Get your bookmarks ready, girls, because I do I have a site for you...

I've been a fan of The Pioneer Woman for a long time. Well, since I discovered her this spring. But it's been such a wonderful few months, I feel like we're BFFs.

Seriously, this woman is amazing. Not only does she homeschool her four kids on a million acres of a working ranch with her husband ("Marlboro Man"), she keeps five blogs at the same time. Well, it's one blog, but it's divided into five sections (Confessions, Cooking, Photography, Home and Garden, and Homeschooling) which are all updated regularly... pretty much daily. With humor. And detail. And gorgeous pictures to boot.

How does this woman have time to do laundry??

Today, she topped it all. She now has an additional website, Tasty Kitchen, that features recipes from her readers. It's a gorgeous site, and I've already found tons of recipes I want to try.

Click at your own risk.

http://thepioneerwoman.com

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen

You'll fall in love with Ree.

PS She also has incredible give-aways, so watch her site for chances to win Kitchen Aid mixers, Nikon cameras, Photoshop, Amazon gift certificates... Just be prepared to compete with her 10,000 other readers. (note: that is not an exaggeration of numbers!)

The Smart Shopper

If you've ever ran back and forth across the grocery store because your list isn't in any order (like I used to), then you NEED this. It's the smart shopper. I got this as a birthday gift from my husband, and loved it, so I figured I would share it with you. It may sound like a boring gift, but I asked for it for Christmas and didn't get it, so I was very excited when I opened it!

You speak into it what you want to add to your list. You can even change the amount, like 5 apples and 1/2 lb. ground beef. It categorizes your list and you print it off. You can even add items that aren't already programed into it, which it comes with 2500 items pre-programed. You can also put errands on your list as well, like going to the dentist, get gas, etc. You can mount it to your kitchen wall or it's magnetic, so just hang it on your refrigerator!

Here it is!

And Voila! You have your shopping list.

It really makes my grocery shopping experience a lot easier and faster.

No Bake

I am not baking today!

Perfectly refreshing!!

Oh, my gosh, you guys, I have to share this!!

Growing up, my siblings and I would clamor for the chocolate section of the Neapolitan ice cream my Mom would buy (probably thinking, "3 flavors, 1 carton = economical!") resulting in a carton of 1/3 strawberry, 1/3 vanilla, 1/3 empty. My dad, however, was a mint-chocolate-chip fiend, but, of course, if it wasn't chocolate, no one else would eat it! He had that gallon of M-C-C all to himself!

Also, if it wasn't ice cream, forget it! No frozen yogurt, sherbet or "sorbet" for us; our tastes only varied as far as the soft serve machine! If we had heard of gelato, we probably assumed it was an off brand of Jell-O...

Now, I have not (yet) been to Italy, so, according to friends who have, I don't really know what gelato IS. HOWEVER. This review last summer in Real Simple magazine of different brands of sorbet pointed to Ciao Bella as having the most realistic, and therefore delicious, tasting Mango Sorbet. I was hankering for some fruity dessert that would cool us down, so I bought a pint of the Mango at our local co-op. (Unfortunately, I was less than impressed, but that's not the point of the story!)I also picked up a pint of Espresso Gelato and Mint Chocolate Chip Gelato by the same maker, the former for me, the latter for Matt. As I opened the carton of M-C-C to dish some up for my dear husband, I was taken aback by the smell! Heavenly! It smelled like MINT! It didn't smell milky and...well, kinda green, like your standard M-C-C ice cream; it smelled like I had just sat down in a field of fresh mint with a favorite bar of chocolate. So I tried some. Oh, my, goodness. It is amazing. And it's perfect for these warm afternoons, when it's too hot to stay inside, or for those cold afternoons when you're wishing for a taste of spring!

There is a store locater on the website; if there isn't one near you, start lobbying for it TODAY!



P.S. The Espresso was also delicious, and my girlfriends vote unanimously for the Chocolate Hazelnut!

Book to Share

Ladies, ladies! I'm so glad to be back. I haven't done a ton of cooking in my absence, as we're still waiting for that first paycheck from the new job (if you don't read my other blog - we've moved, Peter has a job, I'm at home) so the grocery list has been mostly necessities.

BUT, I do have a few recipes to share and an awesome new resource: Simply in Season. It's a cookbook that my sister in law gave to me as a Christmas present. The recipes are divided by what's fresh during each season.

So far all (3) of the recipes that I've tried have been A+'s. I'll share some of them soon!

It's good to be back in the kitchen. I missed my fellow cookers.

Jumpstart

If you want to get a jumpstart on your Christmas cookie baking, check out Angela's blog. I received this same email from our very own Joannie a couple days ago, but never thought to post it.

Looks like fun!!

Helpful Link

Here is a link to Danielle Bean's quick recipes post. Lots of experienced ladies dishing out the convenience recipes over there. I've already printed my copy and am scanning it for dishes that fit the eczema diet. Go get your copy now!

A New Cookbook

I've borrowed Saving Dinner from the library after reading about it on another cooking blog. It is a great book. It's exactly what I'd like to do on my own someday when I'm not working full-time. It provides the reader with a shopping list for each week that contains just the amount of foods needed for the recipes that follow for that week. While I probably won't use it in that way, I did find a number of new recipes to try, mostly crockpot, which really appeal to me since I'm returning to work on Monday. Crockpots just make life and cooking easier!

Also I recently ordered Now You're Cooking: Everything a Beginnger Needs to Know to Start Cooking Today by Elaine Corn as well as How to Cook Without a Book and Perfect Recipes for Having People Over both by Pam Anderson. I'll let you know how good these are when they get here!