While my family and I were at the mall the other day running some errands, we walked past a soft pretzel shop. I hadn’t had one in ages and the smell always lures me in. However, we had already had lunch and I wasn’t very hungry, so I decided I’d wait until we got home and spend a few hours making my own (by then I’d really want one!).

I’ve been using this recipe from Paula Deen for several years now. Though it doesn’t taste like a mall pretzel, it does taste really good, and I actually prefer them to the …read more

Two healthier Halloween minded snacks for you today, the first is an icy Halloween smoothie that I found a long time ago in Fitness Magazine. The downside is that it wasn’t organic; but you can change up ANY recipe to make it organic so I did. The second treat is a pumpkin seed bar from Taste for Life (loved by birds and kids alike) and it’s a healthy way to use up some of those Halloween pumpkin seeds.

Halloween Smoothie:

1 cup organic canned pumpkin
1 cup organic milk (you can use soy, or another milk as well, it works fine)
2 tablespoons …read more

This recipe for Penne Chicken with Sun Dried Tomatoes is probably my husband’s most favorite meals. I found it in a cooking magazine last year and ended up changing it so much that I had to write it down separately or else I’d never remember what all I had ended up changing — and that, to my husband at least, would have been a travesty!

It does rely on pre-canned and pre-packaged foods, so we don’t make it very often and when we do it’s only if something’s on sale. You can definitely substitute the pre-packaged chicken for a some leftover …read more

I’m starting to get into the autumn mindset: Our cooler days are just a few weeks off, and I’m already looking forward to dinners that don’t involve the grill or “cold fixins” like salads and sandwiches since it won’t be so miserable to turn on the oven!

So I’m going through and doing my annual “fall cleaning” with my recipe folder, and the one section that I pay a little more attention to is my desserts. I have a habit of printing off pretty much any recipe that catches my eye, or ripping out a magazine article of something that looks …read more

Since I was at Fred & Friends website where I found the Garden Salad Utensils, I figured I’d look around and see what new stuff the store has added in their cool kitchen collection. I found this cute PEACE cake mold, aptly called, PEACE of Cake.

At the risk of sounding cliché, here it goes. If only people would just sit, relax, enjoy life and a PEACE of Cake, the world definitely be a better place.
This peace sign cake mold is made of pure food-grade silicone and beautifully packed in a recycled window box. I think the little window boxes …read more

It’s hard to believe that in just a couple of weeks I’ll be pulling all my cute autumn decorations out of the garage and figuring out where they’ll go in the house! It’ll stay hot here and not at all fall-ish until at least the end of October, but I figure if Mother Nature won’t cooperate then I’ll force things along as best I can.

Aside from decorating, some of my favorite ways to celebrate fall are by food and scents, and thankfully these usually go hand in hand. My favorite fall scent is baked apple: The smell of apple baking …read more

Bake a pie and serve it individually from the same pan you used to bake the pie in. How innovative and clean is that?
Check out these Individual Pie Slice Pans. They’re stonewear and perfect for baking fruit pies, pot pies, cobblers, and I’m assuming custards as well.
No need to slice the pie and leaving some of the fillings and crust on the pan. Just serve the slice on it’s own. I’m thinking you could probably also bake different fruit pies, according to your guests or family’s favorite, all at the same time.
A set of 2 is currently …read more

When I’m making BBQ dishes I’ve gotten in the habit of experimenting with the BBQ sauce. I’ve add other components for more flavors. I’ve mixed together BBQ sauce and Italian salad dressing for chicken before and it was quite a successful experimentation so I figured I’d do something new for the ribs I bought from the pork butcher place the other day too.
INGREDIENTS :

ribs (quartered)
water for boiling
3 cups bbq sauce
2 squirts of honey
2 huge spoonfuls of orange marmalade
a pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Everytime I think to myself that I just can’t take Martha Stewart anymore, she comes up with a neat idea. Check out her recipes for Halloween “Creepcakes”:
As with ALL of Martha’s projects, you have to be really organized AND live near great craft and baking supply stores:
RESOURCES
Black sanding sugar (#601344), $1.99 for 4 oz., from Sweet Celebrations, 800-328-6722 or www.sweetc.com. Candies from Dylan’s Candy Bar, 646-735-0078 or www.dylanscandybar.com.
DECORATING TECHNIQUES
To decorate, use marshmallows and candy-coated chocolates for whites of eyes; jelly beans or gumdrops for peepers with an eerie glow. For pupils, paint on melted chocolate (microwave 1/2 cup chocolate …read more