Chocolate is a traditional Valentine’s gift, and for a chocolate lover like me, there’s probably no way you could go wrong with that (especially if it’s good chocolate and not that good-for-you dark stuff). 

Actually, you can go wrong with chocolate. A few years ago I bought chocolate in a heart shaped box at 90 percent off after Valentine’s Day. It was Jeff Foxworthy “You Might Be A Redneck” chocolate.

Then I found some other ideas that sounded pretty awful.

How about chocolate bullets (for when Cupid’s arrow is not heavy enough artillery?) (Buy ‘em here.)

Chocolate covered pork rinds sound tasty. (Snap ‘em up here.)

And then for the realist, or the cardiologist in your life, there’s this chocolate heart. (It’s a heartbeat, it’s a lovebeat!) (Buy here)

I love to cook and lately, I’ve been trying a lot of new recipes. There’s nothing like the warm aroma of a soup simmering on the stove. My favorite new recipe is Roasted Garlic Soup that I found on the website  TheDailygreen . It’s easy to make and all you really need is an oven, a soup pot and a blender.

Here are the ingredients:

INGREDIENTS
2 large whole unpeeled garlic heads, plus 1 clove, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 cups minced onion
1 cup minced carrots
1 large potato (1 1/4 cups), peeled and cubed
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground pepper
1/4 cup heavy cream ( I found this step to be optional, and makes for fewer calories per serving)

PREPARATION
1. Roast the garlic: Preheat oven to 350°F. Using a serrated knife, cut the top off each garlic head so that the tip of each clove is exposed. Place the garlic heads on a large piece of aluminum foil and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the bay leaves and fold the foil to form a packet. Place the packet in the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Cool slightly. In a small bowl, squeeze the garlic head until all of the roasted flesh is released. Discard outer husks and bay leaves.

2. Make the soup: In a large heavy-duty saucepan, heat the remaining olive oil and butter, add onions, and cook over medium heat until translucent—about 4 minutes. Add the carrots and continue to cook for 5 more minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the potato, chicken stock, white wine, roasted garlic, salt, and pepper. Cover and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and continue to cook for 35 minutes.

3. Finish the soup: Using a blender, puree the soup in small batches until smooth. Return the soup to the saucepan over medium heat and whisk in the heavy cream. Heat until warmed. Do not boil. Keep warm until ready to serve.

And it is YUMMY!!!!

Want good luck in the new year? Ringing in 2010 with a glass of bubbly is delicious, but if you want to assure good luck, you need to eat some herring.

At least that’s what the deal was at my house growing up. My dad always bought a jar of pickled herring to eat (apparently the kind in horseradish sauce would not have the same effect.) I’d always wondered about that..so I did a little research on the internet and found out that’s a German tradition. Makes sense, since my dad was German, Irish and French (and maybe Native American).

While perusing the internet for the herring  information, I discovered some other New Year’s Eve traditions that aren’t quite as “fishy.”

In Spain and many Latin American countries, you eat 12 grapes at midnight, one for each month, to bring good luck.

In the south, you’re supposed to eat black-eyed peas. Apparently they resemble coins, and thus bring you prosperity in the next year.

But here’s the tradition I like the best. I’m not really sure where it originated, but at midnight,  you’re supposed to eat anything shaped like a circle, like doughnuts, to bring you good luck in the next year.

I figure if it brings you luck at midnight, why not eat them every day for a little added assurance?

One of the fun things about the holidays is a big dinner, whether it be ham, turkey or a roast. And a big dinner usually means leftovers.

If your kids ( or you ) get tired of the same old sandwiches, check out these amazing creations:

If you want to see more, including the Hello Kitty sandwich, just click here!

Happy creating and happy eating!

I love Thanksgining dinner, but I hate the calories. I mean, really, who wants to eat a 3,000 calorie meal?

The turkey is healthy, so that’s cool. Veggies can be steamed ( forget the green bean casserole this year) Stuffing can be made with whole wheat bread and sweet potatoes can be made even sweeter with pineapple instead of yummy mini-marshmallows. But what about the pumpkin pie? You can’t skip that, right? Well you can if you follow this easy recipe I found on line.

Pumpkin Pie Tartlets                                                         

 16 (2 1/2-inch) foil baking cups
Nonstick cooking spray
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
1 (15-ounce) can LIBBY’S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 (12-ounce) can NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Fat Free Milk
1 cup fat free whipped topping
12 small gingersnap cookies, broken into 1/4-inch pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF (175ºC). Place baking cups on baking sheet with sides. Spray each cup with cooking spray.
2. Combine sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger and salt in small bowl. Beat egg whites in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Spoon 1/4 to 1/3 cup of mixture into each prepared cup.
3. Bake for 25 to 28 minutes or until knife inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool on baking sheet for 20 minutes. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Top each with whipped topping and gingersnap crumbs.

Prep: 15 min | Cooking: 25 min | Cooling time: 1 hrs refrigerating | Yields: 16 servings

Nutritional Information Per Serving (1/16 of recipe): Calories 100 Calories from Fat 10; Total Fat 1g; Saturated Fat 0g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 135mg; Carbohydrates 20g; Dietary Fiber 1g; Sugars 15g; Protein 3g