If you’re getting ready to prepare traditional New Year’s foods, now’s the day to get out and shop before everything’s sold out tomorrow. Here in the South, we have two staples that you can’t get through New Year’s without: collard greens (mustard or turnip are fine too) and black-eyed peas. Both symbolize prosperity. (A dollar for every pea you eat, the saying goes.)

Since we’ve got finicky kid eaters over here, I’m adding some good ol’ macaroni and cheese that everybody likes. Here’s a recipe I snagged from a friend who’s a great cook — kids love it, and it’s good enough for adults who crave comfort foods (like me, of course.)

1 1-lb. box, Elbow macaroni
1 1-lb. block New York extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 8-oz. package cream cheese
2 heaping Tbsp. butter
2 beaten eggs
1/4 cup whole milk or half and half
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 to 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Preaheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot, cook macaroni al dente style. Drain. Cut cheddar and cream cheese into cubes. To macaroni, add butter, cheeses, eggs, milk, salt and peppers. Mix well. Pour into greased 9×13 pan. Top with seasoned bread crumbs. Bake 30 minutes.

This macaroni and cheese recipe is the best I’ve ever tasted. If you’re searching for good recipes, my favorite site is Simply Recipes by Elise. She has such gorgeous pictures. Check out her collard greens recipe.

I read this recipe yesterday, and it looks so delicious and easy I can’t wait to try it out. Plus, nothing beats the taste of peppermint and chocolate mixed together. I also love the way this recipe is written. Doesn’t it sound like fun?

I got this from Writer’s Weekly. (Do you receive this newsletter? It’s great — full of ideas and job postings.)

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 bag white chocolate chips
Lots of candy canes

Melt semi-sweet chocolate chips on medium heat in the microwave for about 3 minutes; stir often.

Spread the melted goo, about 1/4-inch thick, on waxed paper, and put it in the freezer.

Melt white chocolate chips the same way, but don’t put in freezer yet.

Once the mixture in the freezer is hard enough, spread the white chocolate mixture on top of the hardened semi-sweet mixture. If you do this too early, the white chocolate will start to melt the dark chocolate.

Put candy canes in a Ziploc bag and smash them. The kids love doing this with a hammer but the broken candy canes can make holes in the bag and make a big mess, so be careful.

Sprinkle the candy canes generously on top of the melted white chocolate. Push them into the white chocolate (gets messy, but just lick your hands afterward) so they’ll stay there after the candy hardens.

Put the pan back into the freezer. Once the candy hardens throughout, peel the waxed paper from the bottom and break into pieces.

Serves: Two families…but only for about a day. It’s pretty yummy!

I’ve been chatting about books all week. What would we do if we were actually sitting together in a little cafe having our discussions? We’d be starving by now. So, let’s eat.

I discovered a fabulous recipe site the other day, thanks to my friend Kara at Photanical Garden. She’s a mom of an almost one-year-old son and copywriter for Hasbro Games. She’s got a great sense of humor and posts interesting product reviews, recipes, and even a series on how she’s Blogging to Black. You’ll have to go read it — she’s found her blog to be a great place to deal with some financial issues.

So, she’s the one who discovered this recipe site. I’ll let her tell you about it in her own words, or you can read the complete post at her site.

While searching for recipe sites this weekend, I came across a wonderful site called Simply Recipes. It’s the cozy recipe catalog created by Elise Bauer, who shares her family’s love of cooking with the blogosphere.

I enjoy her blog because the recipes are easily categorized, there are photos for most of the entries, and the recipes she features are for foods I would actually like to make as opposed to the countless recipe books I’ve seen that offer weird or pretentious dishes that I can’t fathom having a craving for.

Elise also features some special offerings that you might not find elsewhere, such as her Chai recipe that I’m dying to try.

Cooking has become more interesting to me lately, as I’m trying to get out of the weekly dinner rut and create a list of enjoyable dishes that are fairly easy and go over well with the family (no easy feat). Simply Recipes will certainly be a resource for me on the journey!

Thanks, Kara! I visited Simply Recipes, and I love how easy it is to look things up. Plus, I need pictures for inspiration, and her photos are beautiful.

Anybody care for some sweet potato pie?

P.S. Kara is having a tagline contest for her blog. Can anybody help her out? You’ve got until Nov. 24. And here’s the grand prize:

And as if the fame and notoriety isn’t enough, I’ll bestow upon the winner an awesome SpongeBob Ants in the Square Pants game just in time for Christmas! Now, this is not just any off-the-shelf game. Oh no. I actually wrote all the copy on the package at my day job. I can autograph it if you like, of course . . . or not. So start thinking of those great taglines!