Asparagus and rhubarb recipes are in season

Grilled or baked asparagus
Rub olive oil on spears, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or grill for 5-10 minutes, depending on temperature and thickness of asparagus.

Freezing asparagus for later
When there's an abundance of asparagus, wash and bake or grill it all. Take out some for dinner and shock the rest in cold water, drain, place in freezer bags and freeze. The whole spears, baked or grilled, have a better consistency than blanched asparagus.

Ham and Swiss, asparagus spirals
Pre-fry asparagus spears in olive oil, then lay on a slice of ham and cheese, dollop with Dijon mustard and roll up with the asparagus in the middle. Slice into spirals 1-1/2 inches wide. Dip in seasoned bread crumbs, insert toothpick to hold each spiral together, and fry in oil.

Rhubarb Bars
3 cups rhubarb, chopped
1 ½ cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ¼ cup water
3 Tablespoons corn starch
1 ½ cup rolled oats
1 ½ cup rolled flour
1 cup brown sugar
½ tsp. baking soda
1 cup butter
½ cup nuts
Combine rhubarb, sugar, vanilla, cornstarch and water. Cook on stove until thick, cool slightly. Combine oats, flour, brown sugar, soda, butter and nuts. Mix until crumbly. Put ¾ of mixture into 15 1/3 x 10 ½ jelly roll pan. Spread rhubarb mixture on top. Cover with remaining crumbs. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.


Rhubarb Cheesecake
¼ cup corn starch
1 cup sugar
½ tsp salt
½ cup water
2-1/2 cups rhubarb, cut in ½ inch pieces
1 unbaked pie crust, regular or graham cracker

Topping
1 package 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
In a saucepan, combine first 3 ingredients, then the water and rhubarb. Bring to boil, stirring often until mixture thickens. Pour into pie shell and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Protect edges of crust with aluminum foil. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Turn oven down to 325 degrees.
Meanwhile beat topping ingredients until smooth. Pour on top of pie. Bake for 35 minutes in 325 oven or until set. Chill and garnish with whipped cream, and sliced almonds or strawberries.

Freezing rhubarb
Rhubarb and berries don't need to be cooked before freezing. For rhubarb, just wash, chop and bag in recipe-size servings. Strawberries can be frozen whole without sugar, rinsed and drained, or sliced with sugar and bagged.

The seeds have been sown

I'm looking forward to a nice serving of

fresh green beans.

Our annual ritual on Mother's Day, (in Southeast Michigan), is to plant beans. So my husband and I planted three rows of tender string-less beans. We also planted more peas and spinach to fill the empty spots where nothing came up from the first planting. We originally planted the peas and spinach as well as the Swiss chard and lettuce, a little late, in mid April. We planted the broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage on April 22.

Winter is over, but it could still frost

Although the weather is warm during the day, it could still get cold enough to frost at night. Most annuals should be kept indoors until Memorial Weekend unless you want to build a cold frame or cover the plants at night. The end of May seems to be the best time to set out transplants in Southeast Michigan, especially for tomatoes and peppers. You may get them in the ground early, but the little plants have a hard time out there in the cold night, and they grow slower.
All is not lost if it does indeed frost. If you have plants or flowering trees that are frost sensitive and you didn't get them covered before a frost, go outside before the sun shines on the plants and spray water on them, rinsing off the frost. This works for a light to moderate frost, but not for a hard frost or freeze.
The forecast is for temperatures above 36 degrees in Pontiac during the next 10 days, so it should be frost free, but keep an eye on the weather report, National Weather Service.
There are many frost resistant vegetable plants: broccoli,  kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, kale, leeks, lettuce, onions, peas, spinach, parsley, radishes and carrots.
Flowers that are frost hardy include pansies, primrose and violets.
Vegetables that are NOT frost resistant, include beans, corn, pumpkin, squash, watermelon, cucumbers, okra, and of course tomatoes and peppers.