Prosecco Grapes

In Spain, the tradition of eating 12 grapes in 12 seconds, brings you good luck for the 12 months ahead. This recipe combines the Spanish tradition with the American tradition of a champagne toast.

Ingredients

• 2 lb. green grapes

• 1 (750-ml) bottle prosecco

• 4 oz. vodka

• 1/2 c. sugar

1. Wash and dry grapes

2. Place the grapes in a bowl and pour in the prosecco and vodka. Store in the fridge. Allow them to soak for at least an hour.

3. Drain the grapes and place them on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the sugar over the top to coat.

4. Serve

Brown Sugar Chocolate Chunk Shortbread

Photo: Martha Stewart/JustinWalker

Make one for you and one for a gift. Or save one for now and one for later.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

This week's Tailgate Treat is a combo of all things good in the world.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

• 1/2 cup butter, softened

• 1 egg

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (you can substitute gluten-free baking flour)

• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• Additional granulated sugar

• About 36 Hershey's Kisses, unwrapped

Instructions

• Heat oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, butter and egg with an electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with a spoon, until well blended. Stir in flour, baking soda and baking powder until dough forms.

• Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in additional granulated sugar. On ungreased cookie sheets, place them about 2 inches apart.

• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are light golden brown. Immediately press 1 milk chocolate candy in the center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack.

This could be one of my favorite things my mom makes. So basically, yes, I am blaming her for my love of a PB & chocolate combination.

Pumpkin Bars

Too good to pass up.

Bar Ingredients

• 2 cups flour (see below for gluten free options)

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 2 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 2 tsp cinnamon

• 1 tsp pumpkin spice

• 2 cups sugar

• 1 cup chopped nuts

• 1 cup oil

• 4 eggs

• 1 16-ounce can of pumpkin

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine all ingredients and mix until blended.

3. Bake in lightly greased 10 x 15 baking sheet for 20 - 25 mins.

Frosting Ingredients

• 3 ounces of cream cheese

• 6 Tbsp margarine

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 2 cups powdered sugar

• 1 Tbsp milk

1. Beat until smooth, more milk may be added if needed.

The recipe is straight from our co-founders’ family cookbook. Mom makes these and they certainly don’t last long as they’re so good. If they do last longer than 10 mins in your kitchen, make sure to refrigerate.

We have made these gluten free by using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free baking flour or Cup 4 Cup gluten free flour.

The Viral Olympic Village Chocolate Muffins

PHOTO: Lorraine Elliott

These muffins from the Olympic Village went viral in Paris. Now it’s your turn to channel your inner Olympic hopeful and swoon over a village favorite.

Olympic Medal Popcorn Balls

Photo: A Beautiful Mess

If there was a gold medal for cookie consumption, call me an Olympic hopeful with these delights.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter

• 1 bag (10 oz.) marshmallows

• 4 oz popped popcorn, approximately 8 (0.5 oz) bags of popcorn

• Wax paper

• Nonstick cooking spray

• Gold and silver edible color mist

• Flexible wire

• Patriotic ribbon

Instructions

1. Before you begin, wash and cut the wire into 10 to 12 inch pieces. One piece for each medal you plan to make. This is going to go inside our popcorn ball, so that’s why we want to ensure it’s clean before use. The wire can be purchased from the jewelry section of a craft store. Just look for something bendable.

2. For the popcorn balls: Cut the butter into 4 pieces and place in a large pot, the larger the better. Melt over low/medium heat. Once the butter is nearly melted, add the marshmallows and stir with a wooden spoon until the marshmallows are nearly all melted.

3. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the popcorn. Take care to make sure the marshmallow mixture gets evenly distributed throughout. This is the glue that holds everything together, so make sure it gets on all of the popcorn pieces.

4. Pour all the popcorn onto a surface covered in wax paper.

5. As soon as it is cool enough to handle, remove about a cup of the mixture to a small piece of wax paper coated in nonstick cooking spray, add a piece of wire to the center and wrap the wax paper around the popcorn, pressing into a ball. (You can also butter your hands to form the ball).

6. Move to a cutting board covered in wax paper.

7. Now spray the popcorn balls with the gold or silver color mist. (Make sure to read the instructions).

8. Now wrap the wire around the back of the medal and loop it into place. Then, use the rest of the wire to create a small circle for your ribbon to go through. Cut your ribbons and assemble the medals. (Make sure to remove the wires before eating).

Kudos to A Beautiful Mess for this fun recipe idea. It’s great for the Olympics, but if you have festive ribbons, you can create them for any occasion.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Photo: AllRecipes

If there was a gold medal for cookie consumption, call me an Olympic hopeful with these delights.

Ingredients

• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• ½ cup butter, softened

• ½ cup white sugar

• ½ cup peanut butter

• ½ cup packed brown sugar

• 1 egg, beaten

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 tablespoons milk

• 40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.

2. Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk.

3. Add the flour mixture; mix well.

4. Shape into 40 balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan.

5. Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes.

6. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.

Thanks to allrecipes for this recipe; it’s good no matter the time of year.

Kool-Aid Grapes

Photo: Bake It With Love

A new classic perfect for a poolside treat.

Ingredients

• 2-3 lbs green grapes (one bag, seedless)

• 6 oz Kool-Aid mix (2-3 flavors of Kool-Aid with 1 3-ounce packet per pound of grapes)

Instructions

1. To get started, freeze your grapes for 1 hour. After an hour, remove the stems by giving them a quick twist (it's much easier when they are frozen).

2. After the stems have been removed, add your grapes to a colander and rinse them with cool water.

3. Transfer the grapes to ziploc bags (one for each color/flavor), then add the Kool-Aid, seal, and shake them up.

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pour the grapes onto it. Return to the freezer for 24 hours. After 24 hours, pull them out of the freezer and enjoy!

There are many variations of this recipe online, but we chose this one from Bake it with Love because the clear directions set you up for success. Check out the website for tips or more incredible recipes.