Free Recipes

With so many wonderful fruits now in season, this is the ideal time for fruit salad. You can easily enjoy fruit salad weekly or even daily if that is your preference.

One of the best ways to make fruit salad is to use fruits that are from your local region. This is a great way to also be environmentally friendly as you are using fruit grown less than 100 miles from you. Fruit salad is an excellent source of vitamins and fiber. It will give you a great healthy energy boost.

You don’t have to add any sugar to your fruit salad for sweetness. Try adding a splash of fruit juice or even a little honey for a natural sweetness. Add a little water to your fruit salad if you don’t use fruit juice.

Keep your fruit salad refrigerated. Fruit salad is popular with both children and adults as a healthy snack and dessert!

Watch this YouTube video to learn how to make great fruit salad.

One of the most challenging things when you want a snack is that you just don’t want to cook – you want to eat! You don’t want to spend the time cooking something. You want something that is ready in an instant. That’s why it is good to know a few snacks you can make 1-2-3. Here are some of our favorites.

Sweet potato fries are a popular favorite and are easy to make in the oven. Simply slice a sweet potato and sprinkle some garlic on the slices. Bake at 350 degrees for about half an hour until crispy. The slices should be thin enough to get crispy.

Caramel popcorn is a great snack that is both sweet and salty. Pop some corn and add some melted caramel. The best way to mix this combination together is to shake it in a paper bag. Then you’ll get caramel evenly all over the popcorn! There are many great popcorn combinations you can make that are delicious.

Onion rings are a great snack when you want something with a little crunch and don’t mind cooking. Who doesn’t like onion rings? This is a very popular snack. The best way to make onion rings is to make something sweet or savory to dip them into.

Watch this YouTube video to learn more about how to make this popular snack, the onion ring.

Grillmasters and cooks know that warmer temperatures outside mean that it is easier to barbecue. Now hardcore barbecuers will actually barbecue year-round sometimes – but the majority of them will do so in the spring and summer months. So this is truly their season.

Just about any meat can be enjoyed as a barbecued meat. Popular choices are hamburger, chicken, steak and sausage. Another popular choice are to make shish-kabobs, with small chunks of meat and then vegetables or fruit on them. These delicious kabobs are quite popular when barbequed.

Everything counts when you get out there to barbecue. The heat of your grill, what you put on it, the marinate you use on your meat. Everything adds to the delicious taste of the meat. Serious barbecue fans are passionate about learning new techniques to help them get better at using their grills.

Watch this YouTube video to learn from the self-proclaimed First Family of Barbecue:

Are you throwing your first dinner party? Or maybe you haven’t thrown one in awhile and you feel a little “green” around the edges about the experience. Let us give you some basic 101 dinner party tips to make sure that your party is a true hit.

Ask guests to RSVP and manage your RSVPs ahead of time. Try using eVite.com which will send out party invitations and let you manage your RSVPs. Telephone guests who have not RSVPed within four or three days of the party date to see if they are coming – some may assume that you “just know” they are coming.

Stay informed about your guests food allergies and food preferences. While you shouldn’t have to cook 10 different meals for 10 different guests, if you have a vegetarian guest you should try to make accommodations. Or if you have a diabetic guest you should offer a diabetic dessert (like a piece of fruit) that they can enjoy. Simply asking people as they RSVP is the best way to get this information, don’t rely on past history to inform you.

Some hostesses stress about their home not looking “perfect” for a dinner party. That’s okay: no home looks perfect. They look like homes because we live in them. Simply clean the area which will be seen by the party guests and get rid of excess clutter. Excess clutter is often the thing most guests notice the most.

Even if you aren’t planning a cocktail hour, serve some sort of snacks and have a drink available for guests as they arrive. Some guests will arrive “fashionably late” or may get stuck at work or in traffic. This lets everyone visit comfortably as you are cooking and preparing things without constantly asking you when dinner is ready.

As the warmer weather approaches, adults and children know it is lemonade season. Lemonade is truly a warm weather drink – something you just don’t find in the dead of winter. If you haven’t had homemade lemonade then you are in for a treat.

Lemonade is easy to make and people differ about what exactly makes the “best” recipe. Often you’ll have to tinker a bit with the recipe to get your favorite blend of both tartness and sweetness. Some people like a sweeter taste and others prefer less sweetness. The best way to make lemonade is to keep tasting it as you are mixing it.

Start with this basic recipe and then adapt it to your preference. This recipe will serve 12 cups of lemonade.

• 6 ripe lemons
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 12 cups of water

1. Cut open the lemons and squeeze them into the water.
2. Mix the sugar into the lemon and water mixture.
3. Taste and add more sugar to your preference.

Lemonade is best chilled, add ice or keep in the refrigerator.