Easter is one time of year when I am seized with the desire to bake a pretty cake. I always feel that the Easter meal should be one of the most special of the year, and what's more special than a lovingly decorated spring cake? Here's my favorite — from the year I went looking for the best lemon cake recipe and the best buttercream, and when I even dared to try a Martha Stewart icing technique! Read on to see a few cake decorating tips, and my thoughts on this lemon cake. More

Got too much Easter candy? Jelly beans and Cadbury eggs rolling out of little plastic baskets? Here's one way to both use it up and put it over the top: Easter candy bark. More

Easter is this weekend, and I am preparing a big dinner for 10 guests on Sunday afternoon. I love the foods of Easter; there are recipes I only make for this holiday (like these fried rolls from my mother's family recipe box). What about you? Do you celebrate Easter with any special foods? A bunny cake, perhaps? Or do you just show up for the jellybeans and chocolate bunnies? More

To those of you who have never heard of an Easter butter sculpture, I can guess that you will already be leaning toward believing butter molded to look like a lamb might be a little wacky. But for the rest of us who grew up knowing such a tradition as normal, Easter butter sculptures seem akin with a holiday ham. Does your Easter tradition involve a butter lamb? More

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. I love the tender spring foods that can be spread out across a table with friends on a fresh spring morning. And Easter is a big deal in my family, where traditional Eastern European breads rule the menu. But I also love the sweet projects that come with Easter dinner! Here is a look back at our own Easter projects, from homemade marshmallow Peeps, to hollow sugar eggs, to eggs that have a surprise inside. We have beautiful, naturally-dyed Easter eggs, sweet egg-shaped cakes, and a few ideas for dinner and brunch menus, too. More

Q:  I grew up eating ham or lamb on Easter, but I'm gathering with some friends this year who are vegetarian and sensitive to dairy.

Any suggestions for a holiday-worthy fresh Easter menu appropriate for this diet?

Sent by Hillary More

There are a few recipes that we turn to every holiday season, and this is one of them. This is a workhorse of a cookie recipe. Why? Well, it has everything you need for good cut-out sugar cookies. They mix up quickly, and they are full of sugar and butter so they keep well. This is a firm dough that can be rolled and cut more easily than Play-Doh, and yet it turns out a meltingly delicious cookie, with hints of almond, vanilla, and lemon. More

When I was in Switzerland a couple weeks ago I visited Migros, a large supermarket, and I was shocked to see these eggs! No, not shocked to see raw eggs sitting on the shelves (in Europe eggs are invariably kept on the shelves, instead of in the refrigerated cooler) — I was surprised to see colored eggs. We're nowhere near Easter! More

Easter is over, but I can't resist giving you a peek at the surprise eggs I used as placecards for dinner. These were inspired by Megan of not martha, and they are real eggs, hollowed out and stuffed with treats. The truly surprising thing, though, is that they were actually really, really easy. More

Colored Easter eggs have wandered in many directions from their historical origins: Dyeing them red in remembrance of Christ's blood. Just take a look at Martha Stewart Living's current feature on whimsical Easter egg designs, or ask most kids, who will tell you they dye eggs to make them look like jelly beans. More