These vibrant cranberry cookies will add a pop of color to your Christmas cookie platter! Made with fresh cranberries and enhanced with a hint of vanilla, they are crispy, golden brown and buttery — then topped with a coating of smooth chocolate and crunchy pecans. You can personalize cranberry cookies with your favorite baking chip flavors — try white or dark chocolate, or add cherry, raspberry, or your favorite flavor extract and a bit of food coloring to melted vanilla chips for a pretty pink coating!...

by Meghan Pembleton, Special for The Arizona Republic Yield 16 Courses Desserts 2 cups gingersnap crumbs (about 40 cookies, or 11 ounces)1/4 cup sugar1/4 cup salted butter, melted Special equipment: 10-inch-round by 3-inch-deep cake pan, or same-size springform, pan plus heavy-duty foil For the eggnog filling: 4-1/2 packages (8 ounces each, 2-1/2 pounds total) cream cheese1-1/2 cups sugar1/2 cup cornstarch (optional, see note)1/2 cup sour cream7 eggs8 ounces store-bought eggnog1/2 teaspoon nutmeg1/4 cup bourbon...

You can serve this as dessert, but it really could be eaten for breakfast, too. It’s just yogurt… frozen, after all. This cold treat is light and refreshing, and perfect for summertime. Apron and Sneakers topped her frozen blueberry yogurt with mint and sprinkles. Then she scooped out the flesh of a lemon and used it as an adorable bowl! It adds a fun, kid-friendly touch. These frozen treats would make a sweet addition to your Easter brunch....

What is greenwashing? Greenwashing is when a business or company shares false or misleading information about its sustainability initiatives for the sake of marketing. Sometimes this comes from a well-intentioned, albeit naive or not-well-researched, place. Other times, it’s just straight-up hyperbole. Greenwashing is the environmental equivalent of a food product saying it’s “natural” when it is full of junky ingredients. Thanks, but no thanks. As a consumer, it’s easy to reach for the product that has “eco” on its label and call it a day....

So what’s wrong with grocery-store tea? The relaxing ritual of drinking herbal tea has become increasingly popular as herbal remedies have gone mainstream. And simply enjoying the flavor is a worthwhile pursuit — but if you want the full wellness benefits of the plants in your tea, the boxed variety might not produce results. The average tea bag contains 2-3 grams of plant material to steep in a cup of water (or, let’s be honest, many more if you’re a re-steeper)....

Craving a buttery, sweet, crunchy nosh? Our homemade caramel popcorn can’t be beat! It’s addictive, easy to make and ready in less than an hour. Sure, you can run to the supermarket and grab a tub of pricey caramel popcorn or even settle for a box of Cracker Jacks, but once you make a big batch of your very own, you’ll forget all about those store-bought options. If you’re not familiar with caramel popcorn, you’re missing out....

Instead of dreading the holidays this year, here are 10 easy ways to create an “Attitude of Gratitude” so you can enjoy them and pass along your positive outlook on others. Keep a positive mindset. Your attitude dictates how you view the world—and the holidays. Keep your mindset positive by focusing on things to enjoy over the holidays—even if it’s just all the delicious food you’re able to consume. Start a gratitude journal....

Of course, technically, if you don’t stuff your bird, it’s not “stuffing” — it’s “dressing.” But the terms are used pretty synonymously. How to stuff a turkey in 3 easy steps Note: As a safety precaution, don’t stuff your bird until you’re ready to put it in the oven, and make sure the stuffing (not just the turkey) reaches a temperature of 165 F. Next, simply follow these steps for how to roast a turkey, and you’re on your way to a delicious and traditional Thanksgiving feast!...

Intrigued? You should be. Because while eating a rainbow roll at your local sushi joint is great, making an actual colors-of-the-rainbow roll at home by tinting your rice is clearly way more fun. And the best part is you can make natural food coloring to give your boring food a new hue using — wait for it — fresh produce! MORE: Unicorn noodle spring rolls are a delicious rainbow True story....

The ingredients are few and TOTAL time to prepare and serve is 15 minutes. You and your guests will be able to indulge in a fall holiday staple without having spent hours in the kitchen. It’s also a light and airy dessert that won’t make you feel too stuffed after having such a large meal already. We’re in!

