The nutritional value of almonds has been well documented. They’ve been shown to reduce the risk of heart attacks, and they can also help lower cholesterol. I could go on and on here, but you’re probably not reading this to find out how good almonds can be for you. You’re reading this to find out the recipe for these delicious Spicy Maple Cinnamon Roasted Almonds! Almonds are incredibly easy to roast at home, and this recipe just calls for a few other basic ingredients that you probably already have in the pantry. The end result is a wonderfully crunchy almond that is slightly sweet and slightly spicy. A small handful will serve as the perfect snack, but if you are anything like me, then you’ll have to hide the container so you don’t eat them all at once!

After roasting the almonds and tossing them in the maple syrup mixture, I recommend spreading the nuts out on a baking sheet to cool. I would also recommend putting down a piece of parchment first as it will make clean up much easier! (Maple syrup is kinda sticky…surprise, surprise) Once the maple-glazed nuts are cool enough to handle, just toss them in a bowl with the other spices. The dry spices will stick to the maple glaze, and you’ll be left with a delicious snack that is not the slightest bit sticky. (In fact, I just had to take a break before finishing this post to go grab a couple of these Spicy Maple Cinnamon Roasted Almonds…delicious!)

I have some really exciting news!  I was recently selected by BACARDI® Mixers to host a summertime cocktail party.  As if that wasn’t enough, the drink mixologists at BACARDI® also created a drink recipe based on my own personal interests.  Ummm…wow!  I couldn’t wait to pick up the phone and call my friends and neighbors about this party.  Needless to say, the party was a blast!  Along with plenty of BACARDI® frozen drinks, I had a plate of s’mores ingredients out for everyone to snack on.  (Have you ever added a piece of fresh pineapple to a s’more?  Neither had we until that evening, but it was oddly amazing!)  And the best part about this party was how easy it was to pull together.  I picked up several cans of BACARDI® Frozen Mixers, ice, a pineapple, some coffee, and the necessary ingredients for s’mores.  Party done!  (The folks at BACARDI® Mixers were nice enough to send along party packs for my friends, too.  So everyone got drink muddlers, visors, recipe booklets, and of course BACARDI® Mixers.)

One of my favorite ways to end a hot summer day is to sit back with a couple close friends and enjoy a cocktail.  We occasionally have frozen drinks, but they often seemed like a lot of work to make.  BACARDI® Mixers solved that problem, and I can personally say that I am excited about many upcoming summer nights with frozen drinks on the deck!

In honor of Spiced, the BACARDI® mixologists created the “Campfire Colada.”  (On a side note, how exactly does one become a mixologist for BACARDI® Mixers?  Talk about a dream job!)  The Campfire Colada featured a blend of coconut, pineapple, and coffee…yes, coffee.  When I first saw the recipe, I was a bit surprised.  I was wondering how the strong coffee would work with the fruity pineapple and coconut flavors.  But it was delicious!  Those mixologists know what they are doing!  BACARDI® Mixers’ Pina Colada Mix contains real fruit juice, which certainly contributed to the deliciousness of this drink.  Pina Colada was the primary flavor, but the Campfire Colada finished with a nice hint of coffee.  Trust me when I say you’ll want to try this one out!

The Campfire Colada is part of BACARDI® Mixers’ “99 Days and 99 Drinks” summer-long series.  If you ‘Like’  BACARDI® Mixers on Facebook, you can follow along and see a new cocktail posted each day.  I just went through the drink recipes that have already been posted, and they all sound very delicious and very tempting.  I’m definitely going to need to keep a stash of BACARDI® Mixers in my freezer this summer!  Oh, and if you share your ideas + photos on the BACARDI® Mixers Facebook page, the mixologists might create a personalized recipe for you, too.

As always, please drink responsibly.

BACARDI® Mixers is a premium line of non-alcoholic mixers available in 10 fl. oz cans in the frozen juice aisle. With seven easy-to-make flavors to choose from – including Strawberry Daiquiri, Margarita, and Piña Colada – there are endless ways to make your next party come together instantly! By providing cocktail recipes, party tips and food pairings year-round, we continue to give new reasons to blend every day. Find yours at www.facebook.com/bacardimixers

ENJOY RESPONSIBLY. ©2013 THE COCA-COLA COMPANY.

©2013 BACARDI AND THE BAT DEVICE ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF BACARDI & COMPANY LIMITED. BACARDI U.S.A., INC., CORAL GABLES, FL. NON-ALCOHOLIC MIXERS.

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by BACARDI® Mixers via Glam Media.  The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of BACARDI® Mixers.

A couple months ago, I was invited to attend Blog & Bake™.  This event, hosted by King Arthur Flour, brings bloggers together to learn more about King Arthur Flour and Vermont in general.  The experience was amazing!  (Check out my previous post about Blog & Bake + recipe for Homemade White Sandwich Bread.)  If you’ve ever used King Arthur flour, then you know how amazing their products are.  I swear by King Arthur whenever I bake!

