Around the Easter Table

An Easter table is a joy to behold as new, fresh greens mix with garish yellows and sugary pastel tones. Start with a crisp, clean tablecloth then send a jolly Easter runner down the centre.

Give pride of place to regal hen-on-nest, right in the centre of the table, her broody feathers protecting all manner of sugar mice and chocolate eggs hidden beneath.

Now it is time for miniature arrangements- and lots of them- with tiny foil-wrapped eggs and sweet Easter chicks and bunnies tucked in between. Think clusters of primroses, pots of pansies  and small jugs and jars filled with daffodils, their stems cut short so that their sunny heads can loll over the rims. Add in a few Spanish bluebells if you have any that have bullied their way into your garden (but remember never to pick the more delicate native variety, which are protected). Pink hyacinths from the local florist will add another candy colour pop.

Continue to build up your table by nestling in some tin eggs, filled with chocolate treats and tightly sealed, one for each child to take away and attempt to open, and dot egg cups about, filled with decorated chicken eggs (although Cream Eggs are a good substitute if you don’t fancy the palaver). Fill small bowls with sugared almonds and add a sprinkling of Smarties. New this year are our Easter crackers which can be personalised as place settings and filled with treats of your choice.

As the smell of roast lamb, and the chatter of friends and family fills the kitchen, this is a time to remember all of the potential good in the world, and to stretch forward, full of hope, into the season ahead.