Jimmy Stewart of Vancouver's HousexGuest restaurant shares a classic Easter Sunday dinner of Maple and Cola Roasted Ham with Pomme Dauphinoise, Snap Peas and English Mustard. With minimal prep required, you can spend more time on the centerpieces, like these in-bloom flowers in hollowed out eggshells (courtesy of our other favourite Stewart, Martha.)

Ingredients (Ham):

1 (4 1/4 to 4 1/2-pound) bone in ham

1 onion, peeled, cut in 1/2

1 liter bottle of cola

½ cup of maple syrup

1 heaping tablespoon molasses

2 teaspoons English mustard powder

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 325

    1.    Score the entire ham in diamond patterns and pour the maple syrup all over the ham. Coat the ham in the mustard powder and brown sugar, cut the onion in half and place all of it in a dutch oven or roasting pan.

    2.    After approx. 20 minutes add the cola to the pan, stir with a spoon to ‘deglaze’ the bottom of the pan and baste the ham with the mixture. Do this every 10 minutes until the ham reads 160F on a thermometer. Once this temperature is reached, remove the ham from the oven and cover with aluminum foil. The ham will continue to cook for another few minutes so just let it sit for at least 10 minutes before cutting into it.

Jimmy says…  "Cooking ham with maple and cola is a tradition of my fathers that I feel is the best way to have ham cooked. It’s sweet, salty, juicy and straight up delicious."

See the recipes for pomme dauphinoise and snap peas on our Editors' Diary.

Halfway through Easter weekend and still not started decorating eggs? If you’re the type of home that doesn’t have a preschool’s worth of craft supplies in the cupboard, here are a few options that only require basic household goods. And eggs of course, lots of eggs.

Almost everyone has a Sharpie pen lying around, so these gorgeous doodle eggs will be a cinch. From Alisa Burke.

These bumblebees require a few steps, but don’t require many supplies: coffee filters, tape, markers, glue, fishing line, and egg dye (use Kool-Aid or food colouring as alternatives). The pipe cleaner tail can be optional, if you don’t have any handy.  From Homemade Serenity.

Create these beautiful striped eggs using only elastic bands and egg dye. From Better Homes and Gardens.

Dig some thread out of your sewing kit and create these lovely thread-wrapped Easter eggs. If you’re short on time, skip the dyeing, use a few different colours of thread on a white egg and voila! Rainbow thread eggs. From Martha Stewart.

If pastels aren’t your thing, then try making these rainbow eggs using food colouring and vinegar. They did say brights were back in fashion for spring, right? From No. 2 Pencil.

—Alexandra Suhner Isenberg

Cheap chocolate is one thing, but what if the Easter Bunny left something lighter for your little egg-hunter?

Like, say, a White Rabbit of England lamp. Made in Britain of bone china, this little creature’s friendly shape would make for a very hoppy Easter. And the glow it casts would make for very peaceful nights.

It’s perfect for somebunny special. —Kelsey Dundon

$120 at Leuie.com

Easter is around the corner, and we are all trying to figure out ways to prevent our kids from gorging on chocolate for an entire weekend. (Sugar crashes aren’t fun business.)

So let’s distract them with real eggs, the healthy, protein-rich ones , and let’s make the them a bit more egg-citing (sorry, I had to) with the Eco Eggs Natural Easter Egg Colouring Kit. It comes with three dyes and a chart for creating six different colours, which will help to develop their artistic skills. The dyes are natural, non-toxic, and each pack comes with enough dye to colour 100 eggs. That should keep them busy.

Next up, recipes for Easter Sunday omelettes. —Alexandra Suhner Isenberg

Eco Eggs Natural Easter Egg Colouring Kit, $19.50 from Lavish & Lime, www.lavishandlime.com

You've glued one too many cotton tails to your fingertips to know that Easter arts and crafts are serious business. But instead of cracked eggs and tears, try this Eggs Au Natural activity from upcoming book, Everyday Eden, by Christina Symons and John Gillespie of Roberts Creek, B.C.

Eggs Au Natural
There are many natural dye bases to choose from, including berries, vegetables and spices. Use what you have on hand to experiment.

You can dye your eggs using the boiling method or the cold-dipping method. Cold dipping is best when small children are participating. For either method, first mix and prepare your dyes. For the eggs pictured, use red cabbage, tumeric, coffee, beets and grape juice.

Once you prepare your blend (as noted below), strain out any solids and you are ready to dip! Dip hard-boiled or blown-out eggs into your dyes and allow them to soak for a few minutes or several hours (the longer they soak, the deeper the colour). Try double dipping for cool colour combinations. Affix masking-tape cutouts (flower shapes) or pre-cut stickers before dipping to create a patterned effect.

Alternatively, you can boil raw eggs right in your prepared dyes for ten to eight minutes or longer. The extra heat required to cook the eggs will result in deeper, darker colour.

Red Cabbage Dye Base
Boil 4 cups of chopped red cabbage in 6 cups of water for 30 minutes. Add 1 Tbsp f vinegar and allow to cool.

Turmeric Dye Base
Add 4 Tbsp powered turmeric to 4 cups of boiling water and stir well. Add 1 Tbsp of vinegar and allow to cool.

Coffee Dye Base
Brew 4 cups of very strong coffee. Place in saucepan, add 1 Tbsp of vinegar and allow to cool.

Beet Dye Base
Boil 3 cups of chopped beets in 6 cups of water for 40 minutes. Add 1 Tbsp of vinegar and allow to cool.

Grape Dye Base
Bring 4 cups of grape juice to boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Add 1 Tbsp of vinegar and allow to cool. You can try wild or cultivated blackberries (use up those frozen ones from last summer!).

http://everydayeden.com

As a nod to Greek Easter, we asked Christine Cushing, host of Fearless in the Kitchen, to share a simple and tasty recipe:

Kopanisti – Roasted Red Pepper and Feta Spread

2 roasted red peppers, peeled and seeded
1/2 pound good quality feta cheese, crumbled (225 grams)
1/2 tsp chili flakes or freshly chopped chili (2 ml)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (50 ml)

In a food processor puree the roasted peppers. Add the crumbled feta cheese and pulse a few times. Add the chili and pulse. Transfer to a bowl. Stir in olive oil until blended. Spoon over grilled pita or flatbread.

Yield: 10 to 12 servings.

Plate smashing, optional.

With one week to spare until Easter, we cringe just thinking about our sugar-rushed kids bouncing off the walls. For a healthier treat, bake these Yummy Easter bunny beet cupcakes.

Ingredients
1 cup margarine or butter (softened)
1 ½ cup packed dark brown sugar
3 eggs
3 oz dark chocolate
2 cups pureed beets (5 medium beets)
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt

Method
Boil beets until soft and then place in blender and pulse until smooth puree forms.
In a mixing bowl, cream ¾ cup butter and brown sugar. Add eggs, mix well.
Melt chocolate with remaining butter, stir until smooth. Cool slightly.
Blend chocolate mixture, beets and vanilla into the creamed mixture (it will appear separated).
Combine flour, baking soda and salt, add to the creamed mixture.
Line muffin tins with cupcake papers and fill ¾ full.
Bake at 375 F for 30 minutes.

Add some sweet finishing touches:
We used a simple butter cream icing but cream cheese icing would also be delicious.
Make a bunny face: Sprinkle coconut over the icing, cut large marshmallows and decorate with pink sprinkles for ears and use little candies to create the eyes, nose and cheeks.
Order your little assistant one of these funky smocks ($39) at www.moojoes.com.