I recently returned from a four day trip to Utah. My man, Matt, the children and I travel there about four times a year to visit the in-laws. Most of Matt's relatives are Mormon and they embrace just about everything that goes with that status.

Having grown up as a Catholic, these sojourns are always a fascinating cultural study for me. One of my favorite aspects of these studies involves food. Somebody is always cooking at a Mormon get together. There are always zillions of aunts, uncles, cousins and crawling babies and ordering out for pizza will just not suffice. Every function I have attended involves salads, both leafy and Jell-O,  white rolls, casseroles, meats, sauces, plenty of fruit juice and an array of desserts. In the past the kitchens have always intimidated me and I have stuck closely to the buffet line.  However, since I am now deeply entrenched in food research I decided to ask the various women, not be sexist but I have found the kitchens to contain only women at these gatherings, about their cooking secrets. I did not divulge to them that I would be blabbing their tips to the blogosphere, but I believe their knowledge just might benefit one or two readers. Following, in no particular order, are a few of the tidbits I learned this past weekend:

• A can of Cream of Mushroom soup creates a fabulous casserole out of leftover chicken, noodles and chopped veggies.
• Potato chips are not just for snacking. When crumbled and added to the above mentioned casserole, they give that extra zingy crunch.
• Cool Whip makes plain, boring Jell-O into a fluffy treat to be enjoyed by all.
• Ditto with any sort of canned fruit.
• When baking Nestle Toll House cookies, whip the butter and sugar for far longer than you would deem fit. Then add an extra teaspoon of salt to the mix.

I am somewhat wary of casseroles so I cannot vouch for the mushroom soup tip. Jell-O has long been a favorite of mine and I have to say that it definitely is much more enticing when it has the cloud-like texture that only Cool Whip can give. As for the Toll House cookie tip, I can definitely recommend these tactics. These were by far the most amazing chocolate chip cookies I have ever tasted. I couldn't stay out of the kitchen and away from the platter.  I think the women were on to me and my gluttonous ways but they were just too polite to be rude and tell me to get the heck out of their territory.