This month we share sites that solicit your best recipes and may pay you big money!  Entering recipes in these online contests is quick and simple, you just need to put your best ones out there, and we would love to know when one of our readers does secure a victory.  Here’s a list of upcoming contests and their deadlines:  Read the rest of this post...

• The first upcoming deadline is October 12, 2009 for www.smuckers.com, share a family recipe (and a short essay) using 1/4 cup of one of Smuckers many products and you could win a trip for 8 people to Walt Disney World!
• The next deadline is October 24, 2009 for Better Homes and Gardens, www.bhg.com/recipes/win-money/, where you can submit recipes for veggie burgers and cereal cookies and bars – 2 $400 winners, 2 $200 winners and 10 $50 winners, with a chance for $10,000 at a future date!
• Finally, French’s www.frenchs.com/Contest offers a grand prize of $25,000 for the best recipe using one of their mustard, worcestershire, or fried onions products – deadline, October 31, 2009.

Easy admission: I LOVE CHOCOLATE! I had a friend in grad school who shared my love of chocolate.  A bowl of mini chocolate bars didn’t stand a chance with us around, all we left behind was a trail of torn and crumpled candy wrappers.  In those years, we couldn’t make it back home for every holiday, so the two of us (and our Roosters, who happen to be awesome cooks) would take turns hosting the special meal for our friends still on campus.  When she started experimenting with chocolate cheesecakes, we were all in heaven.  Whenever I make this cheesecake, I always smile as I remember those times together.  Read the rest of this post...

The end of summer is nearing, and I have a confession to make: I am almost sick of my garden tomatoes. They are ripening in such big bunches now that we can barely keep up with them, and I’m looking for new ways to eat them. This is a delicious recipe I got from my aunt. She gave me a photocopy of a photocopy that was from a magazine (I think), but I have no idea where the recipe originated. I’d love to give the right person credit for it, so if anybody out there knows the origin of the recipe, please let me know. It’s chock full of fresh veggies and tastes like summer itself. And with one person to grill the corn and one to chop, it’s a quick meal to prepare.