Pinterest has launched enhanced recipe pins.  You’ll notice that recipe pins from MyRecipes and some other sites now include an ingredient list, cook time(s) and number of servings, making it even easier to search for recipes on Pinterest.  The recipe information is not only added to new pins, but to all of the MyRecipes pins you’ve already made and shared.

Pin today’s featured recipes to see how it looks:

• Dinner Tonight: Quick Pizza Margherita
• Daily Indulgence: Double Chocolate-Mocha Muffins
• Five -Star Review: BLT Chicken Burgers
• Five and Dine: 5-Ingredient Maple Grilled Salmon

You can read more about new Pinterest features for product and movie pins on the Pinterest blog.

The absolute best part about making these treats (besides how happy they make your best friend) is that you probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry right now. I have used applesauce in the past but because I didn’t have any on hand, I substituted with canned pumpkin, found deep in the cupboard. You can also feel good about the fact that this recipe is much healthier than most dog treats available for sale at pet stores. But beware…the treats smell so good while baking, you may be tempted to eat them yourself! Try this easy recipe if you’re tired of spending a fortune on dog treats but still want to spoil your pup.

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup canned pumpkin (or applesauce if desired)
1 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350°. Add all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly until dough forms.

FOR THICK CAKE-LIKE TREATS:
Spread dough in a round cake pan and bake for 1 hour. Cool before serving. Keep in covered container for up to a week.

FOR THIN CRUNCHY TREATS:
Roll out dough on floured surface with rolling pin and punch out bone shape with cookie cutter. Place on baking sheet covered with wax paper or foil. Bake 30 minutes, then flip cookie over and bake for another 30 minutes until crunchy and hard. Cool before serving. Keep in covered container for up to a week.

Going, going, gone!

With only 100 calories or less each, Sweet’N Low signature beverages such as the Signature Pink Lemonade, Skinny Daiquiri, Skinny Cosmopolitan and Cherry Lime Ricky—are a perfect choice for any occasion. Try serving these delicious drinks at your next big summer soirée or when having a fun and relaxing happy hour at home. No matter how you shake it up, adding a pink packet of zero calorie sweetness to your cocktails will make you want to say “cheers!”

Keep cool all season long with these sweet, low-cal Sweet’N Low drink recipes:

Skinny Cosmopolitan

• 2 1-inch x 1/2-inch strips lemon zest
• 2 1-inch x 1/2-inch strips orange zest
• 1 packet Sweet’N Low® zero calorie sweetener
• 1/2 ounce unsweetened pomegranate juice
• 1 1/2 ounces vodka
• 1 lime slice, for garnish

In a cocktail shaker, muddle the lemon and orange zest with the Sweet’N Low®. Add the pomegranate juice and vodka. Fill the shaker halfway with cracked ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled stemmed glass. Garnish with the lime slice.

Signature Sweet’N Low® Pink Lemonade

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 2 packets Sweet’N Low® zero calorie sweetener
• 1 cup frozen strawberries, defrosted
• 1 lemon slice, optional, for garnish
• 1 mint sprig, optional, for garnish

In a large measuring cup, combine the lemon juice and water. Add the Sweet’N Low, stirring until it dissolves. Spoon 1 tablespoon of liquid from the defrosted strawberries into a tall glass. Fill the glass with ice. Pour in the lemon juice mixture. If desired, garnish with the lemon slice and mint sprig. Enjoy the strawberries or save them for another use.

Skinny Daiquiri

• 1 1-inch x 1/2-inch strip lime zest
• 1 packet Sweet’N Low® zero calorie sweetener
• 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
• 1 1/2 ounces light rum
• 1 lime slice, for garnish

In a cocktail shaker, muddle the lime zest with the Sweet’N Low®. Add the lime juice and rum. Fill halfway with cracked ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled stemmed glass. Garnish with the lime slice.

When it comes to cocktails, “The Sweeter The Better” with Sweet’N Low. For even more deliciously sweet, low-cal drink recipes, visit www.sweetnlow.com/recipes.

There are over 100 recipes in the book, and each can be made in 30 minutes or less.  You’ll find a lot of familiar recipes–maybe some that you thought you had to give up on a gluten-free diet such as  pancakes, biscuits, cornbread, pizza, mac and cheese, brownies, and cupcakes.

One very helpful recipe in the book is Kumquat’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend, page 15.  (Kumquat is the name of Gretchen’s blog.)  A number of the baked goods call for this gluten-free flour blend, so you could make up a batch and store it in the refrigerator so you’ll have it when you’re ready to bake.    Gretchen also provides a guide in the front of the book with tips about gluten-free eating and other gluten-free flours and ingredients.

