By ROGER BISPECK

By ROGER BISPECK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
No candy for Easter?
What's a kid to do? Some local parents have prescriptions for kid-friendly Easter fun and feasts.
Indoors, you can decorate a tree branch from the craft store with multicolored plastic eggs on it. Also, hang resin rabbits that look like chocolate but are inedible.
Decorate trees and shrubs with plastic eggs that are hung like fruit. Adorn your yard with lighted bunnies and other figures.
Some ideas
Some families have kids hunt for presents outside, weather permitting. Michele Scott of Cortland makes a trail to a hidden gift for her 8-year-old son, Joe. She uses vinyl bunny prints, called "Floor Decor," from the craft shop. Scott makes a path of paws on the lawn leading to a gift like a baseball or a bat.
"We don't always lead him right to the present. It's like a scavenger hunt," Scott says. Sometimes she fills plastic eggs with money and places them along the way.
"I like to find eggs and stuff," Joe says. "I like going on the trail to hunt for a toy."
Jane M. Harris of Girard has two sons, Kyle, 6, and Ryan, 8. For Easter "you get stuff like army soldiers and G.I. Joes," Ryan says. "We paint eggs, but I don't like to hunt eggs because I find them really fast," he says.
Kyle likes football and baseball games, pencils, kites and bubble-blowing sets.
Outdoor activity
Some parents want their kids to swing into spring with other outdoor activities. Frankie Englehardt of Youngstown prefers to give her daughter Aurelia, 4, something to do outside after being cooped up all winter indoors.
She gives Aurelia finger paints that she can use outdoors with construction paper. Any mess can easily be cleaned up with water and a hose.
Laura Goist of Youngstown is another mom who avoids candy at Easter.
"I give my daughter a present of some kind ... such as a Disney movie or jewelry like a bunny necklace," she said.
For an Easter "basket" Goist chooses an unusual container with multiple uses, such as a sand pail or a toy shopping basket. Other containers may include a little purse for a girl or a little backpack for a boy. These can be stuffed with Lego sets, action figures and stuffed animals.
What follows are some recipes from local cooks that may make Easter more fun for everybody.
MUSHROOM SCRAMBLED EGGEASTER BREAKFAST
1/4 cup butter
10 to 12 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup green pepper, chopped
or 1/4 cup green onion, chopped
or 1/4 cup chives, chopped
1(101/2-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 teaspoon salt
In a large frying pan melt butter over low heat.
In a bowl mix all ingredients, choosing either green pepper, green onion, or chives.
Add mixture to frying pan and cook slowly over medium heat. Stir occasionally from outside edge to center allowing uncooked egg in middle to move toward outside of pan until eggs are thickened and cooked.
Serves 5 or 6.
--Mildred Wolford, Canfield
FRESH HORSERADISH FOR HOLIDAY HAM
1 piece horseradish root
Scrub root in cold water and trim. With a sharp knife scrape root and throw away outer skin. Remaining root is white.
On day of use, shave cleaned root with a sharp knife from the top down onto waxed paper.
Serve in a small bowl and use as a condiment for ham.
--Wolford
EASTER SOUR CREAM COOKIES
1 cup Crisco
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1 cup sour cream
6 cups flour
In a large bowl mix all ingredients with a wooden spoon making a stiff dough. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool for 1/2 hour while making frosting.
FROSTING
1 stick softened margarine or butter
1 pound powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a bowl mix all ingredients until contents reach a frosting consistency.
Separate into 4 bowls to color. Add 2 drops food coloring to each bowl and mix making pastel Easter colors. Frost cookies. Cookies may be made ahead of time and frozen.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
--Kathy Campana, Youngstown
RICOTTA PIE
1 prepared pie crust
11/2 pounds ricotta cheese
3 egg yolks
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk as needed
3 egg whites beaten until stiff
In a medium bowl blend cheese, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla. Mix well until it reaches a smooth consistency, adding milk when needed.
Fold in beaten egg whites.
Preheat oven. Pour into crust and bake at 375 degrees 45 minutes. When done knife inserted in center should come out clean.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
--Mary Elizabeth Richley, Youngstown
FARINA CAKE
1 (8-ounce) package filo dough, defrosted (20 sheets)
1/2 gallon milk
1 cup sugar
9 eggs
1 cup farina or Quaker cream of wheat
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 pound sweet butter
2 additional cups sugar
1 cup water
In a large bowl beat eggs well. Add 1 cup sugar and mix. Add farina and mix. Stir in 1 cup cold milk.
Place remainder of milk in a large pot over medium heat and bring to a boil. Gradually add egg and farina mixture. Cook and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until thickened. Cool 20 minutes and stir in vanilla extract.
Melt butter. Brush 9 inch x 13 inch cake pan with part of butter.
Place filo dough in the pan, 2 sheets at a time, and butter every other sheet until 10 sheets are in place.
Pour thickened farina mixture over filo dough. Top with 10 more sheets of filo dough buttering every 2 layers. Pour remaining butter over top.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
While baking make syrup from 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water. Over medium heat in a saucepan bring to a boil. When cake is baked pour syrup over top.
Makes 24 pieces depending on the size you cut them. This is a rich recipe so pieces may be small.
--Ann Simchik, Youngstown