Everything Easter Part 2

Now on to the table and food.

Setting the table is my favorite thing of all. I love to layer linens. I don't worry at all about whether they fit or not. I just angle them for interest. Now you'll get a chance to see all the odds and ends I pick up at the antique shops.

I know I had an Easter egg table runner, but I couldn't find it. I might have gotten rid of it. I don't remember. Anyway, I used pink napkins on the bias instead. The placemats are a thick paper that reminds me of grass.

I'm using assorted vintage hankies as napkins. When I can pick them up for $1.00, I had to come up with some way to use them. When we sat down, Jordan wanted to know if we had napkins. She thought the hankies seemed too fancy. The china came from grandma Pierson.

I've had these Fitz and Floyd pieces for over 20 years. Mr. Bunny is a pitcher and Mrs. Bunny is a teapot.

The little Easter bonnet napkin rings are in 4 colors---pink, purple, blue and yellow.  I've had these napkin rings for about 20 years now.

 The leaf plates were my mother's. The little fruit bowls I picked up at an antique mall about 8 or 10 years ago. It's kind of hard to tell, but the sides are pink---really cute.

 The salt and pepper shakers are also old. They don't have anything in them because the cork bottoms are starting to crumble.

 The tulips are real. I bought them a week ago and they've bloomed just in time!

A confession. I pride myself in being so organized. Since I was going to be gone all week, I did all of my planning last weekend. I pulled the recipes, did the non-preishable grocery shopping, and then lost the recipes. I almost had to change my whole menu. Then, I realized that I put some of the recipes in our Eads family cookbook. All was not lost. I made, chicken ala king in a pastry shell, carrot casserole, grape salad, green beans with andouille (the Broussards recipe), creamed peas and yeast rolls. I made an almond pound cake to top with fresh strawberries and whipped cream for dessert. Turns out, everyone was too full for dessert, so I froze the pound cake and berries for our golf weekend (this coming up weekend).

If you've never had grape salad, you need to give it a try. It's always a big hit.

Grape Salad
1 lb. red grapes
1 lb. green grapes
8 oz. sour cream
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans*
Wash and stem grapes. Mix sour cream, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Fold in grapes. Top with brown sugar and pecans. Refrigerate overnight.
*I used pecan halves so the kids could pick them out. They don't like the nuts.