I always use a coaster near my computer just to try and keep any moisture from drinks- “sweat” on cold glasses on hot days or drips down the sides of other beverages - away from my computer. Most are pretty boring, as the majority of coasters are still sold in sets with the intention of being used in a more formal room where the wood of the table needs to be protected, not just computer equipment. The Splat Stan Coaster is not boring at all and is a real jump away from the old mold. The coaster, sold individually, is made of silicone rubber and looks like a little orange guy has been partially flattened by your cup (silicone extends under the cup to protect the desk while Stan mostly sticks out to one side). It’s really cute and is a really neat toy to have in the office - even if you work at home.

I have a lot of berries in my freezer, frozen when they were ripe and fresh this past summer (and some in bags from Trader Joe’s, too). Frozen berries work just as well in recipes as fresh berries, especially in breads and muffins where they’re stirred into batter individually. When you’re dealing with a lot of frozen berries, however, you sometimes need to make some adjustments to a recipe to get the same results that you would get with fresh berries. Namely, you might need to extend the baking/cooking time to take into account that the berries, when in a big bunch, will take longer to thaw out than individual berries. For a sauce, the berries can be thawed in advance if you like. For other baked goods, I don’t like to thaw the berries because they loose a lot of their texture and are much harder to work with.

This fruity Blackberry Raspberry Pie can be made with fresh berries or with frozen berries. With fresh berries, the pie doesn’t take long to bake and the filling starts to thicken up almost as soon as the pie gets in the oven. With frozen berries, the pie will need some additional baking time because the berries will first thaw before the filling thickens up. The end result is the same, frozen berries (for off-season pies) usually require a little more patience. The baking directions below give the times for working with fresh berries and frozen, so you can make this pie all year round. The trick is to watch the crust to take on an all-over dark golden color - that’s when you know the pie is perfectly cooked.

The berry filling of this pie has a lot of natural sweetness to it, accented with a bit of brown sugar. There is a hint of vanilla, thanks to the addition of vanilla extract in both the filling and the crust. The berries taste fresh and bright, and the filling is just thick enough to hold together well without becoming too thick or jammy. They almost melt in your mouth and really complement the flaky, crisp crust. It’s easy to eat two slices of this pie because it feels a lot lighter than, say, apple pie or something made with a heavier fruit. It’s good on its own, but excellent when slightly warmed and served with vanilla ice cream. Be sure to let the pie cool completely before slicing to ensure that the filling thickens up enough. If you want to serve it warm, pop each slice in the microwave for a few seconds before serving.

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Mark Bittman’s newest cookbook isn’t just a cookbook. It’s a book that discusses the implications - both to our own health and to the environment around us - of the way we eat. Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating with More Than 75 Recipes is divided up into two main sections, with “Food Matters” coming first and the recipes coming second.  Bittman leads the reader through a chapter on “rethinking consumption” to get the reader’s attention before exploring the topic futher and discussing the history of food as it relates to overconsumption and how eating habits can be changed to reflect a not-so-mindless attitude towards food.

There are plenty of facts and figures throughout the book, so this isn’t just a random collection of thoughts (not to name names, but some books in this genre certainly come off this way). Some of the statistics in just the first section are very eye catching - 7% of American’s calories come from soda, for instance. The book is very US-centric because that is where the audience for the book is. That doesn’t mean that in other developed countries there is no problem with overconsumption or eating too much junk/processed food - and organic junk food is still junk food - it just isn’t the focus of this book.

Unlike some politically/socially minded food books, this one does have the distinct advantage of also being a cookbook. Whether you agree with Bittman or not, you still get access to a whole bunch of new recipes. All of the recipes were designed with the theme of the book in mind and most use a minimum amount of ingredients to produce big flavors, and the recipes that use meat tend to augment it with lots of vegetables. They also use whole grains, heart healthy fats and suggest a very minimal amount of anything processed. As you might expect from the author, the recipes are easy to follow and have very straighforward instruction. The recipe section includes breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner and even dessert.

Girl Scout cookie season is just around the corner. As usual, I’m not really planning to buy any of the Girl Scouts’ offerings - although I am happy to support local troops in other ways - because I know that I can make cookies that are as good or better at home. Girl Scout cookies still contain partially hydrogenated oils, even if they have decreased the amount to come in under the FDA’s definition of “zero trans fats per serving” (no more than .5g per serving). Homemade cookies are made with real ingredients - butter, sugar, flour, chocolate - and really do have zero trans fats. They’re still indulgent treats, but treats you can feel good about eating!

You can find recipes for four of the Scouts’ best sellers here, including an easy to make version of Thin Mints that you don’t need a cookie cutter to shape:

• Homemade Thin Mints - minty chocolate wafer cookies dipped in chocolate
• Homemade Samoas - shortbread topped with coconut-laden caramel and drizzled with chocolate
• Homemade Do-Si-Dos - crispy peanut butter sandwich cookies with a peanut butter filling
• Homemade Tagalongs - peanut butter cup-like cookies with a shortbread base

And if you’ve had enough of the cookies on their own, try using them in another way:

• No-Bake Vanilla Cheesecake with Thin Mint Crust

The only thing better than a recipe that is dead easy is one that is dead easy to make, doesn’t require many ingredients and tastes fantastic. These Cashew Brittle Bars happen to fall into that category. The recipe has just four ingredients and takes just minutes to throw together. The bars consist of a thin layer of crisp shortbread that is studded with toasted, salted cashews. Some of the cashews are mixed in with the shortbread for flavor, while others are pressed into the top to give the bars a beautiful nut-studded look (and they add flavor there as well, of course). It’s the cookie version of candy nut brittle.

I’ve made this recipe before with peanuts and it’s always a big hit when served. Peanut brittle is more common than cashew brittle, but cashews are a great fit for this recipe because they have a naturally buttery flavor that really suits the buttery shortbread base.

Roasted and salted cashews are the only way to go for this recipe. The shortbread layer is a bit sweet and the salty nuts give the bars a tasty - and addictive - salty/sweet taste. I used packaged roasted and salted cashews, but you can lightly toast raw nuts in a skillet until they turn a light golden color. Toss the nuts with salt while they are still warm in the pan so that some will adhere to the nuts. If your nuts are toasted but unsalted, add in about 1/2-tsp of salt to the recipe and sprinkle a pinch over the top of the bars before baking.

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There is a lot of pressure to pick out New Year’s resolutions once the first of the year comes around. I’m not that big on resolutions, mostly because I don’t think that you need to wait until January to set goals for yourself, but it never really hurts to have a reminder to look at some of your goals and give your plans for the next few months a once-over.  This year, my food-related New Year’s Resolution is actually a blog-related one: I’d like to finish a Baking Bites cookbook. It’s always nice to have a hard copy of recipes in the kitchen to work from and, as one glance at my bookshelf will tell you, I’m a sucker for cookbooks in general.

Aside from that, I wouldn’t mind doing more work with yeast breads and would love to come up with a homemade version of Mother’s Taffy Cookies just in case Kelloggs doesn’t continue on with that recipe from Mother’s.

What are your food-related plans this year? Eat out more? Cook at home more? Is there a particular type of recipe you’re hoping to master, or do you have something bigger in mind? Share in the comments!