I haven’t done a link sort of post in a long time, not since Veggie Chic became part of Blisstree Food and Nutrition.  Here are some links that may be of interest to vegetarians or veggie-interested folks……..

If you have a Twitter account, then you might consider following vegetariandeals. Their plan is to share links to “vegetarian coupons, samples, affiliate deals, discounts, and freebies.” So far I see links to samples of Aveda hair product, Luna cookies, and a free Vegetarian Times subscription.

The sister site to vegetariandeals is Groovy Vegetarian. Groovy Vegetarian covers a multitude of veg subjects including vegan clothing, nutrition information, giveaways, etc. The last couple of months, the posting looks like it hasn’t’ been as regular, but there’s a lot of great information in the archives.

Vegan yum*yum has some of the most beautiful food photography that I’ve ever seen. Bright, fresh ingredients, interesting angles, and the recipes taste pretty darn good, as well. Vegan yum*yum was a 2008 winner of VegNews Veg Bloggy Awards.

Image credit: Michelle Smith

Wouldn’t these be great to make for Father’s Day?  They’re easy too, and so so cute.  I’m sure the kids would love to help with the construction…you’ll probably have to buy double the decorative ingredients like M&Ms, Hershey nuggets, and black licorice laces to account for snacking!

Thanks to Family Fun for the creative idea and the directions!

When my husband and I travel, we generally bring home gifts for our grandchildren.  But they’re not the kind we spend a great deal of money to purchase. 

They are rocks and seashells, seaglass, foods from the area, something a relative may have made, and stories of places we’ve visited.  The natural objects are typical of that area and may tell of the geology and history.  We bring home recipes to try and ingredients we might not find at home.  (I use these for my travel writing, but the grandchildren seem to look forward to them, too.)

Image: sxc.hu

•  Rocks of a particular area
• Shells from a beach
• Foods
• Recipes
• Food ingredients for making ours at home
• A costume
• Piece of jewelry typical of the region
• Postcards for making collections or scrapbooks
• Seaglass

My daughter was going through some of her souvenirs from trips as a child and teen.  Even though she might have purchased a few “touristy” items, those she saved were stones and seashells, postcards and photos!

 What do you collect for your grandchildren when you travel?  Are there items that aren’t expensive?  That create memories?  That add to the youngsters’ knowledge?  That expand their imaginations?

I am kind of a nut about pretzel rolls. We have a really good deli in our area that has THE BEST pretzel roll sandwiches it isn’t even funny. I also find them at one of our local grocery stores.

If you’ve never had a pretzel roll, it tastes like a pretzel but is shaped like a bun. (Hence the name.) But it makes for a great appetizer or even sandwich bread. Last week we had brats with mustard on pretzel rolls (because that’s what Wisconsinites do!) and it was fabulous.

I’ve been looking high and low for a great pretzel roll recipe. Does anyone out there have one?

Image: sxc.hu

Among some of the enjoyable creative work I’ve done during a writing career has been producing cooking columns for newspapers, magazines and online.  I’ve even contributed to cookbooks. 

Image: sxc.hu

 This career began rather unexpectedly after I finished a 2-year correspondence course in journalism (comparable to an online class today).  Many people ask me how they can get started, too.

 Study other columns and write some yourself.

 Take a column writing class.  As mentioned above, I did this via a correspondence course.  I now teach column writing classes online.

 Make sure you’re serious about column writing and have ideas enough to keep going.  Writing a weekly column (I’ve done both weekly and monthly), takes persistence and continual idea gathering.  Some people get started, then after 6 weeks run out of ideas.  An editor is depending on you…and you are if you want to get paid.

 You may have begin writing for very low or no pay for the first few columns to convince the editor it will be a good column for that publication.  (Some writers say this isn’t a good idea, but sometimes you must get started somewhere if you’ve never written a column for publication before.  However, it’s advisable to do it for an agreed upon limited time.)

Be enthusiastic about the material you write.  It will show through in your writing.

From the cooking column, which I still write today, I’ve gone on to write columns about gardening, local history, quiltmaking, arts and crafts, travel, children’s books, and family history.  Today, column writing has evolved into blog writing for many authors.

When I was growing up, we didn’t have much money and Mom was a master at making something from nothing. I can remember lots of Bean Soup dinners and while I might have thought, “Again??” as a kid, I absolutely respect what she was able to do, as an adult. It’s hard to feed a family, especially when kids would way rather eat a bowl of chips instead of a bowl of soup.

