Possibilities for deviled eggs are endless and here are my two picks for Easter brunch.Easter in Poland is always a two-day holiday with several days of preparation leading to it. From the Catholic Church’s point of view, Easter is more important than Christmas because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. To prepare for Easter many people observe Lent, a 40 days period of fasting, reflection and prayer. Lent starts on Ash Wednesday, where priests make a cross sign on people’s foreheads using ashes. The ashes symbolize grief as well as dust that God used to create people. The Sunday prior to Easter is called Palm Sunday and church goers on that day can be seen carrying a small “palm” or a decorative bouquet made out of small twigs and dried flowers that will be blessed by a priest during the service. When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem a few days before his sacrificial death, he was welcomed by people waving palm branches and even covering his path with them. Palm branches were a symbol of victory. Ashes used by priests on Ash Wednesday come from the previous year’s blessed palm branches.

One of the Polish Easter traditions is to prepare a festive-looking basket full of food and take it to church on Good Saturday to have it blessed. The list of food includes: decorated hard-boiled eggs, small piece of bread, butter, a bit of ham or sausage, salt and pepper, a piece of babka cake, and some sweets like chocolate eggs. On Good Saturday during a short ceremony, the food is blessed with Holy Water and then taken back home. On Easter Sunday the blessed food is divided among everyone at the table and needs to be eaten first. Then the other dishes are served and usually they include more eggs, special white “biala” sausage eaten with horseradish cream mixed with beets and few dishes with herrings, among other things. Desserts often include “Mazurki” cakes filled with nuts and dried fruit, cheesecakes or apple pies. Mini Lemon Cupcakes and Marta’s Lemon Meringue Tart are always very popular at my house!

Monday is always a day off as well. Everyone celebrates “Smingus-Dyngus” or “Wet Monday” which means spraying water on everyone! It gets crazy sometimes and is definitely a tradition more enjoyed by kids and teenagers than adults. In the old days, boys, if interested in particular girl, would try to pour buckets of water on her to show her their affection! Water also symbolizes rebirth and baptism.

My Grandma, who is well into her 80s makes these decorative Easter eggs (as well as Christmas ornaments) by herself. Then she sends them off to me! Aren’t these eggs adorable? I love to display them around the house.

So, if you were interested in Easter celebration in Poland, there you go! I try to stick to it as much as I can. We decorate eggs, go to church with our food basket and have a traditional Easter brunch. This year I’m just starting to think about it. The last few weeks were quite eventful and I’m hoping things are going back to normal now. Both boys got pneumonia, with the older one staying home for 2 weeks, and I also had a nasty cough that still lingers a bit. Then last week our sweet dog Kona required an emergency surgery because something got stuck in her small intestine. She loves to chew and apparently, probably accidentally, she swallowed a squeaker from her old toy. That toy turned out to be a very, very expensive one! I’m very glad we were able to save our pooch. She is recovering nicely and home cooked rice and chicken nurse her back to health.

As mentioned, eggs are a must for Easter brunch in Polish homes. The more the better. Usually there are soft boiled eggs eaten with horseradish cream, deviled eggs of many varieties, eggs in salads and soups. Today, I’m showing 2 recipes for deviled eggs and 1 for a sauce to serve with hard boiled eggs.

Start by hard boiling 10 eggs. When cool enough to handle, gently peel the eggshells. Cut each egg in half and carefully remove the yolks. Place the yolks in a bowl and mash them well. Add mayonnaise and mix well. You want to have a smooth paste, not too thick. Add more mayonnaise if it seems too thick.

Divide the paste in half.

For the yellow paste, mix in honey mustard, curry powder and salt. Stir well.

For red paste, add tomato paste, cayenne pepper, salt, sweet paprika and sugar to the egg yolk paste. Mix well.

Using a pastry bag with a star tip fill up the egg halves. Decorate with chopped herbs.

To make the feta cheese sauce I used my mixer to make it smooth. Combine feta cheese, natural yogurt, mayonnaise and lots of chopped herbs in a bowl of food processor. Add pepper and a touch of sugar to taste. Blend till smooth. Transfer to a small container with lid. When ready to serve, halve freshly hard boiled eggs and drizzle them with the sauce. Pass more sauce around the table.

Makes: 10 eggs          Prep time: 40 minutes       Ready in: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 10 eggs, hard boiled, yolks removed
• 6-7 tablespoons mayonnaise

Feta Cheese Sauce:

• 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled or a chunk
• 4 tablespoons natural yogurt
• 1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons fresh herbs (dill, watercress, chives, parsley) plus more for garnish
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• pepper
• hard boiled eggs for serving

Curry Paste:

• 1/2 of the egg yolk and mayonnaise paste
• 1 tablespoon honey mustard
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• salt to taste

Tomato Cayenne Pepper Paste:

• 1/2 of the egg yolk and mayonnaise paste
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/4 teaspoon (or less) cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Hard boil the eggs. Cool them down in cold water, then peel. Carefully halve the eggs and remove the yolks. Place yolks in a medium bowl and mash them using a fork or potato masher till smooth. Add mayonnaise and stir well. Add more mayonnaise if the paste seems too thick. Divide it in half.
2. Feta Cheese Sauce: put all of the ingredients into a blender and process until smooth. Adjust the seasonings. Transfer to a serving bowl.
3. Curry Paste: add honey mustard, curry powder and a pinch of salt to 1/2 of the egg yolk paste. Stir well and adjust seasonings. Set aside.
4. Tomato Cayenne Pepper Paste: add all of the ingredients to the remaining 1/2 of the egg yolk mixture and mix well. Set aside.
5. Working one paste at the time, place it in a small plastic bag (sandwich size works great) fitted with a star tip (or any other) and fill up 10 reserved egg halves. Repeat with the other paste.
6. Decorate the deviled eggs with fresh herbs. Serve.

Enjoy!