Seasonal Sundays (Week 15) Easter Recipe Ideas

Check the calendar, yikes, Easter is just two weeks away. So today's recipe collection might be called, The Great Big Easter Basket of Recipes, it's packed with ideas that I do hope inspire your own spring-time gatherings, Easter or otherwise ...

~ Skip Straight to the Good Stuff ~

Welcome to Seasonal Sundays ...

The last time I saw Fiddler on the Roof was probably in 1971 and certainly at Winnipeg's Rainbow Stage, the wondrous spot that is Canada's largest and longest-running outdoor musical theater.

But we watched it on TCM recently, mesmerized, the 1971 movie version so familiar and yet, NOT.

How can it be that I know all the music, all these years later?

Fiddler on the Roof is sometimes described as a "charming story about Jewish life in early 20th Century Russia."

But Fiddler is really about how the Russians exiled Jewish people from Ukraine in 1905.

How "charming" is that? The truisms hold: Timing is everything, Context is everything.

Fiddler resonates on a personal level, even if I don't remember my Canadian family talking about it. I don't think my great-grandparents were either Jewish or Ukrainian but I do believe they left Ukraine in the late 1890s and settled in the Manitoba prairies to grow wheat.

Seeing the movie, especially the final scene, well, it offers up a fresh understanding of their departure.

Anyway, I recommend the movie, it gives new meaning to the term "political theater". I just checked, it's $1.99 to rent on Amazon.

More Info If Russia's invasion of Ukraine feels familiar, look to Broadway in the '60s

About the Photo By Popular Request, a Little Insight into the Top Image: Spring's not showing yet near this small lake in the northern reaches of the Ozark Mountains about an hour south of St. Louis. But underneath, of course, the season's best greenery is preparing to burst forth and make itself known. Lent, too, may appear barren and lifeless until the promise of rebirth is kept ...

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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 Twice-Smoked Ham How & why to smoke a smoked ham a second time.
• WHY THIS, WHY NOW Is Easter even Easter without a big ham? If there's someone with a smoker in the family, share this recipe and see if you can get someone to take a smoked ham and then smoke it again. You'll never go back ...
• AND DON'T FORGET Spicy Raisin Sauce for Ham My grandmother's recipe, always-always served with the Easter ham, the Christmas ham, the Sunday ham.

What's New?!

Wondering about a recipe from the last while? Check Recent Recipes from Kitchen Parade and Recent Vegetable Recipes from A Veggie Venture.

• THE SIMPLE TECHNIQUE How to Steam Eggs Simple technique for soft-cooked and hard-cooked both at once.
• ANOTHER SIMPLE TECHNIQUE How to Poach a Perfect Egg Step-by-step using Cook's Illustrated technique.

Easter Recipe Ideas

Traditional Easter Breads

• THE RECIPE Hot Cross Buns Sweet buns traditional for Easter.

• THE RECIPE Armenian Easter Bread The buttery sweet bread called choereg or choreg.

Quiches for Easter Brunch

• THE RECIPE Spinach Quiche with Red Pepper & Feta Pretty red & green for holiday brunches or year-round comfort food.
• ANOTHER TAKE Light Tomato Basil Quiche Make-ahead, light and healthy.
  

• THE RECIPE Light Tomato Basil Quiche Make-ahead, light and healthy.
• ANOTHER TAKE Ratatouille Omelettes A food hit worthy of a hit movie!

• THE RECIPE Asparagus Custard Tart Visually impressive but oh-so-easy.
• ANOTHER TAKE Asparagus Whole Wheat Bread Pudding A rustic bread pudding with whole wheat bread, asparagus, cheese, fresh herbs and lemon zest.

Easter Morning Breads

• THE RECIPE Mom's Blueberry Coffeecake A family favorite, for good reasons.
• ANOTHER TAKE Raspberry (or Blueberry) Morning Cake A fruity coffee cake.

• THE RECIPE Rhubarb Muffins Whole grain, less sweet.
• ANOTHER TAKE Sunshine Orange Muffins From the Canadian favorite, The Best of Bridge.

• THE RECIPE Mom's Perfect Biscuits The family biscuit recipe, perfected by three generations of fine biscuit makers and one persistent food blogger.
• DETAILED HOW TO How to Make Perfect Biscuits (Step-by-Step Photos & Detailed Instructions + Eight Tips for Extra-Good Biscuits)

Special Spring Salads

• THE RECIPE Seven-Layer Strawberry Salad with Homemade Poppy Seed Dressing
• ANOTHER TAKE Classic Seven Layer Salad

• THE RECIPE Summer Black-Eyed Pea Salad
• ANOTHER TAKE Big Cajun Chopped Salad

• THE RECIPE Smitten Kitchen's Avocado-Cucumber Salad
• ANOTHER TAKE Spring & Summer Sliced Salad

Creative Ideas for Easter Sides

• THE RECIPE Greek Baked Beans (Gigantes Plaki) Cooked til creamy in the oven.
• ANOTHER TAKE Creamy Slow Cooker Beans How to cook dried beans from scratch in a slow cooker.

• THE RECIPE Tourlou Tourlou (Greek Baked Vegetables) A rainbow of vegetables slow-cooked in the oven.
• ANOTHER TAKE Greek Baked Beans (Gigantes Plaki) Cooked til creamy in the oven.

• THE RECIPE Greek Spinach-Asparagus-Potato Gratin (Spinaki me Sparaggia Orgraten) A bit of a production but the best "creamed spinach" ever.
• ANOTHER TAKE Creamy Spinach with Artichokes Spinach artichoke dip meets steakhouse creamed spinach.

