We had a party last night and had a lot of vegetables left over from the vegetable tray.  I was tired today and thought I’d throw together a batch of soup.  You can really use whatever vegetables you have in your refrigerator and/or freezer and just cut them into bite-sized pieces.  Here is what I used.

The DuPage County Health Department recommends the following tips to keep you and your guests healthy:

• Keep everything in the kitchen clean.  Wash counter tops and utensils with hot, soapy water between each step in food preparation.  Bacteria from raw meat and poultry can get into other foods if they touch the same surfaces or each other.

• Wash hands often during food preparation and while serving.  Most bacteria get into food through improper handling.  Always wash your hands with soap and warm water before handling food.  Bacteria can linger in towels and wash cloths used repeatedly, so make sure to wash them frequently.  Also, if someone has diarrhea or vomiting, they should not prepare or serve food for others as they may spread illness through food.

•  Keep hot food hot and cold food cold.  Cooking food thoroughly kills most bacteria that cause food poisoning.  Cook meat and poultry thoroughly and use a meat thermometer to check the temperature.  Keep hot food at 140°F.  Store and serve cold foods at or below 40°F.  Do not leave food unrefrigerated longer than one hour at a time or the chances of dangerous bacterial growth increase.  In other words, do not let potentially hazardous foods reach that intermediate temperature at which microorganisms grow best, between 40°F and 140°F.

If you or a family member develops nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever or abdominal cramps, you could have food poisoning.  Symptoms of foodborne illnesses can appear anywhere from 30 minutes to two weeks after eating contaminated food.  Most often, people get sick within four to 48 hours after eating contaminated food.

Some foodborne illnesses will resolve themselves without treatment.

However, if the symptoms are severe or if the person is very young, old, pregnant or already ill, call a doctor or go to a nearby hospital immediately.  If groups of people from different households become sick with vomiting and diarrhea, contact your local health department.

Click here to download your copy. 

The book has it all.  Sugar cookies, waffles, muffins, apple crisp, pie and pie crust, cakes, entrees, side dishes and yummy drinks.  Whether you are looking for recipes for your family or a holiday party, you won’t be disappointed.

Each recipe has easy-to-follow instructions and all the recipes are gluten and dairy free.

Some of my favorite ways to use the candy canes:

1.  Make a vanilla cake from your favorite mix.  Add 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract to the batter.  Bake and allow to cool.  Frost with frosting (I like the Betty Crocker canned frostings).  Sprinkle with crushed candy canes.

2.  Take two chocolate or sugar cookies.  Place frosting between the two cookies and make a sandwich with the frosting.  Roll the edge of the cookies in the candy canes and they will stick to the frosting for a beautiful holiday sandwich cookie.

3.  Make chocolate cupcakes from your favorite mix.  Allow to cool.  Add 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract to a can of chocolate or vanilla frosting and stir to combine.  Sprinkle with candy canes.

My family’s favorite candy company is SurfSweets, which is a division of TruSweets.  They have great tasting products (gummy bears, jelly beans, etc…) and they are allergen-free, organic, even corn-syrup free!  And they have no artificial colors or flavors.  Can’t get much better than that.

You can find the products at your local grocery store or order them from The Natural Candy Store.

Want to make desserts with crushed candy canes?  Click here for the recipes.

The winner of the *free conference ticket* has been announced on the Nourished blog. Hop on over and check it out.

Good news for those who didn’t win -

There are a limited number of Early Bird Tickets on sale at a $20 discount! The last day for the special discounted price is December 31st, 2011. Get yours before it’s sold out!

This is the perfect item to put on your Christmas Wish List.

Why attend Nourished?

Nourished will help you reach your blogging goals whatever they may be. You’ll walk away with tools and techniques that will immediately help you improve the quality of your blog in all areas.

That’s right – we’ve got it all covered.

Nourished sessions are designed to help you succeed, whether you’re new to blogging or you’ve been blogging for years. You’ll find dynamic sessions with presenters who want you to learn how to do what they do. Forget those sessions you’ve been to where the presenters tell you how great they are and never really explain how you can replicate their success.

