaten egg
Milk
Confectioners' sugar icing

Dissolve yeast and one tablespoon sugar in water.

Cream butter, one-half cup sugar. Add eggs. Stir in yeast mixture and salt. Alternate milk and flour until the dough is moderately soft.Knead until smooth. Cover and let rise until double in bulk.

Roll out in oblong strip one-fourth inch thick. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar, raisins, cinnamon and nuts. Roll up length-wise.

Place in circle on greased cookie sheet. Cut three-fourths inch slices almost through roll with scissors. Turn each slice partly on its side — pointing away from the center. Cover and let the bread rise again until double in bulk.

Brush on beaten egg diluted with milk. Bake in moderate oven (350º) for 30 minutes. While still hot, frost with confectioners' sugar icing and sprinkle with nuts.

This makes a large amount of dough. Kneading is very therapeutic.

Letting the dough rise has been my difficulty over the years. My kitchen is drafty. But I have a new oven with a "proof" setting. We'll see if that improves the rise. Usually I have to allow double the usual rising time.

 

I get sad when I bake breads or other wheat containing foods, because my oldest can't help without having an allergic reaction. I usually have to mix when he's in bed, because the airborne flour makes him miserable.

But my youngest son has no allergies, so he's excited and willing to help. As long as it's not too messy for him. He doesn't like sticky hands.

Rolling out the dough. I should have measured, but I think this is around 22" x 36".

 

Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, raisins and chopped nuts. Roll and pinch closed. Then join in a ring.

Place the ring on greased cookie sheet. Cut three-fourths inch slices almost through roll with scissors. Turn each slice partly on its side — pointing away from the center. Cover and let the bread rise again until double in bulk.

This sounds complicated, but really not that difficult, and it looks beautiful!

Brush on beaten egg diluted with milk. Bake in moderate oven (350º) for 30 minutes.

While still hot, frost with confectioners' sugar icing and sprinkle with nuts. Delicious! the photos don't do it justice.

Serve warmed or room temperature for Easter breakfast slathered with Paska or sweet butter and Easter hardboiled eggs.

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Cookie Creations

The following guest post was written by Elizabeth, from Following the Trails to Heaven.  Thank you Elizabeth! 

Cookies bring out the child in everyone and a smile to any event.  Everyone loves a good tasting cookie that looks just as pleasing to the eye, as to our tummies.  They are easy to bake and decorating them to suit your needs is fun to do. 

I'm not a stand out baker or anything, so if I'm able to pull these off, believe me you can too.  This is a quick tutorial with links to get you started :-)

Let's talk supplies

You don't need to break the bank in this area.  But there are the essentials for making your decorating time easier and faster.

You'll need:

• an assortment of tips, piping bags (disposables or reusable ones; Wilton sells both kinds and you can find them in most craft stores, including WalMart), couplers, a few of these squeezable bottles and a variety of food coloring.

More on tips.  For outlining your cookies a #3 tip is going to be essential.  For details and finer touches, #1 and #2 tips are more commonly used.  #4 tips and tips with a scalloped edge are great for fun dots and swirls. 

Finding a good cookie & royal icing recipe

The cookies are going to be eaten, so we want them to taste good.  I've tried several recipes and trust me, these are always good!  Here are my to go to favorites!!  Bridget @ Bake at 350, Amanda @ I am Baker, and Michelle @ Brown Eyed Baker.   These ladies are amazing!

Bridget's advice and recipe for Royal Icing is, in my opinion, one of the best.  She gives easy to do details on how the icing should look, it's consistency, some tips, and provided great pictures for us visual learners.

Follow these simple tips in getting working the dough. 

1.  Divide your dough in half and wrap each portion tightly with Saran wrap and chill them for at least one hour.
2.  Roll out your dough onto the actual parchment paper, using a bit of powdered sugar instead of flour.  The parchment paper makes it so much easier to transfer your nicely cut shapes onto your baking sheets.
3.  Lastly, chill your cut out cookies on the baking sheets for at least 10 minutes in the refrigerator.  This helps the cookies maintain their shape and it does make a difference.

They are baked and ready for the icing

It helps to have an idea of what you want the cookies to look like.  I make a quick sketch on some paper and jot down the colors I want to use before I even start baking.

Using a #3 tip outline your cookie according to your set design. Just keep a constant pressure on the bag and release right before you complete the outline. If there are peaks on your edges, take a toothpick and gently press them down.

Use that squeezable bottle filled with your runnier icing to 'flood' the cookie. 

Just fill in towards the edges, but don't over fill (flood).  Over filling equals a big icing mess!  Trust me.  The icing will run a bit anyway, and you'll be helping to fill in the empty spots next.

Depending on how big your cookie is, you'll use either a toothpick, a butter knife, a clean popsicle stick, or whatever you have handy, to spread out the icing.

Some air bubbles may appear after a few seconds, just pop with the toothpick.

