Dear $$firstname$$,

Greetings from the Taste of Home Test Kitchen. Easter is right around the corner, but it’s not too late to plan a home-cooked meal. This time we feature a complete menu from reader Ruth Seitz that was one of her mom’s best.

Other seasonal recipes in this month’s newsletter include Chocolate Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns. You’ll also find some helpful Recipe Finder Tips along with Delicious Ideas for Leftover Ham.

• In this issue:
• Recipe Finder Tips
• Easter Meal Signals Spring
• Delicious Ideas for Leftover Ham
• Looking for Lighter Fare?
• Get More Great Recipes Weekly
• Add Color to Your Table

Taste of Home Contest Winner on CBS

DO YOU enjoy a cup of coffee with a chocolaty dessert? How about coffee in your chocolaty dessert? That winning combination won over our judges in the recent “Cupcake Challenge” recipe contest. They couldn’t resist Mary Bilyeu’s scrumptious Special Mocha Cupcakes.

Watch Mary show off her prize-winning cupcakes on CBS’ The Early Show on Tuesday, April 17. (Check your local listings for the time.) To learn more about Mary and her $500.00 Grand Prize recipe for Special Mocha Cupcakes, click here.

If you like cupcakes, you’ll love the current issue of Taste of Home. It’s filled with wonderful contest-winning cupcake recipes. And you can sign up for a FREE Cupcake of the Week Newsletter to receive one deliciously different cupcake recipe each week for a whole year. Sign up today!

Recipe Finder Tips

WITH almost 30,000 kitchen-tested recipes, our online Recipe Finder will have you cooking in no time. You can use the keyword search to find recipes for ingredients you have or browse by categories like main dishes and desserts. Use the nutritional search to find healthy recipes or the time search for quick-to-fix dishes.

If you’re registered on the site, you can save your favorite recipes in your own personal online recipe box, “ My Grocery List” and “My Saved Searches.” Exclusive Subscriber-Only features include viewing current-issue recipes, accessing the Contest-Winning recipes and searching for recipes by magazine name and issue date.

Remember that you can click on the name of any recipe in your monthly Taste of Home newsletter to view it in our online Recipe Finder, print it or save it to your own “recipe box.”

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Introducing New Nature’s Way™!

Nature’s Way is a delicious new line of side dishes made with natural rice and pasta, no preservatives or artificial flavors. Available in six savory flavors you make with olive oil. Taste how good dinner can be when it’s made Nature’s Way.

For delicious recipes visit ricearoni.com

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Easter Meal Signals Spring

“IT WAS such a treat to have a crisp, garden-fresh salad back when Mom didn’t have much room in our little icebox to keep produce chilled,” shares Ruth Seitz of Columbus Junction, Iowa. Fresh Vegetable Salad is as colorful and festive as it is refreshing. It’s a great way to start this entire spring meal from Ruth.

“It always amazed me that this simple recipe could make potatoes that taste so good,” says Ruth. “Mom liked to make these Parmesan Baked Potatoes for Easter since they were more special than ordinary baked potatoes.”

Delicious Orange-Glazed Ham looks like a sparkling jewel on the table, and the flavor of the spice rub penetrates through every tender slice. Even its enticing aroma while baking can’t match the wonderful taste.

“No store-bought Easter candy can compare to Mom’s homemade Chocolate Easter Eggs,” says Ruth. The heavenly centers have peanut butter, coconut and walnuts. These rich candies just melt in your mouth.

For more Easter recipes, visit the Taste of Home Recipe Finder.

FRESH VEGETABLE SALAD

• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 2 cups cauliflowerets
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup grated carrot
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

Toss vegetables in a large salad bowl. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, sugar and Parmesan cheese; pour over vegetables and toss to coat. Cover and chill. Sprinkle with bacon just before serving. Yield: 8 servings.

For more vegetable salad recipes, visit the Taste of Home Recipe Finder.

