Easter Feaster!

Happy Easter! If only I could add Passover to my spring holiday line-up - then I could have NoRooz, Easter AND Passover... a perfect spring-time triumvirate!

This morning we had a really super nice potluck brunch with my family.... a selection of healthy, savory, starchy, and sweeties! Sorry for the dark and stormy pictures, but it's cold and cloudy here this morning. No amount of windows seemed to salvage my photography!

My mom & dad brought a gorgeous fruit salad... a mandatory brunch item, as far as I am concerned.

As if to demonstrate how truly secular our celebration is, I made a loaf of vegan Challah bread. This recipe is one of the tester recipes for Alicia's upcoming cookbook about vegan cooking for holidays. MAN, this stuff is sooooooooooo good. This is the second time I've made it, and it's crazy lovely. So good. Served with a few homemade jams and some Chocoreale chocolate spread. Which by the way, was a magical combo made in Magic Land.

Just look at that crumb - this bread is a perfect balance between moist and airy. So nice!

I grilled up a huge mess of asparagus from the farmer's market. The grilling part required a little suffering, since it was so cold out, but it was a worthy sacrifice. Asparagus, I just happened to know, is a veggie that the whole family can agree on!

My aunt Sara & her boyfriend brought some fun "vegan eggs" - using potatoes. Sara's were potatoes with carrots in them, and some that were more like "deviled eggs"...

...while Ed's were potatoes with a potato-butternut squash puree standing in for the deviled egg bit. Yummy and fun!

I also made a Shiitake Dill Frittata from Vegan Brunch. I love this quick, easy, and truly delicious recipe! It's perfect for a big brunch party, because it only takes about 10 minutes to throw it together, 20 minutes in the oven, and it's good hot warm or at room temp.

Of course, I made hot cross buns. I make them every year, and these were the best ever. Although I almost messed up the recipe but forgetting some critical ingredients, all's well that ends well. I realized that my recipe that I"ve been using only called for one rise, and I decided to do two rises, and the buns were much lighter and fluffier than in years past. Hallelujah!

Here's my festive first pass ... but not the last! Finally, there was some natural light, too!

My little nephew CW wanted an Easter Egg hunt, so in addition to some eggs (he's not vegan!), plastic eggs filled with coins, and a few candies, he and my mom also decorated some "cuties" (clementines). What a great idea! These are just a few of my favorites.

Whatever your celebratory inclinations are, I hope you're having a lovely spring weekend!