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When I was a kid marshmallows came in three flavors: plain, toasted coconut and fruity (Kraft calls them FunMallows). A couple of years ago I found Caramel & Vanilla Swirl and I wrote about it here . This winter I saw extra-large marshmallows and square flat marshmallows sized to fit perfectly on graham crackers and chocolate bars for s'mores. Kraft calls them StackerMallows. This spring the flavors of marshmallows have exploded like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man when zapped by The Ghostbusters (now that's telling my age!) In addition to plain, mixed fruit, strawberry and caramel marshmallows, there are chocolate royale, chocolate-vanilla swirl and chocolate mint varieties. A label on a shelf indicated Pina Colada should be stocked there but it wasn't. Stay Puft marshmallows have been licensed as a "Ghostbusters" collectible and sold as CAFFEINATED MARSHMALLOWS ! Kraft Foods, maker of Jet-Puffed Marshmallows says the new flavors will be around for a limited ti...

This spring I discovered Kraft Jet-Puffed SwirlMallows in Caramel & Vanilla. Eaten by hand from the bag, they have a slight burnt-sugar quality. I like them. When you toast them over a stove burner or a bonfire's flames, they seem to burn faster than regular marshmallows. I didn't mind. But a "gourmet" marshmallow needed a little better treatment. So I got a dark chocolate bar and elevated the outdoors experience. I used graham crackers but I wonder if shortbread would be fitting or too over-the-top. The only place I have found these new marshmallows at Foodland Fresh in Kingwood. Last time I looked, they didn't have them, though. If you can find them, enjoy them -- Happy Fourth of July!

You'll feel naughty eating these decadent brownies. A plain brownie is pretty scrumptious but I prefer dressing them up with toppings. I've done a coconut frosting, raspberry jam swirled with white chocolate chips and a turtle variation. For the past year I have made a lot of the rocky road brownies from a recipe I got from a former co-worker. This spring I started thinking about recreating a Hershey's Take 5 candy bar by topping the chocolate brownie base with pretzels, caramel and peanut butter. I didn't add Hershey's fifth ingredient, chopped peanuts, so my creation is more of a "Take 4." Good -- they won't get me for trademark infringement. I also had the urge to make a Fluffernutter topping for a brownie, but instead of pairing peanut butter with marshmallow fluff, I used marshmallow ice cream sundae topping. The result was yummy. Brownies are the perfect portable thing to tote to a potluck, picnic or reunion. They hold up well for transport, they...

I used to be a diehard recipe follower. Now I'm less afraid of messing up something. I'm not completely at ease just mixing random things without measuring. Ingredients are too expensive to throw away and I am too picky to eat my mistakes. But I have come to trust my palate more and will occasionally wing it. I must really be taking risks in my sleep-deprived state of late because I mixed up some chicken salad for sandwich filling to serve at a church luncheon reception with only a vague notion of what I was going for and a quick glance at a couple of recipes. Tyler Florence helped only marginally. I didn't boil my chicken with onion, carrots and celery and save the stock but someday I will. A review of Baltimore's Atwater's restaurant sparked the notion of adding dried cherries as well as the golden raisins I planned. The resulting sandwich wasn't bad -- no complaints but no requests for the recipe (unlike my Rocky Road Brownies, which drew raves.) Here...

This Easter, my daughter got her weight in sugar (not from me, I assure you.) A week later I was staging an indoor "campfire" for a sleepover and instead of buying milk chocolate chips to concoct these indoor S'mores, I raided her Easter haul. Two solid chocolate crosses and a Dove rabbit were sacrificed for the good of the project. I didn't think about it until later, but possibly Peeps could be used in place of the mini marshmallows. But those never last around my house as long as the solid chocolates. Indoor S'mores Copyright 2007 General Mills 8 cups Golden Grahams cereal 5 cups miniature marshmallows 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips 1/4 cup light corn syrup 5 tablespoons butter or margarine 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 additional cup miniature marshmallows, if desired I made the stovetop version; microwave directions follow. Into large bowl, measure cereal. Butter 13-by-9-inch pan. In 3-quart saucepan, heat 5 cups marshmallows, the chocolate chips, corn syrup and butt...