Seasonal Sundays (Week 15) Early April

Happy Easter to all who celebrate, Happy Spring Really-Really-Just-Might-Be-Here to all!

~ Skip Straight to the Good Stuff ~

Welcome to Seasonal Sundays ...

... and a very Happy Easter to those who celebrate. All week, I found myself inordinately excited for this afternoon's "normal enough" CDC-compliant* Easter gathering for this not-fully vaccinated household and my husband's daughter and family, including the just-turned-twelve twin boyzz. Excitement led to a flurry of activity outside: early garden work, gumballs be gone, spring mulch plus my sweet husband's inspired purchase, bright-yellow pansies and some johnny jump-ups.

May your own gatherings be "normal enough" for 2021 ...

* for those who worry, for us this means two households; minimal (and masked) inside contact; socially distant (unmasked) outside contact;

About the Photo By Popular Request, a Little Insight into the Top Image: Were new Easter dresses and hats a tradition in your family? Easter must have been late that year (hmmm, not so late, April 18th, thank you Google), that's the only explanation for sleeveless dresses in northern Minnesota where some many most Easter photos show my sister (on the left) and me bundled up in winter coats with snow on the ground. My mom made our dresses (I didn't have a store-bought dress until I was a sophomore in college ...) with beautiful glossy cotton her mom brought back from Hawaii, bright orange flowers in the background, black piping. And check out those brand-new white knee socks!

Are the dresses as timeless as I imagine them???

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PICK ONE

Pick One is for those of us overwhelmed by life's unending choices. If that resonates, then check out this one recipe and then call it a day. It's one that I think could make the most difference, the one I hope will become a regular in your kitchen, as it is in mine.

• THE RECIPE Ham & Beans How to make Ham & Beans with a leftover ham bone.
• WHY THIS, WHY NOW With any luck, many of us have leftover ham, even luckier, one with a ham bone. Today my husband is smoking a ham, this is "his" recipe not mine, Twice-Smoked Ham, written tongue in cheek but decidedly delicious, something he's famous for. Our "small as you can get" ham is big, a full 17 pounds so I'm sending home the fixin's for Ham & Beans home with his daughter and family. Easter will be a lovely meal but I CANNOT wait for Ham & Beans on Monday!

Pick One 2020

• THE RECIPE Creamy Oatmeal Three tricks for the very best oatmeal, all easy!
• WHY THIS, WHY THEN, THE SIXTH WEEK OF WHAT BECAME 2020. So. There are so many unknowns right now, the known unknowns and the unknown unknowns. But let it be known that Creamy Oatmeal will light your light. It makes a big batch (this week, I even scaled up the recipe for us by 20% to keep us in morning oatmeal throughout the week) and reheats beautifully. This morning, I had a small bowl with a little jam and some milk but our "real" oatmeal jam is to sauté some vegetables and put an egg on top.

Leftover Ham?! Lucky Duck!

• THE RECIPE Ham & Eggs with Leftover Ham A hearty breakfast for one or two or a crowd.
• ANOTHER TAKE Ham & Beans How to make Ham & Beans with a leftover ham bone.

• THE RECIPE Scandinavian Split-Pea Soup Traditional on Tuesdays, without fail.
• ANOTHER TAKE Sausage & Kale Split Pea Soup A classic split pea soup recipe made extra-hearty.

• THE RECIPE Easy Ham Salad Use up leftover ham from the freezer.
• ANOTHER TAKE Chicken Salad for Sandwiches Makes up in minutes with pantry ingredients.

Compliments!

• "Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I came upon it after searching for a brown sugar lemon curd (wondering if it was possible, as I was out of granulated sugar). I'm so glad I tried your aunt's recipe, it is delicious! Even my husband (who is very picky about desserts, he doesn't usually care for sweets unless they are out of this world good) anyway, I convinced him to try a bite of the cake I made (vanilla cake, filled with lemon curd, and drizzled with a lemon glaze.) And then he ate more than two pieces talking about how good it was and complaining 'Why did you do this to me?' while he ate! Haha! He even said it's one he would want on his birthday, all because of that amazing lemon curd. It was my first time making lemon curd, and I think your aunt was a smart lady to have some in her fridge all the time. Yum! Thanks for sharing a little bit of your family's history! You write wonderfully." ~ LaceyH
• THE RECIPE Brown Sugar Lemon Curd My Canadian family's signature recipe.

