pepper poppers recipe

I’m the first to admit I’m football challenged, but every year I look forward to Super Bowl because I know I’ll be sucked into a feast of delicious, greasy finger foods. This year, I couldn’t get the idea of jalapeño poppers out of my mind. I know this addictive bar staple has been done a million times before, so in order to maximize your tasting options, I tried making poppers with different types of chiles -- from mellow poblanos to Anaheim to sweet mini bell peppers. And since I’m NOT a huge fan of deep-frying at home, I decided to bake them instead.

What a shocker! They were all delicious, and even though I love spicy jalapeños, my favorite was the sweet bell pepper, which tasted like fresh, little pizza bites. I guess anything stuffed with three types of cheese is a winner.

friendly fodder

Raise your hand if this sounds familiar: On your way to a party, you run through some canned questions to ask or topics to discuss that you'll be able to use later to keep the conversation going. You're being proactive because you know that eventually, something will lead to a dead end ("Strange weather we're having...") or a buzz kill ("Can you believe the unemployment rate?") or, worst of all, an argument (insert contentious topic here).

This is precisely why I love TableTopics — a cube of cards with questions that are thought-provoking without being divisive. You can find cubes to fit just about every interest, age group or type of gathering. Trust me, showing up with one of these in hand will make your host (i.e., obligatory conversation facilitator) breathe a sigh of relief.

In addition to cubes, you can get napkins, place cards and coasters that are printed with these clever questions. Next time you're hosting a party, scatter a few of these around to break the ice among guests so you can take care of other hostly duties. Or just spend a little time enjoying the appetizers.

girl power

Every year about this time, visions of Thin Mints and Do-si-dos start to dance in our wee little heads. That's right, it's Girl Scout Cookie season!

According to the organization, Americans buy about 200 million boxes of cookies each year. Why are these cookies so special? In addition to tasting good, they offer a feel-good component, since the cookie program turns girls into smart cookies by teaching them valuable skills like money management and leadership.

Looking for cookies? Find your nearest troop.

Concerned about peanut butter in the cookies? The Girl Scouts claim their cookies are not affected by the current peanut butter warning.

Want to expand your usual Samoa and Tagalong consumption? Try the new Dulce de Leche, sweet cookies with milk caramel chips. See this year's cookie assortment.

Need an excuse to load up your freezer? Thin Mints make a great crust for cheesecakes and mousse cakes. And any of the cookies would be delicious roughly crumbled and blended into softened vanilla ice cream. That was a special treat my mom used to make me, back in the days before mix-in ice cream shops. She always saved one cookie as a garnish to my dish. Fancy.

guac this way

A friend of mine once claimed that Super Bowl was just an excuse to eat guacamole. This, not surprisingly, is the same friend who hosts Guac Bowl, the fiercest guacamole competition this side of the Mississippi.

I won’t lie — Guac Bowl is an undertaking. Or at least it certainly looks like one. But you don’t have to have an all-out competition in order to enjoy guacamole on Super Bowl Sunday. After all, delicious guacamole is delicious guacamole whether or not it makes it to Guac Bowl.

So you, too, can take part in the avocado bliss, find below an easy guacamole recipe from chef Maria Magdalena, who created the menu for Mexican restaurant Senor Fred’s in Sherman Oaks, California. If you’re feeling bold, you can add some unexpected ingredients a la Guac Bowl — I have suggestions for those too.

But first, the guac:

Basic Guacamole

• 2 avocados
• ½ red onion, finely chopped
• ½ bunch of cilantro, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, finely chopped
• Juice of one lemon
• Salt to taste

Mash together. Serve with tortilla chips.

Makes enough for one appetizer.

Holy Guacamoles

For added intrigue to your guac, try these ingredients found in past pun-tastic Guac Bowl entries:

• Blood orange juice instead of lemon juice and fennel instead of onion (A Guacwork Orange)
• Cooked, pureed asparagus in place of avocado, courtesy of an avocado-allergic participant (called Guactanamo Bay because it was served in a diorama of Guantanamo Bay, but another entry called Guactose Intolerant, which was primarily bean dip, had a similar M.O.)
• Bacon (alas, no pun)
• Pineapple (Pineapple Upside-Down Guac)
• Soy sauce, no salt (Avo-Mikado)
• Tequila (Tequila Guacingbird) 
• Shredded coconut and coconut milk; subtract onions (Guacocomo, as in The Beach Boy’s song “Kokomo”)
• Shrimp (Guac the Plank)
• Pomegranate, grapes and sliced pears (Guac of the Loom)
• Wasabi and pickled ginger (Domo AriGuaco, Mr. Roboto)
• Grilled cactus meat (Believe it. And no pun for this one. Sorry.)

question of the week: super sunday snacks

The Super Bowl is coming to a big screen near you this Sunday. And as my friend so frankly put it in her Evite invitation, we'll all be getting together to "watch whichever two teams are playing." (We do know it'll be Pittsburgh and Arizona. Don't forget to tell us who you'll be cheering for!)

