Speaking of doughnuts, who else wants to try doughnut soup? - Side Order of Ham via Tastespotting

Creamy, buttery polenta, topped with a chunky vegetable sauce and melted mozzarella cheese, makes for a great vegetarian meal. A quick sauce is made by simmering a can of crushed tomatoes with fresh oregano and sautéed onions, peppers, and zucchini. There are a few steps, so multi-task: pulse-chop the veggies in the food processor and bake the polenta while the sauce cooks. Chill some white wine or rose and serve yourself a huge heaping because this is decadently divine. For the recipe to your Thursday night dinner, read more

You may have noticed the ads for Sprays In the City running across the Sugar Network this week. To thank my new friends Spraychel and Spritzy for their sponsorship, I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you about the webisodes that they will be starring in this summer and how you can win a $10,000 shopping spree! Spraychel and Spritzy have just moved into a new fridge and each week they will be embarking on a new adventure. A clip of the webisode is below. To see the rest, visit SpraysInTheCity.com, and then vote at the end of the episode on what should happen next. By voting you could win a $10,000 shopping spree in NYC as well as other prizes. Also, visit SpraysintheCity.com to get coupons for I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! and Wish-Bone products, as well as recipes featuring a variety of uses for the sprays.

If you're planning on cooking with peaches (like I did with the peach puzzle), you'll want to peel them first. Cooking causes the skin to become rough and the texture could be unappetizing in pies, etc. However peeling peaches seems like an messy task. Ripe peaches are soft and delicate and prone to bruising. Luckily there's an easy way to get around it.

1. Bring a pot of water to boil (enough to submerge the peach fully - see note).
2. Using a slotted spoon, dip peach for 30-45 seconds.
3. Transfer immediately to a waiting ice water bath (again, enough to submerge peach fully).
4. You should now be able to easily pull the skin off with your hands. Some people prefer to use a paring knife, but I prefer hands. You can also give it a quick rub with a dishtowel or paper towel. If the skin does not come off easily, repeat the process.

Note: The picture shown does not have enough water and resulted in having to continuously rotate the peach.

This method also works well for nectarines, plums and tomatoes.

4th of July is a holiday that's all about bbq, so plan on most guests drinking a lot of beer. Keep things simple by making a big batch of one cocktail and offer beer and wine to guests. Choose a light red or well bodied white to wine to pair with the ribs. Don't forget to get a lot of ice to ensure that drinks remain cool. Fill one cooler with alcoholic drinks and fill another water, sparkling juices, and sodas. Pitchers of iced tea or lemonade are ideal to quench party thirst. A bright, colorful drink that matches the theme of your party is a great way to enhance the look of your event (if you are into shooters, layer grenadine, vodka, and blue curaco in a shot glass for a patriotic shot). Or serve a vibrant red cocktail that's like a snow cone for adults. Refreshing and icy with fragrant raspberry taste, take a look at my 4th of July cocktail recipe and drool, just read more

Remember when I told you guys about Krispy Kreme's foray into whole wheat doughnuts? Some of you thought it was great, while others thought it was a dumb marketing ploy. Well, a few months later, they've got a new doughnut for you to weigh in on. This time it's a multigrain cake doughnut made with seven grains and topped with an oatmeal crisp crunch. For now it's just a limited time treat (starting July 9) made with molasses and brown sugar with a slight pecan flavor to it. Sure, seven grains sounds healthy, but last I heard, a doughnut is still a doughnut.

Source: PR Newswire