Spring is here and my herb garden has expanded. My husband went a bit overboard and selected some varieties I wouldn’t have thought of. Besides the stalwarts of basil, parsley, oregano and rosemary, chives and sage, which were saved in the cold frame over winter, I now have dill (for homemade refrigerator pickles), chamomile (for making tea) and lemon-flavored varieties such as lemongrass, lemon verbena, lemon balm, lemon thyme plus flat and curly leaf parsley. This should make for a flavorful summer.
 
About a week ago my local ShopRite had Atlantic cod fish on special. I found a delightful recipe on The New York Times cooking app, Cod Baked with Prosciutto, by Nigella Lawson, using just a handful of ingredients. Besides the cod and prosciutto, you’ll need butter, salt and pepper. After reading the cooking notes of other cooks, I used some fresh thyme from my garden.

​I can’t believe Easter has passed and now it’s May!  Let me start by telling you what I made for Easter dinner.
 
As our only guests were our son, daughter-in-law and infant grandson, our son suggested a light dinner as they were having Easter brunch earlier in the day. For the holiday, I like to prepare a ham dinner. The New York Times had a write up, “The Most Flavorful Easter Ham Starts on the Stove,” featuring a recipe for Honey Ham. I started with a Wellshire Farms Spiral Cut Ham from Whole Foods. This wonderful recipe begins by steaming the ham with wine, juniper berries, peppercorns, cloves, onion and honey. The ham is heated through on the stove top. Afterward it’s coated with a glaze made from some of the pots cooking liquid, whole-grain Dijon mustard and brown sugar. As it bakes in a 450° oven, it develops a crusty coating, but not too sweet. Oh, my goodness was this fabulous! Everyone loved the ham; it was different and very delicious.

​Peak season for cauliflower is from September through November and n our CSA box for week 23 and 24 we received a head of white cauliflower and the following week, purple. The white cauliflower was transformed into a delicious and velvety cream of cauliflower soup. I was unsure what to do with a purple head, until I read the Cook’s notes for Melissa Clark’s recipe for Lemony Carrot and Cauliflower Soup. The commenter suggested using purple cauliflower. 

​My recent CSA share from Dreyer Farms, brought me a new challenge, mustard greens. I also received an acorn squash and more apples.

Recently, I made Acorn Squash with Apples, but as a food blogger, I felt I had to find another tempting recipe in which to prepare this delicious squash. My search led me to the website "The Real Food  Dietitians" and their recipe Herb-Roasted Parmesan Squash. This savory preparation offers you another option for a Thanksgiving side dish. Even better, is that it takes just five ingredients and preps in just 10 minutes. Besides the acorn squash you'll need, Parmesan cheese, fresh herbs, (suggested was thyme, sage, rosemary, oregano or a mix), butter, garlic powder, salt and pepper. As my garden is still doing well, I made a mix of all the suggested herbs and I used minced fresh garlic in lieu of garlic powder.