Yes, we skipped a few Link Love weeks… Sorry! It mainly is due that I have been busy living life to the fullest and spending time with the kids on their summer break. Plus my computer is painfully slow and working is pain – good news is that I’m getting a new MacBook Pro sometime next week. This week’s links are all yummy recipes and it may or may not be because I was just very hungry when I started thinking of today’s theme.. Either way – hope you enjoy the recipe links!

Peanut Butter Pie for Mikey and Jennifer Perillo by Shaina at the Food for my Family looks beautiful, but what’s more beautiful is the thought behind it. A food blogger Jennifer Perillo’s husband passed away and she asked others to bake a peanut butter pie for the loved ones in our lives. Don’t postpone making every day special. Bake the pie right now.

Chicken, Mushroom & Spinach Manicotti : A Leftover Favorite by Jennifer at Savoring The Thyme sounds so yummy. For some reason I haven’t cooked manicotti for years, must change that soon and try this recipe!

Finnish Healthy Tuna Salad Recipe is so good that I didn’t even get to take good photos before eating it! Get the recipe of this no mayo tuna salad at Skimbaco Food.

Grilled Corn Salad at the Two Peas and Their Pod sounds like the perfect summer salad. We always grill too many corn husks and this would be a great way to use all of the corn.

Fajita Burger with peppers and guacamole by Katie at Good Life Eats sounds like the perfect mixture of fajitas and hamburgers, and I will make sure to give it a try before the BBQ season is over. In fact, I’m glad that the heat wave in New York is over and now it’s actually the best BBQ season just starting.

Yum Alert: White Balsamic & Mint Fruit Salad at The Luxury Spot sounds so yummy – the white balsamic vinegar and mint take a regular fruit salad to a new level!

Fruit On The Bottom Tapioca at Child Mode is another fruity dessert idea, and I think kids would like this one even better.

Looking for last minute tips for your Super Bowl Sunday? Look no more, the Partybluprints ladies Dawn Sandomeno and Elizabeth Mascali got you all covered. Their Ultimate Super Bowl Bash on Budget is easy and you still have plenty of time to get the ingredients for Sunday.

Dawn and Elizabeth were sharing their Super Bowl party tips on the Today Show on Wednesday and I had an opportunity to join them on the set. If you missed them on TV, here is the clip for you to enjoy.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

My favorite ideas are the Margarita flatbread pizza and Greek Salad Skewers, and everyone who has already done the Lazy Man’s Barbecue Pork Sandwiches in a slow cooker with Frank’s Hot Sauce have been telling me it’s the best they’ve ever had.

Kathie Lee’s favorites were the Margarita Flatbread Pizza and after the segment she enjoyed a few additional Greek Salad Skewers and loved the idea of a salad on a stick.

Dawn and Elizabeth also introduced Orville Redenbacher’s new microwavable popcorn bowl. Popcorn is inexpensive party food, with 100% whole grain and no trans fat making it a fun snack for the entire family. The Oriville Redenbacher’s Popcorn Bowl as seen on the TODAY Show is not available in the stores yet, but you will be able to find it at Walmarts later this month.

This recipe is by Maria Lichty, Skimbaco’s new Healthy Lifestyle & Vegetarian Food Expert. She will be writing for the upcoming Skimbaco Food site. Please join us to welcome her!

Last week our counter was covered with fresh peaches and plums. Our friend’s tree and our tree ripened at the same time. We did our best to keep up, but every time I walked back into the kitchen, the counter was still overflowing with fruit. I didn’t want summer’s bounty to go to waste, so I whipped up a peach and plum cobbler.

I love how simple this cobbler is to make. I plopped the cobbler topping over the fruit mixture and let the oven do the rest of the work. The house smelled wonderful while this rustic cobbler was bubbling in the oven. The fruit filling is sweet, with a hint of tartness from the plums. I like to serve the cobbler with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream to make the dessert even more special.

If you have fruit that needs to be used, make this peach and plum cobbler. This dessert is a great way to enjoy the final days of summer.

Peach and Plum Cobbler

For the fruit:

4 cups fruit (2-3 large peaches and 4-6 plums, peeled, pitted, and sliced)
½ cup light brown sugar
2 Tbsp corn starch
Lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the cobbler topping:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
½ tsp. cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
¼ cup sugar
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
Cinnamon and sugar-to sprinkle on before baking

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the peaches, plums, brown sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, and cinnamon.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and sugar together. Cut the butter in with a fork or pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. In a glass measuring cup, mix the buttermilk, vanilla, and egg together. Pour over the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. The dough will be sticky.
5. Pour the fruit mixture into the prepared casserole dish. Drop batter on top of the fruit. Sprinkle cobbler with cinnamon and sugar. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbling.

