In Memoriam Spring

It always takes you by surprise. You wake up one morning, look out of the window and you know it is here. The next act. Someone changed the background lighting, overnight, from grey to yellow, the shade of hope. Then, things move along in a frenzy.

Images appear and disappear as if from a flip-book. The calls of coiffed cardinals that make you look up every time, new sunlight filtering through miniscule translucent green leaves, the "smell of the earth", of fresh life, a burst of brilliant colors, bumble bees suspended in air like tiny helicopters. It is almost as if life is making up for lost time spent sleeping all winter. The window of opportunity is small. Buds turn into full bloom within days, possibly hours. This regeneration of life everywhere; it overwhelms you.











Ducks bear little ones. Motherhood turns them into authoritative figures. They don't run away from from you anymore. They lay claim to their land, their offspring. They challenge you when you get too close. Puppies begin to chase emboldened squirrels.

But before you can register all this, and finish that sneeze, plan that picnic, you are thrown headlong into those lazy hazy crazy days of summer. And you are left wondering if you just imagined it all.















And then you realize, summer was the goal all along. Spring was just the heady hurried preparation leading up to it. Like the household of a bride before her wedding day. And you think to yourself ,

"Next time, I will savor spring".

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I leave you now with a recipe for stuffed eggplant. This is a creation of mine stemming from my undying affection for Quinoa and my resolve to show my husband that eggplants are edible.
We had this on the first day of spring. I was just breaking out of a culinary lull and this very dish became my inspiration for this blog. Bright, fanciful and flighty; much like spring itself.

Quinoa Stuffed Eggplant Serves: 2 Prep time: 1.5 hours Active prep time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
Large Eggplants	2
Olive oil	2 Tbsp
Onions/Shallots	2 chopped
Tomatoes small sized	2
Fennel Seeds	a pinch
Parsley	1/4 cup chopped
Carrots	2 small diced
Red pepper/paprika	a pinch for heat
Garlic	2-3 pods
White Wine	1/4 Tbsp
Quinoa	1/2 cup
Sage	3-4 leaves
Toasted pine nuts	1/4 cup as topping
Greek Yoghurt	4 tbsp as topping
Lemon juice	from half a head
Method 1. Slit the eggplants in half lengthwise. Scoop out most of the flesh, leaving about a 1/4 inch behind on the skin. This is just so that the eggplant shells hold their shape when baked. 2. Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit. 3. In a saute pan, heat the olive oil. Add the sage leaves and fry till they infuse their favor to the oil (they will get a little brown). Remove the sage leaves and reserve. 4. Add the chopped garlic and fry for about 30 seconds. Now add the shopped shallots and a pinch of crystallized sugar and salt to help caramelize the onions. Add fennel seeds and then the chopped tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes. Add salt and paprika. Add the wine and cook covered for a few more minutes. 5. In the meantime, cook quinoa. Toast the quinoa for a few minutes. Then add to boiling water(1:1.5 quinoa:water. Let it come to a boil for a minute or two. Then cover and turn the heat down. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes. 6. Add the quinoa to the vegetables and cook them together for a few minutes. Turn off the heat. Add the lemon juice. 7. Divide the vegetable mixture into 4 parts and spoon them into the eggplant shells. Place on an greased tray and bake for 40-45 minutes in the oven. 8. To serve, top with the chopped parsley, toasted pine nuts and Greek yogurt.