By Anne-Marie Kovacs, Chief Wife
I’m a wannabe locavore (that means eating locally produced food all year round). But, living in the Midwest, it’s just not practical. I need food with color all year round, not just in the summer.
With farmers’ market season rolling in, I can play the locavore part  - for a few short months at least. I get ambitious strolling down the market, poking fruit and veggies and asking questions on how to prepare obscure produce such as garlic scapes or salsify. All this freshness is so tempting that I invariably stock my basket with much more than my family can [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Chief Editor
Did you know that the number one New Year’s resolution this year was to lose weight*? Did you also know that almost half of Americans make a resolution every year and only about 8% succeed to reach their goal? If you are one of the many whose New Year’s resolution was to lose weight – or at least not gain any, there are some great products available to help you reach your goal.
Here is a list of my favorites:

Hapi Fork - Introduced at this year’s CES (Consumer Electronic Show), the Hapi Fork is getting a lot of [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Chief Editor
Here is a great way to say “Will you be mine?” or “You are mine!” this Valentine’s Day.
Baking For Good can transform all those instagram pics you have of each other into sweet treats. Find the best shots of the two of you at your favorite spot or take some up close up and personal pictures of yourselves. Better yet, take some (ahem) photos of just you. Using the instagram filters you can create mini works of art. Send anywhere from one to six photos to Baking For Good and they will turn them into [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
The efficient kitchen is all about multifunctional cookware – meaning they can go from oven/microwave to table to fridge or freezer to dishwasher. I am all about efficiency and with a small kitchen, I love when I can use one product for different purposes. I feel that designer Christian Bjorn’s Stackable Oven Dishes has taken this multifunctional concept to a whole new level.
These dishes can be stacked both inside and outside the oven. The openings on the sides allow warmth in the oven to circulate freely and thereby, to heat food in all the dishes [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
I am well past the stage in my life to do any type of formal hosting. I much prefer to invite friends and family over to share some great wine/martini/champagne with a variety of tapas. This does not mean I don’t like to make it fun for my guests. Here is a list of fun party ‘successories’ – products that will make any gathering a success – that your guest will enjoy as much as you do:

 
Drink Flair - There are lots of options for glass labeling on the market, but these static stickers are inexpensive, [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
As summer is officially over, I look over my garden and realize it is time to start preparing for the winter months. My herbs: oregano, thyme, basil and parsley, have grown and flowered in abundance. Not wanting them to go to waste I found some great ways to help preserve and use them:

Fresh Herb Savers - Bring your herbs indoors and keep them as fresh as the moment you picked them in your refrigerator. They last up to three weeks longer in these sturdy herb savers with anti-bacterial glass. Buy directly from ArtandCook for $24.99.

Fresh Mill Herb Grinders - [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
We have written about monthly subscription boxes before, but this new one is perfect for foodies. Love With Food delivers 5 to 10 curated food samples of gourmet foods to their monthly subscribers. The boxes contain everything from teas to sweets to olive oils. The twist on the Love with Food model is that, if you like the samples, you can purchase the full size product at a discount from their site.
For $10.00 a month, I can encourage my children to try new snacks in their lunches. And, what’s not for them is sure to please me [...]

The Succulent Wives are taking a little (very little) time off this summer. While we are still actively working on bringing you new content and ideas every week, we have also decided to bring back some of our favorite posts from the archives, those that are still timely, relevant, useful and that deserve to be revisited. Thanks for allowing us to recharge. We promise that we will be coming back with more new ideas and recommendations for cool stuff than you’ll know what to do with…
By Anne-Marie Kovacs, Chief Wife
I previously wrote about these fantastic, almost-better-than-bakery-bought chocolate croissants by Trader [...]

By Greg Patent – Guest Contributor and Baking Wizard
Here’s a perfect light and airy dessert for summer.  Over forty years ago I fell in love with a recipe called Praline Soufflé Fifi, a creation of the late and great Michael Field.  You beat egg whites with sugar to make a meringue and fold in a homemade powdered pecan praline. After baking the soufflé in a hot water bath and letting it cool, you upend it onto a platter and decorate it with raspberry sauce, whipped cream, and fresh raspberries. The recipe appeared in the November 28, 1971, issue of The [...]

By Amie Valpone, Culinary Marketing Consultant & CEO of the gluten-free blog, The Healthy Apple.
Summer is truly the time to enjoy the outdoors and organize impromptu gatherings and salads make it easy to feed a hungry crowd. Here’s a refreshing gluten-free and vegetarian pasta salad for those summer BBQ or picnics that would satisfy anyone’s palate.
FRESH PARSLEY ASPARAGUS PENNE SALAD

Ingredients
1/4 cup macadamia nuts
1 pound gluten-free penne pasta
1 bunch fresh asparagus, trimmed, halved lengthwise, and cut crosswise into thirds
4 ounces goat cheese, broken into pieces
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon zest
2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley
¼ tsp. smoked paprika
½ tsp. [...]