Head over to the La Wooden Spoon page on my site and enter to win a free 1-year subscription to Bon Appetit magazine, my favorite cooking magazine.

This evening I tried a recipe from the May 2010 issue of Bon Appetit magazine: Beet Salad. It sounds very unassuming and it turns out to be just that. But it is delicious and simple. The only annoying part is the messiness of grating fresh beets.

But even that step was worth it to have a fresh beet salad. This is another recipe that I have made this week that only requires 4 ingredients (not including salt and pepper.) It is simply fresh grated beets, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, and safflower oil. I happened to be out of safflower oil and had to substitute grapeseed oil. I let the salad marinate in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving. Go to BonAppetit.com for a copy of the recipe or see page 118 in the May issue of the magazine where this recipe is included in an article about Toulouse, France.

The rest of my light dinner included Chili-Rubbed Pork Chops from the March 2010 issue of Food Network Magazine. These were quite tasty but next time, I think I will cut back on the chili powder. The recipe called for 1/3 cup of chili powder which I found to be overwhelming in the dish. The onions that cook up with the pork chops are fantastic!

When we hear flapjacks, we automatically think pancakes here in the US. But not in Britain. They make a delightful dessert called Flapjacks out of just 4 ingredients and it is ever so simple: butter, brown sugar, golden syrup, and quick-cooking oats. The one trick about the whole thing is finding the golden syrup. This is a cane syrup popular in Britain and you need the real cane syrup to make this recipe authentic. I was unable to find this ingredient in my town so on a recent trip into Houston, I got a bottle of cane syrup. Tonight I gave this recipe featured in Bon Appetit magazine in the March issue a try:

These flapjacks are good. Really good. It is difficult to describe the flavorful tastiness of this simple dessert. It is carmely. It is chewy and oaty. (I know, I know, maybe some of those aren't real words but bear with me.) Go to Bon Appetit for the full recipe.

I decided to cook something substantial for dinner last weekend. Something that took hours to simmer and cook. I decided to prepare Braised Short Ribs of Beef from my favorite cookbook, The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins. I have cooked most of the recipes in that cookbook but the short ribs are not something that I had tried yet.

Well, let me just say that this recipe turned out wonderfully. The ribs were so tender and flavorful. This is a very easy one pot dish. I used my largest Le Creuset pot to braise and then cook the ribs. The only change I had to make to the recipe was that I had to omit the whole cloves. I am sure this changed the taste quite a bit but I had run out of cloves and did not want to go to the store again.

Here is a copy of the Braised Short Ribs recipe.

I am a huge fan of M&M's. Especially Peanut M&M's.

But they have gone and given us a flavor profile that I really do NOT like. I give you Strawberried Peanut Butter M&M's:

These have been out for a bit of time but I didn't take the opportunity to try them until now. My advice to you: don't bother. The flavor combination just does not work at all for me. I'll stick to the Peanut Butter M&M's or Peanut M&M's. Or even the limited edition Coconut M&M's.

But on the bright side, M&M's has a really good website: M&M's

And in other news: I took my daughter to the county science fair this past weekend where she entered her project into competition. We walked around to view the other projects while we were waiting. There was one project that showed the scientific probability of finding a green M&M in a bag of M&M's. Good one!

We recently tried a new kind of coffee at our house and I will have to say that it is really good. It is Dallmayr prodomo kaffee.

Dallmayr dates back to the 17th century in Munich, Germany. It is a luxury food store and delicatessen that also happens to make some fine coffee and export it to the rest of the world. In case you don't happen to be in Munich, you can order your Dallmayr coffee from Germandeli.com

The Dallmayr coffee is free of any bitter after-taste which is a quality I especially like in coffees and is brewed from Arabica beans. Normally we just use Kona coffee here at our house for our regular coffee and Cafe Bustelo for our latte's. Now we have another favorite coffee to add to our line-up.

Visit their website at http://www.dallmayr.de/en/about_dallmayr.html and you can learn more about the fascinating history behind this business that is more than 300 years old.

It should be noted that I am a total coffee nut. I get up really early in the morning, get my daughter ready for school, and drive her to school. Then I come back home and make a pot of coffee. Don't interrupt me when I am enjoying my cups of coffee in the morning. I like to fix a cup of coffee and troll through the blogs that I regularly read and also the latest news before I get started on my work day.

I recently made Potato & Leek Soup for supper on a cold night. It is my own original recipe that I cobbled together from other recipes I have seen and customized to be my own.

5 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
2 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup water
3 Leeks
1/2 of a medium onion, chopped
1 tsp olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream or half-and-half

Toppings: shredded cheddar cheese, chopped green onion, chopped cooked bacon

Place the potatoes, broth, and water in a heavy pot over medium heat. While potatoes are cooking, prepare the leeks by removing the green part and discarding, slice the white part of the leeks into thin slices. Then rinse the sliced leeks well in a colander under running water.

In a skillet combine the leeks, onion, and olive oil over medium heat and sautee until onions are translucent and softened. Add the leeks and onion to the potatoes. Once the potatoes are completely cooked and very soft, add the heavy cream, salt and pepper. Heat for 3 more minutes.

Spoon this soup into bowls and top with shredded cheese, green onion, and bacon.