
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 30, 1994                   TAG: 9403310277
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By ALMENA HUGHES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

A TASTE OF SPRING

Easter foods are like a spring wardrobe for the table: full of new and lighter colors and textures, but still incorporating some winter elements. There are mandatory classics, such as baked ham, roast beef, lamb or turkey. But now the lamb pairs with spring-fresh rhubarb salsa, rather than traditional mint jelly, for an exciting new tart accompaniment. Or, the turkey pairs up with spring's spinach and pares down in size to suit smaller holiday gatherings or appetites while still retaining big flavor.

Potatoes, a winter staple, can base versatile yeast rolls recently demonstrated at a bread-making class given by Virginia Cooperative Extension agents Sondra Wertz and Annie Woodson. Or smallish potatoes can combine with the bounty of hard-boiled eggs brought by the Easter bunny to form a surprising new deviled variation.

Incidentally, if you've ever wondered why a rabbit brings eggs, Eostre, the Saxon Goddess of spring, in a fit of anger one day turned her favorite bird into a hare, and so now, at Eastertime, hares build nests to fill with colored eggs - or so the legend goes. Legend is also connected to hot cross buns, which were first baked to honor Eostre. The buns, which later became associated with Christianity and Good Friday, took lots of time and skill to bake. But a new biscuit variation is ready in a snap for a wonderful start to Easter or any day.

For a full-blown spring dress-up, mix the greens of artichokes and asparagus with bright red strawberries in a salad. Savor spring onions' sweet, pale innocence, stuffed with spinach. Or fill a favorite white cake with ruby-red raspberry jam and cover it with coconut tinted pretty pastel pink.

Then find the perfect words to express thanks for the awakening harvest in Adrian Butash's "Bless This Food: Amazing Graces in Thanks for Food" ($14.95, Delacorte Press), a delightful, informative collection of over 150 food prayers from around the world spanning various religions and cultures and including blessings by children, women and in sign language.

Recipes for:

PINEAPPLE HONEY GLAZED HAM

GLAZED ROAST LAMB WITH RHUBARB SALSA

BEEF RIB EYE ROAST WITH SAVORY SAUCE

FLORENTINE STUFFED TURKEY BREAST HALF

ARTICHOKE HEART & ASPARAGUS SALAD WITH STRAWBERRY DRESSING

CALIFORNIA ARTICHOKE ADVISORY BOARD STUFFED OSO SWEET ONIONS

DEVILED EGG POTATO BITS

HOT CROSS BISCUITS

POTATO ROLLS

RASPBERRY COCONUT CAKE

BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE COCONUT

by CNB