Outdoor Dining

If you’re like me, you spend all winter looking forward to spring and celebrating Easter outside with the family. The spring brings blooming flowers and warmer weather, creating the perfect atmosphere for outdoor dining and entertaining. Easter is the first post-winter holiday where you have a real excuse to gather with extended family and friends to celebrate outdoors.

This year’s not quite the same, though. The pandemic and stay-at-home reality we’re facing have put many things on hold, and Easter is no exception. But this doesn’t mean we can’t still celebrate and connect with those we love. It just means Easter will look a little different this year.

One thing that is still possible this coming Sunday is to enjoy celebrating Easter outside with your family. While it will probably be a much smaller celebration than usual, there are so many ways to make a stay-at-home Easter memorable and fun. The good news? I’ve done the hard work of gathering ideas for you to help make this Easter at home one of the best yet!

It All Starts with Décor

Celebrating Easter outside is a fantastic way to soak up the sun and make lasting memories. Nothing lifts moods and sets the tone better than some cheerful decorations.

And don’t worry: If you don’t have old Easter décor lying around, you can easily DIY some quick decorations. Here are a few ideas:

• Easter wreaths are simple to make and can be assembled from a variety of materials. You can use everything from twigs and twine to plastic eggs and tulle.

• Handcrafted banners using scrap fabric or paper look wonderful hung across your fence, or in between tree branches. They’re a surefire way to make celebrating Easter outside feel like a real party.

• Dreamy, Easter-inspired bouquets are the perfect embodiment of spring renewal. Use flowers from your garden or even pick wildflowers from around the neighborhood, add twigs, and a little strand of ribbon. Place these simple arrangements thoughtfully throughout your home and yard to add a joyful spring touch. (If you don’t have a garden, paper flowers will do in a pinch.)

• If you have any empty flowerpots, coffee cans, or wine bottles lying around, a quick coat of pastel-colored acrylic paint can turn almost any item into Easter décor.

• Upcycled baskets from around the house are always a win. Fill them with flowers, plastic eggs, confetti, or tulle. Baskets easily evoke feelings of Easter nostalgia, so even a simple ribbon on a brown, wicker basket can help bring the Easter celebration to life.

• String plastic eggs like you would popcorn for a Christmas garland, and hang the strands from tree branches in your yard. 

• Use sidewalk chalk to cover your backyard fence and patio in Easter-inspired artwork. Draw eggs, bunnies, flowers, inspirational Easter phrases, and more. You can get the kids involved, too!

Let’s not forget: The main events when celebrating Easter outside typically involve the egg hunt and a meal (or two). We’ll talk more about the egg hunt and other activities in a bit, but first let’s focus on some table decoration and meal inspiration for your stay-at-home Easter.

Simple Ways to Elevate the Outdoor Dining Experience

Transforming your outdoor dining table can be as straightforward or intricate as you’d like. For instance, a simple pastel-colored tablecloth over your outdoor table can go a long way.

Alternatively, if you want celebrating Easter outside to be more of an Instagram-worthy affair, there are plenty of ways to elevate your outdoor décor. Individual placemats and handcrafted name cards are always a nice touch. A sweet and subtle table setting with a cloth napkin and hand-painted Easter egg can be charming, too.

Table centerpieces are also so much fun to make. Since we’re celebrating Easter outside, I’m really inspired by centerpieces that play with the more natural elements of Easter.

A couple of my favorite ideas for an Easter-themed, nature-inspired centerpiece include: 

• Carrots in a Glass Vase: Grab some big carrots with long, leafy stems. Then, simply place the carrots into a clear vase, letting the green, leafy stems flow over the top like flowers. There’s something rustic and beautiful about an earthy carrot. Plus, I hear it’s a fantastic lure for the Easter Bunny.

• A Nest with Eggs: I also really love the look of a nest with eggs for a table centerpiece. It’s a classic Easter decoration, but when you’re stuck celebrating Easter at home, classic is a good thing in my book. You can craft a nest using materials found around your backyard. Then, decorate real or plastic eggs to place inside.

To be frank, though, when it comes to celebrating Easter outside, the decorations are only a small part of the equation. If the thought of decorating your backyard stresses you out, don’t worry about it! This Easter is all about maximizing fun and making memories, so do what feels right to you.

Sharing food with the ones I love always feels right to me, so let’s talk about some Easter food and drink ideas.

Food & Drink Ideas for Your Easter Celebration

When you’re celebrating Easter outside, there are so many food options. There’s brunch, lunch, dinner, and finger foods. Then, of course, there’s the beverage menu.

This year, the supermarkets are a little bare. And I’m also not cooking for a crowd; it’s a much more intimate affair. With this in mind, I’m most inspired by simple menus and recipes.

