There isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t eat eggs in some form. They are versatile, beautiful, and one of Mother Nature’s most perfect foods. Eggs supply a wealth of vitamins, minerals, and protein. They are also fun to dye and decorate for Easter. How I miss the days when my girls were young, and we would spend hours in the kitchen dyeing the eggs, sometimes with the Paas kits or sometimes making our own natural colors with foods such as beets. The girls also liked using glitter, sequins, crayons, or cutting photos out of magazines and pasting them on the shells. I remember doing the same with my mom when I was very young. I thought she was some kind of genius when she used to show me how to poke little holes in the eggs and blow out the insides to make a hollow shell, and the whites and yolks became scrambled eggs for breakfast. One of my husband’s Finnish relatives uses the hard-boiled eggs of Easter to make egg butter, which is basically chopped eggs mixed with softened butter, salt, and pepper, and served with Karelian pies, a delectable rye pastry filled with rice.
The cookbook has incredible recipes and photos for eggs dishes such as eggs benedict, breakfast burritos, frittatas, corned beef hash with eggs, quiches, tarts, omelets, sandwiches, soups, deviled eggs, stratas, and scrambles. I have made many of the recipes in the book and they are superior.
One of my favorite egg dishes actually has no recipe, but every time my girls come home for a visit, they want this dish. You will need a cast iron skillet or other heavy pan that can go in the oven. Heat the pan with some olive oil, then add some sliced onions and a couple cloves of minced garlic. Crumble in some bulk chorizo sausage and stir until it is cooked through. Toss in some peeled, cooked, and cubed potatoes; sprinkle with smoked (not regular) paprika, salt and pepper to taste. Give it a good stir, then make three or four holes in the mixture. Crack an egg into each hole, without breaking the yolk. Sprinkle some salt and pepper over the eggs and drizzle with a little more olive oil. Place the pan in a 400 degree oven and bake until the eggs are set, but still a little runny. Pure heaven.
I wish a joyous and blessed Easter to all those who are celebrating. I found a few of my Easter cookie cutters to show you, but couldn’t find my lamb cake mold or bunny cake mold. I had better find one of them before Easter dinner because my husband loves having a lamb cake for dessert. I make a lemony pound cake for the lamb cake, with lots of eggs, of course.
Happy Easter!
(I don’t remember where I got this cookie cutter, but it looks oddly like a Playboy bunny!)
I love cookbooks. I mean I really love them. I love to read them, treasure them, learn from them, and, of course, cook from them. To me, cookbooks take on a life all of their own. They are history, family, and memories. I have been collecting cookbooks and writing down treasured recipes of family, friends, and neighbors since about age twelve, which means I now own thousands of cookbooks, recipes, and clippings. Now I want to share them with you along with the many other culinary treasures of my cellar." - Debbie Vanni
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