This book comes from Gretchen’s unique perspective as a person living with celiac disease who is also a registered dietitian, food blogger and recipe developer.  I hired her to develop recipes a number of years ago and can vouch for her skills as a recipe developer.  There is no doubt in my mind that every single one of these recipes will work perfectly and taste great.  I was particularly interested in the dessert recipes because I recall that when we worked together years ago, Gretchen was quite fond of desserts!  Here are a few of the desserts you can find in this book: Chocolate-Chunk Skillet Cookie,  Gingersnap Cookies with White Chocolate, Peanut Butter & Chocolate Crispy Squares, Homemade Blueberry Pop Tarts,  and Triple Chocolate Truffle Brownies.  We are not talking about deprivation here!

Of course, there are plenty of main-dish dinner recipes including Classic Crab Cakes, Spaghetti and Meatballs,  Chicken Pot Pie, Pecan-Crusted Chicken Fingers, and Pizza Margherita.  You’ll also get a nice selection of breakfast recipes, appetizers, and side dishes as well.

Just to whet your appetite, here is the recipe for the Chocolate-Chunk Skillet Cookie. What’s not to love?  Even if you’re not on a gluten-free diet, I think you will find this cookie irresistable!

Chocolate-Chunk Skillet Cookie

 1/2 cup (1 stick, or 112 g) butter
3/4 cup (170 g) packed brown sugar
1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg or 1/4 cup (60 ml) egg substitute
1 1/2 cups (210 grams) Kumquat’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend (page 15) or gluten-free all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups (219 g) semi-sweet chocolate chunks
Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Yield: 4 to 6 (3-ounce, or 84 g) servings

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4).

Melt the butter in an 8-inch (20 cm) ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Remove from heat. Stir in the brown sugar, sugar, and vanilla until combined. Add the egg or egg substitute and stir to combine. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and stir until smooth. Fold in the chocolate chunks.

Bake for 25 minutes or to desired degree of doneness. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

I made the Peanut Butter & Chocolate Crispy Squares on page 136 and brought them to work earlier this week.  They were totally gone before noon!  If you’re a fan of Rice Krispie Treats, you’ll love this chocolate-and peanut butter version!

For more information and tips on eating gluten-free, see Gluten-Free Diet and Recipes.  And, if you type “gluten free recipes” into the search bar on our site, you’ll find that we have over 5,000 recipes in that category.

Sansa loves lemon cakes just as much in the novels: “Later came sweetbreads and pigeon pie and baked apples fragrant with cinnamon and lemon cakes frosted in sugar, but by then Sansa was so stuffed that she could not manage more than two little lemon cakes, as much as she loved them.” ~ A Game of Thrones

Lemon cakes might be one of the few bright spots in Sansa’s life, and they’re certainly the bright spot of any dinner or tea table as well.  This past weekend, I baked a batch of the medieval lemon cakes from A Feast of Ice and Fire, the official companion cookbook to the “A Song of Ice and Fire” fantasy series and HBO’s TV adaptation, “Game of Thrones.”

Easy to make and perfect for summer, these lemon cakes are satisfyingly dense and full of delicious lemon flavor.  Cookbook authors Chelsea Monroe-Cassel & Sariann Lehrer sourced the medieval recipe from the Lucayos Cookbook, published in 1690.  In its original form, it reads:

“To Make Lemon Cakes. 1/2 lb flour, 1/2 lb fine sugar, the peel of two lemons, or one large one; 3 oz. butter; 3 eggs; 1/2 the whites.  Break the butter into the flour and stir them with a knife.  Make them the bigness of a gingerbread button.  Grate the lemon peel with a piece of the sugar.  Butter the tins.  Take them of the tins whilst warm.  Place them upon the tins about 2 inches distance because they spread in the oven.  Two minutes will bake them.”

Mine sure didn’t bake in two minutes, but the trick to these lemon cakes is making sure not to overbake them.  I also forgot the trick of using parchment paper to line the cookie sheets, instead of greasing with cooking spray, to keep them from browning too much on the bottom.  I served them to some friends we had over for dinner on Friday night, and although I thought they were too browned and hard on the bottom, everyone gobbled them up quickly!  An easy glaze made from powdered sugar and milk drizzled over the top added a pop of sweetness and made for a pretty presentation.

When I’m thinking about a brunch menu, I like for as much of it to be make ahead as possible.  I might start with this Overnight Artichoke-and-Ham Strata that I can assemble the night before and bake the morning of the brunch.

To go with the strata, easy Fruit Salad with Lemon-Honey Dressing is perfect and can be assembled early in the day and chilled until it’s time to serve.  You can take a shortcut and buy prechopped fresh fruit if you need to shorten your prep time. Or just buy one of those containers of fresh mixed fruits and make the dressing.

To round out the menu,  I suggest Oven-Roasted Asparagus and Lemon-Blueberry Muffins.  These muffins have a citrus-sugar glaze, so they’re sweet enough to serve as dessert!  (And you can make them the day before.)

