Live Plant Centerpieces

Now that spring is here do not purchase flowers for your table or centerpiece, instead consider what plants you want to add to your garden (flowers and herbs - in small pots). Purchase some plants for your garden and use them first as a centerpiece for the spring holidays (Passover, Easter, ect). After your festive gathering, plant your “centerpiece” in the garden to enjoy in the days to come.

This year, I purchased chives, parsley, and mint along with coleus ‘dipt in wine’ and dainty  yellow zinnia for my table/garden.

Best for the holiday season.

What could be better than a perfect pair?

In June 2009, Daily Candy and Target.com created a co-branded online store, a new source for the month’s TOP 10 MUST HAVE items.

“The Red Hot Shop”

And guess who’s one of the TOP 10 PICKS featured in January?

The Mama Says “No More Frozen Pizza!” cookbox - a must have for helping you keep your New Year’s resolutions to eat healthy, save money, and just plain have fun in the kitchen!

Live healthier in 2010 by getting away from processed foods and cooking-in more often. The Mama Says recipe collection can help you or someone you care about make quick, easy and nutritious dishes. It’s all about healthy comfort food - like “Mom” made.

It only looks like a pizza box! Inside are nutritious, delicious and affordable recipes designed for busy, new cooks - from Mama Says.

Check out all  the “hot items” at The Red Hot Shop at Target.com!!

Yampa River Core Trail - Steamboat Springs, Colorado

This morning, I am enjoying the calm of a quiet house. Those who want to find post-holiday deals are out at the sales and those who don’t want to shop (until later in the day) are tucked in their beds. This gives me a few moments to reflect on the smiles, conversations and snippets recently shared around the table and in the kitchen. I am also taking this moment to think about resolutions for the New Year. I relish the making of a list with dreams for the New Year. The blank page, like a blank slate…hmmmm…where to start…what to keep and what to jettison, what to change, and what to strive for.

Then the reality that so many of my resolutions are similar year to year: watch my weight, eat less processed foods and more healthy foods, stay within a budget (i.e. save more), and get more exercise…

And I struggle putting my pen to the blank piece of paper. What will make this year different?

What about you?

What are your resolutions for 2010?

Do any of your resolutions revolve around food?

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below, let’s see if we can inspire each other!

DIY: Wine Jelly, Flavored Sugar and Salt

DIY homemade goodness: flavored sugar/salt and wine jelly.

DIY homemade goodness: flavored sugar/salt and wine jelly.

Tis the season for giving gifts. Sometimes the most touching gifts are homemade – for both the giver and the receiver. Just like the recipes in the Mama Says recipe collection, you can work with items in your pantry along with a decorative jar to create an innovative gift. Here are three homemade gift ideas; wine jelly, flavored sugars and salts.

Easy-to-make flavored sugars and salt. The possibilities are endless.

You can create flavored salt or sugar by placing an item in the salt or sugar for a short period of time to impart flavor. To flavor sugar, consider: vanilla beans, citrus peels, dried lavender buds, or edible flowers and leaves. Flavored/scented sugars are a great way to add flavor to a variety recipes – decorate cookies, stir it into coffee or tea, rim a drink glass, or dust your favorite dessert. While flavored salts add depth and spice to a variety of recipes from dips and marinades to chili or as a rimming salt. Flavored salt and sugars will keep indefinitely in an airtight container at room temperature.

Cabernet wine jelly along with jalapeno flavored sugar and salt.

Basic Directions for Flavored Sugar or Salt

1. Place a cleaned item (vanilla bean, lemon peel, etc) on a baking sheet and set aside until dried. Skip this step if you using a dried item such as lavender buds.
2. Place one cup super-fine granulated sugar or salt (Kosher or table) into a zip lock bag. Add your selected item to the zip lock bag and seal, removing as much air from the bag as possible. Set aside for 5 – 7 days.
3. After the curing time, sift the sugar/salt to remove all traces of the item.
4. Store flavored sugar/salt in an airtight container or package in small decorative jars to give as gifts. Don’t forget to label and date your creation.

Canning - wine jelly.

Canning - wine jelly.

Wine Jelly

Wow your friends with a jar of homemade wine jelly – just don’t forget to keep one for yourself. Any bottle of wine that you have on hand – red or white — it could be a favorite or a lone bottle on the shelf will make a delicious jelly and a marvelous gift.  Try wine jelly with cheese and crackers, on toast, or as a marinade or glaze with chicken, fish or a roast, as a pancake syrup, or drizzle over ice cream or a favorite cake.

Wine Jelly

Makes 6 half-pint jars.

Ingredients:

3 cups wine (one 750 ml bottle)
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 (1.75 ounce) package dry pectin
4 1/2 cups white sugar

Directions:

1. Prepare canning jars according to manufacturers instructions.
2. In a large saucepan, combine wine, lemon juice, and pectin over high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
3. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam off top, if necessary.
4. Ladle hot jelly into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Tighten 2 piece lids. Process for 5 minutes in boiling water bath or in a canning processor.

Inspiration: allrecipes.com

Wine jelly and brie cheese.

Wine jelly and brie cheese.

Mama Says - Cooking Notes: I used a bottle of Angels Landing Stages Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 in the wine jelly (out-of-the-ballpark delicious) and used one medium jalapeno (sans seeds) to flavor batches of flavored sugar and salt. Can’t wait for a holiday party to offer up brie with wine jelly and rim glasses with jalapeno sugar or salt.

Happy Holidays. And happy gift giving.

Order Today And Save

Help your child or a friend get beyond takeout. Mama Says recipe cards make cooking hip and delicious. And you can save 15% - along with free shipping on orders placed by December 17, 2009. Enter code mamaxx at checkout. Details below.*

It only looks like a pizza box! Inside are nutritious, delicious and affordable recipes designed for busy, new cooks - from Mama Says.

Mama Says, “No More Frozen Pizza!”

A culinary companion for new cooks.

Give the gift that encourages a lifetime of cooking. This year help someone you love find their way in the kitchen; give the new cook, recent college graduate, new apartment dweller, newlywed, busy mom or young professional culinary assistance and the confidence to forgo takeout for home cooking.

The Mama Says, “No More Frozen Pizza!” recipe collection contains recipes for main dishes, sides, and salads. The durable, laminated cards can withstand even the newest chef’s mishaps and require few ingredients (most are pantry staples). Each recipe card features a photo of the completed dish and easy-to-follow instructions.

Save. Order today.

*Save 15% and receive Free Standard Shipping ends December 17, 2009, at 5:00 pm EST. To receive 15% off of the MSRP (a $2.85 value) and free standard shipping and handling on online orders (a $4.50 value), enter promotional code mamaxx at Checkout; offer will be reflected on Checkout’s last page. Offer based on merchandise total and does not include taxes or any additional charges. Valid for online sales placed through www.mamasays.us only; not valid for international orders. Additional fees apply for expedited shipping, multiple shipping destinations and handling as indicated on item product page. This offer is not limited to one-time use, but only one promotion code may be used per order.

Recipes in a *book* are so passe.

It Only Looks Like a Pizza Box. Inside is a little culinary help from “Mom”