Sweet and sour spring
Sweet and sour/savory recipes to make the most of each sweet and sour spring day, plus weather tidbits for the week ahead.
Good morning! I don’t know about you, but the April showers have brought April flowers where I live. You all must go out and take a flower tour of your neighborhood - I don’t think it could be more lovely outside if it tried!
WEATHER TIDBITS
SEVERE WEATHER: Things could get a bit dicey across portions of the Plains, the Midwest, and especially the upper Mississippi Valley region today where an outbreak of severe weather is possible. An intensifying low pressure system and associated cold front will collide with a warm, humid, and unstable air mass, triggering storms that could contain damaging wind gusts, large hail, heavy rain, and strong tornadoes. The threat of severe weather will stretch from Texas into the upper Midwest, with cities like Minneapolis-St. Paul and Rochester, MN included in the greatest risk area highlighted by the Storm Prediction Center. As always, be sure to pay attention to your local weather forecasters and have multiple ways to receive warning information if you live in the areas highlighted below! Storms could fire up quickly in the afternoon and evening today, so it will be important to stay vigilant and watch for changing conditions. The best chances of severe weather will shift to the east into Tuesday, though a stalling cold front in the south will keep the severe threat in place for parts of Texas and Oklahoma.
The Severe Weather Outlook from the Storm Prediction Center for today, 4/28/25. 
The Tornado Outlook for today, 4/28/25, from the Storm Prediction Center. Parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa have the best chance of seeing strong tornadoes. FLOODING POTENTIAL: As mentioned above, a cold front will stall over the southern Plains from Tuesday into Wednesday. This will bring several rounds of heavy rain and a consequent flash flooding threat, especially from northern Texas into southwest Missouri. Some storms could also contain damaging wind gusts and/or large hail.
The Excessive Rainfall Outlook from the Weather Prediction Center for Tuesday, 4/29/25. READ: An analysis of how busy this severe weather season has been so far from The Weather Channel.
WATCH: The craziest video of a dust devil I’ve ever seen from USA Today.
FROM MY KITCHEN
Oh spring, my fickle friend. I really think it is the sweetest and sourest of all the seasons. For example - last week started off a bit sour with a round of sideways rain on Monday. By Thursday, it was 80°F, sunny, and sweet as can be.
The first 70-80°F days of the year are always miraculous. I went out with some friends to celebrate the warmth last week in the best way possible (aka, going to a restaurant with great pizza and a great outdoor seating area), and the server gave us a whole extra pizza because they “accidentally made two.” Do you believe in sunny, warm, pizza-filled miracles?! I do!
In the spirit of sweet and sour spring - one of the best sweet eats of the week was a carrot/coconut/walnut cake with brown sugar cream cheese frosting. Being able to enjoy it on the deck in the sunshine made it taste even better!
Sour eats of the week included a lot of yogurt and sourdough, as per usual. I also had some fantastic savory eats! CSA season is upon us, and I’ve found myself in possession of an abundance of spring onions (which are different from green onions/scallions). I’ve been hyper fixated on Justine Doiron of Justine Snacks for all of her seasonal veggie recipes lately, and both this spring onion dip and this spring onion, gremolata, and ricotta recipe did not disappoint.
RECIPE INSPIRATION
I hope you’re all able to enjoy the sweet and sour/savory sides of spring as much as I am! Here are some recipes that caught my eye this week -
Sweets for spring!
Pistachio Cake from Broma Bakery
Lemon Ricotta Cookies from Sally’s Baking Addiction
Lemon Tart with Coconut Almond Crust from The Food Network
Rhubarb Crisp from NYT Cooking
Savory recipes for spring, featuring the best of current seasonal produce!
Charred Lemon, Marinated Beans, and Snap Pea Salad from Justine Snacks
Pasta with Sausage and Arugula from Bon Appétit
Spring Minestrone with Grated Egg Pasta from Food & Wine
Sour Cream and Chive Fantails from Smitten Kitchen
Thanks for making it to the end of the Frost Bites Newsletter! I’ll be back in your inbox next Monday with the weather forecast and recipe suggestions. In the meantime - get outside, eat good food, and remember all weather is ice cream weather. And if you enjoyed this newsletter, please like/comment/share/subscribe!
Already tried the Spring Onion Dip - very good!