Eggs Adrianne

Melt a stick of butter, add a quarter cup plain flour, and cook over medium heat, stirring until the bubbling subsides Whisk in a pint of whole milk and cook over low heat until thickened and smooth.

Stir in two cups fresh leaf spinach and a half-pound sauteed mushrooms. Artichokes are a nice option. Add white pepper and salt to taste. Prepare a pound of picked lump crab meat by heating with butter, lemon juice, and a little black pepper. Add to sauce.

Spoon over toast, top with egg.

Spanakopita

This labor-intensive recipe works well on those occasions when you can commandeer others to help.

For the filling use about a pound of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed. With fresh spinach, use two pounds blanched, drained, and chopped.

Sauté in olive oil a large, finely-chopped onion and a cup of chopped scallions. Cool and add a half-cup chopped parsley. Season with dill, nutmeg, and lemon juice. Mix in a cup of crumbled feta and a half cup of a hard grated cheese such as Parmesan. Combine with spinach, salt to taste, and fold in four well-beaten eggs. Refrigerate.

Place filo sheets between slightly damp paper towels before use. Spread a single sheet across a lightly-oiled sheet pan–I use the bottom–brush with oil, fold in half, oil and fold again into a strip.

Have you ever folded a flag? The procedure here is the same. Fold a corner over about 1/4 cup of filling, flip, and keep flipping to the end of the sheet. Refrigerate pastries before cooking.

Brush with oil before baking in a medium oven.