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51 · Friday, March 26, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Celebrate Green for Easter Easter is a time when families come together to celebrate in a secular way or embrace the start of the spring season. At a time when so much focus is put on rebirth and a new start, it may seem fitting to think about celebrating in an environmentally friendly manner. · Choose a recycled material for Easter basket fill. Skip the environmentally unfriendly plastic grass for Easter baskets. Instead, use shredded pieces of magazines or newspapers that you've run through a home shredder. Later on gather the paper strands to recycle them. You can also purchase recycled paper "grass" in different colors. · Go for minimally packaged products. Chocolate bunnies and marshmallow chicks are common treats in Easter baskets, but they generally have a lot of unnecessary packaging. Why not try making your own candy creations from chocolate molds? · Hide papier-mache or clay eggs. Plastic eggs certainly are convenient and won't start to smell bad like hard-boiled eggs if the children don't uncover all of your egg hiding spots. However, plastic is certainly not very environmentally friendly, especially if those plastic eggs end up in the trash year after year. Instead, make it a craft project for kids to mold eggs out of dough, clay, or even papiermache. Paint and hide them to be retrieved for little prizes. · Dine on colored Easter eggs. Don't let those hard-boiled colored eggs go to waste. Use them to create egg salad, slice them to add to a Cobb salad or enjoy them for breakfast or a snack. With a little forethought you can make this year's Easter celebration a green one. A mouth-watering feast to enjoy this Easter The arrival of spring means Easter is not far away; a marvellous occasion to celebrate with family over a delicious meal. Even if a traditional menu is always looked forward to with anticipation, you could treat your guests to a few surprises. No matter how it's cooked, lamb is, of course, the highlight of the meal. And, as the maple syrup season is at its height, maple-flavoured ham and omelettes are often a must on an Easter menu. Are you hosting a big crowd? Why not serve a buffet or a brunch. This way you can prepare dishes in advance and offer more variety to your guests. Of course, when Easter is mentioned everyone thinks chocolate. So, delight the taste buds of young and old alike by serving chocolaty desserts. A cake, a mousse or glazed profiteroles will be a perfect finishing touch. If you'd like to offer some new culinary experiences to your guests, numerous Internet sites offer some unique recipes. Koulourakia lambriatika (Greek Easter cookies), paskha (Russian tea cakes), Easter bavarois (German dessert), pasteria napolitana (Italian cake), magiritsa (Greek soup) and kozounak (Bulgarian cake) are just some of the mouth-watering treats you could add to your traditional Easter menu. The success of your gathering can only be enhanced by setting a beautiful table. One idea would be a tablecloth in the greens and yellows of Easter, highlighted with lilies, hyacinths, tulips and daffodils. Small chocolates and decorative items such as place markers and painted eggs would add lovely touches to the Easter meal. Do you know how to choose your chocolate? Chocolate bars, chocolate bites, chocolate truffles, chocolate sauce ... how do you like your chocolate? One thing is certain; the more care you take in selecting your chocolate, the more pleasure you will get from it. This coming Easter, treat yourself without feeling guilty by selecting quality chocolate that will melt in your mouth! First, learn how to recognize good chocolate. Learn what to look for, learn how different chocolates taste, and learn how to read labels. You can recognize a good quality chocolate by its intoxicating aroma, its brilliance, its true colour, its ability to melt in your mouth, and of course, by its exquisite taste. Avoid artificially flavoured or artificially sweetened products. When choosing a white chocolate, select one made of cocoa butter instead of vegetable oil or other fatty substance These are only poor imitations of real chocolate. Also consider your tastes and needs. The darker the chocolate, the more concentrated the cocoa and thus the more bitter the taste. Non-sweetened chocolate blends well with very sweet desserts. Semi-sweet chocolate (or dark chocolate) can be eaten as is or it can be incorporated in your cooking. Milk chocolate, which is much sweeter, appeals to the majority of us but it is difficult to cook with. Finally, white chocolate, which contains cocoa butter instead of pure cocoa, has a sweet taste and is very pleasant to eat. Finally, to extend your taste sensation, preserve this delicate pleasure from humidity, heat, and light. Well protected, milk and white chocolate can last up to six months, while dark chocolate can last up to a year. That is, unless you have already eaten it! Ham is delicious for holidays and any time of year Ham is a food synonymous with holiday meals, including Easter celebrations. However, ham needn't be served on holidays alone. It can prove to be a tasty and anticipated dish any time during the year. Cooking ham is relatively easy when you first know what type of ham you have. Generally, hams are sold fully cooked, partially cooked or uncooked. Fully cooked hams do not have to be cooked any further. If you prefer, they can be heated until warm throughout or served cold in sandwiches and salads. Partially cooked hams will need to be cooked for a duration until they are fully done. Uncooked hams will have to cook hours depending upon size. Basically, hams should be cooked until the internal temperature reads 160 F. Hams can be cooked in a number of ways, from boiling to baking to grilling ham steaks. You can experiment with the different cooking ways to determine a taste you prefer. There are also a number of seasoning methods that can make a sweet or savory ham. Honey-glazed ham is quite popular. Many home chefs like Join us at Hampton's Restaurant located in the Quality Hotel & Suites for Easter Sunday Brunch on Sunday April 04, 2010. Enjoy an elaborate buffet presented with all of your favourites. The children will be taken through the hotel on an Easter egg hunt. Afterwards, children will enjoy our activity area where they can colour and play. E aster Champagne Brunch Buffet Includes: (Just South of Upper Middle Rd.) 1500 Sixth Line 905-844-9209 Liz, Nick & Staff at to baste hams with pineapple or orange juice for a citrus flavor. Or, attach pineapple rings with whole cloves for a decorative and tasty presentation. There are few ways you can ruin a ham, so don't be afraid to try different flavor combinations. Because of the relative size of hams, you are likely to have some left over. Chunks of ham can be added to salads and stews. Save the ham bone to add flavor to soups. Sliced ham makes great sandwiches or can be added to breakfast egg dishes. The possibilities are endless. Carvery of Ham and Prime Rib * Scrambled Eggs * Bacon & Sausage * Pancakes * Tossed & Caesar Salad * Seafood Salad * Jumbo Shrimps, Mussels Platters * Assortment of Fine World Cheeses * Pasta of the Day * Home style Potatoes * Fresh Garden Vegetables * Home Baked Breads* Muffins, Croissants, Danishes * French Pastries, Tortes, Cakes & Pies * Glass of Chilled Mimosa * Coffee or Tea ART'S FISH & CHIPS wish our customers and remind you that we will be OPEN on Good Friday, 12 Noon to 7pm $24.99 per person Children 12 and under half price Children under 5 eat free We will be offering two seatings for our brunch. The 10:30 A.M seating will be available until 12:30 P.M., and our 1:30 P.M seating will be available until 3:30 P.M. Please call 905-847-1566 or email hamptonscatering@hotmail.com to book your reservation. www.hamptonsrestaurant.ca a Happy & Healthy Easter Come early and avoid the 5 pm rush. We will be serving Halibut Fish & Chips only with a limited menu of side orders and will not take any phone-in orders for pick-up after 5 p.m. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATRONAGE! Restaurant & Pub Open for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner 754 Bronte Rd. (inside the Quality Hotel) 905-847-1566