No Spring Chicken

The quality of sunlight changed this morning, the snow is melting, and the asparagus at the grocery store seems to possibly be of more local origin. I'm not afraid to embrace the change (though my northern upbringing cautions that it's months too early to anticipate spring), and I can at least pin my hopes to the decreased desire to consume gallons of creamy soup and whole-roasted pigs. Perhaps the time is at hand for the lighter side of baking to shine in our recipe pursuit.

A fruit tart with custard could be nice...or Tracy's apple-ginger turnovers...maybe even some sort of angel food cake? Veggie pie could star the tender new plants that will pop out of the ground, and fail-safe souffle would celebrate the eggs that do thusly from chicken butts. Or the Easter Bunny...

-Which reminds me of the Easter weekend that I went to Capri via Naples (and ran into Rachel and her roommates there, proving much more fun than my and mine alone). Many many wonderful sights were seen and times had, but for now I just want to note an interesting bakery treat. On our long trip back, ferry from Capri to Naples and overnight train from Naples to Florence, my roommate and I were a little distressed (though we should have known) to find EVERYTHING closed in Naples on Easter, and us without dinner. But wait -- there! We spotted some patrons exiting a tiny bakery just a block from the train station.

We shyly stepped in, scanning the shelves for something hardier than a roll. There was a grandiose bread, quite a bit fancier and more involved than the cookies on either side of it. It was studded with whole hard-boiled eggs on top, and the cross-section revealed a quiche-like interior of egg, ham, and cheese. I chatted (read: mangled a few sentences in Italian) with the baker and tried to figure out what exactly this thing was. The baker was so pleased to meet a nice American that could speak with him, and said he was just closing up and was happy to give us giant slices of the bread/pie/quiche. He mentioned something about it being traditional Easter food, what with the eggs and celebratory rich ingredients. It was delicious and kept me full and content all the way back to Florence.