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Easter weekend is often filled with egg hunts, chocolate bunnies and ham dinners. Juggling all this along with various family schedules can be problematic. Let your slow-cooker take care of the ham and free up time and the oven for other holiday dishes with Ham n Cola, a recipe in the Fix-it and Forget-it Cookbook, compiled by Dawn J. Ranck and Phyllis Pellman Good, attributed to Carol Peachey, Lancaster, PA.

Ham n Cola

• 3–4-pound precooked ham, or as large as your slow-cooker will hold.

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1 tsp dry mustard

• 1 tsp prepared horseradish

• 1/4 cup cola soda

Combine brown sugar, mustard and horseradish until blended, adding enough of the cola to make a smooth paste. Reserve remaining cola.

Rub the entire ham with the cola paste. Place ham in slow -cooker crock. Pour remaining cola around the ham.

Cover and cook on low 6-10 hours depending on the size of the ham. If you are short on time, you may cook on high 2-3 hours. Yield: 8-10 servings.

Forgotten Cookies were a recipe my mother made when she needed cookies the next day. Some creative cook, over time, took the same ingredients and pared them with Easter readings, renaming them Empty Tomb Cookies. This is an easy fun recipe to encourage kids to help with baking.

Empty Tomb Cookies

• 3 egg whites

• 1 tsp vinegar

• Pinch salt

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 cup finely chopped pecans or 3/4 cup mini-chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Place egg whites, vinegar, salt and sugar in a large mixer bowl and beat on high until very stiff peaks form, 10 to 15 minutes. Gently fold in nuts or chocolate chips.

Drop by spoonsful onto prepared baking sheets. Place both baking sheets in oven on separate racks. Close oven door and turn off heat. Leave overnight or about 10 hours and oven is totally cooled. For the Easter story, be sure to have your young helpers seal the oven door shut with several pieces of tape. Yield: about 2 dozen hollow cookies.

Note: 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder may be added to the egg white mixture when beating.

Micah Powers of Odessa enjoys baking and shared the recipe for Ginger Cookies he made for a recent coffee hour. The unusual ingredient, cayenne pepper enhances the spicy ginger flavor.

Ginger Cookies

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

• 3 Tbsp unsulphured molasses

• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 1/2 tsp ground ginger

• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp ground cloves

• 1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper

• 1 large egg

• 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 3/4 tsp baking soda

• 3/4 tsp salt

• Additional granulated sugar for rolling.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl use an electric mixer to beat together butter and sugars until creamy and well combined.

Add molasses, vanilla and spices and stir well. Stir in egg until thoroughly combined.

In a separate medium size bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Gradually stir dry ingredients into the sugar mixture until completely combined.

Scoop dough into 1 1/2 tablespoon sized balls and roll between your palms to form a smooth ball. (if dough is too sticky to manage, chill the dough for 30 minutes). Roll cookie dough balls in the additional sugar until completely coated, then place on prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.

Bake for 10 to 11 minutes. Allow cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet before enjoying. Yield: 2-3 dozen cookies, depending on what your idea of 1 1/2 tablespoons is.

Note: you could roll the dough into ovals and roll in colored sugar for Easter. Also, if you don’t have unsalted butter on hand, use salted and omit the salt from the recipe.

Thumbprint cookies are another fun treat to make with the help of young cooks. Traditionally filled with jelly or jam, chocolate covered almond or peanuts, jelly-bird eggs or other Easter sweets may be used as filling. Pastel candy-coated nuts are exceptionally pretty for Easter.

Golden Thumbprints

• 1/2 cup butter, softened

• 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

• 1 egg, separated

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 3/4 cu finely chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In mixer bowl, cream together butter and sugar, blend in egg yolk and vanilla. Stir in flour and salt.

Form dough into small balls, dip in the egg white, then roll in the chopped nuts and place on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 5 minutes, remove from oven and quickly indent each with your finger or the handle of a wooden spoon. Return to the oven and bake 8 minutes longer. Remove to wire racks to cool completely and fill with jam or jelly, or while still hot, press candy covered nuts or other candies in the indent and remove to wire racks to cool. Yield: about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

What new recipes are you preparing this spring? What is your go-to recipe when time is tight and you haven’t had time to restock the pantry? Do you have a slow-cooker favorite that saves the day? Share these recipes with your fellow readers by sending them to: Welcome to My Kitchen, c/o The Record-Times, P.O. Box 458, Odessa, WA 99159, email therecord@odessa office.com or drop them in the Welcome to My Kitchen mail tin in The Odessa Record office. Prune non-blooming ornamental shrubs now to shape as desired for summer landscaping but hold off on blooming shrubs like lilacs until after they bloom or you will prune away all the flower buds. Lilacs can stand a severe pruning after bloom time, and it will produce more blooms next season.