Sometimes I get urges to improve myself. They happen interspersed between long periods of time that include lots of staying up late and letting laundry pile up. Often, when I get these urges, I make lists. Sometimes I list all of the ways I want to improve. The list often includes things like eating healthier, working out, waking up earlier, and making the bed every morning. More often than not those things don’t happen, but I do put them on the list and then I’ll sit for about an hour looking at the list and thinking about all the ways I could make those changes happen in my life if I wanted to. Writing and thinking… they almost seem productive.

But, there are times when something good comes out of my longing to improve, and this weekend that came in the form of granola. When I made my list this weekend of ways to improve, eating breakfast was on that list, which I thought is something I could actually enjoy doing something about. “What’s a healthy breakfast?” I thought to myself. I opened my computer, went to the Food Network website, clicked on the Healthy Eating tab, and right there on the page was a link to 4 of Ellie’s Power Breakfasts. I watched the recipes (I say watched, because now they have this weird thing on their website where you can’t read some of the recipes, you have to watch them) and decided on Ellie’s Nutty Granola. Now, I don’t know who Ellie is, but she seemed very nice and the granola looked easy and delicious, so I thought I would give it a try. Now… just in case some of you think I’m crazy for not knowing who Ellie is (which I very well may be, she could be extremely famous), I don’t have the Food Network, so I don’t watch it. Believe me, if I had it I’m sure it would be on all the time at my house, but since I don’t have it I just don’t watch it so I don’t know who the chefs are anymore really. When I lived with my parents I watched it all the time, so I know who Emril, Bobby Flay, Alton Brown, Tyler Florence (my favorite… I think I have a little crush on him), Gale Gand, and all those few-years-ago big shots are. It’s just the new guys I have a hard time with.

Back to the granola. This really is NUTTY granola, but I love nuts so it worked out great. It also has a very distinct cinnamon flavor, which I also loved. As I browsed granola recipes after I made this one, I was surprised how many didn’t include cinnamon since I loved it so much in this recipe. Every morning now when I open my jar to pour some in a bowl the scent of cinnamon pours out, and I love it. I like my granola with a little bit of soy milk. It’s delicious. When we were on our honeymoon in Jamaica I had the best granola I’ve ever had in my life, and putting this granola over soy milk is the closest I’ve come to recreating that experience. It’s still not the same, but it’s close.

Ellie’s Nutty Granola
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup real maple syrup
1/2 cup raisins (I made this once putting the raisins in before baking and they got overcooked and really chewy. The second time I made it I put the raisins in after baking, and it was much better)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and spread them out over a non-stick cookie sheet. Bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes or until everything starts to get golden brown. Store in a jar or Tupperware container and serve 1/2 cup at a time over soy milk, regular milk, or yogurt. It will be more than enough for breakfast all week.

At least I took a step in the attempt to cross something off of my list to improve myself. I might be overdoing it, but I also took another step in crossing “working out” off of my list. I bought some new running shoes. Now the next step is to use them. I think the mere fact that they are green gives me a better chance of using them very soon. I like pretty things.

This… sandwich… is… amazing.

I found the recipe for this sandwich in the August Issue of Bon Appetit. It sounded good, but I put off making it for some crazy reason that I can’t remember now. I don’t know what to say about it except that it is absolutely delicious. If you like roast beef sandwiches you will love it. Ever since I had it earlier today I’ve been dreaming about tomorrow at lunch when I get to have another one.

The flavor combination is amazing. Dijon mustard, cranberry sauce, and red onions all top roast beef, and the toppings sort of melt together and I could have sworn I heard them singing from inside my mouth. The recipe in Bon Appetit calls for whole grain Dijon mustard, but I didn’t want to buy any since I already had regular Dijon mustard, and the sandwich was still amazing. I also added a slice of muenster cheese, which really added to the flavor and made it just a tad sweeter. I also used spring mix instead of watercress. I’ll go ahead and give you the version from Bon Appetit though, because I really don’t think you could go wrong with what they say to do.

