Seasonal Sundays (Week 20) Mother's Day & Mid May

It's a special Saturday edition, especially for those who might appreciate some last-minute ideas for Mother's Day. Here you'll find our lunch menu for tomorrow plus a whole pile of ideas for the week. This is such a fun time of year to cook!

~ Skip Straight to the Good Stuff ~

Welcome to Seasonal Sundays ...

Well, hey, yes it's the second Seasonal Saturday of the year, just in case anyone's still in planning mode for Mother's Day tomorrow. I'd happily re-make our Easter brunch menu (it's here for anyone who's interested in a casual brunch that takes about three hours to put together) but, well, it's also kinda fun to plan something different!

What a weird, weird time for "Mother's" Day to fall.

Still, Happy Mother's Day to all who mother! That includes the nanas, the aunties, the grandmoms, the nannies, the neighbors, the teachers, the dance instructors, the school cooks, all of you, all of us!

PS Two years ago, I did a special no-recipe edition of Seasonal Sundays for hat lovers, it's still pretty fun and includes some wise life lessons from my own mom, gone twenty years now but still fully alive every day, in my hands, my laugh, my politics, my food, my penchant for glass jars and pretty dishes, and so so many ways.

About the Photo By Popular Request, a Little Insight into the Top Image: Our neighbors in the country keep a few cattle and when the dogwoods bloom in spring, it's calving time! The mommas are protective and wary but the calves are curious and playful – and just like human children, hungry!

---

---

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 Mexican Fruit Salad A light and simple fruit salad with a surprising mix of spices and fruits.
• WHY THIS, WHY NOW This salad was a surprise hit at Easter, even more special (and lasted longer) than I'd remembered.

Kitchen Parade's Reader Favorites for May

• THE RECIPE Alice Waters' Coleslaw No mayo, bright with lime and cilantro.
• ANOTHER TAKE Green Cabbage Salad with Fresh Lime Vinaigrette Somehow more "salad" than "slaw".

• 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.

A Veggie Venture's Reader Favorites for May

• THE INFO Never Buy Fresh Herbs Again How to grow a few favorite fresh herbs at home, the soil, the planting, everything you need to know.
• AND WHEN IT GOES WELL? DIY Dried Herbs (How to Dry Fresh Herbs in the Microwave)

• THE RECIPE Cauliflower Spanish "Rice" Looks like rice, tastes like rice.
• ANOTHER TAKE Mexican Cauliflower "Rice"

---

---

Our Mother's Day Menu

Strawberry Milk

Baked Bacon and
Cooked Pork Sausage or
Smoked Salmon

Asparagus Whole Wheat Bread Pudding

Greens from Our Garden
Dressed Like
Simple Arugula Salad

Five-Minute Fruit Salad or
Savory Orange Slices

Chocolate Cream Puffs Stuffed with Strawberries & Cream or
Fresh Strawberry Pie

---

---

• 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 Baked Bacon How to cook perfect bacon in the oven.
• ANOTHER TAKE Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing The traditional spinach salad with bacon, hard-cooked eggs, mushrooms.

• THE RECIPE Asparagus Whole Wheat Bread Pudding A rustic bread pudding with whole wheat bread, asparagus, cheese, fresh herbs and lemon zest.
• ANOTHER TAKE Savory Bread Pudding with Butternut Squash, Chard & Cheddar Make in advance for a holiday brunch or buffet.

• THE RECIPE Five-Minute Fruit Salad It's all in the presentation!
  
• ANOTHER TAKE Grape Salad with Almonds & Cilantro An unusual fruit salad, savory and sweet at the same time.

• THE RECIPE Savory Orange Slices A simple and surprising orange salad.
• ANOTHER TAKE Citrus Slices with Orange Flower Water, Spices & Chocolate Shavings A simple summer dessert.

• 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 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.

National Shrimp Day
(May 10th)

• THE RECIPE Easy Shrimp Bites Four pantry ingredients, a snap to assemble.
• ANOTHER TAKE Bacon-Wrapped Dried Apricots Quick to fix, surprisingly low in calories.

• THE RECIPE Sweet-Corn Soup with Shrimp Familiar ingredients combine into something unusual and surprising.
• ANOTHER TAKE Quick 'n' Easy Shrimp Bisque Part shrimp chowder, part traditional bisque.

• 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.

National Hummus Day
(May 13th)

• FIRST MAKE How to Cook Dried Chickpeas Especially for Hummus aka "Jerusalem Chickpeas"
• THEN MAKE Crazy-Smooth Crazy-Good Hummus
• ANOTHER TAKE Simple Hummus A quick and simple basic recipe with canned chickpeas.

• THE RECIPE Red Pepper Hummus
• ANOTHER TAKE Pumpkin Hummus with Honey

• THE RECIPE Roasted Eggplant “Hummus" (Eggplant & Chickpea Dip & Spread)
• ANOTHER TAKE Cauliflower Hummus

Lunch at the Kitchen Table

• THE RECIPE Summer Lentils aka the "Great Big Vegetable Salad with a Few Lentils Thrown In Just for Fun".
• ANOTHER TAKE Best-Ever Lentil Salad An unusual cooking technique, great for meal prep.

