I’m getting ready to go on holiday in a few weeks so I’ve been eating a lot of fresh greens and raw veggies to shed this extra layer of warmth that somehow glommed onto me this winter.

I’ve been topping my salads with freshly squeezed lemon, but sometimes your mouth craves a little more excitement.

This vinaigrette is deliciously easy, versatile and light enough for tiny baby greens… but it goes perfectly with romaine, iceberg and spinach salads. Another idea: I pour this vinaigrette over all kinds of vegetables before I roast them in the oven. I’ve even used it instead of mayonnaise in chicken salads! Here’s how to make the  best vinaigrette ever… an easy recipe that everyone should have in their back pocket!

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When I was a kid, Aba let all of us keep every single thing in our trick-or-treat bag.

My brother Gary had an uncanny way of parceling out his candy and then teasing the rest of us later on with his sweet riches. In fact, he’d make his Halloween candy last until Christmas… his Christmas candy last until Valentine’s Day… and his Valentine’s Day candy last until Easter… but then he would go into a dry spell and we’d all laugh.

But I digress.

I know there are a lot of you (the good parents) who don’t want their kids sitting on 6 pounds of creamy chocolate, rich gooey caramel, chewy sweet nougat, or crunchy peanutty peanuts.

So here’s what you can do to whittle down that pile of Halloween candy (you are going to let them have some of it, aren’t you?). My tips on what to with leftover Halloween Candy:

Freeze It

Divide candy into different categories (bars, hard candies, jelly candies, etc.) and put it in different Ziploc freezer bags. Once this task is accomplished, you’ll be able to use it in coming months for:
Thanksgiving: Decorate Turkey Day Dinner place cards with M&Ms and hard candies.
Christmas: Create fantastic Gingerbread Houses decorated, of course, with Skittles, licorice and Tootsie Rolls.
New Year’s Eve: Thaw the candies (especially the candy bars) and fill a piñata.

Share It

If you want to get the candy out of the house, giving it away is a great idea. Decide how much of the loot the kids have to give up and then let them decide which pieces to share. Before you donate, call ahead.
Nursing Homes: Rather than giving the home one large bag, divide the candy into several sandwich-size Ziploc bags. Also, think about taking the candy to a nursing home in an under-served part of town.
Women’s Shelters: Smaller bags are a good idea here, too, especially since some shelters allow younger children to stay with their mothers.
U.S. Military: There are several organizations that facilitate these donations to American Soldiers, but Mama’s favorite is Operation Gratitude. Make sure the kids write a little note thanking the servicemen for their dedication and courage.

Cook With It

How do you make a calorie-bomb cookie even more decadent? Stick a candy bar in the middle and decorate the top with even MORE candy!
Candy Bar Ice Cream Shakes: Chopped-up candy bars, milk, ice cream and a blender. Need I say more?
Cupcake Surprise: Drop a candy bar mini (those teensy-tiny candy bars) into the center of each cupcake before baking. Decorate the top with M&Ms.
Chocolate Dipped Everything: Melt chocolate bars and then dip strawberries, dried apricots and marshmallows… and then roll them each in chopped up Pay Day or Butterfinger candy bars.

A few other ideas

1. Hide most of the bag and dole it out to the kids as you see fit… school lunches, rewards for jobs well done, or heck, just because it’s Friday.
2. Take it to the office.
3. Use it as gift wrap. Wrap a gift with plain paper and tape on candy bars or candy packets.

So, let’s be honest here. How much candy did YOU eat BEFORE Halloween or while you were handing it out to the trick-or-treaters? Mmm-hmmm…. I thought so.  THAT’s why you’re so desperate to get rid of it!

Presenting! Store-bought puff pastry dough… the Alice in Wonderland of the bread world! Small or big… and everything in between, just like Alice!

Want a little nibble for your tea party? Make these Bacon Cheese Straws just 3 or 4 inches in size. Want something impressive to go across a salad plate? Twist and stretch these until they’re almost a foot long!

Best part: only three ingredients!

It’s very forgiving and can easily be twisted and shaped. Of course, it’s the Parmesan cheese and bacon that gives these straws their amazing flavor, but you are the one who creates the enchantment.

I added a little “hook” on the end to make them look like candy canes… something deliciously festive.

Big or small…who needs a pill to do either when you’ve got these on your plate? Alice would agree!

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clarified butter, also known as drawn butter, is unsalted butter that has had the milk solids and water removed from it… so all that is left is the golden yellow butter fat.
 

When I was a kid growing up in West Texas, we used to pick pomegranates off of trees, throw them to the ground to break them open, and eat the delicious seeds inside.

I know… raised by wolves, right? 

Seriously, pomegranates are my favorite winter fruit. They are bright and slightly acidic and add a punch to everything (oh, I get it, kind of like me!). Seriously. Seriously.

The downside to pomegranates is that they stain EVERYTHING. If you look at them, they’ll stain your eyeballs. That’s just their nature… trying to protect themselves from being thrown to the ground, broken open and eaten, I guess!

But I digress…

Here’s how to open a pomegranate. Your beautifully crisp white J. Crew shirt will never again be soiled by a drop of ruby-red color. Someday, you’ll thank me.

What’s the secret? A big bowl of water! Click here to find out how to open a pomegranate.