Easter Menu, and Two Questions

Hey blog friends!

Well, it's that time of year again.  Easter.

I love Easter for so many reasons.  I love the season of rebirth.  I love the significance of the Easter season in my religion - as torturous as the lengthy Holy Week masses could be when I was young, I developed a real appreciation for them as I grew older.  Frankly, I love watching "The Ten Commandments".  It's just a great time of year all around.

Easter is also special for Rob and me because it was on Good Friday 4 years ago that I first had him over for dinner, and by Easter Sunday we were officially boyfriend and girlfriend.  I remember how excited and nervous I was that entire day as I cooked.  I made shrimp puttanesca over pasta.  He brought over a decadent chocolate cake for dessert.  It was a great evening!

This year, Easter holds another special significance:

We are hosting for the first time!

AAAAAH!!!!

Okay.  I'm breathing.  I promise.

In reality, the more I think about it the more I realize that I was making so much of the food already.  I mean, really, I would take a ton of food to my mom's and then would help finish the dinner when I got there.  Now at least I don't have the stress of trying to transport all of that food.  PLUS I have a ton more kitchen space.  Win/win, as far as I'm concered.

So what am I cooking? Well I'm glad you asked! On the menu are the following:
Baked ham*
Kielbasa (both smoked and fresh, provided by my mom who waits in long lines twice a year)
Potato salad*
Macaroni salad (made by my cousin)
Cole slaw
Sweet potato casserole*
Pierogies (3 types - potato, sauerkraut and cottage cheese)*
Babka (Polish Easter bread, for those of you not in-the-know!)*
Deviled eggs (after that post regarding my Mistress of the Eggs status, my cousin offered to bring them!)
Bread (fresh Jewish rye which my mom picks up with the kielbasa - it's amaaaaaaazing!)
Various desserts (made by my cousins, though I might try my hand at one...but I think the babka might count if I made a cheese version, which I definitely will)

* means that it's something I'm making.  Yeah.  I'm making all of that! At least only the ham needs to be done the day of - everything else can be prepared in advance.  Even the kielbasa just needs to be cooked on the stove, no great prep work needed.

We also have incidental things like a relish tray and cheese for ham sandwiches and plenty of spicy horseradish for that kielbasa - in my family Christmas and Easter are big antacid holidays.  I should put Tums out like other people put out after-dinner mints.

Naturally I'll be taking copious pictures of all of my endeavors and sharing them with you, my lovely bloggy friends.  I love hearing your thoughts on my cooking!

What's on the menu for YOUR Easter celebration?

Also:

I've noticed over time that Easter has evolved into more than just an Easter basket holiday for kids.  I know, I know, it should be about religious significance.  And it always was for us, but we got candy nonetheless.  And as we grew older we might also get a small gift in our baskets, like a DVD or a video game or a CD.  But that was it.  Now, though, Easter seems to have become a much more gift-centric holiday for many families.  I've seen flyers and ads for "Easter gifts" all over the place!

How do you feel about kids getting more than just Easter candy in their baskets? 

I'm not talking about a little gift, as I described above. I'm talking full-on gift buying which involves trips to the toy store or clothing stores for the older kids.  What do you think? Do you do this in your own family, or do you know one that does?