Easter Brunch with Mom & Dad

This week, my mom asked me "What are we doing for Easter?" It was just a few days after my big NoRouz celebration... so I was big grump and said that I didn't necessarily want to do anything. What a jerk! As soon as I went home, I felt bad about it. Of course I want to spend Easter with my parents! So I called my mom and told her I'd had a change of heart. Plus, I guess I really do like cooking... because by the time the weekend rolled around, I was all enthusiastic and ready for more holiday cooking, ha ha.

i turned that frown upside-down!

Now that we don't have any little kids who require Easter egg hunts in our family, and since none of us is at all religious, Easter mostly just means a springtime brunch party for my family. This year's gathering was sweet and simple: my parents came over for brunch. Easy and fun and lovely.

Raised Waffles from Vegan Brunch

I was pretty excited to eat some hot cross buns, but my sweet dad expressed a preference for waffles! Then, Mr. VE&T also revealed to me that he prefers waffles to hot cross buns. WELL. I see how it is! ha ha. Actually though, waffles are a whole lot more simple than HCBs, so that was fine with me. Also, I really do know how much my dad loves waffles, so just the idea of this makes me happy. Usually we only have waffles on Christmas morning, so it is a special treat to have them for Easter too! 

As always, I made the Raised Waffles from Vegan Brunch -- my favorite waffle recipe ever. They are made with yeast (instead of baking soda/powder) and they are so delicious. They are the vegan waffles that converted my dad to a vegan waffle fan! 

 fruitee tootee

One thing that you simply must have at any brunch time gathering is a giant mess of fruit. I think this is written into law somewhere. I had some strawberries from my friend Jane's farm, which were absolutely delicious, and some super-perfect oranges from the farmers' market. The four of us didn't manage to eat all of this at brunch, but after my parents left, I ate the rest of it. Fruit never lasts long around me.

Pomegranate Spritzer

on a plate with tiny baby chickens

I forgot to buy orange juice to go with breakfast, but I had a little bit of the pomegranate juice left over from NoRouz. I feel lucky that we have TWO vendors selling really great organic pomegranate juice at our farmers market. It's so powerful and potent! I filled the pitcher about a third full with pomegranate juice, squeezed in two fresh limes, and filled the rest with sparkly water. It was a nice light breakfast drink! 

Tempeh Apple Sage Sausage Patties from Protein Ninja

One of my good friends recently gave me a copy of Terry Hope Romero's newest book Protein Ninja for a gift. I haven't really had a chance to dive into it yet -- but when Kittee posted about these Tempeh Apple Sage Sausage Patties, they really caught my eye. I like having waffles for breakfast (I like it a lot!), but I also like to have a savory component with breakfast. My ideal breakfast is always something savory and something sweetie. So, when I remembered these, they were a perfect fit. They are so good! The patties are a little delicate, but firmed up a bit more after coming off the griddle. They're filled with flavor - sweetness from apples, the glory of fennel seeds and sage, and a lovely chew from tempeh and beans. Happily, there were some left over (the recipe made 10 hearty patties!), so I can have some for breakfasts this week, if I don't eat them all tonight.

 giant platter of roasted asparagus

In addition to the sausage patties, I also wanted a veggie, and kept it simple with a big batch of roasted asparagus. I wasn't sure how to proceed, so I double checked Deborah Madison's book Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I don't use the recipes in that book very often, but I really like how reliable it is for presenting the basic ways to prepare each and every vegetable. I gotta say, these turned out just perfect, so she must be on to something. I served them on a large, beautiful platter that belonged to my dad's parents -- which they just recently handed down to me. My dad remembered that this was the "special occasion" china... so it seemed fitting to use it for Easter. I also remembered to use my adorable little bunny plates that I got at CostPlus World Market a few years ago. Each one has a super cute bunny holding something different - a berry, an Easter egg, two little chicks, and a bunch of carrots. So those were the plates that we used for our brunchy feast!

I'm so glad we had a celebration after all. It was fun to cook, and especially fun to have a peaceful and leisurely morning with my parents and my fella. The weather was warm, so we had the back door open, and the pets were strewn about the house, napping in the sun or under the breakfast table, or on the sofa. All in all, it was pretty great. I hope you had a good weekend too.