Easter Dinner Guest Guide

Easter is coming up next week and if you're like me, you have a family dinner to show up for. Now that I'm officially in my mid-twenties, I feel like it is necessary to bring a dish or drink to any group dinner. If you're looking for some ideas for the dinner, I've pulled together a few simple and quick recipes that are perfect for next Sunday!

Drink:

Recipe & Image via Country Living

Rosemary-Infused Honey Sidecars

Ingredients:
3 sprig(s) fresh rosemary, plus 8 more sprigs, trimmed, for garnish
1/4 cup(s) sugar
1 cup(s) honey, plus more for coating glass rims
2 cup(s) VSOP Cognac
1 cup(s) (from about 4 lemons) lemon juice

Directions:
1. In a medium pot, bring 2 2/3 cups water and 3 rosemary sprigs to a boil. Boil 1 minute and set aside to steep until water cools to room temperature, about 20 minutes. Discard rosemary sprigs and pour infused water into 2 ice-cube trays and freeze.
2. Place sugar in a small, shallow dish. Using your finger, coat rims of eight 8-ounce tumblers with honey and immediately press the rims into sugar to coat. Set aside.
3. In a pitcher, combine Cognac, lemon juice, and remaining honey. Add rosemary-infused ice cubes and stir vigorously until honey dissolves and liquid is well chilled. Pour through a strainer into prepared glasses; discard ice. Garnish each glass with a rosemary sprig and serve immediately.

Appetizer:

Image via Cupcakes & Cashmere | Recipe from Epicurious

Beet-Pickled Deviled Eggs

Ingredients:
3 cups water
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1 small beet, peeled and sliced
1 small shallot, sliced
1 teaspoon sugar
1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
12 hard-boiled large eggs, peeled
1 teaspoon caraway seeds, toasted and cooled
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon grainy mustard
1 tablespoon finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

1. Bring water, vinegar, beet, shallot, sugar, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan, then simmer, covered, until beet is tender, about 20 minutes. Cool completely, uncovered. Put beet mixture in a container with eggs and marinate, chilled, gently stirring once or twice, at least 2 hours.
2. Finely grind caraway seeds in grinder.
3. Remove eggs from beet mixture and pat dry (discard beet mixture). Cut in half lengthwise and remove yolks. Mash yolks with mayonnaise, mustard, parsley, and half of caraway. Season with salt and pepper, then divide among egg whites. Sprinkle with remaining caraway.

Dessert:

Image and Recipe via Crazy for Crust

Carrot Cake Pops

Ingredients:

For the Cake:
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups grated carrots

To make the pops:
1 can cream cheese icing (or your favorite recipe)
1 - 1 1/2 bags white chocolate melts (14-20 ounces) - have two bags on hand just in case 
Lollipop sticks
2 cups toasted pecans, chopped

Directions:

For the Cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour one round 9" cake pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda and powder, salt, and cinnamon. Gently fold in carrots.
3. Pour into prepared pan and bake 30-40 minutes. Cool completely (overnight, preferably) before making cake pops.

For the pops:
1. Note: the cake has a lot of oil. I found it easier to do upside-down cake pops so they didn't fall off the sticks. You will not use as much icing as you would with a box mix. Also, make sure the balls are very cold before dipping.
2. Crumb your cake into a large bowl. Add about 1/4 of the can of icing and mix into cake. Add more icing as needed until you can form the mixture into a ball. Form into balls and freeze for 15 minutes or chill in the refrigerator overnight.
3. Melt your vanilla candy coating according to the package directions. Place your chopped pecans in a shallow bowl or pie plate.
4. When ready to dip, remove balls from freezer and place in refrigerator. Remove only about three balls at a time to dip. Dip the lollipop stick into the candy (about 1/2") and then insert into ball. Immediately dip the ball into the melted candy. Remove and tap off excess (I use Bakerella's tap-tap-tap the wrist method). Roll in chopped pecans and place on a wax-paper lined cookie sheet. Repeat until all pops are made. Chill until hardened. You can make them ahead of time and freeze if needed. Let come to room temperature before serving.