These cookies are too cool for school!
Photo © Land O Lakes.

What’s especially nifty about these cookies is that they double as fortune cookies.

You can use the “default” set of fortunes provided in PDF format by the recipe’s creator, Land O Lakes; or you can make up your own with the graduate in mind.

Have lots of fun with this one!

See the recipe for “graduation cookies.”

Find more of our favorite cookies and cookie recipes.

One of our New Year’s resolutions was to stop wasting food. We looked at exactly what we were throwing out a week later, and figured out how to use it within a day or two. Here’s the plan we devised:

• Cooked Vegetables: All leftover vegetables go into an omelet or scramble for the next day’s breakfast or dinner.

• Proteins: Meat and fish leftovers too meager for a sandwich get added to the next day’s pasta or rice dish.

• Salad: We only dress half of the salad. If anyone wants more salad, it’s easy to dress and serve. Dressed salad turns into a soggy mess overnight; but washed, undressed salad stays crisp in paper towels and a plastic bag.

Leftover scraps go into omelets, pasta or rice.
Photo courtesy Callisons.

• Other Fresh Fruits & Vegetables: If they’re about to go bad and we don’t have the appetite to eat them, we slice and marinate them (use vinaigrette for veggies, liqueur for fruits) or quickly steam them. It buys another couple of days. Steamed fruit and veggies can be turned into purées or soup. Vegetables can be topped with sauce and grated cheese for a snack or side.

• Bonus: Chicken carcasses, meat and fish bones get converted into stock. Though we’ve often made excuses for not making stock (no time top make it, no place to store it), we find that if we start the stock as we’re cleaning up from dinner, it “makes itself.” And we don’t store it because we plan to use it the next day.

Think of how you waste food and write down—then follow—your own tips to stop it. If you need ideas, let us know.

Pretty patterns abound with Aequare Fine
Chocolates. Photo by Emily Chang | THE NIBBLE.

• THE PRIZE: Aequare Chocolates will give one winner a 6-piece gift box of French bonbons and two bars of chocolate, in Lemongrass and Mandarin Orange flavors. The melt-in-your mouth chocolates are an enjoyable experience. Approximate retail value: $22.00
• To Enter This Gourmet Giveaway: Go to the box at the bottom of our Gourmet Chocolate Section and enter your email address for the prize drawing. This contest closes on Monday, May 24th at noon, Eastern Time. Good luck!
• To learn more about Aequare Chocolate, visit AequareChocolates.com.

These magical mixes will become favorites with anyone who is looking for a home-baked treat, but are a godsend for people with gluten allergies. That they’re certified organic is icing on the cake! Read our full review.

• THE PRIZE: One winner will have an opportunity to try the entire line of Doodles organic and gluten-free cookie mixes. Flavors include Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix, Double Chocolate Chip Habanero Mix, Nut Butter Cookie Mix and Sugar Cookie Mix. They’re all really terrific! Approximate retail value: $26.00.
• To Enter This Gourmet Giveaway: Go to the box at the bottom of our Gluten-Free Section and enter your email address for the prize drawing. This contest closes on Monday, May 24th at noon, Eastern Time. Good luck!
• To learn more about Doodles Cookies, visit DoodlesCookies.com.

Wash these yummy cookies down with a tall
glass of milk. Photo by Jerry Deutsch | THE NIBBLE.

Delicious nougat from PistaciaVera.com.

If you’re given a gift of nougat and you’re not inclined to devour the box, what to do with it?

• You can store it in the refrigerator for longer life.

• Serve pieces like petit fours, with coffee, tea or hot chocolate.

• Toast it like marshmallows and make nougat s’mores.

• Chip it and use it as a dessert garnish on ice cream, puddings and anything with whipped cream.

Find more of our favorite candies in our Gourmet Candy section.