WELCOME "SPRING!"

Ok, so it's still ridiculously icy outside, and we have had one snowstorm after the next for months now. But as of today, I'm officially on Spring Break, so I declare it to be spring, regardless of the calendar or the stupid weather! My students clearly agree, because some of them are already rocking the shorts and flip-flops on the days when it gets up to 40 degrees! (It's a North Country thing.) Moreover, Daylight Savings Time has VASTLY improved my spirits. It is so wonderful, for example, to get done with my office hour at Plattsburgh State on Mondays at 6:45pm and then walk to my car in broad daylight! Of course, it's a little harder to watch movies for the first hour of my Wednesday night film class now (even with the shades closed, the room is BRIGHT), but you won't hear me complain. And look who else apparently got the springtime memo?

You GO, girls! My faithful next-door neighbor discovered these treasures in the coop last weekend. So we enjoyed a special homegrown omelette with lots of cheese and thinly-sliced spring onions. (See? A theme!) Along with our savory eggs, I unearthed the other loaf of Dorie Greenspan's brioche from the freezer and made her FAAAAAABULOUS bostock with it. It's perfect for breakfast or brunch--even for dessert--as it is made with brioche or challah or any other similarly eggy bread slathered with a luscious almond cream, topped with sliced almonds, and baked for just 10-15 minutes until the top is puffed and golden and the bottoms of the slices are also browned. Easy and SO YUMMMM-MY!

Dorie Greenspan's Bostock
(Source: Baking: From My Home to Yours, Dorie Greenspan)

6 tablespoons butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 ground blanched almonds
2 teaspoons flour
1 tsp cornstarch
1 large egg
2 teaspoons dark rum or 1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice challah or brioche into 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick pieces. (Slightly stale is okay, and perhaps preferable.) This recipe makes eight slices of bostock.

Cream the butter and sugar in a food processor or stand mixer. Add the ground almonds until blended. Add the flour and cornstarch and mix until incorporated, then add the egg. Process for about 15 seconds so the cream is homogenous. Add either the rum or the vanilla, pulse or mix just until blended.

Put about three tablespoons of almond cream on each slice, leaving a little border around the edge. Scatter some sliced almonds on the top, and bake for 10 to 15 minutes until the tops are puffed and golden. Serve warm.