Mainely Martha

Spring has sprung…well, according to the calendar it has. But regardless of the temperature, this brings about a change in our cooking, baking and yes, our drinking. From the seasonal ingredients becoming more plentiful, there are so many changes that occur with the transformation of our seasonal palate.

A true sign of spring and a symbol of the change of season is Easter. The bright meal is an awakening of our senses following the months of winter and the muted colors of the richly flavored hearty comfort foods. Visually, the meal prepared for Easter is a burst of spring colors that the season brings. The pink ham, beautiful bright greens, rich hues of luscious berries, desserts of vibrant lemon and let’s not forget to mention the rainbow of peeps. And the flavors are as lively as the colors; deviating from the richness of winter comfort to the lightness of spring fancy.

Our senses are also enlightened by the beautiful and aromatic lavender as it can be a bright and tasty ingredient for spring beverages; lavender lemonade for the kids and a lavender Moscow Mule for mom (recipe in the works, so stay tuned). But not all of the changes that come with the new season are that of seasonal ingredients or flavors, some are a simple change in temperature;  most importantly, the change over from hot coffee to iced coffee.

Realizing there are those hard-core New Englanders that will drink iced coffee year round, for me, this is a right of passage into spring by making the move to iced coffee. And once the change has occurred there is typically no going back to the hot coffee until mid-fall; which may require drinking the iced coffee in the car with the heat and heated seats on high for a month or even two.

So while the wind may still blow cold and yes, snow is in the forecast, spring is in the air!