Five Easter feast ideas

It’s always seemed strange to me, to use lots of pastel colours with baby chicks and bunnies at Easter, because for us it is a turning point in our year, when weather gets cooler and we know we’re in for the long haul of winter.

Here’s a few ideas to celebrate Easter minus the pastel. Let’s usher in the cosiness of Winter with a delicious feast.

1) Hygge feast!

Easter is in the middle of our daylight savings’ transition – so it’s time to remind ourselves that the cold dark to come can be good. It’s time for soup, candles, hot chocolate and all the cosiness that is the Danish word hygge.

Have a look at this eBook Scandinavian Comfort Food, download the Libby by Overdrive app on to your device, log in with your library card details and you can read this without even stepping outside your house!

2) Mezze feast

Grab some lamb, flatbreads and hummus to have an ancient traditional Easter feast. This works really well if you’re doing a feast with friends or whānau as it’s easy for people to bring something to contribute. (Flatbread, nuts, hummus, olives, wine… all easy stuff to pick up on the way to an event)

Yotam Ottolenghi is the authority on the mezze / Jewish inspired feast. Once you’ve had a read of his famous book Jerusalem, you’ll be wanting to make hummus galore and stuff every vegetable.

Try also: Snackistan

3) Easter Fiesta

Tacos! Nachos! Avocados! You can’t go wrong with a bit of Mexican food. It’s also great because people can add bits of whatever they like to their plate, that hot sauce doesn’t have to be for everyone – but man, it can warm you up!

Looking for Mariachi vibe music to go with your food? Check out Border crossings via Smithsonian Global Sound one of our music eResources. Just log in with your library card details and stream music for free!

4) Chocolate!

Easter and chocolate go hand-in-hand. Want more chocolate than just a multitude of Easter eggs? Try Indulgent Cakes for some amazing cakes:

Also, for some cosy vintage feels, try streaming Duke Ellington via Access Video (another sweet eResource) – log in with your library card details to view. Look for the song ‘Hot Chocolate’ to help you get in the literal swing of Easter.

5) Eggs

Go classic Easter and have an egg feast! Decorate some eggs, have an egg hunt, eat chocolate eggs or even simple scrambled or fried eggs on toast would be easy and on theme. Egg is a great book for egg recipes:

And for a great egg book to read your kiddies, try Scrambled Eggs Super!

The Sunday Night Book is just all-round fabulous, but happens to have some great egg recipes in it too.

Happy Easter and happy eating!

Mr. Bunny’s Chocolate Factory – a timely tale

Mr Bunny’s Chocolate Factory couldn’t be a more timely tale for Easter!

The publication of this picture book just happens to coincide with the announcement of the closure of the Cadbury chocolate factory in Dunedin, a decision prompted by profit motives. And factory farming is not far from the news either. This story is surprisingly topical on both fronts.

How do you think chocolate eggs are made? Chickens eat chocolate and then lay chocolate eggs, of course! There is a factory… run by a bunny… and in the factory works some chickens …underpaid and overworked. Take a look inside the inner workings of this chocolate factory about to fracture… you’ll find great greed, a big bad boss and weary workers.

If you fancy a serving of morality along with your morsels of treats, Mr Bunny is a wonderful way to engage young children with the ideas of greed and excess and reflect on how people – or animals – should be treated. This is story for our times, in more ways than one.

• More fun reads at our library by Elys Dolan
• Website of Elys Dolan – author & illustrator

Easter related books

Checkout our basket full of recently arrived books about rabbits, eggs and Easter…

Digital Egg Design

This school holidays, take part in a quirky QR iPad Easter hunt in the library followed by a chance to create your very own Easter-inspired basket of goodies.