Roast Beef Sandwiches with Whole Grain Mustard and Cranberries

Ingredients
1/4 cup whole grain Dijon mustard
1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise
6 ciabatta rolls or mini baguettes, split horizontally
6 1/4-inch-thick slices rare roast beef (from deli counter)
Fine sea salt
6 tablespoons canned whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 large bunch watercress, thick stems trimmed

Preparation

Mix mustard and mayonnaise in small bowl to blend. Spread mustard mixture over both cut sides of ciabatta rolls. Place 1 slice roast beef atop mustard mixture on bottom side of each roll; sprinkle with sea salt and ground black pepper. Top each with 1 tablespoon cranberry sauce, red onion slices, and watercress sprigs. Cover with roll tops and serve.

If you think this looks good, try it immediately. You will wonder why you didn’t try it sooner if you wait.

I know I’m not the only person in the world who loves coffee. It’s pretty easy to see that coffee is cheating on me with millions of people who can’t get over how wonderful it is. Coffee can be many things, and to each person it is something different. For some it’s a quick pick-me-up in the morning. To others it is the perfect accompaniment to a good conversation with a friend. Some college students use it to help them study late into the night when they have finals the next day. It can also help save your life when you on a 16-hour drive home from spring break and your friend who is supposed to keep you awake falls asleep in the passenger seat. See… coffee is a good friend.

Before college I liked coffee a lot, but I think my love and appreciation for coffee developed during my first year at OU. My freshman year of college was great, but for some strange reason I signed up for a Chemistry lab that started at 7:30 in the morning. My very first college class that I attended was this Chemistry lab, dark and early at 7:30 am. I hated waking up so early for a class, but especially for a chemistry lab, one of the most boring labs I ever took. The worst part about Chemistry lab, aside from the stinky chemicals and long waiting periods for reactions to occur, is that there are no beverages allowed in the Chemistry lab. No beverages, meaning no coffee.

This was torture. For what seemed like 6 hours (but was probably only 1) I would sit through that class tired and grumpy, counting down the minutes until it was over and I could go to the library and get a cup of coffee. This was one of those classes that I distinctly remember my eyes closing without my permission a few times while I prayed that my lab partner was paying attention to how long our solution had been mixing. The class drug on, and when it was finally over, I would pick up my things and drag myself out of the Chemistry Building and walk about 75 yards into the library. I loved the library. I didn’t love it because of the quiet or the books, and I didn’t love it because of all the people sitting around listening to iPods and looking at laptops, although I really liked those things. What I loved most about the Library was what was underneath the library. From the main floor I would walk down some stairs until I was at the bottom of the building, and sitting comfortably in the library basement was a coffee shop. This wonderful little nook sold Starbucks coffee and banana nut muffins, and every day after Chemistry I would order a tall House Blend, add a little cream, heat up a banana nut muffin for 23 seconds, sit down, and enjoy what was the best ritual of my college career. There was something about the coffee made in the library basement that was better that year than any coffee I had ever had in my life. That coffee helped me survive my first year at OU. I don’t know if coffee will ever be as good as it was that year.

So, now that I’ve shared how I fell in love with coffee, I want to hear from you. Why do you like coffee (for those of you that do)? The best explanation will win 100,000 points and will be the first to go up on the score board. I like to have games and quizzes periodically and you can win points. Points don’t count for anything or have any real value, but it’s fun to win something every now and then anyway, right? Maybe someday I’ll cook a fancy meal for the person who has the most points or something. We’ll see! I can’t wait to hear some coffee stories form you!

