Monday, April 13, 2009

A Diva Family Easter ...

Can a holiday still be Divalicious even if The Diva does not host? Absolutely! Take a look ...

The extend Diva Family and a number of our nearest and dearest friends gathered in the terribly chic neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn for an enormous Easter Feast. Our hostess with the mostest was Diva sister-in-law, H. - and she outdid herself this year!

The husband kicked off our celebration with a pitcher of his famous Bloody Bulls ... recipe will soon be featured on Thirsty Thursdays, I promise.

Noshes and nibbles were provided by W., aka The Snack Bee. True to her name, W. presented a marvelous assortment of luscious cheeses, bread, crackers and pate.






The Bloodies continued to flow as H. prepared the feast and the bunny ears came courtesy of The Snack Bee.






Our Easter Menu:
  • 7 Hour Lamb w/Roasted Carrots and Garlic
  • Glazed Ham
  • Mashed Potatos
  • Steamed Asparagus
  • Cauliflower au Gratin
  • Herbed Baby Peas w/Gruyere
  • Leek, Onion and Cheese Quiche
  • A Garden Fresh Salad
  • A Lovely basked of baked goods ...


... banana bread, mini blueberry muffins and, my personal favorite, a scrumptious spinach and cheese corn bread. Outstanding! These treats were baked by M., seen pictured above with H., our hostess.














The husband carved the lamb and ham, and in no time our plates were full to over flowing! The lamb was provided by Marlow & Daughters Butcher Shop, a new comer to the ever-expanding Williamsburg food scene. It was magnificent! The lamb was raised in Aberdeen, New York, and if this is any indication of Marlow & Daughter's wares ... I will soon be making a special trip there so I can blog about their spectacular offerings. Stay tuned.






























Suffice it to say that we were stuffed to the gills. We amused ourselves between courses by playing a wonderful game ... sent to us all the way from Italy courtesy of W.'s parents. The Snack Bee herself played the part of the Easter Bunny, offering us a variety of prize filled Easter eggs from which to choose. There must have been hundreds of them! Prizes included candy, gift cards, an assortment of wonderful wrapped gifts and cash! What a treat! Huge thanks to W. and her parents for adding to our Easter joy in this special way. We owe you ... BIG!




















Eventually, we got around to dessert ... though the traditional lambie cake failed to make an appearance. I'm sorry to say that the better half of my lamb cake pan has gone missing so this year's cake was rather pedestrian, though just as delicious.



A rice pie, wheat pie, brownies and an assortment of Easter candies rounded out the dessert buffet ... though how any of us had room for it, I'll never know!

We worked off all those calories by playing several vigorous rounds of jelly bean bingo - during which I'm sorry to say I lost a grand total of $6. Personally, I think the game was rigged.

HUGE thanks to the divalicious Ms. H., for hosting such a merry holiday and to the rest of the Diva crew for their tasty contributions. I think it was our best and most delicious Easter ever. We are truly blessed to have such great family and friends.

There's a Diva in here somewhere ... bragging rights to the first one who finds her.

We will return to our regularly scheduled posting and dieting soon. Stay tuned and Bon Appetit!

20 comments:

Tracy said...

What a great Easter you had, Diva. Everything looks and sounds wonderful!

words...words...words... said...

Wow. This is a mind-boggling array of food! It appears that all your friends are Divas-in-training! I'm glad you had a wonderful Easter :)

Unknown said...

You have the most lovely family. My husband's family is like that, when you get together there is so much laughing and talking and the best atmosphere :) Glad you had such a fab holiday.

The Diva on a Diet said...

Thanks, Tracy! It really was wonderful. :)

words words words - I know, it was mind boggling ... I could even post it all ... and I think I'm still full! LOL

Heavenly Housewife - Aw, thanks! We should have done a better job of capturing all of us in the photos ... there were 11 of us there ... but we were too busy eating, drinking and laughing to do a proper job of documenting! You're right, the best atmosphere! :)

I'll do a better job next time!

Anonymous said...

LOVE the bunny ears! Looks like a great party but where are the boys? After all, if you have on bunny ears, don't boys immediately flock around you?

The Diva on a Diet said...

So true, Dana ... though all of our boys are camera shy. The husband does *not* want his picture to appear on the blog! LOL

Shame too, because he's a cutie. If Mama Diva has the guys in her camera I'll post them later in the week. :)

stephchows said...

Everything looks delicious! Totally fun :)

Anonymous said...

Ok, I'm new to your blog, so I'm going to try and guess the diva. Looks like yall are ALL (highly talented) divas, but I'm guessing you're the one in the blue shirt?

The food looks divine; what a neat way to celebrate. :)

The Diva on a Diet said...

Thanks, Steph, it was totally fun. If there's one thing the Diva clan knows how to do ... its party!

Kimizzy - Your powers of deduction are impressive. Bingo, you win the bragging rights! Thanks so much for the kind words. :)

pixelgal said...

This was indeed a wonderful day/weekend. The food, the company and the weather..were all great. The flowers were in bloom making the trip to Brooklyn all the more enjoyable. Mama Diva does indeed have pix of the guys with the bunnies (ala Hugh H.)and thank God she is not in any of them! Hope y'all had a great holiday too. Glad to see you back, Deb....but you didn't stop to see me in CT!!!

Mom said...

Good Lord (no pun intended!) that's an impressive amount of food. It looks delicious.

Love the pics as well. Fun!

The Messy Baker said...

Lamb and ham? We had the rhyming meal for Easter this year, too.

Looks like you had a blast.

Anonymous said...

Damn! I put on a kilo just scrolling through the photos...

Have to diet (dirty word - my mother said never say four-letter words).

AV (opening another bottle of St Germain Assemblage)

Elizabeth said...

Looks like a fabulous easter. Full of fun and great eats!!

Anonymous said...

Yay!! I never win anything (least of all caption contests.)

This is a shining moment for me on the internets. Thanks :)

Deb said...

Sorry Pixiegal it was a quick trip, no spare time at all, maybe next time.

Diva of course you are the beauty in blue - I didn't guess since I knew already and figured that was not fair.

Food looks fabulous! And plentiful too, nothing like a feast for a holiday.

By the way - did you catch the whipping TB gave the Yankees last night? All I can say is it will be a fun season for the rays!

Deb

Anonymous said...

This looks too good. Lamb, ham, quiche, wheat pie, rice pie. So much food! We love holidays.

The Diva on a Diet said...

Thanks for all the lovely comments, all. It was a spectacular day and an unbelievable feast. Its a wonder I can still button my jeans ... funny, but not!

Deb - I missed that Rays v. Yanks game ... and its a good thing I did. Ugh! I have a No Baseball in April Rule ... can't get into it when the weather here is still so wintery.

Oddly enough, I'll have to break that rule this weekend. We're going to the new stadium on Sunday. Woo hoo!

aoife mc said...

Looks gorgeous Diva! I knew it was you in the blue jumper straight hair because you look like a Galway Girl, the black haired coleen and all that! :)

I had a nice BBQ at my folks' house in Dublin - let me tell you, we did not take having a BBQ in Ireland in April for granted at all, it was great!

The Diva on a Diet said...

Aoife - Aw, thanks! My black hairs get a little help from the bottle these days ... but sssh, don't tell ... it will be our secret! ;)

Wow, it was warm enough for a BBQ in Dublin on Easter?! Marvelous! So nice that you were able to take advantage of the weather like that. Lovely!

Personally, we were freezing here on Easter. It was 29 degrees when we left Brooklyn Sunday night. Feh.