Seasonal Sundays: March Bucket List (Week 10)

This week's "Seasonal Seven" recipe collection is to help us all (me too!) take the tippy-toe-tiny steps from late winter toward false spring, early mud, first daffodils, spring snow, more mud ... and the final unfurling that is spring, whenever it makes its true arrival. I hope you'll find one or two destined as "keepers" in your own recipe repertoire.

~ Skip Straight to the Good Stuff ~

~ PIN This ~

Welcome to Seasonal Sundays ...

THANK YOU for stopping in today ... and last week and next week too. "I appreciate you." I do ... and always love hearing from many of you throughout the week. Don't be a stranger!

TRUE DAT "The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month." (~Henry Van Dyke, h/t to author Louise Penny's March newsletter)

PS Don't forget! Next Sunday, that's March 10th, we "spring forward" in the spring time change.

PPS A little housekeeping. Last week, I posted several hours later than usual and noticed a definite uptick in visitors. Was it the topic, Spring Suppers? Or was it the timing, 10am CST vs 5am CST? Feedback welcome!

About the Photo By Popular Request, a Little Insight into the Top Image: We're so happy with new Littles nearby! These three have a new house, new rooms, a new backyard and best of all, new bird feeders and bluebird houses. They are fascinated ...

In Praise Of ...

• ... the first daffodils fronds, the first cheery blossoms brightening sunny spots


• ... making summer plans, a trip? or two?? or even three???


• ... the eaglet watch 'n' wait is back on at Big Bear Valley, California, for the second year in a row, I keep the live cam open 24x7

---

---

THE SEASONAL SEVEN: A Bucket List for March

For this week's recipes, I aimed for recipes with winter flavors and combinations that ...

• ... wrap recipes around all the courses, the starters, the middles, the sweet ends
• ... not a one too time-consuming or fussy for a weeknight
• ... with a bare nod to St. Patrick's Day, the liveliest holiday in March save perhaps Easter

• THE RECIPE Refried Bean Sauce with Eggs on Top A hearty protein-packed weekend brunch recipe. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Mexican Gas House Eggs The new game in town, an egg fried in a tortilla.

• THE RECIPE Homemade Pub Cheese Cheddar + beer + horseradish = casual bar food at home. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Homemade Onion Dip Made from scratch with slow-sautéed onions, sour cream, mayonnaise and flavorings.

• THE RECIPE Very Very Green Green-Pea Soup Satisfying soup from a bag of frozen peas. Really. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Spinach Soup with Perfect Hard-Cooked Eggs A soup flushed with spring. (PIN This)

• THE RECIPE Slow-Cooked Greens & Smoked Turkey So good, you'll want to eat the pot. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Greens & Grits Spinach cooked with tomato and mushrooms atop quick-cooked grits.

• THE RECIPE Pork Chops & Rice Oven Dinner A one-pot oven dinner, pork chops and rice cooked together.
• ANOTHER TAKE Milk-Braised Pork Roast Be it ever so humble, milky good.

• THE RECIPE Chicken Stew with Chickpeas & Kale A hearty, one-pot supper with warm spices and fresh vegetables. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Maple-Glazed Chicken with Easy Skillet Creamed Carrots & Onions Oven-baked with a maple syrup and rosemary glaze.

• THE RECIPE Irish Spiced Fruitcake NOT your grandma's fruitcake.
• ANOTHER TAKE Irish Soda Bread Muffins Moist, buttermilk muffins studded with dried fruit and scented with caraway. (PIN This)

What's Brand-Spankin' 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 Easy-Easy Broiled Salmon with Olive Salad Just three ingredients, on the table in 20 minutes. (PIN This)

March: Reader Favorites

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

March: Lost Recipes

• THE RECIPE Broccoli Rigatoni with Chickpeas & Lemon Another easy pasta supper, lemony, garlicky, cheesy, broccoli good. (PIN This)

The Kitchen Parade Almanac: Looking Ahead ...

• March 10th (Sunday) - "spring forward" time change
• March 10th (Sunday) - Academy Awards
• March 12th - Equal Pay Day
• March 14th (Thursday) - Pi Day
• March 16th (Saturday) - St. Urho's Day
• March 17th (Sunday) - St. Patrick's Day
• March 19th (Tuesday) - First Official Day of Spring
• March 28th (Thursday) - Baseball Opening Day!
• March 31st (Sunday) - Easter (yikes! soooo early!)

ISO: A Little Easter Advice

So we're doing the big family Easter this year.

