Around the Kitchen Table: Celebrating Spring! + 8-Book #Giveaway!

     

PEG COCHRAN/MARGARET LOUDON:  Spring is finally here.  The season is a symbol of renewal, growth and rebirth and much anticipated after the long winter.  Just like the season changes, does your dinner menu change with it?  I find myself turning toward lighter dishes and putting away my recipes for soups and stews until it’s fall.  Salads like this Asian chicken salad are on the menu again along with lighter dishes like chicken satay or these chicken gyros done on the grill.
 

 

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MADDIE DAY: Oh, yes. Even when New England seems to have an iron grip on winter, the long days still draw me to brighter flavors and lighter tastes. 

I always host Easter lunch, and serve a cold poached salmon with a dill-sour cream sauce and sliced cucumbers. 

It's pink, white, and green, and so lovely. Even though our local asparagus won't be out until May, when I'm invited to a potluck I often hunt down a bunch of spears grown farther south, steam them, and lightly dress with a homemade vinaigrette. When I've planned my garden well, I'll have salad greens to cut sometime in April, but dreams of incorporating local strawberries has to wait for June.

In my first guest post for the Kitchen, I shared an herbed spring-garlic quiche recipe. You don't have to wait! 

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LESLIE BUDEWITZ: Here in Northwest Montana, the calendar may say "spring," but the weather has other ideas! Spring flowers and early spring vegetables don't really crop up for a few more weeks, and even hardy bulbs like daffs and crocus aren't quite in bloom. But that doesn't stop us from pretending! Mr. Right and I are huge fans of asparagus, and I've shared a lot of asparagus recipes here, including this fabulous Puff Pastry with Asparagus, Brie, and Honey  -- tasty little pockets of spring! 

 

This Asparagus Soup with Cumin, from To Err is Cumin: A Spice Shop Mystery, bridges the gap between the calendar and the clouds nicely, with the comfort of soup and the warmth of cumin on one side and the delight of spring green on the other.  Lemon is another bright taste that suits the changing seasons, whether you use it in a main dish, like this Lemon Arugula Pasta, or this creamy but light Lemon Mousse. 

Here's to lighter, brighter days, my friends, in the kitchen and beyond! 

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KIM DAVIS: Since I live in coastal Southern California, we don't have a huge swing in seasonal temperatures. Honestly, it can be 90+ degrees any time of the year even during the winter (thank you... NOT... to the Santa Ana winds), and a chilly, overcast mid 60s in the summer which we call June-Gloom. We never quite know what we'll be getting outside of our 10-day forecast. We're also blessed to have local, fresh produce year round so I've never really cooked according to the season. Instead I choose whatever sounds good or whatever suggestions my family come up with or whenever a new recipe catches my eye. 

Fresh garden salads (often from lettuce we've grown ourselves) are served just about every day, and I serve fish at least once a week like my Salmon with Maple & Dijon Sauce or my Baked Parmesan Pesto Tilapia. Another family favorite that I make year round are Zucchini Taco Boats which are probably more aligned with spring/summer. But if someone has a craving for beef stew or chicken tortilla soup in the middle of an August heat wave, I'll happily prepare the dish and crank up the air conditioning. 

Wishing you all a delicious spring! 

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LUCY BURDETTE: In Connecticut, spring means the vegetables at the farmer's market and John's asparagus are in! Peas, chives, arugula, broccolini, overwintered carrots--I love them all. Here's a recipe I'd forgotten about, with veggies on polenta with Parmesan crisps. 

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LESLIE KARST: Here in Hawai‘i, of course, the weather doesn’t change a whole lot with the seasons, but since March is traditionally the rainiest month of the year, often bringing the famous Kona storms (and the state sure saw that happen this last March!), the arrival of April can mark the return of the typical mild trade wind weather. So yes, cold dishes and salads!

One of my favorites is this simple and delicious ramen salad, always a hit at potlucks. 

And this green bean salad with queso fresco is also quite refreshing. Or how about this Japanese restaurant-style salad, with a yummy mayonnaise based dressing with soy sauce and a bit of sugar? And to top off any of the above, may I recommend making your own pickled onions—so easy and such a great addition to so many foods! 
 

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VMBURNS: I'm not sure that Georgia got the memo about the weather. A couple of weeks ago we had snow, and yesterday I turned on the air conditioning. But, I'm starting to look for lighter meals like this Cowboy Pasta Salad. With the addition of ground beef, it's hearty enough for when the weather is fickle, but doesn't require a lot of time slaving over a stove or oven. Plus, it's super tasty. 

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DARCI HANNAH: Living in Michigan, and after our bitter cold winters, the slightly warmer days of spring are very welcome. I look forward to more sunshine and longer days. Once spring is here I start craving lighter meals. However, the temperature in Michigan can fluctuate so greatly from one day to the next, going from sixty degrees and sunny down to twenty degrees and snowy, that it's hard to fully embrace salads and cold dishes. I look forward to Easter where we often see asparagus at the stores for the first time all year. Our family also loves to celebrate with leg of lamb and mint jelly. There's just something about the taste of mint jelly that reminds me of spring! As our dinners get slightly lighter from stews and heavy pastas to more chicken and fish dishes, I also start to crave brighter and more citrus-y flavors. Since I'm a baker that directly translates into treats like lemon bars and lemon scones that I bake for my family and friends. Honestly, I think the changing of the seasons affects my baking more than my cooking! 

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MOLLY MacRAE: During my years working in delicatessens, from the late 60s into the mid-70s (my salad days?), I noticed an interesting phenomenon. Every spring, when the world started turning green with tender shoots and leaves, people just wanted to eat it up. It made me wonder. If we hadn’t served the beautiful green salads they craved, would they have gone back outside to join the rabbits for a good graze? Here’s a recipe for a delicious arugula, carrot, and chickpea salad any self-respecting rabbit might love. 

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CLEO COYLE: When you find yourself shivering in a freezing garage at 3 AM, blowing a hair dryer on a frozen water pipe and praying it won’t burst, you jump for joy at the first sign of springtime, and Marc and I are not just happy but relieved to see those tiny green buds finally appearing on our trees here in Queens and cherry blossoms blooming up the street. Soon the wild violets will be peeking their purple heads up in our back yard, and we’re looking forward to those, too, along with some Mason Jar Cold Brew Coffee...

As for the food, we tend to eat more fresh vegetables at this time of year, but we still love our baked treats like this Easy Melted Gelato Cake. You can adapt the recipe to any gelato flavor, though the pistachio (pictured below) nicely celebrates the season of green. And in that spirit... We wish you all a Happy Easter and Happy Spring! ~ Cleo

For Cleo's Easy Melted Gelato Cake recipe,
click here or on the image above.

Readers, how about you?

Does your menu change with the seasons or are you just as likely to whip up a pot of soup in the summer as well as in the winter?  Comment to be entered in this month's giveaway!   

Murder Uncorked by Maddie Day 

Murder at the Lemonberry Tea by Darci Hannah 

Where the Bodies Are Berried 
by Peg Cochran 

 
Essentials of Murder by Kim Davis 
 
Snakeberry by Ang Pompano 

All Shell Breaks Loose (ARC)
by Molly MacRae 

A Deadly Feast by Lucy Burdette 
 
Bulletproof Barista by Cleo Coyle 

🔎📚🔍

Comments Open 

Through Wednesday 

April 8

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