There's no doubt that the snacks at Super Bowl parties can be the real stars of the game. When people start losing interest, they always seem to congregate in the kitchen and linger around the food. So if you're still planning your menu or trying to decide what to bring to your big game party, just take a cue from the popular vote.

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Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy Chinese New Year!

January 26th kicks off the year of the ox. So we asked TV chef Katie Chin, co-author of Everyday Chinese Cooking along with her mother, to tell us about all the wonderful foods and traditions associated with Chinese New Year — and how to host your own celebration.

Imagine if all your actions and the foods you ate on New Year's day dictated how the rest of your year would unfold.

The Chinese believe this to be true and, thus, Chinese New Year is a hugely significant holiday and time-honored tradition celebrating the sacredness of the family and representing a time of renewal. Food plays a major role in the celebration, and every dish prepared holds auspicious meaning and is believed to directly affect one's fortune for the coming year.

Every year, my family creates an amazing Chinese banquet filled with dishes that carry special meaning. Each dish represents in some way luck, honor, longevity and riches, such as Firecracker Shrimp (for good luck) or Long Life Noodles (for longevity — the longer the life). Some other examples include:

• Eggrolls — symbolizing prosperity, as they're shaped like gold bars
• Shrimp — served at celebratory occasions, since the Chinese word for shrimp ("har") resembles laughter
• Whole fish — symbolizing abundance
• Whole chicken — symbolizing a favorable start and finish
• Black mushrooms — symbolizing prosperity because of their coin-like shape
• Lotus seed — signifies having many male offspring

Who knew symbolism could taste so delicious?

color me impressed

Do you know what you're looking at? No, it's not candy; it's crayons! Even better, it's beautiful, new crayons you can make from your old, broken crayons. Magic!

Instructables, one of our favorite websites, has an easy 10-step guide (with photos) to turning your old crayons into supercute new art supplies — and great gifts for baby showers and kids' goodie bags!

Learn how to remake your crayons. According to the creator, Instructables member SomArtMama, making these crayons is easy, yet a bit time-consuming, and all you need are wax crayons, aluminum cans, wooden sticks, a large pan and candy molds (which is how you get these great shapes).

Note: Be sure to keep these crayons away from younger children, who may be tempted to eat them. Honestly, I'm a bit tempted to take a nibble myelf.

game on

Like this design? Create an Evite invitation with this image.

You are ready for some football. You do want to get your game on. Now that we know who's playing, we have a Super Bowl invitation to help you get r-o-w-d-i-e, that's the way we spell rowdy. That cheer never actually made sense to me, since we clearly do not spell "rowdy" with an "ie" at the end, but you get the picture. Go team!

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Stay tuned for more Super Bowl tips coming your way....

piece of cake

So clearly, we've got birthday cake on the brain at Evite. (Was it because my birthday was on Saturday? Perhaps.)

As I've explained before, I love to find ways to make my desserts look artistic when I can't so much as draw, let alone pipe frosting into recognizable designs. (Thank you, stencils and cookie kits.) When I came across this silicone cake mold with a baked-in birthday message, I couldn't help but think about all the future cake wrecks I could avoid by having it in my arsenal.

question of the week: favorite cake?

Birthday cake. The words alone make people giddy and make minds race — When is the cake coming out? What kind is it? Do I have to sing? Will there be candles? How big is my piece?

Still, the idea of what a birthday cake should be can vary dramatically, as any rotating birthday cake display case will prove.

For some, chocolate is mandatory, while others prefer a fruity filling and as many strawberries as can be piled on top. There are the ice cream cake devotees, and those who will sacrifice frosting for a rich, dense cheesecake.

There's no wrong kind of cake, of course. But it's always fun to find out what people prefer. Let us know what you like!

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