April showers, May flowers and spring recipes

Kevin Green, Greensburg Daily News, Ind.
·3 min read

Apr. 14—Remember, April showers bring May flowers. It seems all the spring flowers and flowering shrubs and trees look exceptionally good this spring. The peach and apple trees are also in full bloom, I just hope we don't have a killing frost so we will have local peaches and apples. I always like to support our local markets, so I am also looking for those May flowers like orange blossoms, snowballs, etc.

I will give you more info about the Open.Class at the fair as soon as the booklets are available.

When we think of spring we think of asparagus, lettuce and rhubarb. Here are some recipes you may want to try.

Asparagus Casserole

1 lb. asparagus spears

2 T. butter

2 T. flour

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 c. evaporated milk and 1 c. water

1/2 c. fine crackers crumbs

2 hard-boiled eggs

1/2 c. grated cheese

Melt butter in pan.. Blend in flour, salt and pepper. Add milk and water to flour mixture. Blend until smooth then cook 2 minutes. Spread over asparagus in bottom of greased casserole pan. Add eggs and top with crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Spinach Salad

1 lb spinach washed, drained and chopped

4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

1/4 c. chopped onion

1/2 lb of crisp bacon, crumbled

Dressing

3/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. vinegar

1/4 c. oil

1/3 c. catchup

1 t. salt

1 t. Worcestershire sauce

Combine dressing ingredients, mix well, pour over salad when ready to serve.

Lemon Zucchini Bread

1 3/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

2 eggs

1/2 c. oil

1 1/3 c. sugar

2 T. lemon juice

1/2 c. buttermilk

Zest of 1 lemon

1 c. grated zucchini

Mix flour, salt and baking powder and set aside. In a bowl, beat eggs, add sugar, oil and blend. Add lemon juice, buttermilk and lemon zest and blend. Fold in zucchini. Add dry ingredients and blend. Pour into a greased 9 by 5 inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes.

Lemon Glaze

1 c. powdered sugar

2 T. lemon juice

1 T. milk

While bread is still warm, make the glaze and spoon over bread. Let the glaze set.

Pineapple -Rhubarb Pie

2 c. rhubarb

1 c. sugar

1 c. pineapple

1 T. flour

2 eggs

Combine all ingredients then pour into a 9-inch pie crust. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 t0 45 minutes.

I used fresh pineapple and chopped it. I also put a lattice crust on top. This does not make a deep dish pie, so don' t use a deep pan.

Rhubarb Crunch

4 c. rhubarb cut-up

1 c. sugar

2 T. flour

2 T. margarine

Batter

1 c. flour

dash of salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 c. sugar

1 egg

Mix rhubarb ingredients and let stand for a while.

Batter

Mix all the dry ingredients together well. Beat the egg and stir in to make a crumble mixture. Pour rhubarb mixture into pan top with crumbs. Shake a little so crumbs will settle into rhubarb. Serve hot with milk. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until done.

I always find some sayings in my Amish cookbooks that you may like:

TOO LITTLE TO SAVE

TOO MUCH TO DUMP

THAT.S WHAT MAKES

US HOUSEWIVES PLUMP

THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO GET TO THE TOP OF AN OAK TREE

CATCH THE FIRST LIMB AND CLIMB.

OR FIND A GOOD HEALTHY ACORN AND SIT ON IT

Decatur County resident Eileen Fisse may be contacted via this publication at news@greensburgdailynews.com.