After this stage the icing needs to harden before you can decorate.  I'd give them at least 10 minutes.  Since I work with several batches I start outline first, then begin to fill (flood), ending with the spreading.  By the time I make my way around, the first cookies are ready for decorating.

The cool, creative part is the decorating.  These are just a few samples of what you can create, especially for those special sacraments feast days.

and other fun stuff

The possibilities are endless!  Think dragons for St. George,  candles for Candlemas, lilies for St. Joseph or for Our Lady.  I hope this tutorial has helped to inspire you to try some out and I hope to see some of your samples soon.

Thank you Jessica, for inviting me here to share! 

May God bless each of you ladies who contribute your talents and time here at Catholic Cuisine.  I, and my family, have benefited greatly from this site.  May God reward you for your kindness and efforts!

♥ All Glory and Praise to God ♥

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Italian Easter Bread

I have been wanting to try and make Easter Bread Nests ever since seeing the yummy recipe Charlotte shared a couple years ago. Once again I wasn't able to find the time to make them for Easter morning, but since one of the symbols for the second week of Easter using The Garden of the Good Shepherd : A Sticker Calendar to Count the 50 days of Easter is "bread" I figured this week's Good Shepherd's Garden Party would be the perfect opportunity!

Instead of using the recipe in the archives (which we do love and bake each year on Santa Lucia Day), my oldest daughter and I ended up making the Italian Easter Bread from The Italian Dish.  The bread ended up being much easier to make than I expected and turned out beautifully!  It bakes up incredibly soft and sweet, and reminded my children of the Portuguese sweet rolls they enjoy at our local St. Anthony's Festa each year.  We will be making these again, for sure!

Italian Easter Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 package (2 1/4 ) teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 1/4 cups warm milk
• pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup butter, at room temperature
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 cups flour (I actually ended up using 5 cups)
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon of water
• 6 dyed, uncooked, Easter eggs (will cook in the oven)
• sprinkles

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the yeast, milk, salt, butter, eggs and sugar. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. With the mixer set to a low speed and switching to the dough hook attachment (or by hand), continue adding flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Knead until smooth. Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch down the dough and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 1-inch by 14-inch rope.

Taking two pieces, twist to form a "braid," then join the ends to loop into a circle, pinching the tips together.

Place on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover with a clean towel and let rise again until nearly doubled, about 1 more hour.  (We accidentally skipped this second rise, but they still turned out okay... The eggs just didn't stick out as well.) 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush each dough "nest" with the beaten egg wash.

Decorate with the sprinkles.

In the middle of each bread ring, gently place an Easter egg, making an indentation with the egg. Place one egg in the center of each nest, pressing down lightly to secure.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Note: Be sure to either refrigerate or discard the eggs, if not eaten within a couple hours.

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Celebrating Easter ~ Share your pictures!

Photo: Our 2012 Paschal Candle

He is Risen! Alleluia!!

I hope you all had a very Happy Easter Sunday, and that you continue to have a blessed and joyous Easter Season!

For those of you with children, a couple years ago Charlotte and I put together plans for celebrating the 50 days of Easter with a weekly Good Shepherd Garden Party for our children and would love for you to join us!  The recipes and Bible readings for the first two weeks can be viewed and downloaded here and here, and you can also find all sorts of additional ideas by visiting everyone's past parties in the link-ups.  Charlotte has also illustrated a set of 50 printable symbols, for anyone that wasn't able to order a Sticker Calendar or, like my children, would like to color their own set, in addition to using the daily stickers!

Beginning next Monday (and continuing each Monday throughout the Easter season) we will post a link-up, here at Catholic Cuisine, for whoever would like to share the pictures from each week's Garden Party and/or other great feasts during the Easter season!

Here is the Link-up Schedule for this year:

• April 16 - 1st Garden Party; Divine Mercy Sunday
• April 23 - 2nd Garden Party; Feasts of St. George, St. Mark
• April 30 - 3rd Garden Party; Good Shepherd Sunday; Feast of St. Joseph the Worker
• May 7th - 4th Garden Party 
• May 14th - 5th Garden Party
• May 21st - 6th Garden Party; Feast of the Ascension
• May 28th - 7th Garden Party; Feast of Pentecost

As we begin this Easter season, we would love to see your Easter Sunday Celebrations! Please post your pictures (and/or favorite Easter recipes) and add the link to the link-up below.



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Cream Easter Eggs

This year I have decided to make my own Easter candy. I am not certain what possessed me, other than my great fear of witnessing anaphylaxis in my 15-year-old son. We have been free from accidental ingestion for 13 years, so I don't want to start now. I used to be able to find a few types of Easter chocolates in stores that did not have the warning: "May contain peanuts/tree nuts" or "Processed on shared equipment with peanuts and tree nuts," but it's almost impossible any more. I know there are many other families with peanut and tree nut allergies, so I thought I'd share my experience in making my own candy.

