By Anna McDougall, The Money Maven
If the thought of emptying your wallet in the Show-Bag Hall at the Easter Show, or funding the family’s egg account from the Lindt Café makes your toes curl, you’re not alone! The all-holy, all-chocolaty, four-day break over Easter should be relaxing, not fraught with money woes! Rescu. brings you the simple ways to save that won’t break the bank for all you Easter Bunnies on a budget this year.
Easter Festivities
There are many community festivals, Easter egg hunts and Easter activities in and around Australia to keep not only children, but yourself, entertained over the Easter Break – and the best part is most of them are free!
For Melbournites revisit your child hood by attending the (free) Mad Hatters Tea Party at the Queen Victoria Market from the 3rd-5th April and again on the Southgate Promenade from Saturday 7th to Monday 9th April, 2012. All the memorable Lewis Carroll characters will be in attendance – The White Rabbit, The Cheshire Cat, The Queen of Hearts, The Hatter and of course, Alice.
For Sydney-siders (those boycotting the Royal Sydney Easter Show) the Hoopla Festival will be held over the Easter long weekend, Friday the 6th of April to Monday the 9th of April between 11am – 10pm Friday to Sunday and 11am to 6pm on Monday. There will be a range of venues hosting these unique entertainers including Big Top, The Tiny Top, The Castello, Street Performers’ Pitch, Ringside and Roaming.
In Brisbane City, kids can kick start the school holidays at Woolworth’s Eggventureland. From Saturday, March 31 until Monday, April 9, the Easter Bunny will be hopping by the Queen Street Mall Stage area with some Easter entertainment, between 10am and 2pm daily.
As for you, for just $20 per person head to Bistro Allure at The Sebel King George Square (corner of Ann and Roma Streets) for its Easter Chocolate Buffet . This year’s chocolate buffet runs from Monday, April 2 until Sunday, April 15. Choose from chocolate sauces, cheesecakes, slices, tarts, cakes, and puddings.
Easter Meals
Meal making and entertaining on major holidays are always wrought with stress, but they don’t have to be! Here are some simple meal ideas to keep everyone’s hunger at bay, you relaxed and your wallet fat.
Easter Breakfast:
Easter Breakfast (or brunch) is not traditionally an Easter sentiment, but it offers a different type of get together for friends and family (and hopefully keeps us from the chocolate eggs for a few hours!).
No need to get fancy here if you’re on a budget, simply round up the known and trusted, typical big breakfast foods such as bacon and eggs, sausages, omelettes, boiled eggs or scrambled eggs. Or perhaps a more continental style meal such as fresh fruit, pancakes, French toast, croissants and hot cross buns of course! Have an assortment of fruit juices and freshly brewed coffee and tea.
Your family, (if they haven’t overdosed on chocolate) will be starving by now so you’ll look like the hero!
Easter Lunch:
If you can’t make the stretch for the ingredients from Luke Mangan’s Easter Lunch, whether you’re catering to a crowd, or just the close ones, Easter Lunch doesn’t have to cost a bomb.
Make it personal and have a BBQ, a picnic at the local park or serve cold meats and salads with crusty bread or maybe finger food style platters. Prepare a cheese, meat and fruit platter, crusty bread, canapés, savoury pastries which you can find at your local supermarket.
If you’re traditional, opt for fish based ideas: fish cakes, grilled fish, tuna and salmon for cocktail sandwiches etc.
As for drinks, Rescu. recommends Jacob’s Creek Cool Harvest Wine range and you can just sit back, relax and enjoy the day.
Easter Eggs
As for the all-hallowed Easter Eggs, they don’t have to cost an arm and a leg. You can either impress with a statement chocolate or opt for more eggs at a low price.
Head to K-Mart, Big W or Target for themed Easter Eggs for the kids or find something extra special for your loved ones (or yourself) where there are all kinds of Easter sales on Cadbury chocolate, and the Money Maven’s favourite- Lindt…Yum!
Happy Easter!
From the Money Maven and Rescu. Team
