"cranberry walnut" news and stories

After 15 years of entering the contest, Maryland's Carolyn Gurtz finally wowed the judges.

How'd she do it? With...pre-made refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough.

Nope, I'm not kidding: she wrapped little balls of peanut butter and sugar with the pre-made dough, and - poof! - the Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies were born.

I know using a Pillsbury product in your recipe was the point, but isn't this taking it a little far? She didn't even make her own dough! 1957's winner, Freda Smith, made her own dough for her Peanut Blossoms cookies!

And the other winners aren't much different. In the "Breakfast and Brunches" category, the Mascarpone-Filled Cranberry Walnut Rolls use refrigerated crescent rolls, and the Apple Jack Chicken Pizza uses refrigerated pizza dough.

I know, I know - I get that the contest has to appeal to today's working woman with no time to make their own cookie dough, or whatever. That's fine - we all take shortcuts in the kitchen occasionally, and I'm sure Miz Gurtz's But does it deserve a million dollars?

On a day that is notorious for junk food, snacks, and deep-fried everything, it's sometimes difficult to slip some vegetables into the mix. Coleslaw is a little deceptive since it is so rich-tasting and creamy, people tend to forget it's packed full of things that are good for you.

Though I tend to make everything from scratch, for an event like Super Bowl I recommend saving yourself the time and effort and just buy the pre-cut coleslaw mix at the grocery store. You could spend a lot of time grating cabbage and slicing carrots, but really, the end product is about the same. Besides, if the bagged stuff is good enough for Paula Deen, it's good enough for me. That said, I refuse to buy a pre-made coleslaw dressing. Sometimes you have to pick your battles.