Easter Morning

We lounged in bed for a while, the sun streaming up against the walls of our bedroom. The moment seemed too perfect to even try to push us out of bed, so instead we blew wishes into the late morning. I wanted my favorite breakfast. Scrambled eggs and pasta, a simple but yet surprising satisfying dish that reminds me of my home, every time. It was one of the first things I learned to make when I was young.

Using fresh or already prepared pasta, warm it up on a skillet with a generous amount of butter. Add in the eggs, according to the amount of pasta you are making. After that, salt and pepper the dish while the eggs are being scrambled with the pasta. *This dish is pretty simple but you will find that the amount of butter and salt is crucial to either making this dish either a success or not.


After breakfast "Genius" wanted to take advantage of the wonderful weather by working on the yard. But for Jenny and I, it meant we had time to go and hand out some Easter Baskets to family and friends. The baskets were filled eggs and complimented by a hand made item for each child. And although my baskets were ready, I couldn't help but feel like adding a touch of baked goods.

Madeleine's are one of my favorite go-to cookies in last minute ventures. So it seemed like the perfect choice until I quickly realized that the recipe I liked was in a book that was being borrowed. Looking through Epicurus I came upon one that looked interesting enough to try. Unfortunately, I didn't have Lavender honey or the Almond flour that it needed. So with a few minor adjustments, it was a success. But next time, if I have lavender I want to grind it in with the almonds....

Brown Sugar and Honey Madeleine's

9 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large egg whites, room temperature
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 cup raw almonds
1 tablespoon honey

Special equipment: Madeleine pan

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter each madeleine mold in pan and dust with flour, tapping out excess. Melt 9 tablespoons unsalted butter in medium skillet over medium heat. Cook until butter turns golden brown, stirring often, 3 to 4 minutes. Set browned butter aside.

Next, using a food processor grind the powdered sugar and raw almonds together until the almonds are fine. About 3 minutes. *If you have some dried or fresh lavender, pulse some in.

Using electric mixer, beat egg whites, sugar, all purpose flour, and ground almonds in medium bowl until mixture is blended and smooth. Place honey in small microwave-safe bowl. Heat just to warm, 5 to 10 seconds. Beat honey into batter. Add browned butter; beat to blend. Spoon 1 tablespoon batter into each prepared madeleine mold.

Bake madeleines until tops are just dry and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 12 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Gently tap madeleines out of molds. Place on rack to cool slightly.

To prepare additional madeleines, wash pan and cool completely. Butter and flour molds and fill as directed above. Serve madeleines warm.

Hope.