Nourished presenters are all committed to helping you achieve your goals. Here’s a sneak peak at what some for our presenters will help you achieve:

• Food Photography – We’ve got basic & advanced sessions so regardless of where you are, we’ll be able to help you improve.
• Food Writing - Take your blog content to the next level and learn how to evoke emotion through your words.
• Build a Strong Blog Brand - You want to stand out and differentiate yourself from the crowd. This session will help you build a brand that people will remember.
• Beyond Gluten-Free: Cooking for Other Food Intolerances - Learn how to meet the needs of all those readers who need more than just gluten-free food to stay healthy.
• Get Press! Making the Media Notice You – Ever wondered what grabs the attention of magazine editors and other media? Learn how to make yourself stand out in an increasingly competitive crowd.
• Savvy Recipe Development – Some dishes just get more attention than others. Learn how to develop recipes that are delicious, stunning, and make people want to make the recipes you’re sharing.
• Traditional vs. Non-Traditional Publishing - With all the changes in technology, it’s smart to know the pros and cons of each type of publishing. We’ll cover traditional books, e-books, and apps to help you decide which route is best for you.
• Creating Engaging Video Blog Content - Thought about reaching your audience through vlogs but are a little worried about how you’ll sound on camera? Or, maybe you’re not sure how to put together content that will engage your readership. Quiet your fears at Nourished and leave ready to start using this viral marketing tool.

What are you waiting for? Register for Nourished now!

The folks at Red Apple Lipstick will be offering a tube of lipstick, lipgloss and a sample pack of goodies to one lucky winner.  Add a comment below and make sure you are following us on Facebook.  We’ll pick a winner next week!

Red Apple Lipstick is gluten-free, paraben-free and Vitamin E enriched.  It smells great, feels great, tastes great and doesn’t stick to your teeth. It glides on smooth and moisturizes all day and with every application.  And it won’t make you sick!

Think how many times a day you lick your lips and are ingesting your lipstick.  Yuck!  Good luck and I hope you win this great little prize for the holidays.

Our next giveaway:  Gluten Free Candy Canes! 

Congratulations to Jeanie for wining the package of goodies for her lips!

We’re so excited about Nourished (our GF Food Blogger conference) that we’re giving away a ticket – we want you to be there!  This is the first gluten-free food blogger conference that caters to your dietary needs.

Behind the scenes we’ve been working hard to create meaningful sessions and line up dynamic speakers to make sure this conference will help you create the blog you’ve been working toward.

Who should attend?

- Any blogger in the gluten-free/allergen friendly arena
- All aspiring bloggers
- Anyone who wants specific tools and strategies to take their blog to the next level
- Bloggers who want to build their network

Some of our presenters include:

- Dianne Jacob, author of Will Write for Food and founder of the same-named blog
- Susan Voisin, author & food photographer at Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
- Silvana Nardone, editor-in-cheif of Easy Eats Gluten-Free Magazine; former editor-in-cheif of Rachael Ray Magazine
- Cybele Pascal, allergy-free food expert, author of The Allergen-Free Baker’s Handbook
- Karen Morgan, recipe developer, blogger, and author of Blackbird Bakery Gluten-Free

For a list of all presenters, visit our Presenters page.

A sampling of session topics:

- Evoking Emotion Through Food Writing
- Creating a Strong Blog Brand
- Savvy Recipe Development
- Beyond Gluten-Free: Cooking for Other Food Intolerances
- Get Press! Making the Media Notice You
- Publishing Your Work: Traditional vs. Non-Traditional Formats
- Food Photography: Your Food is Delicious, What About Your Photos?

It’s Easy to Enter!

Hop over to the Nourished blog for all the details!

You can follow us on Twitter at @NourishedFBC

2 teaspoons olive oil
3/4 cups diced onion
3/4 cups diced celery
3/4 cups diced carrot
1 cup diced cooked ham
2 15 oz. cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 teaspoon aged balsamic vinegar
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes with juice
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon curry powder
salt, to taste (this varies due to the saltiness of your ham)

In a heavy duty skillet or dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the onion, celery and carrot and saute for 5 minutes.  Add the remaining ingredients and stir well.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer.  Cover and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.  Check the  pot occasionally and make sure there is still some liquid and that the beans are not burning.  If you need to, add a little more stock or water.  After 15 minutes or so, remove from heat.

Taste and season with salt and pepper before serving.

Here are my notes that I took last year after Thanksgiving.  I’m happy I found them or I would still be making too many sweet potatoes!  Read here for some easy tips.

I will be making:
Turkey  – kosher turkeys are my favorite
Gravy from the turkey drippings
Maple Pecan Sweet Potatoes – if you haven’t made these, the recipes is super simple!
Pumpkin and Maple Pies – from our GFCF Thanksgiving downloadable e-cookbook (only $4.99)
Salad and Grilled Asparagus – from our upcoming Holiday e-cookbook (check back in a week or two!)
Dinner Rolls – I’ll be using Breads from Anna’s Herb Bread Mix

My dad is bringing a gluten-free chocolate raspberry cheesecake
My mother-in-law and mother are bringing cranberries
My mother is bringing stuffing made with GF bread, GF cornbread and sausage

If you are looking for some additional recipes, here you go!
Turkey, Lettuce & Cranberry Sandwiches
Cranberry Glazed Meatballs
Roasted Rosemary Pears
Leftover Turkey Soup

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!