Spring Has Sprung, The Grass Has Riz, I Wonder Where The Flowers Is

Spring Has Sprung, The Grass Has Riz, I Wonder Where The Flowers Is

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Spring Has Sprung, The Grass Has Riz, I Wonder Where The Flowers Is

Tulips At Easter

Utah is playing a trick on all of us who live here. The weather is high 50’s, sunny, beautiful and the snow has almost all melted. It feels like Spring has arrived, but I will not be fooled. The forecast is already predicting snow and lots of it over the next couple of weeks so I will savor these warm golden days now and use them as inspiration to start planning our Easter celebration. Next week when we’re knee deep in the cold stuff it will be hard to think about tulips, Easter egg hunts, and fresh spring salads. So today I plan, next week I surrender!

I love Easter for many reasons, not the least of which is the coveted Easter basket. When I was growing up my mother would put together elaborate baskets of candy and small gifts that we could hardly wait to receive. Though wait we did! My older brother Jason was in charge of hiding the baskets and every year his hiding places got more and more elusive! My sister and I would spend what felt like hours hunting for them, before finally stumbling upon one hidden deep in a storage closet under a pile of unused clothes, or eventually looking up and finding another on top of a bookshelf in almost plain sight. Like my mother, I love to go all out in the Easter basket department, and like my brother, I love to make finding them a serious challenge!

I also love the food! To me Easter dinner is all about ushering in the fresh, farm-to-table meals we have forgone all winter in place of chilis, soups and stews. In our greenhouse on the ranch the radishes are bulking up, the sorrel and arugula are filling out and the figs are staring to ripen. Digging through the dirt hoping the radishes are ready is almost as exciting to me as finding my Easter basket, though not quite!

The Dinner Table and Tulip Baskets

Easter Table at the Ranch

My Easter table at the ranch
Katherine Heigl Creating Tulip Baskets

Creating tulip baskets

Inspiration for the tulip baskets came from the great Martha Stewart while I was browsing Pinterest. I chose to make mine a little less structured and a little more wild to suit the vibe of our ranch. I love the combination of rustic and elegant, so I threw down a burlap runner I purchased at Michael’s, some burlap placemats my mother had and used vintage china I’ve had for years but never broken out of the china cabinet! The result was my Easter table.

Easter Baskets

Ombre Eggs

Ombre eggs
Ombre Eggs in Pastel Vintage Espresso and Tea Cups

Ombre Eggs in Pastel Vintage Espresso and Tea Cups

It was impossible to choose from all the beautiful colors I found at Dollar Store Mom so I ended up doing far more than necessary! Poor Josh had to keep running to the store to buy me more eggs!

I loved how beautifully all the dyed eggs turned out so I ended up using some of them to dress up the Easter table by putting them in pastel vintage espresso and tea cups. The rest we hid all over the property and watched as the girls hunted them down.

Naleigh Finding one of many Hidden Easter Eggs

Naleigh finding one of many hidden Easter eggs

I’m a huge Rice Krispies fan and when I found this recipe for multi-colored ones made with my all time favorite Easter treat PEEPS, I knew they were perfect for my Easter baskets and that not only would I love them, but so would my kiddos! These pastel mint patties were incredibly easy and really fun to make. They were the perfect project to include the kids in and they tasted delicious!

Layered Peeps and Pastel Mint Patties

Homemade goodies for the Easter baskets
Katherine Heigl Making Pastel Mint Patties

Putting the pastel mint patties into cellophane bags
Naleigh and Adalaide with their Easter Baskets

The girls with their Easter baskets
Dressing the Table for Easter Dinner

Dressing the table for Easter dinner

Easter Dinner

Easter dinner tends to be a pretty heavy meal whether you’re serving ham, lamb or beef, so I love to add a few lighter dishes to balance it out. One of my favorites is a radish appetizer that’s as easy as slicing the radishes in half, arranging them on a platter and adding small bowls of fresh sweet cream butter, coarse sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to dip them in.

A Few Fresh Radishes Straight from the Garden

A few fresh radishes straight from the garden

A fresh simple salad of baby arugula tossed with olive oil, fresh cracked pepper, sea salt, heirloom tomatoes, avocado and green onions is the perfect accompaniment to the roasted rosemary leg of lamb we served this year.

Baby Arugula Starting to Fill Out in the Greenhouse

Baby arugula starting to fill out in the greenhouse

Easter Sunday always has a way of bringing rebirth, renewal and gratitude to mind. It comes upon us at exactly the right time and when we need it the most to remind us that winter will not last forever and that the tulips will be blooming soon.

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12 Comments

  • Allison Cross

    Idaho has a way of tricking us, too. How wonderful it is to live where we get to enjoy the beauty, and surprises, each season brings. Come on Spring 🙂

    March 31, 2016 at 4:46 pm Reply
  • Kelly B.

    I love the Easter decorations! Especially how great your dyed eggs turned out. Could you share your secret? FYI, I have an amazing recipe for Deviled Eggs that uses Balsamic Vinegar and bacon, but no mustard. They are amazing!

    As for Spring in Utah, you’re spot on. I built my own greenhouse using PVC, just so I could get a head start on my garden here near Ogden. This cold snap and recent snow is not helping. LOL

    I love the blog, and how creative you are. Thanks for sharing!

    March 31, 2016 at 4:55 pm Reply
  • Carole D.

    J’adore la décoration de la table pour Pâques ! Nature et colorée, c’est très joli

    March 31, 2016 at 7:34 pm Reply
  • Suganya kumar

    You should try the rice crispies we make in India.Spicy ones,sweet ones,tangy ! You name the flavour we got it!!

    April 1, 2016 at 5:26 pm Reply
    • Katherine Heigl

      I can’t wait to check them out!! I’ll let you know as soon as I try them!

      April 5, 2016 at 10:12 pm Reply
  • Regena Britton

    I have to say, Look at you go Katherine! You are simply Amazing…

    April 1, 2016 at 5:43 pm Reply
  • Mish Thomas

    I love your new Blog. I have followed all of your work and you are in my top two favorite actors. And now this!! I’m tickled, your like Martha Stewart, sans Federal prison!!! I think it is so awesome that you stayed true to you!! Kudos!!!!!!!

    April 1, 2016 at 9:08 pm Reply
  • Carrie

    I love that saying! My grandmother used to say it all the time

    April 2, 2016 at 1:57 am Reply
  • Rose

    I absolutely love your home made Easter baskets you made up for your girls. I would love to know what you did with all those left over eggs. Lol

    April 3, 2016 at 1:04 am Reply
    • Katherine Heigl

      We were eating egg salad sandwiches for weeks!!

      April 5, 2016 at 10:10 pm Reply
  • Rene

    Love the idea of the eggs in the teacups, color coordinated too. I will have to steal this idea for next year. As for weather…it’s supposed to be 92 here today…and then down to the low 60’s and raining by the weekend. But we supposed pay more for great weather here in the Bay Area LOL.

    April 6, 2016 at 5:18 pm Reply
  • Sharon

    Our flowers rized and almost were lost by frost here in the northern part of SC. The apple trees were safe by one degree and the strawberries were fine. Garden flowers here in Greenville were safe also as it only dropped to 38. Our weather folks always say not to plant until after April 15 but that doesn’t work for the farmers. Your flower arrangement is beautiful. There is something about tulips that is elegant , to me.

    April 12, 2016 at 10:47 pm Reply
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