Ostara Recipes 2012………

Merry Meet everyone!  As I’m sitting by the fire on a cold Saturn day, my heart is heavy for the victims of the storms yesterday that swept thru the Midwest…in some cases completely wiping out small towns, like in Henrysville and Marysville, Indiana..not that far from me.  Loss of life, homes, towns…very sad to see.  May Goddess bless everyone affected by them.  Blessed Be. 

Today was actually a beautiful day here.  It’s cold, but the Sun was shining and it still looked like a Spring day! The feeders and pond is busy with birds and believe it or not, we have frogs sunning on the rocks on our pond as well already! But we are expecting snow by tomorrow evening into monday morning.  LOL …that’s Ohio weather for you!    I have been working a few days on gathering recipes for what I’d like to make for Ostara,  and thought you all would like to see them too.  I have already posted my personal Ostara recipes in my posts here the last 2 years…..so for this post……I perused my cookbooks and came up with a few I thought sounded delicious.   I look forward to making them myself!   

So here goes……  We often have a brunch for Ostara or Easter instead of lunch or dinner.  It’s such a nice change of pace from the big ham dinners we’ve always had in the past.  So keeping that in mind….I found a few wonderful brunchy meal ideas 🙂

Orange Apricot Juice

 1 (12 ounce) can apricot nectar, chilled

1 1/2 cups orange juice, chilled

2 tablespoons lemon juice

In a pitcher, combine apricot nectar, orange juice, and lemon juice. Serve chilled

*I would triple this at least!!  

 

Gingered Kiwi Fruit

 3 TB sugar

3 TB water

2 T crystallized ginger, minced

¼ tsp vanilla extract

4 kiwi fuit, peeled and sliced

2 oranges, peeled and sliced

 In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine sugar, water and ginger.  Bring to a boil.  Stirring constantly, boil until mixture reaches a light syrup consistency, about 3 mins.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Cool slightly.  In a dessert dish, gently stir fruit slices and ginger syrup until well mixed.  Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, about 2 hours.  Serves 4

*Again would probably double or triple this! 🙂 

 

Fresh Asparagus Omelet

 1 TB butter

1 TB olive oil

8 stalks asparagus, cut into ½ inch pieces

¼ onion, chopped

6 eggs, beaten

¼ cup milk

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cup shredded swiss cheese

In a non-stick skillet, heat butter and oil over medium heat.  Add asparagus and onion; cook for 5 mins, or until tender.  In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, salt and pepper.  Beat egg mixture with a fork just until bubbles begin to appear; pour over asparagus mixture.  Cook until eggs set on top; lift edges with a spatula to allow uncooked eggs to run under cooked eggs.  When eggs are set, top with cheese.  Cut into wedges.  Serves 2 – 4.

*Why not go a step further and just set up an omelet bar.  Just have lots of fixings and make them to order!  What a fun thing to do!  However, I love Spring asparagus and think this recipe sounds fantastic!

Honey Sunflower Bread

*Makes 2 loaves

 2 cups water

1 cup rolled oats

½ cup honey

1 TB butter

2 tsps salt

1 cup roasted sunflower kernels

1 (1/4oz) package active dry yeast

½ cup warm water

2 ½ cups whole-wheat flour

2 cups white flour

Bring the water to a boil and and stir in the oats.  Set aside for 1 hour.  Spray two 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pans with vegetable oil spray. 

Add the honey, butter, salt and sunflower seeds to oat mixture and stir well.

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and allow to stand for 5 minutes.  Stir the yeast mixture into the oat mixture.  Blend in both flours, stirring until the dough pulls cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.  Form the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl, turning to coat.  Cover loosely with plastic  wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.  Punch down the dough.  Knead until smooth and elastic.  Divide into two loaves and place in the prepared pans.  Cover and let rise again until doubled in size. 

Preheat the oven to 350*.  Bake until golden brown, about 45-50 mins.  It if appears that breat is browning too quickly, cover with foil the last 10-15 mins of baking time.  Remove bread from pans and cool on a wire rack. 

