Easter Eggs
Of all the symbols associated with Easter the egg, the symbol of fertility and new life, is the most identifiable. The customs and traditions of using eggs have been associated with Easter for centuries.
Originally Easter eggs were painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring and were used in Easter-egg rolling contests or given as gifts. After they were colored and etched with various designs the eggs were exchanged by lovers and romantic admirers, much the same as valentines. In medieval time eggs were traditionally given at Easter to the servants. In Germany eggs were given to children along with other Easter gifts.
Hard Boiled Eggs
Pierce the large end of the egg shell with a needle. Place the eggs in a single layer in cold water to cover by one-inch with a tablespoon of vinegar added to it. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and cover pan. After 20 minutes drain and dump eggs in cold water to stop the cooking; peel immediately. If you don’t peel them right away the sulfur from the egg will be trapped and will turn the edge of the yolk green. I am allergic to sulphur so I get very sick if I eat hard boiled eggs that have not been peeled right away. - “Hard Boiled” eggs is a misnomer as you should never boil the egg as this makes them rubbery!

Natural Easter Egg Dyes
An alternative to “store bought” dye is to use things you have around the house.
Wash eggs in mild soapy water to remove oily coating which could prevent dye from adhering. Cook the eggs following the directions above. Place hard boiled egg in one of the listed ingredients to acquire different colors.
SPRING CHICKEN YELLOW:
1 tsp Turmeric
2/3 cup Boiling water
1/4 tsp Vinegar
Add turmeric to boiling water, stir until dissolved. Add vinegar.
EASTER BUNNY BROWN:
1 heaping tbsp Instant coffee
2/3 cup Boiling water
1/2 tsp Vinegar
Add heaping Tbsp heaping instant coffee to boiling water, stir to dissolve. Add vinegar
SEREN”DIP”ITY:
2/3 cup Boiling water
1/4 t. vinegar
Add with one of the following:
Onion skins - (golden orange)
Beets - (reddish purple)
Spinach - (pale green)
Red Cabbage Leaves
Walnut shells - (buff)
Grape Juice - (mauve)

Pickled Eggs
Years ago I was visiting a friend and her mother had made some “pickled eggs.” I had never heard of such a thing so naturally I wanted to try one. They were great. They had a garden and her mom always pickled beets, she used the pickled beet juice and put the peeled hard boiled eggs in this juice and put them in the refrigerator. After a couple days the red dye and flavor had penetrated through the egg. I have also seen that some people use dill pickle juice to do the same thing.

Avocado and Egg Pate
Large bunch of parsley
Small bunch of spring onions (scallion) bulbs
4 ripe avocados
1 tbsp lemon juice
4 hard-boiled eggs, halved
1 tsp salt
10 grinds of black pepper
1 rounded tbsp mayonnaise
Chop the parsley and the spring onions finely in the food processor. Add the peeled, stoned and roughly cubed avocados and the lemon juice, then add the hard-boiled eggs, salt, and pepper.
Pulse until the hard-boiled eggs are finely chopped. Turn into a bowl and add enough of the mayonnaise to bind the mixture into a pate. Taste and re-season if necessary. Pile into a shallow bowl and chill until required. Serve with scoop crisps or spread on fingers of challah.

Egg Salad with Capers and Olives
4 hard-boiled eggs
2 Tbsp minced red onion
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp prepared mustard
2 Tbsp minced red bell pepper
2 Tbsp minced pitted kalamata olives
1 Tbsp minced parsley
1 Tbsp capers
Salt and pepper
Finely chop the hard-boiled eggs and transfer them to a medium-sized bowl. Add the red onion, mayonnaise, mustard, bell pepper, olives, parsley, capers, salt, and pepper to taste, and mix well.
You can easily make this egg salad recipe into deviled eggs, for a convenient, portable breakfast item.
Simply cut the hard-boiled eggs in half lengthwise, and pop the yolks into a small bowl. Mash the yolks with the remaining ingredients, then stuff this filling back into the “yolk compartment” of the egg whites. Chill in a tightly covered container until serving time.

