Smoke up your mac & cheese with smoked
cheese and bacon. Photo courtesy
MackenzieLtd.com.

Divide the total cheese in a 75:25 proportion and use 25% smoked cheese. For example, if 8 ounces of Cheddar cheese are called for, use 6 ounces of Cheddar and 2 ounces of smoked cheese (smoked Jack, smoked Gouda, etc.).

If you’d like more smoke flavor after you’ve tasted the dish, use a 50:50 proportion next time.

Here’s a recipe from Vermont’s Jericho Hill Farm:

RECIPE: MACARONI & SMOKED CHEESE

Ingredients
– 1-1/2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
– 1/4 cup butter
– 1/4 cup chopped onion
– 1/4 teaspoon salt
– 1/4 teaspoon pepper
– 1/4 cup flour
– 1-3/4 cups milk
– 6 ounces Cheddar or Colby cheese
– 2 ounces smoked Colby or other smoked cheese
– Optional garnish: crumbled bacon, snipped chives

See a wealth of award-winning mac & cheese recipes. There are some real dazzlers for Mother’s Day (with lobster, crab, truffle essence, etc.).

Avocados originated in Mexico. Central Mexico’s sun-drenched climate; fertile, rich soil; and abundant rainfall combine to create a very creamy avocado. Check out the history of the avocado.

The Hass variety of avocado, grown in Mexico, is prized by chefs as the world’s finest. It’s our favorite avocado. While Hass avocados grow elsewhere, it’s important to note that as with coffee, Cabernet Sauvignon and any agricultural product, not all Hass avocados are created equal.

Mexico is the world leader in growing (and eating!) avocados. It’s also the only place in the world where the avocado tree blooms 4 times a year, so avocados are in season year-round. No wonder avocados are such a part of Mexican cuisine!

But that’s not what this recipe contest is about. Your amazing guacamole recipe won’t cut it. The goal here is to show what Avocados from Mexico can do outside of Mexican cuisine.

Take us beyond Mexican cuisine. Photo
courtesy AvocadosFromMexico.com.

Here’s how to enter:

1. Post your recipe on your blog, community recipe site or Facebook page through May 12. (Only individuals 18 years or older living in the U.S. can enter). Write about it on your blog, if you have one, to fill us in on your avocado adventure!

2. Then enter it on AvocadosFromMexico.com, also by May 12.

3. Recipes will be judged on taste, creative use of the avocado and ease in preparation. The winner will be announced on May 24, 2010.

Hungry right now? Make Avocado Shrimp Boats.

Make someone happy with a gift of Bake For
You cookies. Photo by Katharine Pollak |
THE NIBBLE.

For those who like soft, melt-in-your-mouth cookies reminiscent of cookie dough, Bake For You makes all the classics.

Soft cookies In Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip & Coconut, Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, Oatmeal Cranberry, Peanut Butter and White Chip & Craisin are a different experience from most cookies we come across. They’re a refreshing change.

And every batch is baked to order for you.

• Read the full review.
• Find more of our favorite cookies, plus recipes, in our Cookies & Brownies section.
• Learn the history of cookies.
• Too many cookies? Here’s how to store cookies.

Delicate herbs (basil, chives, cilantro, dill and parsley, for example) are generally chopped, snipped, or torn and added at the end of cooking to provide the most flavor impact. Don’t add them too soon in the cooking process.

Heartier herbs like bay leaf, oregano, rosemary and thyme can be added earlier in the cooking process to allow their flavors to completely infuse into the dish. They can be added whole and removed before serving.

Except for bay leaf, though, which must be removed before serving (biting into it isn’t appealing), snipping sturdy herbs into the dish leaves green flecks that add to the visual beauty of the dish.

You can tell by looking at rosemary that
it’s hearty. Photo by Kristian Birchall | SXC.

Should you buy organic herbs over conventional herbs? In some cases, yes. Read our article on organic herbs and spices.

With chocolate shoes, one size fits all.
Photo courtesy WoodhouseChocolate.com.

The solid handmade chocolate shoes are skillfully hand-decorated. Chanel would approve. And at $20/pair, they’re a lot more affordable than her shoes.

The shoes are available in dark, milk and white chocolate (which is colored pink for spring fashion).

If you call today, you can still get chocolate shoes by 2-day air for Mother’s Day: 1.800.966.3468.

• Find more of our favorite specialty chocolates.