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 Herb-Coated Broiled Fish Fish filets coated in fresh herbs, then broiled. So simple, yet seductive.
• ANOTHER TAKE Fish with Herb Butter A Quick Supper, one of my favorite simple meals.

• THE RECIPE Lemon Chive Chicken Salad Chicken breasts gently poached in lemon water for flavor and tenderness.
• ANOTHER TAKE Chicken Salad Especially for Sandwiches Makes up in minutes with pantry ingredients.

• THE RECIPE Spinach Burgers
• ANOTHER TAKE Homemade Black Bean Burgers

Good to Know

• THE RECIPE My Favorite Graham Cracker Crust A crisp, sturdy crust, not too sweet, not too buttery.
• ANOTHER TAKE No-Bake Chocolate Cookie Crumb Crust (Homemade Chocolate Cookies) Half chocolate, half graham cracker.

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 Easy Spinach Nests Eggs cooked in nests of spinach.
• ANOTHER TAKE Baked Eggs in Cream with Spinach An easy weekend breakfast.

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 My Favorite New Way to Roast Beets Just a little bit pickle-y!
• ANOTHER TAKE My Favorite Way to Roast Beets The traditional method for roasting beets.

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 Wedges with Rosemary & Lime Juice An unusual summery dish, served either warm or at room temperature.
• ANOTHER TAKE Frozen Sweet Potato Fries Are They Worth the Price? the Calories?

Meal Prep

• THE RECIPE Laura's Healthy Carrot Soup Creamy without a drop of cream.
• ANOTHER TAKE Paleo Carrot Soup Quiet-inducing, spoon-clinking good.

This Week's Soup

• THE RECIPE Turkey Sweet Potato Soup A healthy, colorful soup.
• ANOTHER TAKE Turkey or Chicken & Wild Rice Soup A hearty mix of leftover chicken or turkey, wild rice and butternut squash.

Finnish Food

• THE RECIPE Finnish Summer Potato Salad Just new potatoes and a simple vinaigrette.
• ANOTHER TAKE Mom’s Potato Salad

Mexican Food

• THE RECIPE Mexican Chicken Salad Rotisserie chicken tossed with lime-yogurt vinaigrette, black beans, jicama, corn and tomato.
• ANOTHER TAKE Chicken Greek Salad with Simple Hummus A Quick Supper, just assemble and serve - another good reason to eat at home!

Most Useful Recipes, Just One Per Year

When a blogger loves every single one of her published recipes, how in the world does she pick just one favorite? It's stunning, honestly, how each year one Kitchen Parade recipe stands out from all the others that year for sheer usefulness. So that's why I created this collection of best recipes, just one per year, Best-Ever “Most Useful” Recipes 2002 – Present, just one recipe per year from Kitchen Parade. Here's a sample.

• THE RECIPE Homemade Granola with Almonds & Apricots Just a little sweetness, just a little oil.
• ANOTHER TAKE Gingerbread Granola Granola all dressed up for Christmas.

PS Who's noticed? I'm big on highlighting "usefulness". 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. You'll want to dig into this collection, 15 Favorite Vegetable Recipes, Still Useful After 15 Years.

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 Derby Pie The classic Southern pie with many names.
• ANOTHER TAKE Frozen Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie A creamy concoction, with just a hint of peanut butter and a drizzle of chocolate.

• THE RECIPE Lemony Broccoli Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
• ANOTHER TAKE Roasted Broccoli with Lemon & Garlic

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 Easy Coleslaw with Blue Cheese & Apple
• ANOTHER TAKE Apple Juice Slaw

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 Southern Belle Lemon Layer Cake Easy lemony cake with lemony cream cheese frosting. Also cherry layer cake, orange layer cake, many variations!
• ANOTHER TAKE Best-Ever Caramel Cake A spectacular layer cake worthy of a special occasion.

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 Quick Corn Soup with Coconut Milk Fast and flexible, all pantry ingredients.
• ANOTHER TAKE Paleo Carrot Soup A simple warm carrot soup, just enough fresh ginger, cardamom and coconut milk.

Just Updated!

• THE RECIPE Roasted Rhubarb Rhubarb cooked until just soft in the oven.
• ANOTHER TAKE Custard with Rhubarb Sauce Creamy custard topped with sour rhubarb.

• THE PROJECT Deep Mexico: Ingredient-Driven Mexican Meal Prep Combine food shopping, meal planning and meal prep techniques into good eats and good fun.
• ALL THE RECIPES Mexican Recipes All the recipes for Taco Tuesday and beyond.

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.

---

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. When you make my recipes, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below or better still, on the specific recipe's page.

---

© Copyright Kitchen Parade
2022