In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness month, the Hershey's Company is producing limited edition versions of some of their popular products: Kisses, Nuggets, Syrup, and Peppermint Patties. They will also contribute $300,000 to the Young Survival Coalition, a non-profit network of breast cancer survivors and supporters dedicated to addressing the concerns and issues unique to young women and breast cancer.

“The Young Survival Coalition is proud to work with Hershey’s powerful brands to raise awareness for our important mission,” said Michele Przypysny, Chief Executive Officer, Young Survival Coalition. “Our partnership with The Hershey Company has helped us to provide vital programs and services for young women and their families.”

The products all have special pink packaging and are designed to help raise awareness. They should be available in stores for the entire month of October.

Thanks to TeamSugar for telling me about this one!

If you're a portabello mushroom fan, then be sure to check out this recipe for Portobello Mushroom Melts. Pesto and portobellos? Sign me up! — The Culinary Chase

To be an extraordinary baker like YumSugar, not only do you need skills, patience, and time to practice, but you need the necessary tools as well!

As I was looking through the Yum Market on TeamSugar, I noticed that you've saved a lot of the essential basics. Now is a good time to take a look through your cabinets and pantry to make sure you have plenty of sugar, flour, and baking soda for the upcoming holiday baking.

Also check for the important equipment: kitchen timers, mixing bowls, cookie sheets, measuring cups and spoons. If you are more advanced, you may want to get some of the special extras highlighted below. A cake decorating gadget, pie caddy, springform pan, and cake stand are all fabulous to have, but not 100% crucial.

I plan on adding this cute little individual pie slice pan to my growing collection of baking tools. Found by ljc_sugar, this will be wonderful for pies, puddings, soufflés, mini cakes, and much more.

To learn more about the bookmarking feature of TeamSugar please read GeekSugar's explanation.

This week's cupcake comes from A Cat In the Kitchen. Her adorable Totoro topped cupcakes are wonderfully cute and made me squeal out loud. The cupcakes are actually maple, pecan and apple — perfect for the fall — and are topped with a sugar fondant/paste and decorated with a food pen. I love all the detail in them. They're really almost too cute to eat! Well, almost...

While chicken noodle soup is always comforting, it's nice to experiment with exciting variations of the classic recipe. This week I decided to make a spicy, chicken chowder chock full of chunky vegetables. To enhance the creamy texture, I used fresh corn and pepper jack cheese in this one pot meal. This soup takes about an hour and half to make, so it's not one for when you are hungry and need food fast. To take a look at the steps it took to make this delicious soup, just read more

Looks like you better put your plans for white chocolate burgers on hold; your ingredients could be contaminated.

Last week over 21 million pounds of frozen hamburger were recalled due to an E. coli contamination. The Topps Meat company recalled packages with establishment number 9748 and sell-by-dates of Sept. 25, 2007 through Sept. 25, 2008. A full recall list is available at Topps's website.

If contaminated beef wasn't scary enough, Kraft just announced a recall on Baker's Premium White Chocolate Baking Squares due to a possible Salmonella contamination. The six-ounce boxes contain the UPC Code 0043000252200 and one of the following best when used by dates: 31 MAR 2008 XCZ, 01 APR 2008 XCZ, 02 APR 2008 XCZ, 03 APR 2008 XCZ. The recall only affects those boxes and no other varieties are impacted. If you have one of the contaminated boxes, you should throw it out. For more info call Kraft at 1-800-310-3704.

Scary times when chocolate isn't even safe!

In order to make the classic Caesar salad worthy of a main dish, chicken is usually added. However you can make it a vegetarian friendly option by adding a bunch of fresh, chopped veggies instead. It's a crisp and delicious meal that pairs nicely with a chilled glass of Chardonnay. If you are fearful of Caesar dressings that include anchovies, you are in luck! This one is anchovy free! For the recipe please read more