Happy Easter

Last year, I did a little post about the etymology of the name "Easter". And like last year, there are no daffodils blooming in Saginaw Forest. However, there are some that are close, and on my way out of the forest this morning, I was able to capture these bring flowers about ready to trumpet the coming of Spring.



Knowing how popular Sunday brunch normally is in this town, and expecting it to be even more popular for Easter Sunday, I headed into town to get to the /AUT/bar for as close to their 10AM opening as possible. Since it was such a nice day, I figured that I would at least have a chance at sitting at the bar -- having assumed that the general seating outside and inside would be filled to capacity, and having a line around the building. I pulled up outside the Braun Court and found a rather sleepy gathering of people seated in the chill morning air, and a completely empty set of tables inside. "Hello?" I called to the empty room. "Can I sit at the bar?" Someone poked their head out and told me that all the tables were reserved -- their little paper tents indicating each future party and their estimated time of arrival -- and that I could sit at the bar (which was what I had asked in the first place).

After sitting down, one of the longer-working servers, Abe, brought the first in my long line of cups of coffee (I really like their coffee) and I ordered a salmon eggs benedict. With usual speed, it came to me -- a 14" plate with two stacked eggs benedict: perfectly poached eggs seated atop small grilled salmon steaks all on top of a home-made English muffin and all smothered in home-made paprika-dusted hollandaise sauce. Delicious, and really worth the additional splurge in cost. (It is, after all, Easter, and the weather was quite nice to boot.)

Now, I'm uploading photos to flickr at the People's Food Co-op's adjoining Cafe Verde. It's not as busy as I would have expected it to be, but I imagine that they likely had a LOT of business yesterday -- people shopping at the Farmers' Market for today's Easter feasts stopping in for some fair-trade coffee and organic food. So maybe there aren't going to be as many people out for Easter brunches as I would have thought (what with them waiting for their home-cooked dinners or late lunches, slaved over for the 10-20 hours prior to their serving).