*I think this would make delicious french toast too 🙂 

 

Fruit and Spinach Salad

 1 pound fresh spinach, torn

4 cups strawberries, sliced

1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained   (I would use Clementine fresh oranges here!) 

1 star fruit, sliced

GINGER SALAD DRESSING:

1/3 cup lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive or canola oil

2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

Arrange spinach and fruit on salad plates. In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the dressing ingredients; shake well. Drizzle over salads; serve immediately.

 

 

 

Dilly Egg Salad

 8 eggs

2 TB mayo

2 TB Dijon mustard

1 tsp dill weed

½ tsp paprika

1/3 cup red onion, minced

Salt and pepper to taste.

 Place eggs in a large saucepan, cover in cold water and bring to a boil.  Boil for 10-12 mins, remove from heat.  Run eggs under cold water until cool.  Peel and Chop.

Place eggs and remaining ingredients in a large bowl; mix well.  Serve on pumpernickel bread or on a bed of lettuce.  Makes 4 servings. 

*I would use MORE mayo and dijon 🙂

Maple Glazed Salmon

1/4 cup maple syrup  (even better if you use the REAL maple syrup 🙂

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 pound salmon

In a small bowl, mix the maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, garlic salt, and pepper.

Place salmon in a shallow glass baking dish, and coat with the maple syrup mixture. Cover the dish, and marinate salmon in the refrigerator 30 minutes, turning once.

Preheat oven to 400*  Place the baking dish in the preheated oven, and bake salmon uncovered 20 minutes, or until easily flaked with a fork.

 

Carrot Pecan Wild Rice

1 1/2 cups wild rice
2 carrots sliced  into 1/2-inch rounds
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup pecans
The zest and juice from 1 orange
1/4 cup chopped parsley
4 tablespoons  melted butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Add wild rice to a sauce pot with about 4 1/2 cups of water, and cover.  Bring the rice to a boil and then simmer for about 40 minutes according to the package directions.

While the rice is cooking, slice carrots into 1/2-inch rounds and then simmer for about 5 to 7 minutes until they are tender.  In a large bowl combine raisins, pecans, the zest and juice from an orange, chopped parsley, melted butter and salt and pepper, to taste.  To the large bowl combine the wild rice and carrots. Mix.  Makes 8 servings.

 

 

Coconut Carrot Cake

*I adore carrot cake….and this is a spicy moist one..delish!!

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice

4 eggs

2 cups white sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

2 cups grated carrots

1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained

1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat a 10x15x2 inch baking dish or 10 inch Bundt pan with cooking spray.  In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.

 In a separate larger bowl, mix together the eggs, sugar and vanilla by hand. Stir in the oil; the mixture should resemble pudding. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients, then fold in the carrots, pineapple coconut, walnuts and raisins. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and spread evenly.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a small knife inserted into the cake comes out clean.

 

Ostara Lemon Cake

 1 box lemon cake mix

1 (3.4oz) package instant lemon pudding mix

4 eggs

¾ cup oil

¾ cup water

Glaze:

1 TB water

2 TBs melted butter

1/3 cup lemon juice

2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350*.  Grease a 9 x13 baking pan.  Prepare the cake mix using the pudding mix, eggs, oil and water.  Bake in the prepared pan for 35-45 mins, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, prepare the glaze, mixing together all the ingredients until smooth.  Pour the glaze over the warm cake and serve.  Makes 10-12 servings

*I think this simple and lemony yellow cake would just look lovely on your Ostara table!!

Please let me know if you try any of these..I always love hearing when someone tries and likes (or not) them 🙂  I’ll do the same.  Sure wishing I had the fixins for that carrot cake right now!  🙂   Remember, its the start of Spring…fresh light foods are so much better then heavy, saucy, salty foods.  You’ll feel so much better after having  healthier foods..and then of course..you can have some decadent dessert!! LOL. 

I have a surprise I’ll be talking about soon…some of you who know me….know about it already.  It’s something I’m very excited about and have been wanting to do for a long time.  With my daughter’s help..we are about to take off on this new endeavor!  In the meantime, I wish you all a wonderful weekend and week to come.  Make it wonderful!

Blessings and Love, Autumn