For those of you out there that celebrate Easter, we know the pressure can be on sometimes - it falls right in the middle of spring cleaning, it’s probably the first time you’ve hosted a party since wintertime, and there’s a lot that goes into it! (This, of course, is all before you take into account the egg hunt.) But there’s an easier way! Instead of trying to host dinner at your place, frankly it might just be easier for everyone if you volunteered to handle brunch instead. Brunch is huge right now, even if we’re not totally convinced it’s a real word, and a lot of people are hosting Easter brunch at their house and simply going out (or going to someone else’s house) for dinner these days. Starting to sound like a better idea? Here’s a few tips to keep in mind for a much more stress-free brunch: Figure out when it’s going to be. Now, before you jump to conclusions, it’s good to keep in mind that not everyone holds their Easter brunch on actual Easter Sunday. Talk to some of your potential guests and see if perhaps Good Friday or the Saturday before (does that have a name?) works too, and plan accordingly! Plan a menu. Once you know when it is (and who’s going to show up, so you can accommodate for any dietary needs) your next step is to plan a menu! Hot cross buns are a typical choice for the holiday, and the rest of the menu can be filled out with lighter fare like quiche, garbanzo bean salads, scones, and maybe some sangria if you don’t mind serving wine with brunch. It is the weekend, after all. Get the kitchen set up. In order to make for better and faster preparation of everything in the morning, you might want to take some time to get your kitchen ready from the get-go. Get a kitchen cart to hold onto your dry goods and canned ingredients so they’re easier to get to, set up a baker’s rack to organize some of your cooking tools to keep them accessible and out of the way, and that wine rack is going to come in handy if you decide to crack into that sangria like we mentioned earlier. Find something for the kids to do. Easter is still a big holiday for the little ones, as any parent who has had to deal with the vinegar-y smell of Easter egg dye can tell you, and they’ll probably be buzzing around with excitement. A good way to channel some of that energy is to let them decorate the house for Easter! Since the kitchen is already in use, now would be a good time to commence the egg-dying, or you could let them make little arts and crafts to hang up around the house to get everyone in the Easter mood. If their handwriting and spelling is up to the task, you could even have them make old-fashioned invitations to put in the mail! Clear a spot for serving and seating. A lot of Easter brunches these days take the ‘buffet’ approach, and if you’ve got the space this could be a fun way to make sure everyone gets exactly what they want. Set up a buffet table in the kitchen to hang onto some serving dishes and warming stations (making sure to keep those little butane fires away from anything that could catch fire, of course) and maybe consider rolling a kitchen island out for smaller items, side dishes, etc. There’s also no shame in having everyone eat in the living room if your dining room can’t quite accommodate the whole crowd, just make sure you have a big enough coffee table to use as a dinner table! We’ll be back soon with some more Easter tips, and in the meantime we hope your brunch goes well (and your kitchen stays clean)!