The classic green bean casserole is a well-known holiday tradition. The Campbell soup recipe dates back over 60 years! But for those who eat vegan, it’s strictly off-limits. A primary ingredient in the traditional recipe, regular cream of mushroom soup, is loaded with dairy — and you add even more milk during the cooking process. To create this vegan green bean casserole, inspired by Minimalist Baker, you’ll do a few things differently, but it will be worth it....

This truly is the perfect Thanksgiving dessert for when you’re looking for something other than pie, but want a treat that still holds all the flavors of the season. Trifle is such a pretty dessert to look at and a lot easier than baking a pie. Layer together this trifle loaded with pumpkin pie flavors for a dessert your guests will remember. Yield 8

For many, the holiday centers around the main course — ham, roast beef, turkey — but for millions of other Americans, it’s all about the sides. A good salad, bursting with an assortment of flavors and textures really completes a perfect meal, and this hearty salad is full of the best flavors of fall, as savory wild rice combines with crunchy celery, nutty pumpkin seeds, and tangy orange slices. And the sweet grapes soaked in red wine contrast perfectly with a slightly-tart balsamic vinaigrette dressing....

Need a drink that tastes like autumn in a glass? Sip on our seasonal apple amaretto sour, inspired by Slim Pickin’s Kitchen, and you’ll have images of colorful fall leaves delightfully dancing in your head. If you’re familiar with the amaretto sour, you’ve enjoyed the sweet almond-flavored liqueur delectably contrasted with sour mix or lemon juice. We’ve transformed the more traditional cocktail recipe into a seasonal sip-loving favorite by adding apple cider, grated nutmeg and a cinnamon stick for garnish....

In honor of this colorful holiday, here are some fun Day of the Dead decorations for you to get, make and display in your home! Sugar skull mask garland Add a colorful accent to your walls with these easy-to-make Day of the Dead decorations: a pretty sugar skull mask garland from Paper Source. Print the free printable provided, and add some colorful paper pom-poms to make a cheerful garland that you can hang in windows, on party tables, or in your work cubicle....

If you’ve got extra sweet potatoes hanging around the kitchen on Thanksgiving Day, make these sweet potato biscuits, inspired by Budget Bytes and watch them disappear faster than the turkey. Light and flaky, these scrumptious homemade sweet potato biscuits come to the holiday table flaunting a fluffy high-rise of golden layers and an enticing rosemary aroma. Your holiday guests will be grabbing for their share before you even set the biscuit basket on the table....

Craving that perfect comfort food that melts in your mouth with the perfect blend of sweet and savory flavors? This honey-thyme butter roasted squash delivers a mouthwatering medley of tastes embedded in fork-tender bites of winter squash. Acorn squash is naturally sweet and has a milder flavor than other winter squash. It’s eye-catching deep green color and unique acorn-like shape can make it hard to resist. Once you get your acorn squash home, you’ll find that the dark green shell gives way to a bright orange flesh that eagerly welcomes sweet and spicy flavors while it cooks....

Bake a dozen or two for your Thanksgiving festivities, or just use the pictures below as sweet inspiration! Pilgrim Hat Thanksgiving Cupcakes These Thanksgiving cupcakes make a fun pilgrim craft for kids. Best of all, you can make them at the drop of a hat! Get the instructions here. Turkey Lurkey cupcakes These chocolate cupcakes with hand-made marzipan and sugarpaste toppers were selected from hundreds of entries as one of the winners of the Cutest Cupcakes of 2010 Contest by Martha Stewart....

To get all the details on what’s going to be in for the upcoming fall season, I spoke with Gloss Angeles podcast hosts Sara Tan and Kirbie Johnson to get their predictions on fall makeup trends. Tan, senior west coast fashion and beauty editor at Bustle, and Johnson, beauty reporter and former host of PopSugar, have some thoughts about what’s next in the makeup world, and they were kind enough to share them....

Here’s a Thanksgiving recipe from Food Blogs Star Katie Higgins of Chocolate Covered Katie! See more from Katie’s holiday menu here. Chocolate Covered Katie’s ultimate vegan cheese sauce There are no nuts, no tofu, no dairy, and no gluten — and it is so thick and creamy that you’d swear it must be full of heavy cream. What’s the secret? White beans! The beans are pureed to add thickness and creaminess without all the calories and saturated fat....