Happy Easter!…

Trust — you won’t want to be hungry when you look through this first photo slide show (and you won’t want to be thirsty when looking through the second one). Beyond the upfront egg dyeing highlights, there’s a full on feast of photos from Easter suppers past — including several from the crib of a dear friend who’s both a classically trained CHEF — AND talented WINE buyer— so not only are the dishes she makes deliciously on point, they’re perfectly paired too!… Living in NYC for decades, with my immediate family on the Left Coast (California), Easter (and Thanksgiving too) tend to be the holidays when I’m most nomadic. Lucky me I am blessed with having a lot of food-focused friends including lovely, highly skilled culinary cronies in my life … and with my cocktail (and mocktail) concocting skills (see below — but not if you’re thirsty ;) let’s just say a tasty time is had by all.

[📸: ⬆️@thefoodgriot’s original photography⬇️]

These Easter-Egg Inspired, Naturally Colored Cocktails …

Are as Delicious as They are Delightful to Behold!

— Cheers to Easter-egg colored cocktails (+ mocktail mixology) indeed! Inspired by the tradition of dyeing radiant ranges of colorful Easter eggs since childhood, I’ve created a more recent but equally fun tradition for the big kid within (and other imbibers in my world who are of legal drinking age) by creating vibrant hues of naturally Colored Cocktails as delicious as they are delightful to look at. These “Color Your Cocktail” Creative & Custom Drink Designs are now part of the offerings I make available to clients via my TFG DRINKS ‘division’. But if you’re feeling creative and want to try your own hand at multi-colored mixology — just know that clear vs amber-colored spirits tend to yield the best results. My ‘clear spirit’ muse is mezcal — Eléctrico Mezcal Artesanal to be exact…when I want really good quality and the best flavor results, which is ALWAYS.

+ HAPPY Happy Ham 🍖 (& Pineapple 🍍!) Day …

When it comes to Easter in America, over time ham and deviled eggs became menu essentials for a traditional holiday spread….

Culinary Colleague, Donna Battle Pierce, a Chicago-based food journalist and test kitchen director, talks often about the “(glazed) ham & (deviled or hard boiled) eggs” Easter tradition that’s held among many African American families …

across multiple geographies and over the course of several generations.

She points to the writings of legendary cookbook author

  Freda DeKnight, who was also EBONY magazine’s first food editor in the 1940s-50s. “If it is not lamb, it must be ham, for those meats are definitely an Easter Sunday tradition,” wrote Freda DeKnight about an Easter holiday dinner menu in her “A Date With a Dish” cookbook. “For luck and good eating, plan your menu around a delicious baked ham and gaily colored hard-boiled eggs.” I agree whole heartedly with Pierce (via my own experience, theories AND exhaustive research that although deviled eggs have deep European origins—dating back to ancient Rome— early African-Americans cooks most certainly put their spin on the recipe, calling for the inclusion of pickle juice and other tart , tangy flavorful condiments (e.g. mustard variations, pickled peppers…) and of course that “same sour, briny juice your grandmother hoarded in jarfuls which had long been a popular flavoring agent in many African-American kitchens” … plus the added reality that Black American women were the longest-running award-winning picklers and fermenters as I’ve discovered when researching culinary SHeroes like Abby Fisher , Anne Northup and Edna Lewis…

…Last year Easter fell on March 31st which is “Oranges & Lemons Day” (on 3/31 annually)

…and i gotta tell you, the historic American citrus story is quite juicy!…

Just one of the perks for my paid Patreon supporters is the opportunity to access more info or food & drink history on the topics they find interesting. Join my PATREON and i’ll see you over there where you can get more scoop.

In the meantime, THIS LINK takes you to the current month calendar to explore more …