This year I will have a quiet Easter. On Monday 4/10/23, I will have an operation and spend the night at the hospital. I should be home on Tuesday around lunch time. In the past, my family has often come to visit from Michigan for a week at Easter. I usually ordered a ham dinner with sides from a local restaurant and only had to heat it. I also made my own salad and added a few family favorites. My family had fun celebrations. It was really about being together. If you ever need help to make a holiday easy, check with local restaurants and grocery stores for the offered holiday dinners to go. Today I’m sharing local Publix Supermarket’s catered Easter dinners as well as Cracker Barrel. (THIS IS NOT A SPONSORED POST.) Let’s start with a deviled egg tray as appetizer. I really prefer my own deviled eggs, but if it was an emergency, this is a nice platter.
From the 2 choices of Easter dinner at Publix, their ham dinner above would be my choice if I was ordering today. Not only do I love ham, but I love sweet potatoes and green beans. Both of these favorites are in their own casserole sides. The third side is Marshmellow Delight.
Over at Cracker Barrel they also have a catered ham dinner. You can order a sliced ham alone all the way to a large feast of multiple sides and pies. I really prefer choosing my own sides to getting the two casseroles at Publix. Casseroles can hide so much sugar, fat, and salt. I prefer getting a side of green beans to a green bean casserole. In truth, I would prefer to bake sweet potatoes myself than have a casserole. My family loves them.
At Publix, the second dinner choice is a slice and serve turkey dinner with mashed potatoes, dressing, cranberry orange relish, and marshmallow delight. This also sounds delightful but my mother always cooked a ham when I was growing up. Turkey is not my first choice for Easter.
Over at Cracker Barrel there is an Easter catered dinner choice of Prime Rib. It looks so good! It includes rolls, mashed potatoes, gravy, and choice of 2 sides. I have never had Prime Rib catered meal but love the idea.
If I didn’t have time to bake, they have a great bakery at Publix. Their Easter desserts are adorable. I do love food art. The Bunnies & Rosettes Mini Cake is cute but the cake is pretty basic.
You can also choose to have the cake decorated as a Bunny Basket Mini Cake or with a cross and the words, “Happy Easter”.
A different approach is to hop on down the bunny trail with a 12-inch round Easter cookie cake.
Besides these holiday decorated desserts, there are the Publix speciality cakes which are lots more than plain cake and icing. Back 15 years ago I discovered a wonderful Publix cake, the Raspberry Elegance. This cake is certainly worthy of its name, with four layers of moist vanilla cake and a luscious raspberry filling. Covered with a rich cream cheese icing, this impressive dessert is as beautiful to behold as it is delicious to eat. I have bought this cake by the slice often. It’s pure decadence.
Another decadent choice is Chantilly Cake. It is carefully handcrafted with vanilla cake, almond flavoring, and Chantilly-mascarpone cream frosting to be delicious. Then it’s expertly decorated with fresh fruit to make a statement. This beautiful cake is perfect for special occasions and just-because days alike. Oh yes, I can attest it’s wonderful.
For chocolate lovers, try the Chocolate Ganache Cake. It’s a four layer chocolate or vanilla cake, chocolate or vanilla whipped topping, and chocolate ganache icing wrapped with ribbons of fudge. A bow of dark chocolate pieces completes the presentation.
There are many other flavorful cakes like carrot cake, red velvet cake, strawberry ganache cheesecake, and chocolate avalanche cake as well as all kinds of pies and tarts. Check out your local grocery stores or bakeries for a dessert to win the day.
If you celebrate the holiday, I pray that your Easter is a blessed one. I enjoyed checking out the catered dinners for the holidays and hope you did too.


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That sounds like the perfect solution. I love cooking for Easter but as I look at this, I have a pang of “I wish…”!!!
I understand – the best option for me is to order the ham and do the sides myself. When I was working, I did that multiple times.
Somehow none of the photos is unavailable…ALL THE BEST with your operation, Carol.
What browser are you using? I see them on Edge and Google Chrome.
Good luck, I hope your operation goes well and you have a speedy recovery.
What delicious sounding food. Quite a few supermarkets here do the same sort of thing selling food for events and I think it’s such a good idea.
The photos aren’t showing for me either, I am using Google Chrome.
thanks for letting me know!
I’ve never done a catered Easter meal but this sounds like it would be very good. I have ordered Thanksgiving packages before and we always enjoyed them. Like you said, it allowed it to be more about spending time together.
When family is coming almost 1000 miles and you won’t see them for awhile, I believe we are happier just spending time together. My sister and her husband agreed. Some of my best memories are their visits to my home.
This is great! We just discussed this very thing this week. We are bringing food in and enjoying our family this year!
What a great idea. I have never had a holiday meal catered but it might happen real soon. TFS at #aclwcc.
It helps when life is filled with problems – buy the main dish and cook your sides if you want.