We had a great weekend over Easter. First, we spent Thursday through Saturday at the Candlands. We spent Friday in Washington D.C. (along with 1,000's of other people!) and had an Easter egg hunt on Saturday and a fancy feast of Honey Baked ham, fruit salad, twice baked potatoes, veggies and dip, and baked artichokes.* Then we came back home to spend Easter Sunday at our house. William was so excited to be able to hunt eggs again and he can't wait to get out and break in that new ball and mitt. The weather was perfect. A great weekend!
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* I made the baked artichoke hearts from a recipe I got from Martha Stewart. It turned out really good so I'll share it with you.
Baked Artichoke Hearts
1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs (I used about 3 slices of white bread)
1/4 cup fresh curly leaf parsley
1/4 cup (2 oz) Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup (2 oz) Pecorino Romano cheese
1 tablespoon mixed dried herbs (I used Italian seasonings, rosemary, and thyme)
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
3 pkgs. (9 oz each) frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and drained
2/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 garlic cloves, minced
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Make bread crumbs in a food processor by pulsing a few times until you have broken the slices down to crumbs. Add the parsley, cheeses, spices and salt and pulse until all are the same crumb consistency. Set aside. Divide the artichoke hearts evenly between two greased baking dishes (I used 9x13 Pyrex's but any will do as long as you have a thin layer of artichokes on the bottom). Sprinkle the bread mixture evenly over the artichokes, pressing it down between the cracks. Tap the bottom of the dishes to make sure the crumbs settle to the bottom as well. Whisk the oil, lemon juice, zest, and garlic in a small bowl. Drizzle evenly over the breadcrumb topping. Cover with foil (Martha also covers with parchment paper under the foil but I've done it without and it works out fine) and bake for 30 min. Increase temp. to 375 degrees and uncover. Bake for an additional 15-20 min. until breadcrumbs are golden brown. Serve immediately.
