The Sandpoint Eater For the love of food!

small gathering in my home for the first time in a long time. From planning the menu to shopping, cooking and finally serving my guests, I can’t think of anything that makes me much happier than feeding my friends and family. I was especially pleased with my shopping self for this little get-together, as I managed to bring home some favorite ingredients from Ireland:

• West Cork cheeses from Gubbeen Farm in Skull;

•Organic smoked salmon from the Old Millbank Smokehouse in the medieval market town of Buttevant;

•Guinness bread from an artisan baker in Dublin.

There was barely time to clean up the leftovers of my St. Patrick’s Day gathering before I started thinking about Easter. Of course, now that my kids have their kids and assorted extended families, we aren’t as likely to spend all the holidays together. As a result, we’re pretty fluid regarding holiday time and have never done the every-other-yearis-my-turn-type celebrating. But, truth be known, I’m always happy to forgo the Christmas and Thanksgiving rotations for my beloved Easter.

There’s nothing I don’t love about Easter (except the rain on my Easter parade). Maybe because I’m not a fan of winter — especially the last one — Easter with her blooming crocus, fluffy baby chicks and adorably dressed children fills me with every hopeful sign of springtime. And, of course, one of my favorite meals to prepare: Easter brunch!

The vegetarians in my family will soon outnumber the carnivores and pescatarians, so I continue changing the menu a bit (but never giving up on bacon, ham or chicken livers), with more salads, fruit and cheese offerings and an abundance of bread and pastries.

And egg prices be damned! Regardless of the cost, I’ll still have at least three kinds of eggs prepared for brunch (scrambled, deviled and quiche).

I always make a salmon torte for Easter, and since I’d brought some salmon back from Ireland, I also made one for my St. Patrick’s Day menu. It was a huge hit, with lots of requests for the recipe.

I usually make favorite recipes from memory, but, now and then, I like to fact-check if I plan on sharing. Unfortunately, a not-sogreat filing system I use is the search bar in the sent files of my

Gmail account. So I searched for this recipe and found some fun-related correspondences. One was a rail client (2008) who I served onboard the California Zephyr en route from Chicago to Emeryville, Calif. in her private rail car. She must have liked it because she requested I make it again on her trip the following month.

Another unusual request was from a friend having a Champagne party to celebrate the wedding of Prince William and Kate (2011). She wanted to include a recipe featuring smoked Scottish salmon. I was happy to oblige.

To make this delicious and pretty offering, your salmon need not come from faraway shores or smokehouses — any wet-type smoked salmon, such as gravlax, will do nicely. Don’t forget the Champagne!