PARMESAN BAKED POTATOES

• 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 8 medium unpeeled red potatoes (about 2-3/4 pounds), halved lengthwise

Pour butter into a 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over butter. Place potatoes with cut side down over cheese. Bake uncovered, at 400° for 40-45 minutes or until tender. Yield: 8 servings.

For more baked potato side dishes, visit the Taste of Home Recipe Finder.

ORANGE-GLAZED HAM

• 1 fully cooked bone-in ham (6 to 8 pounds)
• 1 tablespoon ground mustard
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 3/4 cup orange marmalade
• Kumquats and kale, optional

Score the ham. Combine mustard and allspice; rub over ham. Place on a rack in a shallow baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 325° for 2 to 2-1/2 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 140°. Spread top of ham with marmalade during the last hour of baking. Baste occasionally. Garnish with kumquats and kale if desired. Yield: 12-16 servings.

For more ham recipes, visit the Taste of Home Recipe Finder.

CHOCOLATE EASTER EGGS

• 3/4 cup chunky peanut butter
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 1-1/2 to 2 cups confectioners’ sugar, divided
• 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons shortening

In a mixing bowl, cream peanut butter or butter until well mixed. Fold in coconut, nuts and 1 cup sugar; mix well. Sprinkle some of the remaining sugar on a board. Turn peanut butter mixture onto board; knead in enough of the remaining sugar until mixture holds its shape when formed. Shape into small egg-shaped pieces. Cover and chill for 1 hour. In a double boiler over hot water, melt chocolate chips and shortening, stirring until smooth. Dip eggs; place on waxed paper to harden. Chill. Yield: 2 dozen.

For more chocolate treats, visit the Taste of Home Recipe Finder.

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Delicious Ideas for Leftover Ham

• “After my bean soup has simmered in the slow cooker all day with ham and onions, I add a can of pureed pumpkin,” shares Loretta B. of Le Claire, Iowa. “This addition gives the soup an appealing color, more body and flavor plus extra vitamins.”
• Field editor Geraldine G. of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan mixes a bit of rosemary into her ham loaf for extra flavor.
• “I make a delicious ham salad by mixing in 1 teaspoon of orange juice per tablespoon of mayonnaise,” remarks Ruth S. of Manheim, Pennsylvania.
• Marion S. of Joseph, Oregon mixes ground leftover baked ham with chopped olives and green pepper, shredded cheddar cheese, Dijon mustard and mayonnaise, then stuffs it into hard rolls. “Wrapped in foil and baked at 375° for 30 minutes, these are tasty hot sandwiches,” she remarks.
• Alfred S. Jr. of Fergus Falls, Minnesota recommends dabbing a few teaspoons of maple syrup onto ham slices when they’re almost done frying. “Turn the slices several times so the syrup glazes the meat,” Alfred advises. “It gives it a candied flavor.”

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Looking for Lighter Fare?

WITH their tender texture and pretty frosted crosses, Hot Cross Buns are both tasty and attractive. Dolores Skrout of Summerhill, Pennsylvania adds a little orange juice to the frosting for a delicate citrusy flavor.

Fresh asparagus and other spring garden vegetables crop up in this light and flavorful Impossible Garden Pie shared by Barbara Gigliotti from Ocala, Florida. The biscuit mix in this "impossible" pie settles to the bottom during baking to create a cheesy crust.

There’s a taste of summer in every slice of this bursting-with-blueberries cake from Lori Buenger of Mountain Home, Arkansas. With its tender texture and slightly sweet streusel topping, Blueberry Oatmeal Coffee Cake is the perfect way to end a special-occasion breakfast or brunch.

For additional recipes that meet your specific dietary needs, visit the Taste of Home Recipe Finder. You can use the Nutritional Search feature to search by nutritional category (diabetic friendly, low fat, low carb, low sodium, low cholesterol, high protein, high fiber) or by specifying the desired per-serving amount of calories, grams (g) or milligrams (mg).

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Get More Great Recipes Weekly

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