There are two magical desserts that my mom used to make when we were growing up. One was magic muffins. Magic muffins are made from malt-o-meal, sweet and simply delightful. There’s nothing like a magic muffin and a cup of hot tea after dinner. Nothing, except for maybe the second magical dessert she would make. This second dessert was much more obviously magic because during the course of the baking the marshmallow that we had plainly wrapped inside would disappear! My mom would take them out of the oven and as they would cool I would think “There’s no way, it’s gotta be in there…”, but time and time again I would rip apart the flaky layers, getting frosting all over my tiny fingers, and reveal the inside of these tasty rolls to hold nothing but a sugary goo that made my tastebuds sing. The marshmallow, had in fact, disappeared.

As I got older I realized that the marshmallow didn’t actually disappear but transformed as it melted into that sugary goo that I loved so much, but my admiration for the treats did not diminish in the slightest. These treats are so easy to make that anyone can do it. It’s a perfect project for families and children. Here’s all you need to get started:

The first thing you do after you have all the ingredients ready is to preheat your oven according to the directions on your crescent rolls. I preheated my oven to 375 degrees. Next open the package of crescent rolls and roll them out onto a non-stick cooking sheet.

This is the fun part. Line up your bowls of marshmallows, melted butter, and cinnamon and sugar in front of your baking sheet. One marshmallow at a time, you will dip it in the butter, then transfer it to the cinnamon and sugar mix, then place the sugary-coated marshmallow into the large end of a crescent roll. Fold over the edges of the dough around the marshmallow until all the cracks are sealed. It’s really important to close up all of the crevices or your marshmallow may escape! These are not bandit marshmallows, remember. They are magicians.

After they are all rolled up with the marshmallows inside it’s time to put them into the vanishing closet… I mean the oven. Cook them until they are golden brown, about 15 minutes.

While your marshmallow are saying the magic words, you can make your icing. Simply mix 1 cup of powdered sugar with about 1/4 cup of milk. You can add more or less milk if you want to change the consistency of your icing. When your treats come out of the oven, drizzle some icing on top of each one before serving. I recommend serving them with a cup of hot Earl Grey or British Breakfast tea. Serve them to your kids or guests and open them up to see if the marshmallows have successfully vanished. As you can see, they are very, very sneaky.

About a year ago I bought the Cooking Light Complete Cookbook. It’s funny that they call it the “Complete Cookbook”, because I know the magazine still exists. I’m sure after a while they will come out with another edition (if they haven’t already), and this will be out of date. It does have some great recipes in it. The problem is, they want me to use ingredients that are fat-free or reduced fat, and that is the only thing that really makes them “light”. Most of the time what will happen is I’ll start to make a recipe and realize that I already have a lot of the ingredients in their more fattening form, so I use those ingredients instead of what they want me to use…so they probably aren’t that light anymore. It’s alright though, because they are good, and if I ever want to make a low-fat pasta or cookie I have the recipe to do it. I just more often than not don’t.

When I got the cook book I browsed through it and noticed this recipe immediately. The picture in the cookbook looks amazing, and since I LOVE caramelized onions, it seemed like something I would like. I put a sticky note in the book and wrote “Christmas Eve” on the note thinking that I would make this recipe for a special occasion. Well… Christmas Eve came and went, and then several months passed before I actually made it. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago at my annual Wine party when I decided it was time to try this recipe. The name could be a little deceiving if you don’t read it closely. This is a SAVORY cheesecake, not to be mistaken for a dessert cheesecake, which is meant to be spread on crackers or bread or something. I bought some bagel crisps, which went perfectly with it. The wine party was really fun, and we spent the evening eating appetizers, drinking different kinds of everyone’s favorite wine, and taking some fun pictures. I decided to include a few of those for you to enjoy.

