Fried Matzo (Provided photo — Yvona Fast)

The pond is still frozen. There’s still more than a foot of snow behind our house. But the place I skied the day before yesterday is now completely bare. We had 2023’s first thunderstorm. It’s finally spring!

We all love the increase in daylight — and so do the chickens! They lay more eggs, which is why we eat more eggs in spring.

Eggs for supper in frittata, quiche, kugel. Eggs for breakfast: Fried, scrambled, French toast, pancakes. Hard-cooked and soft-boiled. All types of eggs.

The spring holidays of Passover and Easter are upon us. During Passover, we eat matzo. During Easter, we eat a variety of sweet breads: Polish Babka, Russian kulich, Portuguese Polar, British hot cross buns. Italians have the Columba, pastries shaped like doves, and Pastiera, a pie filled with wheat berries and ricotta. In France, it’s Mouna (a type of brioche), tarts, eclairs, macaroons. Pasca, a pastry filled with a mix of cottage cheese, cooked rice and raisins, is traditional in Romania. The Swiss serve small round pastries filled with rice, almonds and raisins. Sweet braids of tsoureki are traditional in Greece. In Austria, Susses Milchbrot (Sweet Milk Bread) is a braided round loaf flavored with lemon zest and raisins. Armenian choreg, a triple braided egg bread, represents the Holy Trinity. Portuguese folar is a sweet bread flavored with aromatic herbs baked in the shape of a nest that holds a colored egg.

When these sweet breads get a bit old and stale, turn them into French toast! If it has been a long time since you’ve made French toast, here are some tips:

Bread should be firm so it doesn’t turn to mush. It should be old rather than fresh. Unsliced bread is best; not too thick but not too thin. If bread is too thick, it won’t soak up the batter.

Soak bread in the batter until the liquid saturates the bread.

Make sure the fat used for cooking is hot. Placing wet bread into cold fat creates a greasy mess. You want the batter to firm up as it hits the hot butter in the pan.

Eat it as soon as it comes out of the pan.

Top with fresh, local maple syrup or a fancy sauce, like Cranberry-Citrus. You can also stuff French toast.

During Passover, we eat matzo — unleavened bread crackers. Last week I included a recipe for Matzo kugel; this week it’s a recipe for Matzo Brei — a dish with as many recipes as there are Jewish families. It can be sweet, with cinnamon sugar or maple syrup. It can be savory, with onions and spices. Some use only eggs; others add milk and cheese. Sephardic families use olive oil for cooking, while Ashkenazi are more likely to use butter.

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Fried Breakfast Matzo (Matzo Brei)

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Here is my savory version.

Ingredients:

3 eggs

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

3 matzo crackers

1 Tablespoon butter or olive oil

1 large or 2 small onions

1 or 2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves, optional OR 1 – 2 cups (3 or 4 spears) asparagus, cooked tender crisp then sliced

Directions:

Beat the eggs with salt, pepper, and milk. Break up the matzo crackers and let soak in this mixture for at least thirty minutes, stirring every so often.

While matzos are soaking, melt butter in a large skillet. Peel and chop the onions, sprinkle with a little salt, and cook over very low heat, stirring occasionally until translucent and golden in color, but not brown, about 10 minutes.

If using spinach or asparagus, add during the last 1 or 2 minutes to wilt spinach. Pour in the egg-matzo mixture, stir, cover, and cook until the eggs set and the dish is slightly puffy. Serve warm.

Serves 2-3.

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French Toast

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Ingredients:

4 slices old bread or sweet bread like Babka, cut 3/4 inch thick

2 eggs

1/ 4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk or half-and-half cream

2 tablespoons orange liqueur or orange juice, optional (for flavor)

2 tablespoons butter

Directions:

Slice bread and have ready.

In shallow bowl or pie plate, beat eggs with salt, milk or cream, and orange juice if using.

Heat butter in skillet.

Place slices into egg mixture to soak; flip to coat both sides, then place into hot butter in skillet, in a single layer. Do not crowd. Fry over medium heat 5 minutes or until browned on underside. Flip over and brown second side 3 to 4 minutes longer.

Serves 2.

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Author of the award-winning cookbook Garden Gourmet: Fresh & Fabulous Meals from your Garden, CSA or Farmers’ Market, Yvona Fast lives in Lake Clear and has two passions: writing and cooking. She can be found at www.yvonafast.com and reached at yvonawrite@yahoo.com or on Twitter: @yvonawrites.