Hello there! I hope all of you had lovely weekends, and lovely weather to enjoy them in. We had a nice Easter weekend, and the best weather yet… sun, blue skies, light breezes and 75-degree days. Otherwise known as perfection. I could totally live with this type of weather year-round.

I spent most of my weekend cleaning, cooking and eating. I consumed more chocolate than should be allowed, and washed it down with a deliciously fruity white wine sangria. There’s nothing exciting about the cleaning portion of our weekend, though we did move a low bookshelf from my office to our family room, where it will stay (woot! Something to style!). Oh, and if that photo with the reindeer threw you for a minute, don’t let it. Yes, I finally packed my Christmas decor into the “Christmas Closet” where it belongs. Call it one of those I-can’t-clean-this-until-I-organize-that moments. And yes, I threw all of my Christmas decor into an empty spare bedroom and put off packing it away until April. Go me.

Anyways, the real reason I’m here today is to share some of our Easter lunch recipes with you!

I have a somewhat bad habit of seeking out new recipes for holidays and dinner parties. Not that trying new things is bad, but I should probably try new things when I’m not relying on the outcome to feed more than just Tom & me. In case it’s a colossal failure.

Thankfully, the recipes I selected for Sunday were not colossal failures! They were actually quite delicious, and are going on the Definitely Make Again list.

The first was a sort of hodge-podge / made-it-up-myself recipe. I wanted something brunchy, and immediately went to a quiche or breakfast casserole. But quiche is a bit smaller than I had in mind, and nearly every breakfast casserole recipe calls for milk or buttermilk. And Tom is lactose intolerant. So I decided to concoct my own breakfast casserole recipe, going off of this paleo version as a dairy-free guide. I cracked and whipped 10 eggs, then added  a splash of veggie broth, chopped green and red bell peppers, crumbled cooked bacon, green onion, salt, pepper, and a bit of garlic powder. Then I poured this mixture into a greased casserole dish, topped with shredded cheddar cheese, and baked on 375-degree oven for about 20-25 minutes.

For dessert, I made blackberry pie bars from this recipe from my friend Jill at Foodtastic Mom. It does call for 1/2 cup of sour cream, which I just omitted. These were SO delicious, and they were a big hit with the whole family. I’d love to try the same recipe but swap out the blackberries for strawberries, blueberries, even peaches or mangoes.

I also made a classic angel food cake, but served it up with a slight twist. I skewered pieces of angel food cake and strawberries for a sweet and easy-to-eat dessert. There wasn’t a single one left, not even a crumb!

Oh, and I can’t forget the sangria! I stumbled across this recipe from Averie Cooks, and knew it’d be perfect. White wine + tropical fruits? You can’t go wrong! I selected a pinot grigio, as that’s my usual go-to white, and also threw in a 1/4 cup or so of coconut rum that I had on hand. YUM! I may keep this stocked in my fridge all summer long!

That about covers my weekend! Do you have any go-to recipes for get-togethers? Please share in the comments or shoot me an email at twopurplecouches@gmail.com!