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Several hours before baking (or the night before) combine oats, brown sugar, Rise-n-Shine Spice, baking powder, apple juice, canola oil, eggs, pecans and raisins. Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to bake. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease either a 9" tart pan or six 1-cup ceramic ramekins. Trim and grate carrots. Fold carrots into oatmeal mixture. Pour into dish(es). Place on a baking sheet. Bake 45 minutes for a tart pan or 30 minutes for ramekins. Baked oatmeal is set and lightly browned in color when done. While oatmeal is baking, in a small bowl, beat together cream cheese and honey until light an fluffy. Fold in pineapple. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Just before serving oatmeal, spread with cream cheese mixture. Serve oatmeal warm or cold. (Yields 6 servings)

*See recipe below.

Recipe from A Taste of Morning: Recipes from The Morning Star Bed & Breakfast.

Combine spices in a 1/2-cup glass jar. Ginger has a tendency to clump. If your Ginger is clumped, then break it up before combining with the other spices. Close lid and shake the jar until the spices are well blended. Store at cool room temperature or in the refrigerator.

Note: If you do not want to make up a whole jar of Rise-n-Shine Spice, substitute the following for each teaspoon of it that a recipe asks for: 1/4 tsp. plus a pinch of Chinese Cassia cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. ginger, 1/4 tsp. mace and 1/4 tsp. nutmeg.  

Recipe from A Taste of Morning: Recipes from The Morning Star Bed & Breakfast. Order your copy. 

    Native to Eastern Asia, Flowering Quince was introduced to the U.S. in the 1800's and very old specimens can be found by the sites of abandoned homesteads in rural areas. Flowering Quince are now widely available commercially and can be grown in the U.S. zones 4 to 9 when planted in full sun to part shade and given adequate drainage.

    This is a shrub of which I am fond, since it is very hardy and is one of the first shrubs to put on a big show in our yard every year, starting to bloom in late March to mid-April depending on how severe the winter was. (I noticed the first buds on ours yesterday.) 

     Flowering Quince requires little maintenance. I have never had to fertilize ours or treat it for diseases, though by the end of the summer the foliage can be spotty from apple scab. I prune it heavily after it has bloomed and then over the summer give it a pinch here and there with the clippers to keep it confined to the relatively small area in which I have it planted. 

    The name "Flowering Quince" is somewhat misleading for several reasons. The first is that Chaenomeles is not a true Quince (Cydonia oblonga though both are in the family Rosaceae. It is also misleading since it suggests that other "types of quince" do not flower. True quince do flower, but are grown for their tart pear-like fruit and not their blooms. Chaenomeles bear small fruits that look

    The most common color for the blooms on Flowering Quince is bright coral pink, but other available shades are scarlet, magenta, light purple, tangerine, apricot, white with pink markings, and pure white with a yellow eye. So there is quite a variety. Click here for more images. The white specimen in our yard, pictured above, is "Jet Trail".

    Some other fun facts about Flowering Quince ... Branches can be clipped and brought inside during the winter for forced blooming. They can be espaliered (i.e. trained to grow flat along a wall).  Also, they can be used as a privacy screen if you allow them to grow tall, since their tangled thorny branches would tend to discourage unwanted visitors.  

Pass along your gardening tips.