P is for Pasta: Pasta with Escarole, White Beans and Veggie Sausage (Jennifer)

Hi everyone,

Hope you all enjoyed your Valentine's Day and ate your fair share of chocolate! Isn't that the best part of Valentine's Day? Whether you bought the chocolate yourself or not. : )

Well, this week Jessica gave me an ingredient that could have been interpreted in any number of different ways. Pasta comes in such a variety of shapes, sizes, and textures and furthermore, can be dressed, coated or slathered in any number of different sauces. It's like you're Picasso trying to decide which color and which brush to paint with--the possibilities are endless!

I decided to go with a very simple, non-fancy way to eat pasta. Simple flavors, fresh ingredients, light sauce. No matter which way you decide to do it, pasta is a delicious, filling and hearty ingredient that would do for any kind of weeknight or weekend dinner! Buon Appetito!

P is for Peanut Butter: Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips (Jessica)

Dear Readers,

Have you been searching for the perfect one? Just waiting for the right banana bread recipe to come waltzing through the door and change your life? Another year day-dreaming at home on Valentine's Day with a glass of wine? Well, now you can stop. No need for online recipe dating searching anymore. This is the one for you! Guaranteed to bring you flowers and take you for long walks on the beach!* A perfect combination of bananas and peanut butter (yes, peanut butter), plus a little chocolate, and you'll never go back.

So now, without further ado....here's your recipe!






*A recipe can't really do that, people, let's not get carried away here....

P is for Pumpkin Swirl Bars! (Guest Post: Jenn)

Hello readers!

Tonight we have a very special guest post coming from our colleague, Jenn! A BIG "thank you" shout out to Jenn for making something extra delicious to showcase for the letter "P!"

P is for Pretzels (Jennifer)

Greetings!

This week's post for pretzels was inspired, in part, by my trip to the fair this past weekend! That's right--this may be California, but will still enjoy a good fair in the summertime! I feel particularly lucky living here because we get two fairs each summer--the Orange County Fair in July/August and the Los Angeles County Fair in September/October. I love, love, love the fair. Although, since my 10-year (gasp!) high school reunion is coming up and I'm watching my figure, I splurged only for a snowcone and a Cheese-On-A-Stick from the famed "Hot Dog On A Stick" chain. Does everyone out there in blogland have HDOAS? If not, you should find one. Pronto. I'm a fan of the cheese-on-a-stick variety. Deeeeelish.

Anywhoo, back to pretzels. And cheese. This week I combined the two for a homemade pretzel and cheese one-two punch. It reminded me of summers past where my sister and I would ask my mom to buy us a box of these frozen "SuperPretzels":
 
We loved these things! They were fast, easy and satisfying. Though not necessarily 30-seconds fast like the "SuperPretzel", I hope you'll find this week's recipe equally easy and satisfying!

P is for Popovers (Jessica)

Dear Friends,

This week, I had a popover party! I am very lucky to be on vacation (part 2) this week and in my free time with family and family friends, I made popovers. MANY moons ago, I came across this popover recipe and have been waiting for the perfect audience for whom to make them. The only way to eat these delightfully puffy snacks is right out of the oven. They sink and get soggy if not eaten immediately!
The first time I had popovers was on a family vacation to Acadia National Park (in Maine) when I was a kid. We visited Jordan Pond and I remember my parents made us walk ALL the way around the pond before we could eat at the restaurant there! Argghhh! But the specialty popovers were worth it. :)

I looked up some tips and tricks for the fine art of making popovers (as they are temperamental) and the following is what I did...