Christmas Pizelle

My Italian grandfather always had licorice flavored candies of some description around, and every so often a batch of pretty pizelle cookies from the Italian bakery. Love 'em or hate'em, that's usually the case. And guess what? I love pizelle! Some people are turned off by the traditional anise (licorice) flavor, but I enjoy their light texture and that zingy flavor. Although they are a cookie, they're not terribly sweet, and compliment the Christmas sugar overload nicely. They're delicious with coffee or hot chocolate too!

I was perusing the Crate and Barrel sale section and this CucinaPro pizelle maker jumped out*. I liked the idea of making my own fancy cookies, because I'm historically not great with baking cookies, so this will be foolproof, right?! Reviews told me this model is well-made, and easy to use. Tonight I tried it out with high hopes of becoming a pizelle making machine, maybe it will be a Christmas miracle...

Thanksgivingworthy Apple Pie

Apple pie is a Thanksgiving staple in my book. Although I'm an expert at eating them, I'm not an expert at baking them, yet. Emily was with me on Saturday night and walked me through this recipe because she clearly possesses superior baking skills and she's also admitted to making mini versions of this for herself from time to time, check it out here. Why did we make an apple pie a whole week before Thanksgiving? Because we can, that's why.

Homemade Halloween Candy

As a kid it was a cardinal Trick-or-Treating rule to not eat any homemade or opened items. Which is a shame now because I love the idea of making my own Halloween candy. But who says you have to make it for the Trick-or-Treaters? Instead, be a hit in the office or at a party. Here's a few recipes for better-than-store-bought-candy. Although I've only attempted the peanut butter cups (my favorite) I hope to be indulging my sweet tooth in the next week, and maybe getting a stomachache or two.

Minty Melon Pops & A Nifty Storage Technique

Sure I could make ice pops all year round, but they're just not as satisfying as when it's hot outside and it's a race to eat them before they melt down your hand. Remember when you were a kid and your biggest problem in the summer was getting that last little bit of Popsicle off the stick? Biting one side and quickly flipping it over before the other half met it's end...

I'd like to think that my tastes have matured slightly from orangesicles and red,white and blue rocket flavors. Using fresh fruit is tasty and healthy to boot. I've made melon pops before, but this time I added some mint for double the freshness.

Minty Melon Pops

• A smallish melon. I used a honeydew hybrid, I swear it was called *"dewlicious"
• About 2 tablespoons of agave for extra oompf
• 4 sprigs of mint. 2 regular spearmint and 2 grapefruit mint
• A pinch of salt

Carve up the melon, and throw everything into a blender.

Puree it 'til smooth. Distribute into your molds. I had a little leftover so it became a mini smoothie for me while I cooked. So refreshing! I'm not a fan of melon as a fruit, too spongey or slimey, I'm not sure. But the flavor, is a whole different story. The melon pairs so nicely with the mint it's hard to tell where one flavor ends and the other begins. As for the mint addition, I honestly don't think I can taste a difference using half grapefruit mint, but the plant itself was pretty so I thought I'd have a go at it.

A Nifty Technique

Recently with all my pop making, I was trying to think of a way to get the pops out of the molds to make way for a different flavor, because who doesn't love a choice in dessert? What I've come up with is wax paper.

After the pops are completely frozen, get them out and wrap them in wax paper, then store in a freezer safe container. Because they're already frozen they won't stick to the paper. And the container is important because you don't want them to pick up freezer taste. Blech. Once they're stowed away your mold is ready for the next batch! This would also be a helpful method if you're entertaining lots of people hungry for ice pops.

* The chickens got the rinds and loved them. One of their favorite fruits to date!

Mangoes for Dinner

My favorite part of cooking is coming up with awesome meals with whatever you've got. Yeah, I could probably plan out even better meals, but where's the fun in that? Last night I had two mangoes that were going to spoil if I didn't use them that second. Okay, Mangoes, you're coming with me.

It was a sweaty 90° lawn mowing day so limited cooking was key. I already had grilled chicken waiting in the fridge, so a cool crisp mango chicken salad would hit the spot. I made a vinaigrette from...

• 4 tablespoons of avocado oil
• 4 tablespoons of fresh orange ( about the juice of one orange)
• 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of honey

Here's a Tip! If you haven't done anything to clean your garbage disposal recently, cut up some leftover citrus rinds and toss them in with some coarse salt and ice cubes. Run hot water and let the ice and salt scour, and the citrusy rinds clean and freshen.

This avocado oil must be amazing in your hair, gotta try that sometime...

Assemble the salad: just picked lettuce from the garden, sliced chicken, diced mangoes, canned sweet corn, black beans, and crumbled queso fresco. The dressing is sweet and tangy. Usually I'm not a huge fan of fruit in salads, but this was a winner.

I also made coconut mango paletas (fancy mexican ice pops) right away so they could freeze in time for dessert. I highly recommend investing in a popsicle mold for healthy refreshing treats. I could easily eat a gallon of a salted caramel ice cream in one sitting, but when there's nothing but fruity popsicles in the fridge, it helps slake my indulgent ice cream tooth. These were made from...

• One and a half mangoes
• A 1/4 cup of coconut cream, not milk. You can buy in it in a teeny carton, or just scrape the creamy top off a can of coconut milk, then you're left with low fat coconut milk for later.
• About a tablespoon of agave for extra sweetness
• Juice from two limes

Blend away and pop them in the molds! (Best enjoyed with an accompanying margarita.)

Ooo look at that newly mowed lawn!