In Scandinavia, it's a common rite of Spring to go outside as the ground begins to thaw and to harvest the first fresh nettle leaves. Stinging nettles are so prized, in fact, that they've been actively cultivated in Sweden; at this time of year, they're readily available in Scandinavian grocery stores. Nutrient-rich in vitamin C, flavonoids, calcium, potassium, histamines, and serotonin, nettles provide winter-weary bodies with a burst of healthy chemicals.

Once harvested and prepared, they can be substituted, in the same proportions, in any cooked dish where you'd use fresh spinach: soups, stews, pasta dishes, frittatas (but don't add them to a fresh salad!). Try them in your own favorite spinach recipes or celebrate Spring by preparing Swedish Nettle Soup (Nässelsoppa).

Hint: If your family are cynics or slow to warm to new foods, let them think they're eating spinach. Otherwise they'll look at you like you're offering them pufferfish ...

Nettle image ©2012 Kari Diehl, licensed to About.com.

Like almost everyone else I know I was blown away (in a good way) by Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games series. Just when I thought that no young adult series would EVER replace Harry Potter in my affections, my kids handed me these stories (they'd already read them in school), and I literally read the entire series in a weekend. I think my favorite part was how Collins used the dandelion as Katniss' own private symbol of hope and rebirth. It made me start looking at my own very abundant harvest of dandelions with a new eye (a harvest so abundant that it's clear to all of the neighbors that pesticides and herbicides have NEVER been used at Chez Diehl). Here's a list of 6 of my favorite ways to use my new favorite backyard foragable - with recipes for Spring Dandelion-Potato Salad, Dandelion Honey, Dandelion Jelly, Smoked Salmon Quiche with Dandelion Buds, Dandelion Vinegar, and Pickled Dandelion Bud "Capers".

Potato starch, also known as "potato starch flour," is an almost magical ingredient when used to replace flour in recipes such as this gluten-free Norwegian Blotekake, or "Wet Cake." Because the potato starch readily absorbs and retains moisture, it produces a light cake so moist that you can literally hear a sponge-like "swoosh" as you cut through the cake prior to filling it with thick layers of strawberry cream.

That's better entertainment value than Rice Krispies!

Norwegian wet cake image & copy;2012 Kari Diehl, licensed to About.com.

Since April showers are often accompanied by bridal showers as brides prepare for June weddings, it's a great time to learn how to make Norway's hallmark cake, kransekake. Constructed in a tower of consecutively smaller rings of baked almond paste, kransekake is a festive (and gluten-free) centerpiece, particularly beautiful when decorated with ribbons and fresh Spring flowers.

Norwegian ring cake photo and text ©2012 Kari Diehl, licensed to About.com