You may be familiar with “The Baking Sheet,” King Arthur Flour’s subscription newsletter.  This thing is loaded with amazing recipes, tips, and photographs.  It truly is a baker’s resource for well…everything!  King Arthur now offers The Baking Sheet in digital format, which is especially awesome because it provides access to back issues and all recipes since 1990.  Seriously, that’s a lot of recipes.  I’m pretty sure you could bake for 365 days straight and still not make your way through 23 years of King Arthur recipes!  I am excited to announce that I have partnered with King Arthur Flour to give away a digital copy of The Baking Sheet.  That’s right…if you win, it’s kinda like discovering a lost pirate’s chest full of baking gold.  So make sure to enter below for a chance to win!

This French Herb Bread is an amazingly simple recipe that yields an excellent, tasty sandwich-style loaf of bread.  One of the best things about this bread is its relatively short proofing period.  In fact, you could wake up one morning craving this bread and have it ready for lunch!  If you’ve never experimented with bread baking before, then I encourage you to try this recipe out.  Your sandwiches will never taste the same thanks to the plentiful herbs de Provence sprinkled throughout.  Enjoy!  And don’t forget de Cervantes’ quote: “All sorrows are less with bread.”

Oh, and here’s another opportunity to win: The good folks at King Arthur Flour are running a Baking Adventure Sweepstakes with tons of prizes…including the Grand Prize of a 2-night trip to Norwich, VT to visit King Arthur and take several classes in their Baking Education Center.  Talk about a dream opportunity!  Click here to enter this contest…maybe you’ll win the grand prize!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now that summer is finally here in upstate New York, I’ve been breaking out the ice cream machine pretty often.  I started with this Vermont Honey Ice Cream, and it is still one of my favorites.  But this Peanut Butter + Brownie Chunk Milkshake is seriously delicious!  It’s peanut butter and chocolate together…how can you go wrong??  To make this milkshake even more special, I…err, Maximus and Ethel…started with homemade peanut butter ice cream.  You could totally just add a cup of peanut butter and a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream in a blender and still achieve a similar effect.  Likewise, this recipe features brownies baked from scratch, and you could totally use a boxed mix instead.  (This brownie recipe is loaded with chocolate, which makes it super gooey.  Difficult to eat by themselves, but perfect for this milkshake!)

To all of the fathers out there (no matter whether your kids have 2 legs or 4), Happy Father’s Day!

What’s Your ID? International Delight is looking for their most passionate flavor fans. Put your ID on the map to enter to win a Magical Trip, play games and discover more unexpected delight. Share your ID flavor at http://whatsyourid.com. 

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of International Delight. The opinions and text are all mine.

I’m not sure I’ve mentioned it before, but I love state fairs.  I’m not big on the rides and crazy games, but I do really enjoy wandering the midway and just soaking in the atmosphere.  After all, where else can you find competitive pig racing?  Part of the midway atmosphere is the smell of all of the delicious food.  Funnel Cakes, Fried Pickles, Deep Fried Oreos…if it can be fried, then you can find it at a state fair!  (I’ve even seen Fried Fruit…seriously!?!)  One of my all-time favorites is the classic corndog.  But since I try to limit fried foods in my daily life, I created this Baked Corndog recipe instead.  Baked Corndogs aren’t the same as their deep-fried cousins, but they certainly still hit the spot for me.  Hebrew National Hot Dogs are my favorite, so I always make sure to have a pack of Hebrew National around when I feel a corn dog craving coming!

Since these Baked Corndogs are wrapped in a cornmeal-based bread dough, they do take a bit of time to prepare.  But the good news is that you can go off and work on other projects while the dough is rising.  Unlike most bread doughs, this cornmeal dough is very loose.  This actually works in your advantage as it makes it very easy to wrap the Hebrew National Hot Dogs!

Several times, we’ve made a whole bunch of these Baked Corndogs and then invited friends over for a party on the back deck.  We make a bunch of different dipping sauces and then everyone votes on their favorite combination.  (Have you ever made Sriracha Ketchup?  If not, you should!  Mix 1 part sriracha with 3 parts ketchup for a unique dipping sauce idea.)  So if you are looking to mix up the routine a bit, consider hosting  a Baked Corndog party this summer.  We wife and I find that Hebrew National hot dogs work best here…but that’s probably because Hebrew National is our favorite brand of franks.  If you love corndogs as much as me, then give these Baked Corndogs a shot.  They’ll certainly satisfy your craving until state fairs return in the fall! (Maybe this year I’ll finally win one of those 6-foot tall stuffed animals.)

Hebrew National tastes great because, for more than 100 years, we’ve adhered to the highest quality standards. Hebrew National Franks are made with premium cuts of 100% pure kosher beef, and contain no artificial flavors, no artificial colors, no by-products, and no fillers. Premium taste and high quality every time, for any occasion. That’s our guarantee. Learn about even more reasons to love Hebrew National, and tell us why you love them, too! www.facebook.com/HebrewNational

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Hebrew National via Glam Media.  The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Hebrew National.