Eight Littles. Two Teens. Sixteen Parents/Grandparents. On the Saturday so more "kids party" than "Easter dinner". Everybody gets along!

Weather could be pretty ... or not.

Besides the requisite jello bites (purple and pink, I think, give seven Little Girls and just one Baby Boy) and a big Twice-Smoked Ham, the menu is open. Everybody will bring something, they're great that way.

But mostly, I'd like to make this party FUN for all, especially the kids.

Help an auntie out? What's one thing you'd recommend?! Leave a comment or send a quick email, my current address is in the FAQs.

Thanks in advance!

Spriiiiiing Forward

The spring time change happens next weekend! "Be ready."

It's been so nice, waking up to morning light. The OCD part of me wants to look up exactly when it'll be that light at 6:20 am again.

Looking Back ...

THIS WEEK, YEARS PAST
• 2020 Early March & the First Week of Lockdown (Week 10)
• 2021 Early March (Week 10)
• 2022 Early March (Week 10)
• 2023 Rotisserie Chicken Recipes (Week 10)

FUN ALBEIT NOT EXACTLY "HOLIDAYS"
• March 3 – Finnish Glögi (Hot Red Mulled Wine) for Mulled Wine Day
• March 4 – Finnish Tiger Cake for Pound Cake Day
• March 16 – Artichoke Recipes for Artichoke Day
• March 18 – Minnesota Sloppy Joes for Sloppy Joe Day
• March 26 – Spinach Recipes for National Spinach Day

RECENT WEEKS
• Spring Suppers (Week 9) (PIN This)
• Shrimp Fest! (Week 8) (PIN This)
• Chocolate for ♥♥♥ (Week 7) (PIN This)
• The Best of N'awlins (Week 6) (PIN This)
• The Art of Winter Salads (Week 5) (PIN This)
• Rediscovering the Lowly Carrot (Week 4) (PIN This)
• Staying In, Staying Warm (Week 3) (PIN This)
• Juicing Up on Vitamin C (PIN This)
• January Bucket List (PIN This)

Soups & Salads Bridging the Seasons

March is such a funny month for cooking, some wintry days (yo, soups!), some spring-like days (hey, salads!) and so many days neither one nor the other, just smack in the middle. So what grabs us 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.

Here are a few favorites!

• Bok Choy Salad with Homemade Creamy Vinaigrette The quick, flexible and dare-I-say addictive salad.
• Seductive Kale Salad The slow seduction of quick-cooked kale.
• No-Cream Creamy Cauliflower Soup Just three ingredients, so creamy but no cream.


• DIG INTO THE COLLECTION Seasonal Soup & Salad Recipes for March tons of ideas from A Veggie Venture
• OR LOOK AHEAD TO Seasonal Soup & Salad Recipes for April especially for the warmer days

Good to Know!

• IT'S FOR THE BIRDS Hummingbird Food Just sugar and water in the right ratio. It's fun! (PIN This)

A Quick Peek Into a Real-Life Kitchen

Just so you know, everything's not all pretty pictures around here, in the background is a pile of dirty dishes. And just like many (all?) of us, come five o'clock, I too draw a blank about what to make for supper, despite so many recipes I so dearly love. Here's a quick peek from the last week.

• THIS WEEK I'm trying to persuade somebody in this household 🙂 that a hot breakfast needn't be a production. There's a little timing/technique to put fried eggs in hot, crispy tortillas but it takes about 5 minutes, max. So good!
• THE RECIPE Fried Egg Quesadillas A fried egg sandwich with a tortilla. (PIN This)

• THIS WEEK It's been eight years and this remains my go-to salad dressing. But this week, I used an entire bunch of fresh dill and wow, so extra good!
• THE RECIPE My Everyday Creamy Herb Salad Dressing Never the same twice.

• THIS WEEK We supplied dinner a few nights for our niece/family who just moved to a new house just minutes away. The first night, I promised the girls jello. They picked "purple" so grape, it was. So fun!
• THE RECIPE Easy Easy Magical Jello Bites Guaranteed to make kids' eyes light up! (PIN This)

Don't Be a Stranger ...

I'd love to hear from you. Comment, send me a quick e-mail (my current address is in the FAQs), 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.

• Any ideas for Seasonal Sundays? Share away!
• What's the first sign of spring in your neck of the woods?
• Anyone else having trouble picking "just one pie" for Pi Day?
• Who else is fascinated by the slow-then-super-fast progression of spring?
• Anything else? Chime in, chat away.

---

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, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. 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
2024