At first when I read the recipe everything seemed to be easy enough. The first step involves draining the yogurt overnight in a cheesecloth. Great… except I didn’t have cheesecloth. Brian did a google search for things that you could substitute for cheesecloth and coffee filters came up. I went to the grocery store in search of either cheesecloth or coffee filters, and the grocery store had neither. What kind of grocery store doesn’t have coffee filters? So I ended up using some paper towels that don’t fall apart when they get wet. This was a bad idea though because they were SO durable that absolutely none of the liquid drained from the yogurt. It sat in my fridge all night and didn’t change at all. When I took the yogurt out of the fridge ready to make my cheesecake for the party, I decided I would just go with the yogurt as is, but it did worry me… a lot. As I mixed the ingredients I saw it was extremely wet and didn’t seem to resemble at all the dense, cheesecake-like texture. I did it anyway though, and after baking it for an extra 15 minutes it seemed to be alright. It must have been good, because at the party my friends Matt and Erin stood around the dip (I’m calling it a dip now) and consumed enough to make me feel good about myself. I would make this again (probably using cheesecloth next time) because the flavor was great and if you like caramelized onions it is a wonderful appetizer.

Savory Yogurt Cheesecake with Caramelized Onions- from Cooking Light

Prep: 25 min Cook time: 1 hr. 30 min Other: 12 hr

Filling:
1 (32 oz) carton plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup (4 oz) block-style fat-free cream cheese, softened
1 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg yolk

Crust:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Dash of freshly ground black pepper
2 1/2 TBS butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1/4 cup ice water
cooking spray

Onions:
1 tsp butter
8 cups sliced onion (about 1/2 pounds) *I used two large onions and this was perfect
1 TBS sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme *I used fresh thyme and it tasted great

1. To prepare filling, place colander in a 2-quart glass measure or medium bowl. Line colander with 4 layers of cheesecloth, allowing cheesecloth to extend over outside edges. Spoon yogurt into colander. Cover loosely with plastic wrap; refrigerate 12 hours.

2. Spoon 1 3/4 cups yogurt cheese into a bowl; discard liquid. Place cream cheese into a bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Add yogurt cheese, ricotta cheese, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, and egg yolk. Beat at low speed until just blended.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

4. To prepare crust, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour, corn meal, 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, and dash of pepper in a food processor; pulse 3 times or until combined. Add 2 1/2 TBS butter, pluse 4 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. With processor on, add ice water through food chute, processing just until moist (do not form a ball). Press cornmeal mixture into bottom of an 8-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

5. To prepare onions, while crust bakes and cools, melt 1 tsp butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in 1 TBS sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Cover and cook 25 minutes or until browned and tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in thyme.

6. Spread yogurt mixture into prepared crust. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until almost set. Cool on a wire rack. (Cheesecake will continue to set as it cools). Serve at room temperature. Cut cheesecake into wedges, serve with onions. Yield: 10 servings

For some reason I’ve never asked him what his idea of romance was. So, this week I told him I wanted us to do something romantic for our two year dating anniversary. He said that one thing he thought was romantic was trying new fancy restaurants and experiencing that with me. I knew he liked to do this, but I didn’t realize that he thought it was romantic. He also thought it would be romantic for me to plan a date. Over the course of our relationship, he has planed most, if not ALL of our dates. I never realized that until he said it, so I decided to take the reigns and plan an all out- romantic restaurant date.

The first thing I did was google “Romantic restaurants in Tulsa”. Lots of different articles came up about top romantic Tulsa eateries, and over and over again the Melting Pot came up. I had never been there, and neither had he. So I immediately made a reservation and last night at 7:30 our table was ready.

The Melting Pot is unlike any restaurant I’ve ever been to. It’s a completely interactive experience where fondue is the main part of every course. We went with their “Big Night Out” which comes with a starter of cheese fondue and salads, followed by a gorgeous plate of seafood, steak, and chicken that you cook at your table in a blend of seasonings in a boiling pot on your table, and a dessert of your choice of chocolate fondue and assorted tasty treats to dip in it. The entire event lasted about 2 hours, and we had lots of fun dipping into the delicious pots.

First we started with cheese fondue with Fontina, Gruyere, and some other cheese blended with both basil pesto and tomato pesto and fresh mozzerella balls. It was really incredible. We dipped pieces of rosemary bread, cauliflower, granny smith apples, carrots, and celery into the cheese blend and the flavor combinations were excellent. Next we each picked salads, and Brian’s caprese salad was gorgeous. I got a spinach and mushroom salad that was incredible, but the picture didn’t turn out as well as I wanted. *Side note: the pictures that Brian takes always turn out much better than mine do.

After we finished our salads they brought out a plate of raw assorted meats and seafood. The server told us to cook the seafood for a minute and a half and the steak and chicken for two minutes. Me, being the raw-chicken and red-steak-o-phobe that I am, took out my phone and timed everything perfectly. The only complaint I had of the night was that they didn’t provide us with a timer. I felt like a timer would have made everything easier, but apparently they think we have internal clocks that are dead-on. Either that or they don’t think most people are as paranoid about raw meat as me.

The finale was dessert, and we chose from a variety of chocolate fondue pots that included chocolate smores, white chocolate, chocolate peanut butter, dark and white chocolate swirled, and a few others. The one we picked was the chocolate turtle, that had milk chocolate and caramel swirled with pecan halves. It was delightful. It was served with a tray of bites including cheesecake, pound cake, gooey brownies, strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, and rice krispie treats.

I had a great time with Brian eating there. We left full of fondue and extremely happy. The entire experience was one that I think everyone should have at some point, but if you want to go without ordering the whole shabang, I would suggest getting just dessert. It was really, really amazing.

As she spun around in her kitchen she gasped when she saw the solution to her dilema, “Look at all these empty glasses!” She exclaimed. “Now I can make this wonderful dessert!”

“The first thing I need to do is make some lemon mousse and white chocolate mousse, then it’s off to the layering! First step is lemon mousse.”

“Hmm… that looks good. Good thing I have all these beautiful strawberries lying around!”

“First I’ll slice them up….”

“… and then I’ll put them on top of the lemon mousse.”

“After all those strawberries nothing sounds better than white chocolate. White chocolate and lemon together sounds a little risky… but Bon Appetit promised it would be good. I think I’ll trust them.

“The glasses still have lots of room in them. I guess I’ll throw in more strawberries!”

“Another dollop of lemon mousse…”

“What was that? More strawberries? Ok…”

“And I’ll go ahead and top it off with the rest of the white chocolate. Now it’s off to the fridge with you overnight! Sleep well Lemon and White Chocolate Mosse Parfaits!”

I thought this dessert looked great in the magazine, but as I started making it I got a little nervous. For some reason it just didn’t look right, and I thought it was going to taste way too lemony or strange for some reason. But when I took them out at the party everyone loved them, and they were gone in about 15 minutes! This was a perfect way to use sweet summer strawberries in a way that everyone will love! Enjoy!

Every month I will look through the magazine and share what I think the best looking recipes are. I try to make at least one thing from the latest Bon Appetit every month, so I’ll give you a preview of what might be to come over the next few weeks. The issue I received today was the September Issue, and after first glace, it looks like a good one. For those of you that read it… go ahead and follow along.

On page 18 there is a recipe from Manhattan’s Abraco Coffee Shop for their Olive Oil Cake. This looks very interesting, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to make it very soon. It has very basic ingredients, olive oil, flour, baking soda, eggs, etc… but they call for all organic ingredients, which I don’t always have. I’ll honestly probably try it with my regular old flour, eggs, and other things they want to be organic. Hopefully the taste won’t change much. Just the organicness.

On page 32 there is a recipe for “the best bloody mary”, which is incredibly long! I think this must be normal for bloody marys, which I’ve never had, but it just seems like a bit much to me. It includes ingredients like fennel blub, golden beet (does that exist?!), fresh horseradish, Guinness, pickled vegetables, and celery seeds! I know people who like bloody marys really like them, and it’s quite possible that everyone else in the world doesn’t like them at all. I have never had one, so I can’t be the judge of this recipe… but maybe I’ll try some version of this during the month. Brian told me that McNellie’s in Tulsa has a bloody mary bar for Sunday Brunch, which I thought was pretty interesting. If you’re in Tulsa and available for Sunday Brunch, you should give it a try.

