I love Easter.  The air is warm, flowers are blooming anew and people seem to have a renewed spirit with all of the fun and laughter that come along with spring and summer. 

Every Easter, several of my friends and I, along with our gaggle of children, gather together to celebrate with a festive Easter Brunch.  We affectionately call ourselves the Easter Brunch Bunch! Everyone brings a dish and contributes to the décor.  It’s going to be a day filled with fun, food and a fabulous Easter egg hunt for all of the chickadees!

This year, I’ve been charged with bringing an appetizer and making place settings.  For the appetizer, I was thinking I would make something light, yet flavorful, and something that is appealing during the brunch hour.  I immediately thought of one of the winning dishes from SeaPak’s Spectacular Seafood Recipe Contest. Dara Bullock submitted these tasty Crab Stuffed Mushrooms.  I’m certain this mix of crab, mushrooms, and cheese will be the perfect nibble to tide over guests until the traditional Easter ham and side dishes are served.  I think I’ll even assemble them the night before, refrigerate them and bake them right before we leave!

As for the place settings, I was perusing one of my favorite magazines, Good Housekeeping, earlier this week and landed upon this adorable idea.  The best part is that they look super simple and like they’d make a big impression – which you know is my style! I’ll be picking up mini pots, some eggs, egg dye and sticky letters to assemble them this weekend.  What a fun craft project! You could make these with hard boiled eggs, as recommended, or you could paint plastic eggs and fill them with candy as a favor!  How cute is that??

Enjoy the Crab Stuffed Mushrooms, and all of the joy this season brings.  Hoppy Easter!

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20-25 minutes Makes: 20 pieces

• 1 (8 oz) package SeaPak® Maryland Style Crab Cakes, thawed according to package directions
• 20 large button mushrooms, uniform in size
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• Salt and pepper

PREHEAT oven to 350?F.

CLEAN mushrooms and remove stems. Finely chop the stems and place in a large bowl.

USE fingers to gently crumble crab cakes into the bowl with stems. Add mayonnaise and cheeses. Mix ingredients gently but thoroughly.

STUFF each mushroom cap with about 1 tablespoon of the crab mixture, pressing to fill the mushroom. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

POUR melted butter into a baking dish. Add stuffed mushrooms.

BAKE 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm.