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It's appropriate that I should be writing a series of travel columns during the same month as Easter. For some reason, since I was a child, I've hardly spent two Easters in a row in the same place. With such a variety of Easter travels in my experience of the holiday, my associations consist of both the unusual and the expected.
When I was young, Easter's tie-in with Spring Break meant that I went away many times with my best friend and her family. Most years found us grilling tilapia at the beach and digging through a basket of bunny chocolates and candy-filled eggs for dessert. There was the occasional brunch in a regular dining room with glistening glazed ham and golden crispy scalloped potatoes. But there was also the year I had chicken enchiladas with a side of fluffy triangles of sopapillas dipped in honey somewhere in the North of New Mexico.
Later, in college, Easter was everything from a lovely employee breakfast at the hotel where I worked to actually attending the buffet as a paying customer (quite a contrast to being tossed the scraps of buffet leftovers). There was the Easter in London with a traditional English Breakfast and church in Westminster Abbey standing on the ghosts of Britain's greats. And there were even a couple of home cooked brunches in there for good measure.
Sometime after college I threw my first "non-religious" Easter brunch. A Jewish girl I had never met before (her mother, an acquaintance, was introducing us) came with her Hindu best friend. They brought champagne and an almond cake to add to our spread of quiche, asparagus, and scones. It was one of my most successful and eclectic experiences of the holiday and the girl and I went on to become great friends.
It's interesting that of all the commercialized holidays, Easter is the most religiously focused and yet I have managed to experience it in so many non-traditional ways. True I have spent more years traveling on this holiday than not, but some of the best "traveling" on Easter has occurred closer to home.
Take that multi-cultural, "non-religious" brunch. What better way to welcome spring and new beginnings than with the company of new friends and a bottle of bubbly? The year after, in the company of my elder brother, we had a sky-lit New York Easter Brunch at the Australian restaurant, Public. I don't remember it as being remarkable, but I did think my spicy scrambled eggs with shrimp and harissa (or was it sambal?) was a distinctive change from the standard hard-boiled rendition. Plus, the fun of rubbing elbows with your fellow city-dwellers at the scone bar turned out to be far more entertaining than fighting Cousin Bobby for the last Pillsbury crescent roll.
Which brings me to a very important point. For all the traveling and eating that we may do, that we may plan for in our retirement, or that we simply dream to do, sometimes the best traveling can be done in one's own backyard. The uncharted territory of an adjoining neighborhood can provide a feast a half a world away. An uncommon combination of friends can complete the most entertaining of dinner parties. And at Easter, venturing beyond the traditional egg and ham agenda can make for a simply egg-straordinary experience for all.
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
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An Egg-straordinary Easter
It's appropriate that I should be writing a series of travel columns during the same month as Easter. For some reason, since I was a child, I've hardly spent two Easters in a row in the same place. With such a variety of Easter travels in my experience of the holiday, my associations consist of both the unusual and the expected.
When I was young, Easter's tie-in with Spring Break meant that I went away many times with my best friend and her family. Most years found us grilling tilapia at the beach and digging through a basket of bunny chocolates and candy-filled eggs for dessert. There was the occasional brunch in a regular dining room with glistening glazed ham and golden crispy scalloped potatoes. But there was also the year I had chicken enchiladas with a side of fluffy triangles of sopapillas dipped in honey somewhere in the North of New Mexico.
Later, in college, Easter was everything from a lovely employee breakfast at the hotel where I worked to actually attending the buffet as a paying customer (quite a contrast to being tossed the scraps of buffet leftovers). There was the Easter in London with a traditional English Breakfast and church in Westminster Abbey standing on the ghosts of Britain's greats. And there were even a couple of home cooked brunches in there for good measure.
Sometime after college I threw my first "non-religious" Easter brunch. A Jewish girl I had never met before (her mother, an acquaintance, was introducing us) came with her Hindu best friend. They brought champagne and an almond cake to add to our spread of quiche, asparagus, and scones. It was one of my most successful and eclectic experiences of the holiday and the girl and I went on to become great friends.
It's interesting that of all the commercialized holidays, Easter is the most religiously focused and yet I have managed to experience it in so many non-traditional ways. True I have spent more years traveling on this holiday than not, but some of the best "traveling" on Easter has occurred closer to home.
Take that multi-cultural, "non-religious" brunch. What better way to welcome spring and new beginnings than with the company of new friends and a bottle of bubbly? The year after, in the company of my elder brother, we had a sky-lit New York Easter Brunch at the Australian restaurant, Public. I don't remember it as being remarkable, but I did think my spicy scrambled eggs with shrimp and harissa (or was it sambal?) was a distinctive change from the standard hard-boiled rendition. Plus, the fun of rubbing elbows with your fellow city-dwellers at the scone bar turned out to be far more entertaining than fighting Cousin Bobby for the last Pillsbury crescent roll.
Which brings me to a very important point. For all the traveling and eating that we may do, that we may plan for in our retirement, or that we simply dream to do, sometimes the best traveling can be done in one's own backyard. The uncharted territory of an adjoining neighborhood can provide a feast a half a world away. An uncommon combination of friends can complete the most entertaining of dinner parties. And at Easter, venturing beyond the traditional egg and ham agenda can make for a simply egg-straordinary experience for all.
Shrimp With Scrambled Eggs and Red Pepper Harissa
Made with cumin seeds, coriander seeds, caraway seeds, dried red chilies, garlic, red bell pepper, tomato paste, salt, olive oil, shrimp
Made with cumin seeds, coriander seeds, caraway seeds, dried red chilies, garlic, red bell pepper, tomato paste, salt, olive oil, shrimp
Serves/Makes: 6
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
- 2 dried red chilies (more or less to taste)
- 2 cloves garlic, unpeeled
- 1 1/2 red bell pepper, roasted, jarred (or roasted and peeled yourself in advance)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- salt
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
- 6 large eggs
- milk
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons minced chives
In a small saute pan, toast cumin, coriander and caraway seeds, dried red pepper and garlic for about five minutes until fragrant. Add seeds and chilies to blender. Peel garlic and add to blender.
To spices, add red peppers, tomato paste, and some salt. Blend with olive oil until seasoning is fairly well processed and mixture is smooth. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
Preheat a large saute pan and bring harissa sauce to a simmer in it.
Meanwhile, beat eggs with a bit of milk (couple of tablespoons) and some salt and pepper.
Preheat a large saute pan over medium with the butter. Add egg mixture. Turn heat down to medium low. Stir fairly consistently with a heat resistant spatula.
Rinse and drain shrimp. Add to harissa. Bring back to simmer and reduce heat. Cover for two minutes until shrimp have turned pink.
When eggs have adequately congealed, transfer to a large serving platter top with harissa and shrimp sauce. Sprinkle with chives and serve.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/amy-powell/245-easter-eggs/