Holidays are so much fun, especially when I can celebrate with my daughter, Alexis, and her beautiful children, Jude and Truman.
This year, I hosted a small Easter lunch for 10 at my Bedford, New York farm. The weather was perfect - pleasant temperatures under the bluest of skies. I decorated my home with cheerful bunnies, chicks, and eggs of all colors and sizes. And we all enjoyed a delicious feast, prepared by me with help from Moises Fuentes - it included buckwheat crêpes with crème fraîche and ossetra caviar, white and green asparagus, warm artichokes with hollandaise vinaigrette, poached salmon with cucumber sauce, and a Cipriani meringue cake de Martha.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Easter weekend at the farm was beautiful – the daffodils and many other early springtime bulbs are now blooming in gorgeous bright colors.
And inside, every room is filled with charming Easter themed figures, more springtime blooms, and eggs in all sizes and colors. These two bright green bunnies are watching all the holiday activities from a faux bois seat in my indoor porch.
On this table in my foyer, guests are welcomed by these two larger than life-sized faux chocolate bunny figurines holding pretty daffodils from the garden. Wait until you see my long daffodil border this year – the flowers are coming up so wonderfully.
Kevin Sharkey gifts me with a beautiful Easter basket every year. And I save every single one. This was his Easter offering from 2017 with a sitting rabbit, a butterfly, and brightly colored eggs in shades of pink.
I always love to decorate with pretty plants and flowers. These are purple Easter hyacinths on a giant brass tray in my sitting room.
In the same room, I also display lots of other flowering plants such as this orchid. Most of my plants are kept in my glass greenhouse where they can be and maintained in a temperature and humidity-appropriate space. And when they bloom, I bring them into my Winter House where I can enjoy their splendor.
On my servery counter, a lovely scene of chicks and bunnies.
We picked some beautiful daffodils to place in the glass vase inside this paper maché chick.
Here is another big bunny – the same one I made for the April 2015 issue of Martha Stewart “Living.” This charming rabbit is also carrying a beautiful bunch of fresh daffodils picked from my garden.
Every year, I order these giant asparagus from Mister Spear in Stockton, California – they are always a big hit. I served them with a delicious hollandaise vinaigrette.
Everyone loves the jumbo asparagus I serve. This year, delicious white and green asparagus spears – cooked perfectly. I got them from Natoora in Brooklyn, New York.
Here are the large green asparagus spears. I like to trim an inch and a half off the bottoms of the asparagus stalks and then blanch them.
Our main dish was salmon with a delicious cucumber sauce. Everything was devoured – no leftovers.
And here is my dessert – my own rendition of the Cipriani meringue cream cake. I baked it…
… and my 11-year old grandson, Truman, browned the meringue with a hand-held torch. He did a beautiful job, don’t you think?
The table was also decorated with seasonal plants and flowers, a variety of colorful eggs, and Easter bunnies. The place settings are always so beautiful and different from year to year. This year, I selected muted tones of green and tan with these cheerful dark pink-lavender napkins folded like rabbit ears. Do you remember these place mats? They’re from my original Collection at Kmart.
More faux chocolate bunnies on these black lacquered tables in my Brown Room. One can never have too many whimsical animals sitting around a room on Easter.
This black swan basket was also an Easter gift from Kevin. He found the baskets, painted them and chose the color palettes for all the decorations he made to fill them.
And here is this year’s beautiful Easter basket from Kevin. It matched perfectly with the holiday décor.
What a wonderful celebration at my farm. I hope you all had a festive and memorable holiday. Share your Easter stories and menus in the comments section below.