When Easter rolls around, the main dish tends to be prescribed by tradition, which for many of us means ham or lamb.
But for this cook, the real star of the brunch table — and it's almost always brunch, not the evening meal that suits us this time of year — is the simple egg.
We've got several egg dishes to update your culinary repertoire because you will need them this season, when brunches pop up like tulips or, well, dandelions (some more welcome than others).
Dress up a quiche with fine herbes and (a bit later) tiny spring flowers. Serve up deviled ham within those perfectly deviled eggs for a real treat that you may need to have ready mid-picnic time.
Go out of the box and into the muffin tin by baking eggs with bacon and asparagus. Or combine spinach, asparagus and ricotta in a tart just made to be topped with an egg for each.
Any of these will make your message clear at the table: a simple good morning to all.
Follow Lee Svitak Dean on Twitter: @StribTaste.