So my sister is off to the family cabin today and I asked you to help me out by finding her a one pot meal. It's a three hour drive and it may be snowing, so she needs an easy soothing one pot meal that she can just reheat upon arrival. She's invited many of her best friends so the meal has to be transportable, able to feed a crowd, and hearty enough to feed the guys. You guys added your recipes to the database and the accessories to the Yum Market with the tag One Pot Meal, so let's see what you've come up with!

After looking at all the yummy recipes, I've decided to make Suez's Chinese Noodle Soup. I love the idea of building a themed Chinese meal around this dish. I told my sister to order some spring rolls from the local Chinese restaurant to serve as a starter while the soup heats up.

For the special extras that I've chosen to pair with this One Pot Meal, read more

I'm a sucker for minis. If it's cute and shrunken I want it. Mini sandwiches, mini pizzas, mini Coca-Colas, mini chocolate chips, mini-anything.

There is something about tiny, bite sized goodies that I just can't resist. I know it's selfish, but I like how minis are so small that they can't easily be shared with anyone else. That's why I'm excited about a recipe for mini orange chocolate chunk cakes. Mini cakes, not to be confused with their cousin the cupcake, don't have a paper liner. They look like you have made a large cake and "honey I shrunk" it down to an adorable confection. To make these miniature cakes, read more

My earlier post about Shirley Temples got me thinking about my favorite ginger ale, Blenheim's. A few years ago, I came across Blenheim's Hot Ginger Ale and WOW! it completely knocked my socks off (in fact, that used to be one of their slogans). Originally formulated in 1903 by Dr. C.R. May and A.J. Matheson as a stomach treatment, Blenheim's is now available in four flavors.

• Hot
• Not as Hot
• Diet
• Ginger Beer

I've never actually had anything but the Hot, but it is truly great. It's a high-quality beverage with an intense ginger burn that will make your head sweat and your mouth tingle. It does however, have a glorious sweet finish that makes you want to drink more. If you like your ginger ale spicy then hunt down a bottle, because it's well worth it. If you can't find it near you (it's tough to find), you can buy Blenheim's online for $1.49 a bottle.

If you've tried it before, let us know what you thought in the comments below.

The Pacific Northwest just got a little bit sweeter. At least, the Puget Sound did. After weeks of holiday baking and eating, Researchers at the University of Washington are stating that the Puget Sound is now being flavored by cinnamon and vanilla.

Keil and UW researcher Jacquelyn Neibauer's weekly tests of treated sewage sent into the sound from the West Point treatment plant in Magnolia showed cinnamon, vanilla and artificial vanilla levels rose between Nov. 14 and Dec. 9, with the biggest spike right after Thanksgiving.

Using benchmarks from a published scientific study, they were able to estimate that people in Seattle and a few outlying areas served by the sewage plant scarfed down the daily equivalent of about 160,000 butter- or chocolate-chip-type cookies and about 80,000 cookies containing cinnamon during the Thanksgiving weekend.

So far, there's no evidence that the abundance of vanilla is taking its toll on any sea creatures, but who's to say that it won't. Does this mean that vanilla salmon will be the new hot trend in 2007? I suppose if all of the coffee that made its way to the Puget Sound had little effect on the fish, hopefully vanilla won't either.

Source

When I was growing up my parents enjoyed going out to restaurants and having a nice glass of wine or a refreshing cocktail. Naturally, I always insisted on having one too. I remember thinking how grownup I felt when the waitress would bring me my own drink. There are even stories of me getting so "drunk" I would insist on stopping. Now, before you start yelling and saying "What kind of parents did you have!?" let me clarify. I had an overactive imagination and was only drinking Shirley Temples. No alcohol involved, but all the fun. To make a good ol' classic Shirley Temple of your own, read more

So we've just about reached the end of the year and it seems everyone is putting together year-end lists. PopSugar has Favorite Celebrity Moms, BuzzSugar has Top Albums and the folks at Epicurious have put together a list of 2006 food trends. Their list includes honey, steakhouses, Southern cuisine and better mixed drinks. For the most part I agree with them, but I'm really surprised to see that pomegranates were left off the list, same with tapas-style eating (seems like every new restaurant I try is "small plates").

Now that 2006's been covered, what about 2007? To see some of the 2007 food trend predictions, read more

This Christmas my sister-in-law surprised me with a few books off of an old wish list. One of them, which I don't understand how I didn't have already, was Cookwise by Shirley O. Corriher. I first saw Shirley on Alton Brown's show (if you're a fan of the show then you'll know her as the resident food scientist). I always find her segments to be informative and approachable and in her book, Cookwise, you get just that. With an informal and chatty demeanor, Shirley really wants to help you improve your cooking know how.

Subtitled "The Hows & Whys of Successful Cooking," Cookwise is truly an in-depth look at the science of cooking. You really get the feeling that she wants to help you improve your cooking and not just memorize a handful of recipes. In fact the recipes in the book are presented more like experiments than they are fine meals. Each one explains what you're learning and more importantly why.

Is the book perfect? Not totally, the layout is a little awkward and it could be organized a bit better. However the content is well worth that little gripe, so check it out and let me know what you think.

When I was visiting my family for Christmas, my sister told me that the smell of cinnamon always reminds her of me. At first I was surprised, I wasn't sure why, but then she reminded me that I used to love chomping down on cinnamon flavored toothpicks. Apparently now whenever anyone eats Red Hots or Hot Tamales, she now thinks of the time I caught her sabotaging the kitchen in my dollhouse. Specifically how she shoved the toy root beer into the toy microwave and it NEVER came out...

So, how about you? Are there any food scents that trigger old memories? If so then post them in the Mouth-Watering Memories group.

I can't wait to read them all!

We've all been there (unless you don't have a garbage disposal, and in that case I feel your pain, my current place doesn't have one either), you clean up the dishes, you scrape off the food, you run the disposal and ACK! you're hit in the face with a horrible smell. The onions from tonight's dinner are wafting back through the sink and your otherwise beautifully spotless kitchen is beginning to stink. Well, I'm happy to say, this problem can be easily eliminated. To read my simple disposal tip and other garbage disposal hints, read more

A Galette is a French pancake or tart and this version, a goat cheese and leek galette, lies somewhere between pizza, quiche, and pastry. It makes an uncomplicated yet stunning meal with its subtle onion flavor and creamy goat cheese. This galette makes for an ideal dinner if you want something quick and light, it's also a wonderful option if you are entertaining with vegetarian friends. If serving as part of a menu offer a radicchio salad with black olives, toasted walnuts, and a Sherry vinaigrette. For the galette recipe, read more