Also, I love to spend as much time celebrating Easter outside as possible, so I opt for foods that can be cooked on the grill or our outdoor fire pit instead of the oven. Here are some recipes and inspiration for all your Easter food and drink.

Easter Brunch

• Asparagus and Goat Cheese Frittata: This is an easy-to-make breakfast that you can whip up over your firepit outside (details here). Simply throw about ½ a pound of bite-sized pieces of asparagus into an oiled cast-iron skillet over your firepit. Season the asparagus and cook until it’s lightly tender. Then whisk up a dozen eggs and pour them evenly into the skillet. Add 2-4 ounces of goat cheese to the top of the skillet and cover it with foil. Allow it to cook over the firepit for 15-20 minutes. Let it cool before slicing and serving.

• Easter Pink Mimosas: For this mimosa, simply mix equal parts of your favorite brut champagne with raspberry lemonade or cranberry juice. 

Easter Dinner

• Smoked Ham: Ham is a classic dish for Easter Sunday, and it’s a simple meat to smoke in your grill. Simply season it with your favorite spices and pop it in the grill. Just remember to get started early, because ham takes about six hours on the grill before it’s ready.

• Roasted Carrots: You can use some leftover carrots from your centerpiece for this side dish. Carrots are inherently Easter, and they’re delicious when grilled. Wash and peel some whole carrots and slice them in half, lengthwise. Then rub them in oil and season with a little bit of salt, pepper, and thyme. Lay them in a single layer on the grill for about fifteen minutes, turning once in the middle. Both sides should have sear marks and be tender on the outside and a little crunchy in the middle.

Easter Finger Food 

• Colored Deviled Eggs: For a twist on a classic, try some Easter-dyed deviled eggs. Prepare your eggs the same as you usually would, except once you have the whites separated from the yolks, place the cooked whites into various cups of food-colored water. Steep the egg whites until they’re tinted with color, and then place them out to dry. Finally, pipe your prepared filling into the fun colored eggs before popping them in the fridge to cool.

Celebrating Easter Outside with Memorable Activities

Once your decoration and outdoor dining plans are complete, it’s all about the activities. For some, Easter activities consist of going to church and having huge family meals. For others, it’s about community egg hunts and pictures with the Easter bunny.

No matter what your regular Easter celebration looks like, there are easy ways to make celebrating Easter outside a blast, even if you’re stuck at home. Here are some ideas:

• Dye Easter Eggs: The night before, sit outside on the patio and dye and decorate Easter eggs with the kids. If there’s a shortage of eggs in your location, fear not! Go on a hunt around your neighborhood for rocks to paint and decorate instead.
• Make Easter-Themed Desserts: I left desserts off the menu, because making sweets is also a terrific way to bond with your kiddos. Chocolate-dipped peeps, food-colored Rice Krispies treats, or peep s’mores are some simple and fun, kid-friendly desserts.
• Do Some Easter Crafts: Crafting is a fun way to pass the time while celebrating Easter outside. Grab paints, construction paper, glue, and glitter, and go wild with some Easter-inspired artwork.  

• Have a Photoshoot: While you might not be able to take photos with the Easter bunny, you can take some dreamy shots around the backyard. If you’ve spent time on décor for celebrating Easter outside, then you might as well have a fun photoshoot to share with friends and family.
• Watch an Easter Movie on a Projector: Once night falls, gather your family on a blanket beneath the stars and watch an Easter movie on a projector outside. Hop and Peter Rabbit are two animated favorites your kids will love. (Hint: You can make a projector using a shoebox, a white sheet or wall, and your smartphone.) 
• Have an Easter Egg Hunt: While the hunt might be smaller this year, if you have children, wake up early and set up an Easter egg hunt in your backyard. To get the community hunt feelings going, encourage your neighborhood to do a safe community hunt. The night before Easter, ask neighbors to hang paper Easter eggs in their front-facing windows and front yards. Then, on Easter, families can take turns walking around the neighborhood spotting and pointing out Easter eggs.

If you had a hard time finding Easter egg supplies or getting to the store, you could do a scavenger hunt instead. Set up clues and allow your children to run throughout the backyard following clues that will lead them to Easter baskets filled with homemade goodies.

Make This Stay-At-Home Easter a Memorable One

In addition to all the fun ideas above, don’t be afraid to leverage technology to stay connected. You can live stream church services, do virtual egg hunts, and video chat with your extended family.  

With a little inspiration and some positivity, there are plenty of ways to make this Easter terrific. As long as you’re celebrating Easter outside with the ones you love, you’ll be sure to make memories that will last forever. How will you make this holiday special? Share in the comments below.