Seasonal Sundays (Week 8) Mid February

Still looking for last-minute Superbowl and Valentine's ideas? This week's recipes have these back-to-back "holidays" covered plus so so much more.

~ Skip Straight to the Good Stuff ~

Welcome to Seasonal Sundays ...

It cannot be said too often ... "I appreciate you".

Yes, you. YOU.

Thank you for inviting Kitchen Parade into your InBox. Thank you for trusting my recipes. Thank you for your notes of encouragement and LOL the occasional Christmas letter ... and yes, occasionally, chastisement and comeuppance.

Who are you appreciating right now?

Put it into words. Say it out loud! Tell someone else, too!

Here's someone I appreciate. It's Samantha Reynolds aka bentlily who's been writing a poem a day for eleven years – her way of noticing little moments that might otherwise be missed. Try on A Love Letter to Humanity and then go ahead, sign up for a free weekly email, seven days of human moments worth noticing.

About the Photo By Popular Request, a Little Insight into the Top Image: Valentine's usually focuses on romantic couple love but today Valentine kisses go to my nephew who's over thirty and still dreaming about his nana (my mom) nearly twenty years after her passing. This week he woke up with a smile after dreaming about a full-body hug with her, LOL including her "gaudy silver bracelet" digging into his neck. The photo was taken a few months before her death. We were all in Florida for New Year's and the two of them took a walk around the neighborhood. Such, such intimacy ...

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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 Orange & Avocado Salad Simple but sumptuous.
• WHY THIS, WHY NOW Really, LOL, who doesn't have an avocado or two leftover from making My Guacamole for the Superbowl? There's avocado toast, of course, but whoa, this salad.

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 RECIPE Quick 'n' Easy Shrimp Bisque Part shrimp chowder, part traditional bisque.
• ANOTHER TAKE Finnish Salmon Soup (Lohikeitto) Finland's famous fish and potato chowder.

Last-Minute Appetizers

• THE RECIPE Tuna & White Bean Dip
• ANOTHER TAKE Kalamata Tuna Salad Bok Choy Wraps

• THE RECIPE Estonian Deviled Eggs It's got a secret ingredient!
• ANOTHER TAKE Deviled Eggs with Tomato-Herb Relish Easy but dramatic presentation of everyone's favorite deviled eggs.

• THE RECIPE Best Quick Tomato Salsa (Red Salsa) For chips, tacos, burritos, eggs & more
• ANOTHER TAKE Green Chile Sauce (Salsa Verde) New Mexico-style salsa verde

Last-Minute Valentine's Ideas

• THE RECIPE Seared Scallops with Chimichurri and Garlicky Polenta A simple romantic dinner, perfectly cooked scallops bedded in creamy polenta and topped with racy spoonsful of chimichurri.
• ANOTHER TAKE Smoked Scallops with Zucchini Ribbons Very Weight Watchers friendly, just one point for the whole meal.

• THE RECIPE Warm Baked Feta & Tomatoes with Shrimp The TikTok phenomenon plus shrimp.
• ANOTHER TAKE Shrimp with Tomatoes, Spinach & Feta Shrimp cooked in a nest of tomatoes, spinach and feta cheese.

• THE RECIPE Sweet Pepper Pasta Skillet Colorful bell peppers in a light cream sauce.
• ANOTHER TAKE Broccoli Rigatoni with Chickpeas & Lemon Another easy pasta supper, lemony, garlicky, cheesy, broccoli good.

The Gazpacho Gestapo

At least our miserable politics gave us a good laugh this week, when a certain congresswoman confused Nazi police with ... because this is so obvious, right? ... the classic Spanish chilled tomato soup. Within 24 hours, my wonderful summer-only Tomato Gazpacho showed up in the Top Ten recipes trending on A Veggie Venture.

Everybody makes mistakes but crime-in-etly.

PS On a lighter and personal note, it was gazpacho that turned my into a seasonal cook, the story is here, Cold & Creamy Cantaloupe Soup.

• THE RECIPE Tomato Gazpacho Worthy of an occasion, a summer meal in itself.

For Now, It's "Enough".

MOVE MORE Last fall, I lost more than a week to a back issue that just wouldn't resolve. Getting up and down was p-a-i-n-f-u-l but I forced myself to walk for a few minutes every half hour, just in the house, just as many steps as I could manage. At one point, I even asked my husband to bring my dad's old walker up from the basement, just to keep moving.

Once back improved, we started walking just 15 minutes at a time, just around the pool, just around the front drive. Just 15 minutes! You don't have to "make time" for 15 minutes! And I've kept it up ... it's not "exercise" but it is moving more.

But I was still feeling stiff and achey in the morning. So I started doing a few minutes of standing exercises in the morning and just before bed – and by a few minutes, I mean maybe six or seven minutes max. You don't have to "make time" for six or seven minutes! I make up my own regimen, starting from the shoulders down and then back up to the neck, part stretching, part repetition, some times with small weights, just 5 reps per step.

And you know what? I couldn't believe the difference in how I felt, getting up.

Once I felt better, the morning exercises became increasingly infrequent but I kept up the night exercises – and then came the revelation that if I did both, well, I was doubling that movement. Doubled!

This obviously isn't an idea that suits people who have well-ingrained exercise practices. But for those who don't, it's "enough" (for now) to Move More.

