If you order a dozen or so holiday cookies from a bakery, you don't expect them to be piled up on a plate and covered in saran wrap, although this seems to be a perfectly acceptable presentation for gifts of homemade cookies. It's true that it is the thought that counts and that good cookies will over come any packaging, but it doesn't take that much more effort to take that packaging to a new level, which will keep the cookies fresher and make a homemade gift a showstopper.

This week, along with their collection of eight great holiday cookie recipes that are all going to be a bit more impressive than your average batch of chocolate chips, including Coconut Orange Macaroons, Scottish Shortbread, Ginger Drops and Candy Cane Cookies, the Denver Post has some great tips for packaging. For kids, try packing up "blank" gingerbread cookies in a small toolbox with frosting, sprinkles and other things they can use to customize the cookies. For cookies that will long outlast the holiday season, giving an unbaked roll of cookie dough (choose an attractive one, like the Chocolate-Coconut Pinwheels the article includes) and baking instructions wrapped up in an elegant tube that will put any store-bought dough to shame. And for the baker, consider wrapping the treats up in or on a pan, so they'll have something to use when they want to bake a batch themselves.

Over the last week or so, we got some fantastic holiday dinner ideas from a lot of our food blogging friends. First, we were inspired by turkey and stuffing recipes, and then were moved on to some delicious side dishes. No big feast would be complete without dinner rolls or some kind of bread, and so we got some wonderful ideas for breads to serve, too. As we come down to the wire for Thanksgiving, we're finishing up our little series with a look at some outstanding desserts.

• The gold standard of Thanksgiving desserts is the pumpkin pie. There are several recipes to choose from for this category, including the Accidental Hedonist's fresh pumpkin pie, a back-of-the-can pumpkin pie, or a do-it yourself pie that sill uses canned pumpkin.
• Sweet potato pie is also a favorite, and the pie at Simply Recipes has a pecan topping which will add a nicely contrastive crunch.
• You can't go wrong with apple pie, and our detailed homemade apple pie recipe shows you what every step should look like.
• The Homesick Texan shares a pecan pie recipe from her grandmother - and grandmothers almost always make the best pies.
• Elizabeth Ryan's cranberry pie (pictured) at Kitchen Chick will add a huge boost of color to your meal.
• If pies aren't your favorite, you could always opt for Alpineberry's Creamy Pumpkin Cheesecake with Ginger-Pecan Crust.
• One Whole Clove gets some chocolate into her pumpkin dessert with a Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze and Pumpkin-Chocolate Truffle Center.
• And to really impress guests, bring out Pumpkin Seed Brittle and Burnt Sugar Ice Cream from Tartelette.

Normally, I don't make a habit of covering sites with the word cute in the URL (I"ll leave that to all you knitting bloggers), but Cooking Cute looks to be a bento site worth noting. The recently launched site has plenty of tips for packing and preparing bento lunches, a glossary of terms, recipes and links to way more bento blogs than I ever knew existed. I'm also fond of the bento calendar, which features photos and links to descriptions of the different meals. And you know, aside from a bunny and a few flowers, the cute isn't that overpowering.

Earlier this week, Nicole posted about recipe searches using Google itself, or Cooking with Google. Along those same "help me with what's in my fridge," life-gives-you-lemons kind of lines comes Snacksby.com. Admittedly still in its infancy, Snacksby describes itself as "like MacGyver, but for food." A search for "chicken, cucumbers, corn," which is what's in my fridge now, returned "Don't really expect anything, we've only got like 3 recipes and 12 ingredients here right now anyway. You should totally add a recipe or an ingredient." That may be a bit of an understatement, and some of Snacksby's features-tag clouds, food photo sharing-could be a lot of fun if/when more people start to contribute to the site. It's definitely worth a look. 

Have you ever looked at a product and thought I could come up with that! or this would be so much better if they had just added (blank)? Now is your chance to have your idea made into a blockbuster. Kraft announced in last week's Wall Street Journal that they are accepting ideas from real people about what products they want to see on the shelves. Generally, product ideas come via market researchers or trend-watching firms, then are made into reality by food scientists (link to bread article) before being taste tested by groups of consumers. In this new campaign, the product starts and ends with consumers.

In all honesty, it sounds like they must be having some creative problems with their product development team, especially because they are particularly interested in ideas that haven been patented and "can be brought to market quickly." Nevertheless, this sounds like a great opportunity for anyone with an innovative idea to get their product across to one of the largest food companies in the world - without the usual hassle and red tape that go along with regular submissions.

There is a set of rules to help protect the company and the rights of the person submitting the idea for new products, packaging, or business processes/systems (all of which are being accepted), so be sure to check them out first.

