Banana Waffles

Little flowers have sprung up between blades of grass in every lawn, and the first bundles of asparagus and cartons of berries have appeared in the produce section. The silence of winter is gone, broken by the familiar sounds that had faded from memory: the chirps and tweets of birds rising with the sun in the morning; the low blasts of a horn as the ferry begins to depart from the dock down by the waterfront; the delicate tapping of raindrops on the window pane as a rain cloud passes overhead; and the chiming of church bells brightly declaring that it is 7pm while the sun is still up.

The arrival of these signs of spring is enlivening, and a comfort. Like curling up with a cup of tea and a fascinating book. Or realizing that you have no idea where you will be a year from now, but that you are okay with that - excited even. Or waking up early and deciding that you have nothing better to do than mix up a batch of waffles. The aura of spring fills the air like pollen - but in a much nicer way - and things just seem a little bit easier.

Pizza

I washed up on the shores of the weekend wanting nothing more than to spend some quality time with an old friend, the kitchen. After weeks without so much as a simple cookie or even a small batch of pancakes it was time to reconcile our relationship, the kitchen and I, and bake. I leafed through my notebook of recipes and then pulled a few of my favorite cookbooks off of the shelf, finally settling with a book about bread by Laurel Robertson. After my unintended hiatus I wanted to make something that would take some time. Spend an afternoon kneading dough, mixing ingredients, and walking around in a cloud of flour.

I stumbled upon a recipe for Sicilian pizza and was reminded of the pizza we ate in Italy. Thick square slices with chewy dough; bright, flavorful sauce; and delicious cheeses. In Italy a pizzeria or a street cart selling slices was never more than twenty steps away, so the thick slices soon became a familiar afternoon snack.