Mom and I did a Costco run this past weekend and she told me about a quick breakfast or desert that she has been making for herself. She takes frozen berries and adds yogurt to it them. The berries are very cold and make the yogurt sort of thicker and almost icy.

I tried it this morning with a mixture of one cup frozen strawberries and cherries. To the fruit, I added a half cup of  nonfat vanilla yogurt, then a teaspoon of honey, because … well, I love honey and I put it on everything. I topped it with a sprinkling of granola.  I loved it, very satisfying. 

Another good frozen treat - frozen grapes. Wash the grapes, pop them in the freezer and in a couple of hours you’ve got grape-sized popsicles. Yum!

Image credit: Michelle Smith

I’ve been doing my best to have more fresh fruit and vegetablesaround the house. I want the kids to snack on more than crackers or… ramen.

I’ve got both fresh and frozen choices available to them, which reminds me….frozen cherries, not as much flavor as fresh, but not a bad frozen treat when you are feeling snack-y. 

Today the market had melons on sale for 2-for-1.  Score!  Here’s a recipe for Honeydew Melon Soup, from the Rosewood Country Inn, in Bradford, New Hampshire.
Honeydew Soup

Ingredients:
1 large ripe honeydew melon, seeded and cut into chunks with rind removed
3/4 cup orange/pineapple juice
1 Tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon lime juice

  
Directions:

Puree melon in blender. Place in bowl and add juice and lime juice. Chill

Serve in stemmed wine glasses. Garnish with a dollop of cream and a strawberry slice.
Great as a heart-healthy breakast fruit, or for an impressive brunch.

Recipe and Image credit: Rosewood Country Inn and BnBfinder.com

Quilters and crafters enjoy recipes and often share them at quilting bees craft fairs and online groups.  They also compile cookbooks as fund raisers.

Also, they can put together e-cookbooks or CDs to give as free items to customers, readers, and blog/web site visitors.  This is one way authors have promoted their books and crafters their other products.

Over at Home Biz Notes, I described how I’ve been involved in creating free e-cookbooks as promotional giveaways for my books.  This was a project initiated by author/publisher Kathleen (Katy) Walls.

Check out the post, Developing a Free e-cookbook for PR, and learn more about the two I’ve been involved with.  We have also compiled an anthology of our writing this was as a freebie.

(Cookbook cover by Katy & Martin Walls)

I’ve noticed that when the weather heats up, my bananas ripen much faster. They go from green to dark brown faster than I can use them up.

 To avoid waste, I add the over-ripe bananas to dishes like banana pancakes, muffins, smoothies (cut into chunks and freeze first). 

Today I found this recipe and I grabbed it just because I loved the name - Best Banana Bread, NO Kidding. Clever.

It’s from The Madeleine Bed & Breakfast, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

Best Banana Bread - No Kidding 
1 1/2 cups melted butter
1 3/4 cups brown sugar
1 t. salt
1/2 t. soda
4 eggs
3 t. baking powder
2 1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 t. almond extract
1/2 t. nutmeg
2 t. cinnamon
grated rind from one orange
4 cups flour
2 cups mashed ripe bananas soaked in 1 cup strong black coffee
1 cup each raisins and chopped walnuts  

Beat together butter and sugar, then add eggs one at a time. Next stir in salt, soda, baking powder, vanilla, almond extract, nutmeg, cinnamon and orange rind. Then add flour mix and banana mixture alternately to butter mixture. Mix gently. Then add nuts and raisins. Grease two loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes.

Recipe credit: BnBfinder.com and The Madeleine Bed & Breakfast
Image credit: SXC.com

 Most quilters enjoy cooking, too, and frequently look for recipes to share.  Ever since the pioneer quilting bees, women brought foods along and exchanged recipes.

 My grandfather mentioned this in his writing. (He was a newspaper columnist in addition to being a farmer).  Grandfather Coon described his mother going to quilting gatherings at the neighbor’s where the ladies also served refreshments.

Image:sxc.hu

When my daughter and her Fiber Divas group get together for work and planning, they always have refreshments, too.  Also, they occasionally visit fabric shops, galleries, or take a class.  Then they plan on stopping at favorite resaurants for a special treat.

I read on one quilter’s blog, that because she liked to cook and knew others did, too, she was going to add a recipe exchange portion to her blog.  Often quilters post periodic food and recipe items on their blogs or web sites.  Some even compile cookbooks.

 So from time to time, I’ll discuss recipes for quilters and crafters.   Do you have some favorites?