cinnamon

Several weeks ago, I was invited to a cooking class at Parties That Cook, a company that hosts culinary tutorials and team-building culinary events. After a quick lesson, where chef Bibby Gillignat taught us basic cooking skills, we broke into groups, each one assigned to a different portion of the meal.

My sweetheart and I were assigned to the dessert portion of the meal, where we made another warm, chocolatey dessert: churros, fried Mexican doughnuts, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and dipped in spicy chocolate sauce. It may sound intimidating to make a deep-fried dessert, but it really isn't that hard! Check out all the steps when you read more

I love cinnamon-sugar toast and I love smooth lips. And with Valentine's Day just around the corner, I'm taking a little inspiration from one of my favorite breakfast treats and turning it into a sweet and spicy lip scrub — minus the crispy bread, of course. Bonus? It tastes great and the invigorating properties of cinnamon gets the blood a-flowing, too. To get kissable lips, check out my recipe below:

• Start with a base. I like something waxy, such as good old ChapStick ($1.89).
• Scrape off a little ChapStick with a knife or small spatula and make a paste-like consistency by adding sugar.
• Add a sprinkle of cinnamon, apply, and get smooching.

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A few weeks ago my friend decided to make hot buttered rum on a whim. None of us had ever had it, and it sounded kind of gross... yet somehow appealing. (YumSugar has a recipe.) Is it good? It was a mixed bag on that one, but the batter itself served as my inspiration for this brown sugar scrub. Oh, and I just found out that National Hot Buttered Rum Day is this Saturday. Who knew? Yum even has a fun quiz all about this old school drink. Check out some pics below, along with my recipe, too.

Bella's Booze-Free Hot Buttered Rum Brown Sugar Body Scrub:

• Mix together 1/2 cup brown sugar; 1/4 cup almond oil (olive oil would work, too); a dash of ground cinnamon or cinnamon essential oil; and a dash of ground nutmeg or nutmeg essential oil. Apply. Optional: Add a dash of rum extract — Oh, I suppose you could get the real stuff out and mix up a little rum cocktail for yourself, too. Whee!

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• Meet Kelly Choi, the host of Bravo's upcoming series Top Chef Masters. — Serious Eats
• Read Alice Waters's personal letter to Barack Obama. — Gourmet
• Learn the difference between cinnamon and nutmeg.— Cookthink
• Find out how far your food travels. — The Kitchn
• Here's how restaurants are coping with recession. — The Epi-Log
• Fight the Winter flu by eating more kale. — Mouthing Off
• Ten good-luck foods to enjoy during Chinese New Year. — Chow

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Browsing TeamSugar the other day, I was absolutely taken by a Fall recipe. This apple butter was created by Kitchen Goddess founder, Twinkle, when she wasn't able to locate any apple butter in her adopted homeland, Finland. Since she is a domestic divinity, she took matters into her own hands and came up with an original recipe. I can't get enough of apples, and making apple butter (which doesn't actually include any butter) is the perfect way to use up a surplus of the fruit. Plus, it's a healthy spread alternative to jams and jellies. To get her delicious recipe, read more

At a baby shower, it's incredibly important to have a nonalcholic specialty drink. That way the mother-to-be can join in the festivities. For Denise's baby shower brunch, I'll offer guests mimosas and spiced pomegranate sparklers.

The concoction is made with a cinnamon-spiced pomegranate juice and sparkling water. Do take the time to make the garnish — frozen whole cranberries — because it's a lovely addition to the drink.

Also have an assortment of juice, coffee, and tea on hand. To get the refreshing recipe to the sparkling mocktail, read more