These Chocolate Almond Meringue Cookies are light as air and so very sweet… just like being in love! 

Deliciously rich chocolate blended with almond butter holds the two cloud-like meringue cookies together. Oh, and they are gluten-free!

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I tinted the meringue for the Chocolate Almond Meringue Cookies with food coloring and added raspberry flavoring. Cherry, strawberry or even vanilla would pair nicely with the chocolate almond filling.

You’ll fall in love with these little bites of heaven. Get the recipe here! 

Life around my house is lived as though someone stepped on the accelerator—going 80 miles an hour, everything and everyone in constant motion (that happens when you have five kids). Lots of running around.

Last month is a good example—getting everyone ready to go back to school is a balancing act… no, a juggling act, beyond compare. Clothes to pack. Doctor appointments. School supplies. Planes to catch. Trains to catch.

And no real time for meals.

So, it’s kind of ironic that my salvation during all this activity isn’t something that moves fast. Just the opposite…it moves slowly. Methodically. It’s my slow cooker…and it’s a life-saver. Uh, make that a time-saver.

My good friends at Hamilton Beach sent me their Set & Forget 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker to try out. What do I think? In three words: I. Love. It.

What’s really great is that I’m able to prep meals the night before… like this Slow Cooker Pork Roast with Green Salsa recipe. First I sliced an onion really thick and put the slices in the bottom of the Slow Cooker’s crock. I rubbed the pork shoulder with spices and set it on top of the onions… and then put the crock in the fridge.

The next morning I added the chicken stock and programmed the Slow Cooker to be ready by the time I got home. The salsa is so easy to prepare, I made it while I got the rest of dinner ready, but you can also prepare it in advance.

I shredded the pork, stirred in half of the salsa and served it with warm tortillas so everyone could make their own tacos as we all sat down for dinner… and put on the brakes for a little while.

And if you have any salsa leftover, it goes great with eggs the next morning!

One other cool thing is that this slow cooker comes with a temperature probe so that you can cook large cuts of meat, whole chickens or even turkey breasts by relying on the internal food temperature to test for doneness.

I used the probe to cook a 4-pound chicken on High in about 4 hours (internal temperature 180°F in the chicken’s thigh). The skin didn’t crisp up and brown the way I like it, so I but it in a roasting pan under the broiler for about 5 minutes… beautiful!

One more thing… head on over to my friend, Miz Helen’s Country Cottage, to find more delicious recipes… just like this one!

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Are lobsters only for special occasions? And what exactly is a special occasion, anyway?

Does it have to be tied to a date on the calendar? Or can a special occasion be any time we get the luxury of being with those we love… unencumbered by deadlines or other demands?

The lobsterfest we had with GP’s dad, (the kids call him “Papa”), a few weeks ago was one of those occasions. Nothing to celebrate, per se, except for the fact that Papa is 87 years-old (soon to be 88!) and still kicking. Making it to 87 is worthy of a celebration, don’t you think? And there’s nothing he likes to eat more than lobster! (OK, maybe Chinese food.)

Cooking up a live lobster can be intimidating, so first, let me dispel a popular myth:

• Lobsters don’t scream when you drop them in boiling water. The sound you hear is air expanding the shell.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, here are a few buying tips:
• Buy lobsters that are 3 lbs. or less. While there’s novelty in a 10 lb. lobster, the bigger they are, the tougher they are.
• The lobster should spread out its claws and flail around a bit when you pick it up (and eventually, you are going to have to pick it up).

Once you’ve got the lobster home, here a few cooking tips:
• Drop the lobster head first into a pot of seasoned boiling water. It’s more humane and there will be less splashing.
• Drop the lobsters in one at a time so the water can then return to a full boil.

Okay, so here’s how to cook lobster … so what’s your special occasion? You don’t need one! (Papa would certainly agree!)

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Beautiful, golden brown, garlicky croutons are one of those things that I can eat until the cows come home.

I pop one or two in my mouth with no guilt. Then I eat a third and fourth and think: “That’s it! No more until dinner!” Of course… I have a couple more. This is about the time someone wanders into the kitchen and snags one off the tray and I yell, “Stop eating all the croutons! They’re for dinner!”

These croutons are so good, I bet even my Paleo friends would succumb to one or two.

Here’s how to make croutons that’ll venture off the salad plate and into soups such as Gazpacho or Cucumber (make the croutons small or you won’t be able to see the soup!). Croutons also like to sit on grilled vegetables and eggs (no need to make toast… it’s on top!) and casseroles.

Some recipes tell you to use stale bread. I like day old or two-day old bread… otherwise the croutons taste a little tired. I prefer to use baguettes, but really, any bread will do. As you know, I’m big on contrasting colors. Once, I mixed pumpernickel bread with white bread (I even flavored them differently, but that was one of those rare occasions when I had a little extra time).

Give them a little sex appeal with a dash of cayenne pepper… or even a curry or Moroccan spice blend.

The beauty of croutons is that you can make a whole tray of them and they will keep for a week in a tightly sealed container or re-sealable plastic bag… assuming they survive the crouton bandits and snacking masses!

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