Put an Egg on Top aka "How About Eggs for Dinner?"

Why should breakfast get all the eggs?! If eggs for dinner were a club, I'd be president, chief marketing officer, resident evangelist, public advocate and ... hey, wanna join my club? Start here!

• THE RECIPE French Scrambled Eggs Eggs cooked slowly with a few vegetables, creamy and soft.
• ANOTHER TAKE Mexican Scrambled Eggs (Huevos Revueltos a la Mexicana) From Diana Kennedy, the most famous eggs in Mexico.

Recipes That Stand the Test of Time

To mark A Veggie Venture's 15th anniversary in 2020, I took a hard look at the first 365 vegetable recipes from the first year to select just 15 which, all these many years and recipes later, remain ever so useful. The result is a fascinating collection of recipes, 15 Favorite Vegetable Recipes, Still Useful After 15 Years. Here's just one.

• THE RECIPE Chipotle Chickpea Salad A fresh, summer salad with a smidgin of heat, substantial enough for dinner.
• ANOTHER TAKE Celery & Chickpea Salad A captivating salad, crunchy celery, creamy chickpeas and tangy feta.

PS Who's noticed? I'm big on "usefulness". See? Best-Ever “Most Useful” Recipes 2002 – Present, just one recipe per year from Kitchen Parade.

Soups & Salads Especially for April

For seasonal cooks, switching seasons happens gradually, over the course of a few weeks. Here in the Midwest, it's still definitely "early spring" so the recipes cross between soups that warm us up on those chilly days and salads that call when it's easy to stretch an outdoor meal into evening. So what sounds good depends on the day, yes? That's why I spent a year gathering all of A Veggie Venture's best soup and salad recipes into easy-to-scan month-by-month collections.

Dig into Seasonal Soup & Salad Recipes for April, so many ideas!

Here's a sample!

• THE RECIPE Greek Rice Salad with Artichokes & Feta
• ANOTHER TAKE Tomato & Rice Salad

Feeding a Sugar-Conscious Sweet Tooth

You too? We're cutting back on sweets without demonizing dessert, usually with smaller batches, smaller servings, shareable desserts or fruit desserts in addition to limiting frequency. But some times?

• THE RECIPE Last-Minute Pantry Pie Just five pantry ingredients. No bake!
• ANOTHER TAKE Blueberry Cheesecake Pie Cheesecake topped with homemade blueberry pie filling. No bake!

Timehop

Who else loves seeing old photos pop up, quick memories from years past? Welcome to a recipe timehop ...

• THE RECIPE Strawberry Milk Not a smoothie, almost a milkshake.
• ANOTHER TAKE Strawberry Ice Cream No-cook ice cream with big strawberry flavor and pretty pink color.

• THE RECIPE Big Cajun Chopped Salad Don't skip the olives!
• ANOTHER TAKE Babe's Naked Fruit & Veggie Salad Such a surprise.

Trending

My Top 10 Recipes are predictable, hello Should Cooked Pork Be Pink? and (Sloooow) Baked Potatoes (How Long to Bake a Baked Potato). But every week, seasonal recipes catch the internet's attention and start to trend.

• THE RECIPE Armenian Easter Bread The buttery sweet bread called choereg or choreg.
• ANOTHER TAKE Hot Cross Buns Sweet buns traditional for Easter.

• THE RECIPE "Best Ever" New Potatoes & Green Beans
• ANOTHER TAKE Simple Skillet Green Beans

Something to Read

I flew through In Five Years this week, a study in friendship and fate.

• THE BOOK In Five Years by Rebecca Serle (affiliate link)


• BOOK CLUB BOOK IDEAS My Reading Group's Book List since 1994!
• NO TIME TO READ? How I Read 4X More This Year Than Last What I gave up, how I read so much, what I read.

Just Updated!

• THE RECIPE Microwave Green Beans with Easy Tomatillo Salsa
• ANOTHER TAKE Delicious Microwave Sweet Potato

Don't Be a Stranger ...

I'd love to hear from you. Comment, send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com, dot-dash in Morse code, build a fire for smoke signals, launch a message in a bottle, send a Christmas letter, get the dog to yip, toss me a note wrapped in a rubberband, write a message in the sky, scratch a note in the sand, listen to a seashell, tuck a question into a plastic Easter egg, whatever.

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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