JUST BREATHE Her mom and I were basically raised in the same cradle so I've known Tomika Koch since she was a prayer in her mom's heart. This girl's known more than her share of troubles and now is investing her life passion in song-writing, including the just-released Just Breathe. That left hand on the piano is heart-stopping ... and maybe, just maybe, there are days when just breathing is enough.

Lunch at the Kitchen Table

• THE RECIPE Delicious Microwave Sweet Potato Best for one or two sweet potatoes.
• ANOTHER TAKE Baked Sweet Potatoes Especially useful for many & whole sweet potatoes.

The Dinner Bell

Seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, the dinner bell rings. If we're gonna eat, somebody's gotta cook, some nights fuel, some nights a feast. Let's make it good, a welcome end to our days.

• THE RECIPE Hamburger Casserole Weeknight comfort food lightened up.
• ANOTHER TAKE Hamburger Soup A hearty soup with chunks of meat and a cornucopia of bright-colored vegetables.

Even meat eaters approve of this lentil dish, just love the spices!

• THE RECIPE Slow Cooker Vegetarian Lentil Sloppy Joes
• ANOTHER TAKE Minnesota Sloppy Joes Sloppy joes made from scratch in the crockpot.

• THE RECIPE Pork & Poblano Skillet A Quick Supper where a smoky pepper sweetens supper.
• ANOTHER TAKE Tender Pork Tenderloin with Cumin Carrot Fries

Good to Know

• THE RECIPE How to Cook Popcorn in a Microwave in a Paper Bag How to make airpop popcorn in the microwave, just popcorn kernels, a paper sack and NO oil.
• ANOTHER TAKE Homemade Microwave Caramel Corn No mess, no fuss in a paper bag.

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.

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!

• THE RECIPE Beef Barley Soup with Mushrooms Root vegetables, earthy mushrooms and nutty barley.
• ANOTHER TAKE Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup A concept recipe, all about the vegetables.

Savoring Sweet Potatoes: A Challenge

So usually my "challenges" are, well, a challenge, 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 How to Cook Sweet Potatoes in a Slow Cooker
• ANOTHER TAKE Baked Sweet Potatoes

This Week's Soup

• THE RECIPE Peasant Cabbage Tomato Soup
• ANOTHER TAKE Cabbage & White Bean Stew

Finnish Food

• THE RECIPE Finnish Tiger Cake With chocolate stripes, just like a tiger!
• ANOTHER TAKE Homemade Poppy Seed Cake With a layer of sweet spiced chocolate.

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 Spinach Salad with Fruity Vinaigrette, Fresh Fruit & Maple-Glazed Pecans A big green salad with a rainbow of fruit.
• ANOTHER TAKE Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing The traditional spinach salad with bacon, hard-cooked eggs, mushrooms.

Made Me Think ...

• SLAVERY = BLACK, RIGHT? NO. "Unfree labor in the New World was brown, white, black, and yellow; Catholic, Protestant and pagan." Have we lost track of the history of slavery? I love the work of Jamelle Bouie, especially his Saturday newsletter which yesterday addressed how slavery wasn't confined to people from Africa. His thinking on race is always compelling – and his newsletter is personal too, he shares a photo from the week and a recipe! Yesterday's recipe for Oven-Roasted Chicken Schwarma is in the fridge, marinating. (Note, I do believe you need a NYT subscription to receive the newsletter but it's just one more reason to subscribe.)


• THE LOVE LANGUAGE OF SPARROWS To Impress Lady Birds, Male Sparrows Sing Their Songs on Shuffle from Smithsonian Magazine. How might a new playlist add spark to a human relationship?


• MY FAVORITE COLOR IS "RHUBARB" and I roasted a big pot of beets just yesterday but would I really want this on my counter? Would you???? See KitchenAid Just Announced the 2022 Color of the Year — And It’s Oh-So-Pretty from TheKitchen.com.

Soups & Salads Especially for February

What sparks us in February? Seed catalogs, of course. But for many of us, February is the last real month of winter, almost the last chance for a seasonal cook to revel in cold-weather specialties. So there's soup, of course! And salads, of course! 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 February, tons of ideas!

Here's a sample!

• THE RECIPE Light Red Cabbage & Carrot Salad
• ANOTHER TAKE Mighty Perfect Cabbage & Broccoli Coleslaw

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 Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix How to make hot chocolate mix from scratch, for a crowd, for gifts, for home.
• ANOTHER TAKE Sugar-Free Chai Tea Just good ginger, good spices, good tea and good milk.

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 TIP How to Freeze Stock in Canning Jars Thrifty practice for green kitchens.
• THE STOCK No-Big-Deal Homemade Chicken Stock How to turn making chicken stock from a production into No-Big-Deal.

• THE RECIPE Perfect All-Rhubarb Pie A summer masterpiece.
• ANOTHER TAKE Custard with Rhubarb Sauce Creamy custard topped with sour rhubarb.

Just Updated!

• ALL THE RECIPES Sweet Potato Recipes Soups to salads to suppers and still more, the whole collection.
• JUST THE FAVORITES My Best & Favorite Sweet Potato Recipes A shortlist of favorites!

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, draw a huge heart with the power washer, 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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