Ingredients

1 (16.1-ounce) package Jell-O No Bake Peanut Butter Cup Dessert
1 1/3 cups cold milk
8 (5-ounce) paper cups or frozen pop molds
8 wooden pop sticks
1/2 cup Halloween sprinkles

Directions

1. Place topping pouch in large bowl of boiling water; set aside.
2. Prepare filling mix with milk in deep medium bowl as directed on package. Gently stir in crust mix.
3. Spoon evenly into paper cups.
4. Remove pouch from water. Knead pouch 1 minute or until topping is fluid and no longer lumpy. Squeeze topping evenly over mixture in cups.
5. Insert pop stick into each cup. Freeze 3 hours or overnight until firm.
6. To remove pop from cup, place bottom of cup under warm running water for 15 seconds. Press firmly on bottom of cup to release pop. (Do not twist or pull pop stick.) Gently roll side and tops of pops in sprinkles.
7. Store leftover pops in freezer.

Makes 8 servings.

Courtesy of Kraft Foods, Inc.

In Thursday’s post, I talked about how not to go overboard with buying cookbooks. I was doing well to live up to my promise until I took my son to Barnes&Noble Saturday night to find an unrelated book. Being the typical boy, he was not happy to tag along with Mom at the bookstore. That was, until we came upon the cookbook aisle.

His little face lit up when I started talking about baking cookies for the holidays. I had him look through the cookbooks as I read through the books I’d picked from another section of the store. His first choice was the Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Cookies. He sat and looked through that book for a good ten minutes, which is highly unusual for him.

After he finished, I checked out the book myself. It’s spiral bound, which makes it very easy to lay it flat on the counter or fold it to the recipe we’re using. I found some useful tips in the beginning of the book, such as the difference between using butter or margarine when making cookies. More are included throughout the book.

The recipes are simple and easy to follow, which makes this a great cookbook for kids and beginning cooks. This book contains 475 recipes for cookies, bars, and brownies, plus a metric conversion table and two indexes.

The only thing that disappointed me was the lack of recipes for Halloween treats.

1. Allrecipes.com: This is my all-time favorite recipe site because you’ll find recipes from all over the world, ranging from “down home American” to exotic gourmet. I spent several hours copying and pasting Southwestern and Mexican food recipes onto my computer.

2. Epicurious: You’ll find plenty of recipes here, as well as menu planners, restaurant guides, cookbooks, videos for cooking techniques, etc. It’s got something for everyone.

3. RecipeSource: I liked the way this site is divided into regions. It’s not as fancy looking as Epicurious, but you’ll find plenty of mouth-watering recipes here, too.

4. 101 Cookbooks: Created by Heidi Swanson in early 2003 to post recipes from her 100+ cookbook collection. Since then 101 Cookbooks has evolved to include recipes that Heidi has received from friends and during her travels. Well worth the look.

5. Chronicles of a Curious Cook: This blog is great for cooks who are on a shoestring budget and want to eat good food. I enjoy this lady’s conversational style.