Curried Hard-Boiled Eggs
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon finely minced onion
1 teaspoon curry powder (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup warm beef or chicken broth
1 cup warm milk (half-and-half is best)
6 hard-boiled eggs
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Hot rice or toast
Melt the butter in a medium nonreactive skillet, add the onion and saute over low heat until the onion is clear. Stir in the curry powder, salt, and flour and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
Off the heat, gradually stir in the broth and milk, stirring until smooth. Return to the heat and bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer and cook about 10 minutes. The sauce should be slightly thickened and smooth. Taste for seasoning and adjust.
Cut the hard-boiled eggs into quarters and add to the sauce. Cook just until the eggs are hot, but do not boil. Just before serving stir in a drop or two of fresh lemon juice. Serve over hot rice or toast points.

Scotch Eggs
2 raw eggs
1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
2 cups fresh bread crumbs
8 hard-cooked eggs, peeled
1 pound bulk country-style sausage
Vegetable oil for frying
Beat the raw eggs and mustard together in a shallow bowl. Place the bread crumbs in another shallow bowl. Encase each hard-cooked egg completely in a thin layer of sausage, using both hands to mold the sausage around the egg.
Dip one sausage-encased egg first in the egg mixture and then coat with the bread crumbs. Set aside on a plate and repeat with the remaining hard-cooked eggs. Refrigerate covered at least 3 hours or overnight.
Heat 3 inches oil in a deep-fat fryer to 375 degrees F. Fry 2 or 3 eggs at a time, turning occasionally, until quite well-browned, 10 to 15 minutes. (You want to make sure the sausage meat is thoroughly cooked.) Remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Serve the Scotch eggs, cut into quarters, at room temperature. Pass additional mustard if desired.

When I was in Japan we took the Train to Tokyo and were served a meal in a Bento Box. One of the things in the box was a flower shaped hard-boiled egg. I inquired as to how they got it into that shape. They said you take hot hard-boiled eggs that have been peeled while they are still hot and push them into a special mold, clamp the lid down and let them cool in the mold. When they come out they hold the shape of the mold. Recently I went to the Internet and found that you can order all kinds of shapes from squares to animals. What a fun way to dress up a plate!

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
(Batata-doce Recheada)
8 medium-size baked sweet potatoes
2 T. butter
1/4 c. milk
1/4 c. light cream
1/4 c. grated cheese
1/2 c. chopped ham
seasoning, including nutmeg, if desired
beaten egg
grated cheese
Cut potatoes in halves lengthwise and scoop out the centers. Mash centers with next 5 ingredients. Season to taste. Pile mixture into potato shells, brush with the beaten egg, sprinkle with grated cheese and brown in a 400º preheated oven for about 15 minutes.
(Editors note: At the dinner they baked regular potatoes and had a mixture of half sweet potato and half regular potato, and stuffed the regular potato shell. They were also very good that way.)

Cheese Rolls
(Pão de Queijo)
1 pkg. dry, granular yeast
1 c. warm milk
2 T. sugar
2 t. salt
1/4 lb. butter
3 slightly-beaten eggs
7 - 8 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. light beer
2 c. grated cheese
Dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add sugar, salt, butter and slightly-beaten eggs. Let stand 10 minutes, then add beer and 3 cups of sifted flour. Stir with a wooden spoon until bubbles appear. Add the cheese. Cover and set in a warm place to rise. When batter has doubled in bulk, cut it down with a knife and knead in another 3 cups sifted flour. Knead will and then add the extra sifted flour (from 1 to 2 1/4 cups) until you have a smooth, elastic dough that does not stick to the hands. Cover and let rise again. Shape into butterhorn rolls by dividing into portions that will roll out into rounds about 10 inches in diameter and 3/8 inch thick. Brush with melted butter and cut into 12 pie-shaped wedges. Roll up each piece beginning with the wide end, stretching dough slightly as you roll. Lay straight or in a crescent shape on a greased cookie sheet with tip underneath to keep from unrolling. Cover, set in a warm place again to rise. Brush with melted butter or an egg yolk slightly diluted with milk,. Bake about 20 minutes in a preheated 375º oven. Yields approximately 48 rolls.

Plain Black Beans
(Feijão Preto Simples)
1 lb. black beans
1 T. bacon fat
1 grated onion
1 crushed garlic clove
1 t. salt
black pepper
Pick over beans the night before. Wash and soak in clear, cold water. In the morning, drain and cover with cold water and simmer until beans are tender. This may take from 1 to 3 hours, depending upon the quality of the bean used. A pressure cooker may also be used. When the beans are tender, remove form heat.
Melt bacon fat in a skillet, add onion and garlic, and saute. With a large lade. take some of the cooked beans and bean liquor, and mix in skillet with onion and garlic. Mash the beans with a potato masher or the bottom of the lade. Add some of the liquid form the beans and bring to boil. Season with salt and pepper.
Pour contents of the skillet into the rest of the beans and simmer for at least 30 minutes. Correct seasoning and cook until mixture thickens to the consistency of a medium white sauce.