As I noted above, we use barbecue sauce quite a bit during the summer.  In fact, barbecued chicken is one of my favorite dinners…and it’s also one of the easiest.  Just put a couple pieces of chicken on the grill and liberally baste them with your homemade sauce every few minutes.  You can season the chicken if you’d like, but I typically don’t use anything else aside from the barbecue sauce.  (Note: when applying sauce with a basting brush, don’t return the brush to the container of sauce once it touches raw meat.)  Ribs are another classic partner with barbecue sauce.  And honestly, if you are going to spend the time to smoke the perfect rack of ribs, then you owe it to yourself to use a homemade sauce!  And the list of uses for barbecue sauce goes on and on: barbecued pulled pork, barbecue pizza, dipping sauce for chicken tenders, topping for burgers, etc, etc.  So get inspired and make a batch of homemade sauce…you’ll be surprised at how easy (and how delicious) it can be!

I remember coming home from college one summer and helping my mom tweak this recipe.  We must have made at least 10 batches of lemon bars before we finally were happy with one.  (I’m not complaining about making 10 batches of lemon bars, though. If I recall, not one single lemon bar went to waste.)  If you are a fan of lemon, then definitely put this recipe on your list of summer desserts to make.  The tart, intense flavor of fresh lemons mixed with the sugar will leave you coming back again and again…and then you’ll be left wondering what happened to all of the lemon bars!  So next time you are at the market, grab some fresh lemons and shredded coconut and whip up a batch of these lemon bars for your summer picnic.  Enjoy!

Is it just me, or is this week flying by?  Maybe it has something to do with that whole Memorial Day weekend thing.  We certainly had a great weekend, and I hope that you did, too!  (I also vote that we start a movement to make every weekend a long weekend.)  Even though the weather was a bit chilly and rainy here in the northeast for most of the weekend, we still made the best of it.  We had the grill out almost every day…after all, you can’t have Memorial Day without a grill!  Hebrew National is my wife’s favorite brand of hot dogs, and we certainly had plenty of delicious hot dogs this weekend!

One of our favorite summer side dishes is an old family recipe for Aunt Nina’s Black Bean Salad.  It’s basically loads of chopped peppers and onions mixed with several cans of black beans.  Top it with a simple dressing and you’ve got an easy + healthy (not to mention colorful) summer salad.  (Hint: If you are able to make this salad the day before, then do it.  The flavors meld overnight making it even tastier!)  In fact, we’ve almost always got a container of this salad in the fridge during the summer months.  One of our favorite weekend lunches is a grilled hot dog (Hebrew National, of course!) and a generous serving of Black Bean Salad.  Yum!

In addition to grilling this past weekend, we also had the chance to get out to the Saratoga Springs Farmer’s Market.  We love shopping local farmer’s markets whenever we can.  The fruits and veggies taste so much better, and you’re supporting your local community.  So if you can, try to get out and support your local farmers at least once a month this summer!  On the way home, we decided to swing by a local bakery on a whim.  A friend of mine is in the process of opening her own bakery, and she was in the kitchen doing a test run of her new ovens.  She renovated an old general store building in Round Lake, NY, and she went with a vintage baking theme that looks amazing!  Plus, we were able to sample some of her ginormous cinnamon buns.  One word: delicious!  Hopefully she’ll let me do a post on her new bakery once it’s up and running…so stay tuned.

If Memorial Day weekend was any sort of indicator, then the next 99 days of summer are going to be awesome!  Hopefully we’ll have some sunny days on the way as we’ve certainly had enough rain lately.  (But the rain is great for all of the new seedlings I planted in the garden last week…so I can’t complain.)  I know we’ll be spending many enjoyable afternoons on the deck…and you can be certain that Hebrew National hot dogs will be making frequent appearances!

Hebrew National tastes great because, for more than 100 years, we’ve adhered to the highest quality standards. Hebrew National Franks are made with premium cuts of 100% pure kosher beef, and contain no artificial flavors, no artificial colors, no by-products, and no fillers. Premium taste and high quality every time, for any occasion. That’s our guarantee. Learn about even more reasons to love Hebrew National, and tell us why you love them, too! www.facebook.com/HebrewNational

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Hebrew National via Glam Media.  The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Hebrew National.

If you’ve never had Homemade Banana Pudding, then you are absolutely missing out. The boxed stuff is ok in a pinch, but the homemade version is SO much better! The banana flavor in the homemade version comes from real bananas, not any sort of flavor additive. The hardest thing about this recipe is waiting for it to cool in the fridge. And to make matters worse, the banana pudding will taste even better the next day once the flavors have melded overnight. I know, I know. I’m giving you the recipe for an amazing banana pudding, and then I’m telling you to make it and put it away for a day. But trust me. Your patience will pay off! I guess the silver lining here is that this is a good dessert to make the day before and then just pull it out when it’s time to serve. I like to finish this dessert by crumbling several fresh vanilla wafers on top right before serving. The vanilla wafers tend to get soft sitting in the fridge, so it’s nice to mix up the textures and add a crunchy topping. Then just top with fresh whipped cream and you’ve got a delicious dessert that will leave your family and friends begging for your “secret family recipe!”