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Christmas Lollipop Cookies Recipe

November 17, 2011 by 4 Delicious Comments
Christmas Lollipop Cookies Recipe

General Mills always seems to be up to something fun, and earlier this month they invited a few bloggers to create a fun holiday-themed cookie recipe using a Pillsbury cookie dough roll. With the chance of the recipe being on Pillsbury.com (Update: This recipe and the other bloggers’ submissions are now on Pillsbury.com. Follow the link to check out all the delicious goodness!), I couldn’t resist and decided to participate. We could choose to use any of the following Pillsbury cookie doughs: sugar, gingerbread, chocolate chip, peanut butter, or peppermint.

Being the sugar cookie addict that I am, I naturally opted to use the sugar cookie dough. Sugar cookies have long been a holiday tradition at my house, one that I hope my kids continue and pass down to their own families someday.

As part of our cookie submission, General Mills also asked us to make it kid friendly so that moms (or dads!) can make it at home with their kids. For those of you who read my blog regularly, you already know that I love cooking with my little girls. They’re especially fond of any recipe that lets them play with dough.

This particular Christmas cookie idea combines two of my children’s favorite things. The first is making dough snakes. My kids jump at the chance to make them, and believe me, we can play that game for hours. The second is suckers. Their love for suckers nearly surpasses my own for sugar cookies.
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How to Make Pumpkin Seeds: Year 2

October 29, 2010 by 9 Delicious Comments
How to Make Pumpkin Seeds: Year 2

Last year I was a little late (mid-November) on the bandwagon when I posted How to Make Pumpkin Seeds: Year I, so I figured this year I’d try to post before Halloween.

My family looks forward each year to buying our pumpkins from one of the local pumpkin patches. You arrive, get a wheelbarrow and leisurely stroll around the pumpkin rows looking for the perfect pumpkin. I always buy a couple extra just for the seeds. My kids run around in utter delight trying to carry the largest pumpkin they can find. Depending on the patch, they may have hay bales and tractors set up for kids to play on. The owners of the patch we went to this year was giving tractor rides and had created a free corn maze for the kids.

We bought two big pumpkins for my wife and I, and three small pumpkins for our kids, and then a few of those really really small pumpkins just for the heck of it–actually, the kids seemed to be rather attached to them, and it was impossible to resist.

This past Monday, we hollowed out the pumpkins and let the kids carve theirs, so I’m sure the pumpkins will be overly shriveled come Halloween day, oh well. From the 5 hollowed out pumpkins I ended up with 6 cups of fresh pumpkin seeds–perfect for three different batches. Now, I’m the type of guy who rarely orders the same thing at a restaurant each time I visit because I like to experience different foods and flavors. So although I’ve already created pumpkin seed recipes that I like, I couldn’t resist whipping up some new ones either.

This year I’ve created three new recipes: Chipotle Ranch, Sugar ‘n Spice, and Lemon Picante. The Lemon Picante has become my new favorite.
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How to Make Pumpkin Seeds: Year 1

November 17, 2009 by 4 Delicious Comments
How to Make Pumpkin Seeds: Year 1

I know you’re all thinking it, so I’ll just come out and say it… “Chris, you’re about 3 to 4 weeks late on this post!” And at this point I begin to think of a good excuse… and realize I don’t have one. Oops. So as an extra bonus feature with this post I’m going to give you TWO recipes. That’s right, two for the price of two one; the truth is, I was going to give you two recipes in this post anyway.  Okay, confession time is over, and so is Halloween, and in here in Northern Utah,  so is the pumpkin harvest.  This probably means that most of you have either 1) already cooked up your pumpkin seeds, 2) thrown your pumpkin seeds away, or 3) left them in your fridge and they’re covered with a gooey white film and molding.  Gross. Don’t ask how I know about the white film.

I do know, however, that at different times of the year you can still buy bagged, uncooked pumpkin seeds in the grocery stores.  Yes!  A reason to still create this blog entry.  As always, a printable version is available at the bottom of the post. In today’s case, both pumpkin seed recipes are available.  Here we go.
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Make Caramel Popcorn & Win Friends Instantly

October 29, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Make Caramel Popcorn & Win Friends Instantly

Today I’m going to share with you two secrets: 1) How to win friends instantly, and 2) how to make a sinfully delicious batch of caramel popcorn. Lucky for me, both secrets are one and the same. Make this recipe and share it with friends and you’ll instantly have your own entourage. I’ve just gotta’ add that homemade caramel popcorn was an essential part of my childhood diet. Heck, it’s still an essential part of my “diet.” In fact, every time I think of this recipe, I hear tiny voices in my head saying, “Eat me! Eat me!” It’s not always a good idea to listen to those tiny voices in my head, but in this case I tend to make an exception.

There are many caramel popcorn recipes out there, and I’ve tried many of them. I’m happy to report that this recipe has withstood the test of time and continues to be my favorite. It’s easy to make, its sweet, and its incredibly delicious. You can make it into caramel popcorn balls and even add nuts or other candy bits; it’s also quite versatile as far as ingredients are concerned. But my favorite part about it is the sticky chewy goodness that literally melts in your mouth, even hours after it’s made and has sat on the cupboard (that is of course, if it even lasts long enough to sit on the cupboard). At parties, this caramel popcorn is always first to go.
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Smore Recipe: Have Smore then Have Smore

August 17, 2009 by 3 Delicious Comments

I hope it’s not too late in the summer for a post about smores (or s’mores). It’s hard to imagine a campfire outing without the crunchy, gooey goodness of a soft marshmallow and melted chocolate surrounded by a crunchy graham cracker. Gotta’ love it. I’m not sure who invented smores, but to whoever you are, you’re a hero in my book. The art of smore making has been passed down from generation to generation, but somehow the art missed my family. Good thing it’s not too hard to figure out, and I’ve been practicing it since I was 3 years old, not kidding. The hardest part is getting the marshmallow to that perfect golden-brown stage. It requires patience, young grasshopper. Here are a few instructions and tips from my book.
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Tasty Microwave Chex Snack Mix

August 12, 2009 by Leave a Comment

I’m a huge fan of easy snack mixes. They’re perfect for an evening with the family while playing games or watching a movie. They’re also great for trips and as a cheaper snack at the movie theater (can I say that?). This is an excellent, simple snack mix that you can make in the microwave in a matter of minutes. This recipe is from Southern Living, October 2006.

I recommend using a glass, microwave safe bowl for nuking this–unless you have an excellent plastic microwave safe bowl; otherwise, there’s a good chance your plastic bowls will melt away.
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