Vinegar

Looking for creative ways to decorate your Easter eggs? A few years back we ran a story on dyeing (and creatively un-dyeing) Easter eggs, taking inspiration from herbs growing in spring gardens and with a little help from vinegar or bleach. RECIPES: 22 recipes using leftover hard-boiled eggs Continue reading below for our decorating details. And please share your decorating ideas in the comments below -- we'd love to know what you're doing to dress up your Easter eggs!

  White gazpacho with pine nuts Total time: 25 minutes, plus chilling time Servings: 4 Note: The raw eggs in this recipe give the gazpacho a silky texture. Although many recipes, such as this gazpacho, call for raw eggs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that diners — especially children, seniors, pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems — avoid eating them. 11/2 cups packed fresh bread crumbs (1/4 pound) 2 cups cold water (or as desired)

Are you doing the barbecue two-step this season? If not, let me introduce this safe, streamlined way to get delicious grilled foods with fewer health risks. I call it a two-step because food is started in the oven, then finished on a grill outdoors. Roast meat at least halfway through in the oven, and while it's cooking, heat up the grill. You'll use your grill to enhance the meat's flavor and create a crusty exterior, not to thoroughly cook it.

Summer and salad are synonymous in my kitchen because salad is my staple warm weather food. I adore salads of every description, but throughout the years, one has emerged as a favorite. Making my Mediterranean Vegetable Salad is a yearly ritual, one I recently repeated on my first weekend at the beach. A Sunday lunch of barbecued chicken just did not seem complete without it, and even the teen-agers ate it approvingly.

  Spiced squash and pear purée Total time: 30 minutes, plus 1 hour roasting time for the squash Servings: 6 to 8 Note: You can use any winter squash for this; the best candidates are acorn, Table Queen and butternut. 1 (2 3/4 -pound) winter squash 1 pear, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped 1 tablespoon minced shallot 2 tablespoons room temperature butter 1 teaspoon salt 3/4 teaspoon dried mustard 1/2 teaspoon white pepper 3 amaretti almond cookies, crushed 1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar 1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Skates and rays, which are closely related, are found in all the seas of the world and are popular in many cuisines. The delicate meat of the skate, which is white with red mottling on one side, is firm, white and tasty. Rib-like cords constitute the structure of the meat, which is somewhat fragile. Skate can be grilled or deep-fried in batter if handled carefully. Like flank steak it can be stuffed, rolled and baked or braised.

"Do you smell it?" asked Fran Tise, opening her front door with a bit of a flourish. A rich, intoxicating wave of garlic fumes rolled over us. "This is Christmas to me," she said with a sigh. Tise--raised in England but born in Guyana--had asked her visiting mother to make a Guyanese Christmas specialty, Garlic Pork. And rarely has any dish been better named. It calls for 12 heads of garlic.

Strawberry-kaffir sweet & sour Total time: 20 minutes, plus several days marinating time Servings: Makes about 5 cups sweet & sour Note: From Josef Centeno of Baco Mercat. Kaffir lime leaves can generally be found in Thai and East Asian markets. The sweet & sour syrup also can be used in cocktails; add to taste with your favorite clear spirit and top with soda. 3 cups strawberries 2 kaffir lime leaves 1 quart Champagne vinegar 4 cups sugar Salt Soda water 1. In a large, 2-quart glass jar, mash the strawberries.

Every party needs that one dish that adds the spark, that draws the "oohs and aahs" the minute it's set on the table. These oyster shooters are that dish. And -- guess what? They're easy to prepare, not to mention hugely festive. Set amid ice in a silver bucket, the individual shooters practically glow. They'll pull in guests like a magnet, since it seems everybody is always up for a shooter of some kind.