In our family, we celebrate Easter as a day of love for family, friends, nature...life. And as a day for new beginnings...sunshine...flowers...blossoming trees...life.

I have very fond memories of this day at my grandparents house. My cousins and I called our grandparents Memere and Pepere, which is grandmother and grandfather in French.

My Dad is 100% French. He used to speak it, but not anymore.

My grandmother passed 3 years ago on March 30th, and my grandfather just passed this past February.

So, Sunday...Easter...many past memories filled my head, which, of course, made me smile.

One year, when I was younger...maybe middle school...my Memere made eggs benedict. I thought it was the best thing ever!!

Ever since she passed, I've made the same dish in honor of her.

This year, I added some of the best morning buns to the mix!!

My mom always sends us Williams-Sonoma morning buns every year around Christmas time.

Well...they come in pack of 3. We still have 2 packages left, so I thought, why not have them on Easter morning.

Great idea, Renee! :)

These things are heaven in a box!!

They're not your typical cinnamon buns.

They're French style morning buns!! Meaning, they're a pastry, croissant style bun.

Which also means, light, flaky, brown sugar, cinnamon-gooey-goodness!! Deeeelish!!

And, yes, another awesome way to remember my grandparents! Bring on the French!! :)

So, yeah...if these look yummy to you, they're 10 times yummier in person!! :)

And, boy, I had SO much fun photographing them.

As for the eggs benedict, my dad always makes this for us on Christmas Day, but, he adds in creamed spinach.

This time, I added in fresh spinach. Super easy!

And, if you saw my last food post, you know that I love spinach with my eggs.

Oh, and my dad also uses a hollandaise sauce packet.

I make my own sauce from scratch. Totally bummed the recipe off of Tyler Florence on the Food Networks website.

Once I made it this way, I've NEVER gone back to the package.

It's AMAZING!! So fresh!! So GOOD!

All it is, is egg yolks, fresh lemon juice, butter, sea salt and a few dashes of cayenne pepper.

This dish may look hard, but it's actually quite easy.

The hardest part is the hollandaise sauce. All you have to do is mix the yolks and lemon juice together. Place over a boiling water saucepan, or, if you have a double boiler, use that. Add in melted butter, slowly. Mix until thickened. Remove from heat and mix in sea salt and cayenne pepper. Place over low heat until ready.

The english muffins and canadian bacon are just heated up to your liking.

The eggs are also cooked to your liking. I like to cook them with a lid over them to keep the heat in.

I feel like this makes the white puff up a little more than if I left the top off. Easier than poaching them, in my opinion (learned this from my dad).

Then saute up the spinach for a few minutes.

Place all together and their you have it...Eggs Benedict!

Do you have any meals that you make for a holiday that reminds you of your family? If so, I'd LOVE to hear what they are. :)

Williams-Sonoma Morning Buns found here!

Eggs Benedict

Hollandaise Sauce (recipe from Tyler Florence)

Ingredients
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon, freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup, melted butter (1 stick)
Dash of sea salt
Dash of cayenne pepper

Directions (for those who don't have double boiler)
1. Place barely enough water in bottom of pot. Place on stove and bring to a boil.
2. Place egg yolks and lemon juice in a stainless steel bowl. Whisk together until mixture has thickened and double in volume.
3. Place stainless steel bowl with egg mixture over boiling water. Continue to whisk rapidly. Be careful to not let the egg mixture get too hot because the eggs will begin to cook. I usually keep lifting the pot off the heat and then back on while I'm mixing.
4. Slowly add in melted butter and continue to whisk.
5. Whisk until mixture has thickened and doubled in volume.
6. Remove from heat.
7. Add in sea salt and cayenne pepper. Mix.
8. Cover and place on stove so it can be ready to be heated and mixed right before dish is ready to be served.
9. Once dish has about 5 minutes to go, turn heat to low to warm up. Remember, don't let it get too hot because the eggs will cook. If mixture is too thick, add in some water until desired thickness.

Eggs Benedict (serving for 2 adults)

Ingredients
4 eggs
2 slices, canadian bacon
2 English Muffins
2 to 4 handfuls of spinach
2 tablespoon of butter
Dash of fresh parsley

Directions
1. Once hollandaise sauce is ready, heat skillet to medium heat. Add in 1 tablespoon of butter. Once melted, add in spinach. Let cook just until cooked...about 3 to 4 minutes. Turn heat off and let sit until ready to serve.
2. Heat one skillet to medium heat for eggs and another for canadian bacon.
3. Add 1 tablespoon of butter to one skillet. Once melted, add in 4 eggs. Place cover of pan. Let cook for about 5 minutes. Check them often. Make sure the yolk is nice and yellow. If cooking too long, a white looking yolk will occur. That just means the yolk is starting to cook more. Take off heat immediately if you want a runny yolk.
4. While eggs are cooking, place 4 canadian bacon slices on other heated skillet. Let cook on each side for 2 to 3 minutes, or until you're desired doneness. :)
5. While eggs and bacon are cooking, toast English Muffins.
6. Turn heat on low heat for hollandaise sauce. Mix. Add water if sauce is too thick.
7. Chop parsley.

Assembly
8. Place english muffins on your favorite serving dish.
9. Place canadian bacon first, then spinach, then egg.
10. Drizzle hollandaise sauce on top.
11. Top with fresh parsley. Serve.
12. Turn off all distractions, sit down by yourself or with your kids, family and/or friends, take a few deep breaths, say how much gratitude and LOVE you have for your food, your family, your life and DIG IN, slowly and savor the deliciousness!

Until next time...

Life IS...LOVING what you eat and eating what you LOVE! SAVOR it up! :)