My Mom's The BEST! Essay Contest

Tell us in 50 words or less why your mom is the BEST! and win this great Barilla Abbondanza Basket.

It's filled with Barilla Plus whole grain pasta and other Barilla favorites: Farfalle, Linguine, Three-Cheese Tortellini, Spinach and Cheese Tortellini and yummy Barilla Pasta Sauce packed with red ripe tomatoes. Plus you'll get a Barilla apron, a pasta server and an adorable pasta timer with a cute bow pasta on top.

Let us know why your mom is so special. Tell us about her personality, how she helps you to be the best person you can be, or why she makes you giggle.

HURRY! Contest ends May 31, 2007!

Contest Rules and Entry Form

Garlic Fried Rice from Cecilia

My mom taught me this delicious recipe. You will need:

3 or 4 cloves of garlic
3 cups pre-made white rice
1 tsp. of black pepper
1 tsp. of cilantro
1 tblsp. of fish sauce
(or)
a pinch of salt

Tools:

Large sauce pan
Spatula
Oven mit

Instructions:

On medium heat, saute the garlic. Spoon in the pre-cooked white rice and stir for
about 4 minutes. Gradually stir in the salt or fish sauce and keep stirring the
rice. Fold in the pepper and cilantro. Stir constantly for 3-5 minutes. Let cool for
1 minute, and serve. Enjoy!

Makes 6-7 servings

Snack Attack

We have a new page up. It's called "Snack Attack." You can access it through the Recipe Box page.

It's organized by what you might have in the refrigerator. Got eggs? Got cheese?

So if you're hungry after school, you can find a recipe for an easy snack.

We'll be adding new snack features in the next few weeks. So if you have a favorite snack, send us the recipe. Please include your first name and your state.

Golden Freeze Smoothie

Here's a recipe sent to us by Cassidy.

You'll need:

1-6 oz (3/4 cup) frozen orange juice concentrate
2 cups milk
2-3 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
8-10 ice cubes

1. Place the first 4 ingredients and half of the ice cubes into a blender
container. Cover and process on medium high until you no longer hear the
ice hitting the blades.
2. Continue processing on medium high speed. Remove center cup opening;
drop the other half of the ice cubes through center opening remaining ice
one at a time until you no longer hear the ice hitting the blades.

Yield-approximately 5 cups

Sound great, Cassidy! Thanks for the recipe.

Chocolate Egg Tree

I saw your video on the egg tree. Well, I wanted to share a neat thing that you can
do like that to make chocolate eggs. You drill only one hole but make it a little
bit bigger than the one shown on your egg tree. Then you get all of the egg out. You
also need to make sure that you wash it to get all the germs out! (Wash it
realllllllly well!)

Then you melt some chocolate chips. You then use a funnel to let
the melted chocolate get into the egg. Then you put it in the fridge and let it
harden.

When completely hardened you can crack the egg and a delicious chocolate egg is in store!! Another thing you can do is do layers with white chocolate, nuts, and
caramel, and dark chocolate!

Sincerely,
Mace

COOKING CONTEST for KIDS sponsored by Food and Wine Magazine

Food & Wine magazine, knows that kids are America's newest foodies. In their August issue, they will profile some of the most talented young cooks in the U.S.

If you're the parent of a child age 6-16 who's a whiz in the kitchen and whose fondest dream is to become the next Emeril Lagasse or Giada De Laurentiis, they want to know about him or her! So tell them about your kid cook and send us his or her favorite recipe: It might be an original dish, a family recipe or a recipe from TV, a cookbook or another source.

Entrants (parents of the kid cooks) must be legal U.S. residents 18 years or older. Contest rules and entry form.

Two Grand Prize Winners will each receive a selection of cooking tools worth about $170. Two runners-up each get a $50 American Express Gift Card. For complete official rules, visit foodandwine.com/kids after March 30, 2007. Void where prohibited.

CHECK THIS OUT! The date is coming up fast!

All mailed entries must be postmarked by April 14, 2007 and received by April 20, 2007. All faxed entries must be received by April 14, 2007.

Turkey Sandwich from Keely

Keely send us this recipe for a grilled turkey sandwich:

Take 2 slices of bread, some turkey, 1 teaspoon of honey mustard, 1 teaspoon of mayo, 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese, a hunk of butter.

Spread mustard and mayo on bread. Put turkey on bread. Add parmesan. Put butter in a pan on medium heat.

After butter melts put sandwich in. Let cook for 5-10 minutes. Enjoy!

Great recipe Keely. Thanks!