Brazilian Rice
(Arroz Brasileiro)
2 c. uncooked rice
3 T. shortening (NOT butter)
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 peeled, chopped tomato or
2 T. tomato sauce
2 - 2 1/4 c. boiling water
1 t. salt
Wash and pick rice very well (preferably using long-grain rice). Melt shortening in a medium-size skillet. Use oil, lard, margarine, or bacon fat, but not butter. Fry the rice with onion, gently stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture has a swishing sound. This takes about 10 minutes over a low flame and is a very important factor in producing the dry final product, which is one of the prime requisites of Brazilian Rice.
Add tomato, stir once or twice, remove from heat and pour 2 cups of boiling water which have been mixed with the salt over the fried rice. Care must be taken at this point because the mixture will spatter. Stir once or twice (no more), return to heat and bring to boil. Then cover and reduce heat to very low. Cook 20 or 25 minutes, until all the water has evaporated. Taste 1 or 2 grains of the rice to see if they are cooked. If not, add the other 1/4 cup boiling water. Do not stir. When rice is done, remove from heat, uncover and allow some of the steam to evaporate. Place in a serving dish or press into a warm mould and unmould on a platter. When the rice is properly made, each grain falls separately form the spoon. Makes approximately 6 cups.

Cornstarch Cookies
(Biscoitos de Maizena)
2 c. cornstarch
1 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1 egg
3/4 c. butter
few drops vanilla
Mix cornstarch, sugar, salt and egg, and blend in the butter. Add a few drops vanilla and knead well. Let stand 10 or 15 minutes. Shape into balls in the palm of the hand and place on a buttered cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated 375º oven 5 to 7 minutes. Yields approximately 3 dozen cookies.

Sweet Potato Candy
(Docinhos de Batata-doce)
1 c. mashed sweet potatoes
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 T. Swiss cheese, grated
1/2 c. thick coconut milk, or cow’s milk flavored with coconut extract
2 T. butter
1/4 c. chopped nuts
Add sugar to sweet potatoes and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Add coconut milk and continue to cook, stirring with a wooden spoon until mixture holds it shape (238–-245ºF.) Remove from heat, add cheese, nuts and butter, beat and cool. Shape into small balls, roll in grated coconut or crystallized sugar, garnish with a clover or small pice of nut meat, and place in small paper bonbon cups. Yields 40.

Stewed Chicken
(Galinha Ensopada)
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 c. chopped parsley
1 medium chopped onion
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. vinegar
1 t. dried savory
1/4 t. garlic powder
salt and black pepper
2 or 3 mint leaves (optional)
1 t. coriander seeds
1 cut-up chicken
1 T. margarine
1/2 c. tomato sauce
1/2 c. water
Make a marinade of first 10 items and marinate chicken overnight, turning once or twice, if possible. Heat margarine in a large skillet and saute chicken until brown, add the marinade, cover and simmer about 10 minutes. Add tomato sauce and water, replace the cover and cook until chicken is tender, turning each piece over once in a while. Cooking should take 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Remove chicken to serving platter. Taste the gravy and check seasoning, then strain over the chicken.

Pot Roast
(Carne Ensopada)
4 lbs. rump roast of beef
2 ounces chopped ham mixed with 2 oz. chopped bacon
1/2 c. vinegar
1 t. salt pounded with 1 garlic clove
1 grated onion
2 T. margarine (optional)
Trim all excess fat from meat and lard it by making several small incisions and stuffing with the mixture of ham and bacon. Make a marinade with the vinegar, slat, garlic and onion. Soak the meat about 2 hours in this marinade, then wipe dry with a piece of absorbent paper. If meat has a fatty surface, place the fatty side down in a heavy aluminum saucepan and render enough fat to sear the meat on all sides. Pour off excess fat. If the meat has no fat, use the margarine and sear on all sides. When meat is richly browned on all sides, add the marinade. Cover the saucepan and cook over low heat, turning meat to cook evenly on all sides. It should take from 1 1/2 to 2 hours to cook.