When I decided to make my own candy I thought, "how hard can it be?" and really it's not hard, just a lot more time-consuming than checking out at the grocery store. I started by ordering some nut-free chocolates from the Vermont Nut Free Chocolate online store. I bought the melts in milk, dark and white chocolate. I've only had a couple nibbles, but it's pretty darned tasty. (Note: even if you don't order from a nut-free shop, it's much easier to find baking chocolates that don't carry dire warnings than ready-made treats.)

Then, I ordered a couple of candy molds from Sur la Table,  to make solid chocolates, along with some foil wrappers. I picked up some cellophane bags at Joann's to bag the eggs (you can also find candy molds and foils at Joann's and other craft stores). And even with all that ordering, I still don't think I have matched what I usually spend on candy at the store.

I very easily made some solid chocolates by melting the chocolate and filling the molds, but I also wanted to give my children some cream-filled eggs. I found a couple of recipes for eggs and started with this cream style egg from La Table de Nana. I can't say mine are very beautiful, but one had an accident and my husband cut it open to check it out. He declared it "very yummy," so I guess I started in a good place. Like Nana, I colored a bit of the filling and created a Cadbury style egg, although the filling is not runny like a Cadbury. They would, obviously, taste the same without the "yolk" as it's just for novelty's sake.

The recipe was simple to make and I even got a pretty good shape on my eggs, but it always falls apart for me at the dipping. I think I might have a patience issue (just maybe). I can't stand waiting for the chocolate to drip off, so I end up with chocolate puddles. I found out that a sharp non-serrated knife takes care of puddles in a jiffy (a hot knife is even better).

I made one change to the recipe, and it was entirely an accident. The recipe calls for melting the butter and I did not, which would explain why it was rather hard to get mixed up (and why a good quarter cup of powdered sugar went on the floor below the mixer). I do believe it was a fortuitous mistake, however, as I think the mixture would have been rather difficult to form into eggs had I not started with room temp butter. You can melt yours if you like. I also added a bit of Crisco to my chocolate as I think it makes it shinier and easier to keep liquid.

Cream Easter Eggs

makes about 2 dozen

1 1/2 lbs powdered sugar
1 stick butter (melted or not, your choice)
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
2 T. corn syrup
1 T. vanilla
1/2 lb semi sweet chocolate, melted

1 to 2 T. Crisco

Place butter, condensed milk and corn syrup in mixing bowl. Add about half the powdered sugar and mix slowly until combined. Add remaining powdered sugar and vanilla and mix until combined -- it will be thick.

Grab a bit in your fingers and if it is too soft to hold its shape, refrigerate for a while.

~~~

If you want a bit of yellow "yolk" in your eggs, scoop out a couple tablespoons and color it yellow. 

I used a cookie dough scoop for quality control on my portions -- so they would all be about the same size.

Scoop out some cream and make a well in the middle. 

Add a little bead of yellow and fold the white over it. Form into an egg -- I found it easier to put the "bottom" on the table and mold the top, then pick up the bottom and round it out. Place on waxed paper and when you get a tray-full, refrigerate until firm.

Melt chocolate with Crisco in the microwave or over a double boiler. Take chilled eggs and dip them into the chocolate. I found the best method was to stick a long toothpick into the fat end of the egg and dip, using another toothpick to hold the other end up. When you lay the egg down on the clean waxed paper, turn the skewer until it comes free. take a butter knife and touch up the end where the skewer came out.

Refrigerate until chocolate is firm. Wrap in cellophane and chill until ready to dole out.

It would be enjoyable to make these with a friend and split the batch -- 2 dozen eggs is a lot for one family. But my kids might disagree.

For more homemade candy recipes, I posted Toasted Coconut Nests and Chocolate Coconut Cream Cups on my blog.

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Apricot Glaze for Easter Hams

Last year Jennifer shared (in the comment box) her family's tradition of making an Apricot Glaze to go with their Easter ham. She said, "The smell of the Apricot glaze makes me feel at home for Easter no matter where we are."  I was inspired to make it for our family's Easter Dinner and it was a hit!  I plan to make it again this Easter.

Apricot Glaze

Ingredients:

• 7 oz 7-up
• 12 oz Apricot preserves
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions:

Mix 7-up and preserves. Blend in brown sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Bring to boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.

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Honey Glazed Carrots

Here is another new favorite Easter recipe.   These Honey Glazed Carrots were quick and easy to make, and looked so pretty!  The honey and lemon added a nice unique flavor to our usually plain steamed carrots.

Honey Glazed Carrots

Source: Food Network

Ingredients:

• Salt
• 1 pound baby carrots
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add salt and then carrots and cook until tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Drain the carrots and add back to pan with butter, honey and lemon juice. Cook until a glaze coats the carrots, 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with parsley.


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