Jacob is entering a healthy cooking contest, brought to his attention by the chef teaching his culinary co-op.  His cooking skills have taken off, and he made some delicious Italian Stuffed Peppers that I wanted to share with you.  Even my daughter, who is often my harshest food critic, LOVED this recipe!  The Italian spices, garlic, and basil bring so much flavor to this dish.  It doesn't take too much time to prepare, and it looks so colorful and appealing on your plate.  I'm so proud of my son and his culinary accomplishments!  Here's chef Jacob's recipe for these Italian Stuffed Peppers:

Ingredients: 4 bell peppers in assorted colors-green, red, or yellow; 1 pound ground beef; 2 shallots; 1 clove garlic; 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning; 1 tsp. oregano; 1/2 tsp. garlic salt; 1/3 cup pasta sauce; 1 cup cooked white rice; 1/2 cup shredded Italian blend cheese; fresh basil for garnish

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Rinse the peppers and pat dry.  Cut the tops off, cutting just below the stems.  Remove the seeds.  Dice the shallots and mince the garlic, using a garlic press.  Place a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet and cook the shallots and garlic over medium heat until tender.  Add the ground beef.  Use a spatula to crumble the meat and cook until it reaches 155 degrees or is no longer pink.  

While meat is browning, bring a stockpot of water to a boil.  Boil the peppers for 3 minutes, in order to speed up the baking time in the oven.  Use tongs to remove the peppers from the pot.  Drizzle olive oil in a square or small rectangular baking dish. Place the peppers in the dish.  If they are wobbly, slightly trim the bottoms so they will sit level in the dish.  

Cook the rice according to package directions.  Mix the rice into the meat mixture.  Stir in the pasta sauce.  Fill each pepper with the meat mixture.  If desired, add a couple tablespoons of sauce on top of the meat mixture.  Top with cheese.  Cover the dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes.  Remove the foil.  Bake for 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and peppers are tender.  Garnish with fresh basil.  

Sometimes I swear my two pups think they are human!  They remind me so much of Cooper the rescue dog in Michelle Lander Feinberg's hilarious story Please Don't Tell Cooper He's a Dog.  I was so grateful to receive a complimentary copy of this book to review.  I couldn't stop giggling at Cooper's all too familiar antics.  Like my dogs, Cooper would rather sit in the middle of the couch than lye in the dog bed.  Why eat stale dog food when you can eat spaghetti from the table?  Who needs the boring dog park when you can ride in the car and do yoga with your family?  

Feeling restless and in dog denial, Cooper travels to Paris for a more sophisticated lifestyle.  If you have a dog that's hungry for the human life (and maybe a croissant or two!) you'll love this beautifully illustrated book.  Short and sweet and funny with colorful images, Please Don't Tell Cooper He's a Dog is the perfect stocking stuffer for parents and preschool or elementary teachers. Kids will learn about rescue organizations and gain some knowledge of traveling abroad.

Please Don't Tell Cooper He's a Dog would also make a great gift for anyone who works with dogs, owns a dog, or simple adores dogs!  Anyone who loves a loyal pup will appreciate Cooper's humane lifestyle!  Learn more about Cooper and order your copy here!  

Christmas it the best time of year for being a Taste of Home Field Editor!  It affords me the opportunity to test out TOH recipes and give my opinions.  This Tiger Butter Bark recipe is one of my favorite holiday recipes on their site.  It's very easy to make and makes a beautiful presentation.  It calls for only 3 ingredients: crunchy peanut butter, vanilla candy coating, and semi-sweet chocolate chips. So although it looks fancy it's very quick to make!

This Tiger Butter Bark recipe is a five star dessert and absolutely delicious as it is.  But I like to brainstorm ways to put a fun spin on a recipe when doing a review.  Here's my thoughts to jazz up this recipe if you're in a creative mood:

You could use almond butter or cashew butter in place of your ordinary crunch peanut butter brand.  You could also add some almond extract to the peanut butter layer for extra flavor.  When melting the chocolate chips, the recipe calls for shortening.  If you don't have shortening on hand, you can use vegetable oil in its place.  

The directions weren't too specific on how to do the chocolate swirl.  The chocolate swirl is so gorgeous in this recipe and easy to do!  Use a large spoon to drizzle the chocolate in a zig zag pattern across the top.  Next, use a knife to cut through the chocolate vertically and horizontally.  Don't over swirl, or the chocolate will begin to over take the peanut butter!

If you're a chocolate fanatic, you could make this into a double layer bark recipe. Instead of melting just 1/2 cup of chips as specified in the recipe, melt 2 cups of chips (the amount in 1 bag of chips).  Spread the chocolate layer in the pan.  Add the peanut butter/candy coating layer, and then top it off with the chocolate swirl.  You may have to work fast, as semi-sweet chocolate hardens rather quickly.  But it would be fun to add a chocolate layer for extra chocolate flavor!  

If you're not one to go off script in a recipe, don't worry! Peanut butter nuts (he, he) will love this Tiger Butter Bark recipe.  It tastes like fudge and isn't nearly as complicated to make.  The gorgeous chocolate swirl makes this Tiger Butter Bark look like it came from a professional sweet shop.  Check out this recipe on the TOH site here and let me know what you think!  Happy Holidays and happy baking!