Meat Balls
(Almôndegas)
1 small chopped onion
1 T. chopped parsley
2 chopped tomatoes
2 T. butter
1 c. beef stock or bouillon
1 lb. lean ground beef
2 eggs
2 T. all-purpose flour (optional)
bread crumbs
fat or oil for frying
Prepare a gravy by sauteing the onion, parsley and tomatoes in butter, then add stock and simmer. Strain and season to taste. Mix meat with eggs and 2 T. of the gravy. Check seasoning, add the flour (optional) and shape into small balls, the size of an egg. Roll in bread crumbs, then fry in hot fat until delicately browned. Remove to absorbent paper to drain excess fat. Return to the gravy and simmer. Yields approximately 28 small balls.

Baked Cauliflower
(Conve-Flor Assada)
2 c. cooked cauliflower buds
The flowers should be separated and cooked in slightly salted water until they re done. Do not overcook, as the buds should be firm. Drain, cool and place in a buttered baking dish. Cover with the following sauce:
1 T. butter or bacon fat
2 T. chopped onions
1 T. chopped parsley
2 T. chopped green pepper
1/2 chopped tomato
1 T. all-purpose flour
1 c. meat broth, (bouillon cube or canned consommé)
sliced stuffed olives
bread crumbs
grated cheese
butter
Melt fat and saute onions, parsley, green pepper and tomato until vegetables are cooked. Mix in the flour and then add the meat broth, and cook until thick. Season to taste and strain over the cauliflower. Add a few sliced stuffed olives. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and grated cheese (optional), dot with butter and bake in 375º F. oven until delicately browned.

The following recipes were given to me by an eight year old friend of mine. I have not had a chance to try any of these recipes but they all look very good.

Apple Pie in a Glass
1/2 c. milk
3 T. frozen apple juice concentrate
1/2 c. vanilla frozen yogurt
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
Mix in blender.
Cake Mix Cookies
1 pkg. cake mix (any variety)
1/4 - 1/2 c. water
1 egg
1/2 c. butter or margarine
Can add any variety of chips, nuts or fruit
Bake at temp. according to cake mix directions for about 10-15 minutes.

Cherry Dessert Tortillas
Soft tortilla shells
cherry pie filling
vanilla ice cream
Spoon cherry pie filling down center of tortilla. Roll up and microwave until filling bubbles. Top with vanilla ice cream.

Brown Sugar Dessert Tortillas
Soft tortilla shells
Brown sugar
Cinnamon
Butter
Barely brown each side of tortilla. Spread butter on one side. Sprinkle with brown sugar & small amount of cinnamon. Roll & enjoy.

Noodle Hotdish
1 lb. ground beef
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 bag of crunchy Chinese noodles
salt and pepper to taste
Brown meat. Drain grease. Add remaining ingredients. Mix together & heat.

Choco-Nan Shake
2 ice cubes
1 small banana
1 t. chocolate syrup
1/2 c. frozen chocolate yogurt
Crush cubes in blender. Add banana. Puree. Add remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth.

Beefy Taco Joes
1 lb. ground beef
1 c. salsa
1 can of tomato soup
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
Hamburger buns
Cook hamburger. Add soup & salsa & heat up. Top with cheese.

Impossible Cheeseburger Pie
1 lb. ground beef
1 c. chopped onion
2 eggs
1/2 t. salt
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 c. milk
1/2 c. Bisquick baking mix
Heat oven to 400º F. Grease pie pan. Cook meat & onion. Add salt. Spread into pie pan. Cover with cheese. Mix remaining ingredients in small bowl. Pour into pie pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until knife comes out clean from center.

Purple Cow
3 milk cubes
1/2 c. purple grape juice
1 c. blueberries
1 t. sugar
10 mini-marshmallows
Crush cubes. Add juice, berries & sugar. Blend until smooth. Garnish with mini-marshmallows.

Bratwurst Soup
6 brats
4 med. potatoes, peeled & cubed
1 (15 oz.) can of French green beans, undrained
1 med. onion, sliced or large slivers
2 c. grated cheddar cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c. water
Brown brats & cut into 1/2” pieces. Put brats & remaining ingredients in slow cooker or crock pot Cook on low for six hour.

Taco Soup
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1/2 can water
1 can corn
Brown meat. Add remaining ingredients and heat. Serve with: corn chips, onions, olives, shredded cheese, sour cream & salsa.