Now don’t forget the most important part of the Mother’s Day brunch–the cocktails!  Start with a “Mom-mosa” or Bloody Mary Punch (great for a crowd) and let your guest sip on festive drinks while you do the final meal preparations.

For more fun ways to honor Mama, see our collection of Mother’s Day Recipes.

“All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.” ~Abraham Lincoln

“Can I still teach her how to fish?”

Since both of us are outdoorsy – something that has only grown tremendously over the past 4 years – our answer was a resounding, “YES!”.  We’ve made a conscious effort to encourage our daughter to feel comfortable on the farm and in the outdoors, while also supporting her feminine interests, which at the age of 4 are primarily baby dolls and princesses.  There was nothing like seeing her dressed in a ballerina costume and her rubber shark boots at her 4- year-old birthday party!

A couple of weekends ago, we had the great joy of seeing her experience catching her first fish – several bream – with her daddy, showing her how they are cleaned and cooked, and eating them together as a family.  Not to mention that fresh fried bream is one of the most delicious “wild” dinners there is!

Got your own mess ‘o bream from a local fishing hole?  They’re simple to clean – just use a butter knife to scale the outside, then remove the head and guts (there’s very little).

Next, dredge the fish, whole, in seasoned cornmeal or a fish fry mix:

Next, fry the bream in hot vegetable oil (preferably in a cast-iron skillet) until crispy and golden brown on the outside.  This should take just a few minutes.  We usually fry some hushpuppies with them for a side.

Finally, drain on paper towels and serve!  To eat, gently scrape the fish away from the bones, being very careful about bones the whole time.  Bream bones are quite tiny, but the effort is SO worth it.  The fins and tails are edible as well!

Eating these fish with our daughter was such a delight.  Now Grandaddy just needs a chance to get out there with her and her fishing pole and catch us a fresh batch!

“For the sweet, Lord Caswell’s servants brought down trays of pastries from his castle kitchens, cream swans and spun-sugar unicorns, lemon cakes in the shape of roses, spiced honey biscuits and blackberry tarts, apple crisps and wheels of buttery cheese.” ~ A Clash of Kings

Like many of the other recipes in the cookbook, authors Chelsea Monroe-Cassel and Sariann Lehrer included both a “medieval” version and a “modern” version.  I went with the medieval version, whose original 14th century recipe goes like this:

“Crispels.  Take and make a foile of gode past as thynne as paper; kerue it out wyt a saucer & frye it in oile; oper in grece; and be remnaunt, take hony clarified and flamme perwith.  Alye hem vp and serue hem forth.”

Got that?  Me neither.  Essentially these medieval honey biscuits are made from a simple pastry dough that’s been rolled out flat, cut into biscuit-size circles, and lightly fried in oil, then brushed with warm honey and dusted with cinnamon.  Mmmmmmm.

Brent and I enjoyed these sweet treats alongside a bowl of Hungarian Venison Stew, rice, and Southern-style collard greens, and they easily stole the dinner show.

Check back next Monday for another recipe from A Feast of Ice and Fire!

Sunday is Cinco de Mayo, and I’m already thinking about what I can make for the party.  I usually go the appetizer and drinks route as that’s what my friends seem to prefer.  Chips, salsa, beer, margaritas–what else do you need? 

Well, you need cheese dip, and this Colby-Pepper Jack Cheese Dip is the top-rated cheese dip on our site.  It has a 5-star rating and 15 reviews, so it’s clear that this recipe is a favorite.  And because it has chicken, it can be the main dish!  Another plus is that you can make this dip up to a day ahead, keep it in the refrigerator, and bake just before serving.  Serve with your favorite chips, and let the party begin.

For more dip recipes, plus salsa, guacaomole, and margaritas, see our collection of Mexican Recipes.  Happy Cinco de Mayo.

Help us celebrate 6 years of bringing you the best recipes from Southern Living, Cooking Light, Sunset, Coastal Living, Health, Food & Wine, All You, and Real Simple.

To join the party, from May 1st through May 5th, upload a photo of your favorite birthday cake or cupcake, upload to your Instagram account, and tag it with the hashtag #HappyBdayMyRecipes.  We’ll choose three winners and will post the winning photos here on Monday, May 6th.

And the Winners Are…

“Giant cupcake sitting on a giant cookie!” from @lorifergusonlucas

“Reese’s Cheesecake” from @iluvecheetahhh22

“Sunflower Cupcakes” from @inspiredchick

Many thanks to all who entered!  We had so many fabulous entries and it was very difficult to pick just 3 winners.  All 3 winners will receive a copy of Southern Living’s Big Book of Cupcakes.  Happy Baking!

See full contest rules here.