I can’t go without mentioning the article by Molly Wizenberg, of whom I am a big fan. I have loved reading her blog, Orangette, and watching her go from Oklahoma girl to Seattle dweller and writer for Bon Appetit. The article in this month’s issue discusses the opening of her new restaurant, Delancey. If I’m ever in Seattle I will definitely give this pizza joint a try.

Now, I love living in Tulsa. I really, really do. But, one of the things that makes me a little sad about living here is that we don’t have very many restaurants that are recognized in things like Bon Appetit. Now, notice I didn’t say we don’t have great restaurants, because I think this is simply not true. I think we do have some good ones. I don’t know if it’s because there are just spectacular restaurants in other parts of the country or because we simply aren’t being recognized, but Tulsa simply doesn’t show up on the map of “best restaurants” for any category that I’ve seen in my reading. In this issue of Bon Appetit, there is a section dedicated to the “Top 10 Best New Restaurants in America”. These restaurants are in places like San Francisco, Seattle, Brooklyn, Chicago, and all the typical big cities that great restaurants often reside. Someday maybe, I’ll open up this magazine and see a great Tulsa restaurant owner’s picture with his signature dish, proudly displayed for the country to see. That will be a proud day.

Photo from Bon Appetit

There is one dessert in this issue that I will have to try. It is the Layered Brownies with White-Chocolate Caramel and Cacao Nib Gelato. Maybe I’m just a sucker for white chocolate, or maybe it’s the breathtaking full-page picture of the brownie on page 101, but whatever it is, I’m drawn to making this dessert. Every week I meet with a few girls for a Bible Study, and I always try to have something sweet for them to try. This looks like the perfect dessert for that night, although it is a little heavier than my normal cupcakes or cookies. I’m sure they won’t mind.

The overall, best-looking recipe, in my opinion, is the Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Prune and Ancho Chile Sauce on page 97. I love pork tenderloin, and this recipe has a spicy, sweet sounding sauce that is probably really great. I have never made a pork tenderloin before, and it sounds like a great thing to try. It’s something my parents make a lot, and I think it’s time I try one out for myself.

On page 106 begins a section on “the art of the street cart” where they highlight various vendors from Portland, Oregon. All of the street cart vendors they discuss look like they have incredible food, but the one that sounds the best to me is Tabor, with their “Original Schnitzelwich” sandwich. I know that if I’m ever in Portland I’ll remember this place and drop by for my very own Schnitzelwich. Maybe I just like the name… let’s say it together…Schnitzelwich.

Well, those are the September Bon Appetit highlights according to Molly. I hope you all enjoy reading your Bon Appetit this month! Stay tuned for my rendition of pork tenderloin and Olive Oil cake. I’m sure they’ll be coming shortly.

One of my favorite things to do is watch movies. I think many of us can agree, movie nights at home are one of the best things in life. Growing up I think I watched Princess Bride about 700 times. Every Friday night my family would watch a movie, and I think my sister and I picked Princess Bride almost every single time, until she got really into Grease and we traded off between the two. But, the Princess Bride always has been and always will be my favorite movie of all time. What other movie has it all? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge… you get the point.

Along with movie night came great movie treats. I remember when my mom got an air popper, and suddenly we could control the amount of butter and salt that we put on our popcorn! I remember my mom always wanting to limit the amount of butter, so once we started wanting to pour it she would melt less and less in the cup so we wouldn’t drench the popcorn in buttery goodness.

