I was asked to write something about April and the only thing that came to my mind was the Ides of March and poor Julius Caesar, who didn't listen to good advice

He was very careful during this period, as he had been warned of the possibility that harm might come to him. (Besides that he thought it was April and he felt secure and safe and walked around in his toga with his fuzzy bunny slippers on).

So Julius said to himself, "I don't feel so hot, and I an going to try the new acupuncture practitioner in town since his office is in the Senate building".

Then Julius got on his skateboard and zipped over to the Senate and entered the office and low and behold out came the practitioner, and he looked just like Strom Thurman and he spoke Latin with a heavy South Carolina accent.

He exchanged handclasps with Julius, Pulled out a large Bowie knife and plunged it into poor Julius.

Poor Julius fell to the floor and while lying there groaning and moaning Strom pulled off his mask and low and behold it was Brutus and all Julius said was ptoi on you Brutus. And Brutus moved to Newark, NJ and became mayor.

The above has nothing to do with food history (true) or the weather or April. However, Easter has a tendency to show up in April and this is a great time to cook a leg of lamb.

One way I like is to season the leg (get a boneless and tied one, it is easier to carve). Put it on a rack in a roasting pan and season both sides with garlic, oregano, rosemary and basil, light sea salt and coarse ground pepper.

Put in preheated 350-degree oven and cook 20 - 25 minutes per pound. Sharpen your carver, but don't cut your finger. Serve with zucchini sautéed with onion, when the mix is softly cooked, stir in well-beaten egg and sprinkle with garlic, salt and pepper. Stir until softly done. Plus prepare rice that has been cooked in chicken broth and mixed with sautéed mushrooms.

Another style would be to season the lamb with ginger, garlic, salt and pepper.

Serve this with some chutney. Happy Easter.