Easter Extras

• 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 Famous Mustard Sauce (Carolina BBQ Mustard Sauce) A tiny-bit spicy and a tiny-bit sweet and totally addictive.
• ANOTHER TAKE Homemade Finnish Mustard How to make mustard at home, Finnish-style.

• THE RECIPE Quick Pickled Asparagus No canning required.
• ANOTHER TAKE Quick Jalapeño Pickles No canning required.

Special Vegetables for Easter

• THE RECIPE Party Asparagus with Aioli
• ANOTHER TAKE Asparagus with Blender Hollandaise

• THE RECIPE Moroccan Onions Sliced, spiced and roasted onions, the traditional mezgaldi.
• ANOTHER TAKE Julia Child's Soubise (Onion & Rice Casserole) Thin ribbons of onion with rice and a little cream and cheese.

• THE RECIPE Easy-Easy Slow Cooker Honey Carrots
• ANOTHER TAKE Bourbon-Glazed Roasted Carrots

Worth Waiting For: Easter Desserts!

• THE RECIPE Fresh Strawberry Pie Fresh glazed berries in a homemade chocolate-cookie crust, a real crowd pleaser.
• ANOTHER TAKE Finnish Strawberry Whipped Cream Cake A real celebration cake.

• THE RECIPE Chocolate Cream Puffs Stuffed with Strawberries & Cream Just two bites big, just perfect for spring occasions.
• ANOTHER TAKE Strawberry Banana Chocolate Crumble Fruity chocolaty goodness.

• THE RECIPE Coconut Cream Pie How to move grown men to silence.
• ANOTHER TAKE Easy-Easy Chocolate Coconut Pudding Just five ingredients and ten minutes to pudding.

Good to Know

• THE TRADITION How to Plant Lenten Grass (Easter Grass) An old Finnish tradition, good to mark the season of Lent with children.
• AND ANOTHER A Birthday Cake for Jesus: A Story My sister's gentle way of keeping the spirit of Christmas.

Thinking Ahead

Some of us plan meals a day or two ahead – or reality, right? even an hour or two ahead. But for those who start planning for Easter before the Christmas decorations are put away and New Year's when sunning by the pool, this list's for you. Start here!

• Monday, April 4th – International Carrot Day
• Thursday, April 7th – Burrito Day
• Monday, April 4th – International Carrot Day
• Thursday, April 7th – Burrito Day
• Tuesday, April 12th – Grilled Cheese Day
• Tuesday, April 19th – Garlic Day
• Wednesday, April 20th – National Banana Day
• Sunday, April 17th – Easter
• Friday, April 22nd – Earth Day
• Tuesday, April 26th – National Pretzel Day
• Thursday, April 28th – Blueberry Pie Day
• Saturday, April 30th – Oatmeal Cookie Day

Something New to You? A Challenge!

It's one thing to know what we like. It's another to get caught in a rut of repetition. Every so often, I may offer a challenge to try something that just might be new. The challenge is yours to accept – or y'know, not – but I hope to pique your palate!

• COOK THE EGGS FIRST How to Steam Eggs Simple technique for soft-cooked and hard-cooked both at once.
• THEN DYE WITH BEET JUICE Perfect Hard-Boiled Ruby Eggs

Savoring Sweet Potatoes: A Challenge

So usually my "challenges" are, well, a challenge, an undertaking, an endeavor, a project. But here? For a few weeks, I hope you'll throw a few sweet potatoes onto your grocery list, knowing there'll be a simple recipe to tackle. Who's game?!

• THE RECIPE Sweet Potato Casserole Honoring the tradition while transforming it into something contemporary.
• ANOTHER TAKE Savory Sweet Potato Casserole No sugar, no marshmallows, 100% savory pleasure.

Meal Prep

• THE RECIPE Maple-Glazed Pecans Crisp and barely sweet. Pecan Pizzazz!
• ANOTHER TAKE Sweet Pumpkin Seed Crumbles

This Week's Soup

• THE RECIPE Paleo Carrot Soup Laced with fresh ginger and cardamon.
• ANOTHER TAKE Deep Mexico Carrot Soup with Tomatillo & Lime Serve hot or cold.

Finnish Food

• THE RECIPE Finnish Strawberry Whipped Cream Cake A real celebration cake.
• ANOTHER TAKE Chocolate Cream Puffs Stuffed with Strawberries & Cream Chocolate, strawberries and cream, just two bites big.

Lookin' for Love

We're all proud of our best recipes that family and friends (and the Internet!) just love. But what about the recipes we love but are, ahem, so far under-appreciated? This recipe is just that, it could use a little extra love!

• 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.

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.

Made Me Think ...

• If You Think Kale Is "So 2010" Then You're Not Growing the Right Ones (NYT, no paywall)

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 Green Cabbage Salad
• ANOTHER TAKE Asian Slaw with Sugar Snap Peas & Almonds

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 Easy-Easy Chocolate Sheet Cake Dark, moist and chocolate-y, even two or three days after baking. Fun sprinkles?!
• ANOTHER TAKE Chocolate Cinnamon Whipped Cream Cake Moist layers plus a fabulous whipped cream (chocolate, people!) frosting!

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 INFO Ham 101 What to Know Before Buying a Ham
• THEN FIRE UP THE SMOKER Twice-Smoked Ham How & why to smoke a smoked ham a second time.

• Vegetables 101 What Are Bitter Greens? Everything you'd like to know, including a comprehensive list and recipes.
• Vegetables 101 What Are Crudites? How to create a colorful Instagram-friendly platter of raw vegetables.

Just Updated!

• Kitchen Parade's Recipe Box Start here to explore Kitchen Parade's recipe collection, all hyper-organized.
• Recipes by Year Each year's recipes, 2002 to present.

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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