My parents are from Chicago, and in Chicago there are popcorn shops. These are magical places where you can walk in and get bags of popped popcorn in any color and flavor. As a kid I remember walking in to a shop downtown and seeing bins of blue, red, green, and even purple popcorn that we could purchase. Now that we live in Tulsa we don’t have the luxury of these specialty popcorn shops, but whenever we visit Chicago my mom’s one request is to go to a popcorn shop and get a bag. Tulsa could really use a cute little popcorn shop like that.

So, instead of buying popcorn at a shop we have to make due with what we have. Luckily there are some really great popcorn toppings that you can make and sprinkle on your air-popped popcorn before a movie night. Trust me, these are really good and they will make your family movie night a lot more fun! I found these recipes in Paula Dean’s Holiday Baking magazine. I got the magazine as a wedding shower gift from a friend of my family along with a big bin of Christmas Ornaments. The shower was in September, and even though Christmas was a few months away it was one of my favorite presents ever. It was such a creative gift, and I’ve loved this magazine. These popcorn recipes are really great, and I highly recommend giving them a try. These are also great to give as gifts. Simply make each one and put them in shaker jars with cloth covering the top so that none of it can come out. Label each with a little piece of string and a tag telling what type of seasoning it is. This is a really cute gift for anyone!

The first one was my favorite. I have never made the Ranch Popcorn Seasoning mix or Smoky Southwestern, but they sound pretty good. The Sugar and Spice Mix is really good too, it’s spicy and sweet. The Pizza Popcorn seasoning mix is really good with red wine. In the recipes, they say to use a spice grinder. I used a coffee grinder which worked great, but it left powder all in the gears so make sure you clean it well before you grind coffee again! Otherwise you’ll end up with some pretty spicy coffee.

Pizza Popcorn Seasoning Mix

3 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
2/3 cup grated Parmesean cheese

In a spice grinder, combine all seasonings except the Parmesean cheese and grind into a fine powder. Pour mixture into a small bown and stir in the Parmesean cheese. Spoon mixture into a jar and sprinkle 3 TBS over 5 cups hot, buttered popcorn.

Ranch Popcorn Seasoning Mix

1 TBS dried chives
1 TBS dried dill weed
1 TBS dried parsley
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic salt
3/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder

In a spice grinder, combine chives, dill weed, parsley, onion powder, salt, and garlic salt; pulse until mixture is ground into a fine powder. Pour mixture into a small bowl. Stir in dry milk powder. Spoon mixture into a jar and sprinkle 3 tablespoons over 5 cups of hot buttered popped popcorn.

Sugar and Spice Popcorn Seasoning Mix

2 TBS dried rosemary
3 tsp sea salt
3 tsp butter-flavored seasoning
2 tsp ground red pepper
1 tsp black peppercorns
2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

In a spice grinder, combine rosemary, salt, butter-flavored seasoning, red pepper, and peppercorns; pulse until mixture is ground into a fine powder. Pour mixture into a small bowl. Stir in brown sugar. Spoon into a jar and sprinkle 3 TBS seasoning over 5 cups hot buttered popped popcorn.

S’mores Popcorn Seasoning Mix

2/3 cup chocolate malted milk powder
1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 TBS instant nonfat dry milk powder
2 TBS confectioner’s sugar
2 TBS powdered vanilla

In the work bowl of a food processor, combine malted milk powder, graham cracker crumbs, dry milk powder, sugar, and vanilla; pulse until smooth. Spoon mixture into a jar. To serve, spinkle 3 TBS seasoning over 5 cups hot buttered popped popcorn.

Smoky Southwestern Popcorn Seasoning Mix

2 Tsp ancho chili powder
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp dried jalapeno granules
2 tsp dried Mexican oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp chipotle chili pepper
2 tsp salt
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

In a spice grinder, combine the chili powder, paprika, jalapeno granules, oregano, cumin, chili pepper, and salt. Pulse until mixture is ground into a fine powder. Pour mixture into a small bowl. Stir in brown sugar. Spoon mixture into a jar. To serve, sprinkle 3 TBS seasoning over 5 cups hot buttered popped popcorn.