 

Bea, of Le Tartine Gourmande, was inspired to use her pizzelle maker to create some homemade cones to serve with a light, refreshing sorbet. Using the same principle that is applied to making tuiles, in which a warm, thin cookie is quickly shaped before it has the chance to cool, she twisted her crisp pizzelles into perfect, miniature cones. Normally, one might use a dedicated waffle cone maker to produce homemade cones, but getting multiple uses of out an appliance you already own is a brilliant idea. The tiny cones were just like thin, crispy waffles and Bea says that they went beautifully with the sorbets. An alternative use for pizzelles, which can also be bought in stores if you do not have the equipment to make them at home, is to use them to make crispy ice cream sandwiches! Debbie, at words to eat by, has a recipe for chocolate pizzelles for a flavor variation that might be perfect for pairing with ice creams, rather than fruity sorbets.

Do you have a couple of hard-boiled eggs sitting around? Instead of throwing them out, assuming that you kept them refrigerated or, at least did not cook them more than a day or two ago, peel the eggs and put them to good use. Hard boiled eggs do not keep as long as their uncooked counterparts, so don't try cooking with the ones you used in an Easter egg hunt that might have been in the sun.  A large egg has about 70 calories and is an excellent source of protein, with about 6 grams per egg. There are approximately 5 grams of fat in an egg, with 3.5 of them unsaturated, and they are all contained in the yolk. For more information on eggs, look here, but if you're just looking for a recipe or two, food blogs are a great place to look.

• Deviled Eggs 
• Egg Salad Sandwich 
• Hard Cooked Egg Cookies 
• Vegetarian Scotch Eggs 
• Son-in-law Eggs

[Photo by Nicole Weston]

Recipes for home cooks tend to be formulated for a specific numbers of diners, usually 2, 4 or 6, which are all fairly common family numbers. Most recipes are easy to double, so you can turn a chicken dinner for four into a meal for eight quite easily. Recipes for entertaining and parties, however, are different. You generally want small or bite-sized portions and need a single recipe that will feed a house or yard full of people. Fortunately, there are several cookbooks on the market that can help you out here by providing you with lots of recipes that a specifically geared towards pleasing crowds. These are some of my favorites. Some are more traditional and some are more current, but all are great additions to home libraries.

• Party Food by Barbara Kafka
• Entertaining by Donna Hay
• Williams-Sonoma Entertaining
• Joy of Cooking: Party Foods and Drinks
• Just a Bite by Gale Gand

This isn't a complete list, by the way. What are your favorite entertaining cookbooks?

[Photo by Nicole Weston]

I recently found a site that deserves a mention if only for its name: My Lunch Can Beat Up Your Lunch! A self-described "ode to bento lunches," the site has photos, descriptions and recipes for roughly 100 different compartmentalized, on-the-go meals. The recipes are very straightforward and many, but not all, have Asian influences. There's yakitori and gyoza, but also chicken salad sandwiches and fried plantains. All in all, good for inspiration if you're looking to mix up what you pack for lunch every day.

Trend mapping reveals that food trends typically pass through five stages before gaining mainstream acceptance. Not all foods will make it through all five stages, though with increased public awareness of food trends and issues, and thanks to online communities and resources like Slashfood, more foods are making their way from Alinea to your table.

First, the cutting edge chefs with adventurous clientele will test the waters of flavor and texture. The ingredient might only appear as a special to begin with, but once it is established, other chefs will pick it up to appear on regular menus.

Next, if the food is a hit, the phenomenon will soon make its way to magazines like Bon Appetit and other trend-watching media. A television appearance will give the food further exposure.

New Year's Eve parties are an occasion to get together with friends and family, reminisce about what has been and wonder what is to come. It's a time to resolve to have more fun, be more successful and get healthier. It's also a time to a have few drinks, which, while not necessarily being unhealthy, may not be the rich way to kick start your resolution to lose those extra few pounds. Making a few cuts in your cocktails is actually a good way to save a few calories.

Earlier this year, a list of the most fattening cocktails was released, so you're off to a good start by avoiding the 650 calories in a Pina Colada and the 780 calories in each Long Island Ice Tea. Try to have a glass of water between each drink to balance out your calorie intake and go for smaller servings, instead of novelty-sized margaritas.

Wine, at about 100 calories a glass, is a good choice compared to most mixed drinks, which have higher calorie counts from the juices and sodas used a mixers, in addition to alcohol. For "lighter" drinks, skip the tonic in favor of club soda as a mixer, a calorie-free alternative, or use diet sodas instead of regular. You can add fruity flavors with a shot or two of one of Torani's Sugar Free Syrup, which come in flavors from vanilla to lemon to Irish Cream. While they work well in warming coffee drinks,  HungryGirl has quite a few creative, calorie-saving cocktail recipes to choose from to get your party started on December 31st.