Reveling in Renewal

Today I made my very first Easter brunch all by myself! My mom and dad traditionally make Eggs Blackstone for us on Easter, but since I'm far away, I had to do it on my own. It turned out rather well, if I do say so myself. Eggs Blackstone is basically Eggs Benedict plus stewed tomatoes. Plated we have poached asparagus with garlic aioli (equal parts mayo and nonfat greek yogurt, some minced garlic, salt and pepper), bacon, whole wheat English muffins with poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce, and baby heirloom tomatoes stewed in olive oil and fresh rosemary and finished with raw minced garlic and sea salt. I've recently converted Devin to asparagus with the help of the aioli. We each ate half of the bunch.

My first Hollandaise! I was sort of nervous about it since I hadn't every tried to make it before...and I don't have a double boiler or a whisk. But one pan of boiling water and another pan for the sauce plus a fork worked out fine. Making it also helped me to realize that it's basically straight-up butter...with the help of a few egg yolks and a little lemon juice, water, salt, and cayenne.

After brunch we went to the park to get a little reading done. It was a beautiful day, and the new leaves of grass were so fresh.

I'd never realized how delicate the yellow-green of new leaves is until this spring.

A pretty amazing fire-colored tulip.

More tulips on a traffic island on Broadway. Tulips = the official flower of Easter to me.

Chocolate Easter bunnies are great to look at, but taste waxy and are disappointingly hollow. Chocolates from See's are delicious, but not rabbit-shaped. What's a person to do? Why, put chocolates in a bunny-shape box, of course! (I'm pretty pleased that the tulips on the box echo the tulips outside of my apartment.)

My mom and dad sent us these rabbit-boxed chocolates, since candy is as indispensable to my family's version of the holidays as Eggs Blackstone. I think the assortment is pretty lovely, with a combination of light and dark chocolates and a glimmer of gold. My two favorites were the dark chocolate chip truffle and the milk chocolate butterchew, which tastes basically like eating buttery brown sugar. Here's to spring feasting!