Eggs!

So, Sunday is Easter (my absolute favorite holiday of all time) and I've got a bunch to look forward to: a fashion face-off with Grace, brunch, egg hunts, spring-y cocktails, and dinner with more friends. 

But even before that, I've got egg decorating to anticipate tomorrow.

Until last year, I tortured myself with the interminable pain of egg dyeing. Which is hell if you have small impatient people. So last year we chucked that for watercoloring our eggs instead. So much better! Fun for everyone! No spilled dye! No children crying because their mother went ballistic!

This year, we're upping the ante and adding metallic Sharpies into the mix, i.e. 

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Is this a recipe for disaster? Quite possibly. But I'm going for it anyway.

Wish me luck, friends, and have the most wonderful Easter!

-Alissa

Taking It to the Next Level

I told you I couldn't stop. I wouldn't normally post another recipe so soon after the last, but I can't help myself. I've taken lunch to the next level over here. Poached IN THE MICROWAVE eggs ON TOP of the magnificent kale you cooked last week. Here's how it's done: 

Microwaved Poached Eggs

2 eggs
2/3 cup water
1/2 tsp vinegar

Crack both eggs into a microwave-safe bowl. Pour the water into the bowl and then add the vinegar. Cover the bowl with a microwave-safe plate then place it into the microwave and heat at 80% power for 1 minute and 40 seconds. Once it beeps, check to see if the whites have solidified. If not, then cook in 10 second rounds until it looks ready. But remember: eggs continue to cook even after you remove them from the heat, so be careful you don't over do it! Remove eggs from the water with a slotted spoon and serve over your Sauteed Kale with Garlic and Sweet Potatoes. Add a side of toast for dipping into those sweet, sweet runny yolks. Decaf Earl Grey tea is optional.

[Modified from www.thekitchn.com]


- Cathleen

Totally Baked: Eggs

Eggs may be the single most perfect food. Scrambled, poached, hard-boiled, fried with bright runny yellows, as far as I'm concerned, it's aaaaall good. When I was in Paris six years ago (cough-yeah, I'm name dropping PARIS-cough cough), I had the most amazing eggs in this cafe my dad and I blearily stumbled into after spending our entire first day sleeping off jet lag. And despite my exhaustion, I still think about those eggs SIX years later. Their version came baked with buttery mushrooms folded into a soft eggy embrace. My version is a simple variation that will fancy up breakfast-for-dinner anytime you're feelin it. 

Warning: You will need ramekins!! Or some other 1-cup capacity oven-proof vessels to cook these things in. But trust me, it will be worth the (small) investment. 

Baked Eggs

4 large eggs
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp fresh thyme, minced
4 Tbsp milk
butter for greasing

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease four 1-cup ramekins with butter. Pluck thyme leaves from thyme branches, discard naked thyme sticks. Mince thyme leaves and sprinkle inside greased ramekins. Divide minced garlic among the ramekins while you're at it. Gently crack 1 egg into each ramekin, keeping yolk intact. Drizzle 1 Tbsp milk over each egg. Season with salt and pepper. Bake eggs in oven (or toaster oven! if you don't want to heat up your whole kitchen) until whites are just set but yolks are still runny, 14-16 minutes. And remember! Eggs continue to cook once you take them off the heat, so be careful you don't overcook these bad boys.

Serve with toast for dipping in those sweet hot yolks! 
Also consider adding cooked crumbled bacon or buttery sauteed mushrooms or wilted spinach to the eggs pre-bake. The possibilities are almost endless!


- Cathleen 

Easter One-Ups-Manship

I love Easter eggs and I love decorating them. Every year I have grand plans for the gorgeous crayon relief eggs or the decoupage eggs or silk transfer eggs that I will lovingly labor over. 

Unfortunately, my plans are usually thwarted and I end up tossing my eggs 

into the same dye/vinegar bath that I do every year (I still love them!) 

whilst shelving my egg ambitions until "next year". 

Fortunately for me, I may no longer be feeling the tug of ambition at all. In my yearly trolling of the internet for amazing egg decorating ideas, I came across Franc Grom, an egg artist whose work is so stunning and intricate that decoupage and whatnot now feels a little run of the mill. Here are a few examples of his work...

http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/extremely-detailed-egg-art

Apparently, Mr. Grom drills anywhere from 2,000 to 20,000 holes in each one of his creations. And I thought that dyeing them was exhausting. I’m not sure whether I feel galvanized to make my eggs more beautiful or depressed about the futility of it all. I suppose since it is almost Easter, the time of rebirth and new life, maybe I’ll use these as inspiration to make my eggs just a little bit more special.

Here’s hoping that your egg decorating is inspired and beautiful as well!

Happy Weekend and Happy Easter!

-Alissa