Serves 6. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream. (optional)

Written by Maria Lichty. Maria Lichty is Skimbaco’s Healthy Lifestyle & Vegetarian Food Expert. Maria is the co-creator of Two Peas and Their Pod, a successful food and recipe website. Maria and her husband, Josh, are known as the “cooking couple.” Maria is also passionate about health and wellness and has a degree in health promotion. Maria also enjoys traveling, exercising, reading, and spending time with her adorable nieces and nephew. Maria will be writing for upcoming Skimbaco Food.

My e.l.f. Cosmetics Makeup At Home Party was so much fun to host and I can’t wait to host another party in our new home! I am all about making things simple, and I have to admit that not much planning went into this party.. You might already know that I’m live in the moment kind of girl… So only what I planned was that the color pink and somewhat Shabby Chic/Paris Chic was the feeling I was looking for, and that I thought would fit with the makeups! The result was shabby alright, but I think welcoming, everyone felt right at home.

I wanted to share a few semi-homemade recipes, and I swear that it took me less than 2 hours to make all of the food for the party. Sorry if my measurements are missing, I eyeball everything..

PINK TURKEY CROISSANTS
Cranberry or lingonberry jelly (or canned whole cranberries)
Mayo
Croissants
Turkey

Mix jelly or canned cranberries with mayo for pink mayo. Split the croissants in half and spread with pink mayo, add turkey and the top. Alternative: use tortilla wraps.

HAM QUICHE
ready pie dough
1 leak
1 cup of chopped sandwich ham
1 1/2 grated swiss cheese
pepper
1 tea spoon paprika powder
3-4 eggs
2 cups of whipping cream

Chop the leaks and boil it until tender, drain the water.
Use a high pie plate and place the pie dough on the bottom. Add drained leaks, cup of chopped ham and top with grated cheese.
Whip 3-4 eggs, add 2 cups of heavy whipping cream and mix, mix in pepper and paprika powder and pour the mixture in the quiche pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

BLUEBERRY PIE
1 ready made pie dough
1 quart of blueberries
1/2 cup sugar (divided)
2 table spoons bread crumbs
1/2 sour cream
8 oz Neufchâtel cheese
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar

Roll out the pie dough and press it into a pie plate. Wash and drain the blueberries. Add them on the bottom of the pie. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of sugar and 2 tbsp of plain bread crumbs. In a medium mixing bowl mix eggs, sour cream, Neufchâtel cheese (or cream cheese), rest of the sugar and the vanilla sugar, mix with electric mixer on medium. Pour into the pie plate on the top of the blueberries. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

PINK CUPCAKES
This is ridiculously easy to even post… We mixed strawberry cake mix & vanilla cake mix and instead of water, used milk and added some vanilla sugar. The frosting was real whipped cream with Nestle strawberry Nesquick, and again.. you guessed it, vanilla sugar. (I love vanilla sugar).

There are things money can buy, then there is MasterCard, and then there are Mommy Blogger Perks.

I know I have mentioned several times, that my oldest daughter’s dream is to become a TV chef when she grows up. Thanks to one of my all time favorite PR people, I was invited on set to see the Food Network’s TV Chef Robin Miller shooting a Ragu recipe video. It happened to be on my daughter’s birthday and she was also invited. Think what a birthday gift for her – to see a real TV chef on set!

As you can imagine, Ragu tomato sauce will be a product that I will remember for life now. When companies take an extra step to do something as nice as this for my family, it makes me a fan for life. I am so thankful for the opportunity to have Isabella to see a real Food Network TV set and a chef in action, it was such a fun day for her. She was little nervous asking questions from Robin Miller, see the clip below!

We have been using Ragu tomato sauce as a quick spaghetti sauce mix for years and we have tried the Ragu’s new varieties of Old World Style sauces Sweet Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce and Margherita Pasta Sauce. I love basil, so the first one is a no-brainer for us for those days that I don’t have time to cook marinara for the whole day. Check out the tips how to eat well for less, including tips from Stacy DeBroff of MomCentral.com, and try out the easy recipes created by Robin Miller and the rest of the Ragu team.

RAGU GIVEAWAY

I am so excited to host a giveaway of 6 months’ supply of Ragu tomato sauce! Yes – you can win Ragu tomato sauce for your family for six whole months. In addition you will get a copy of Robin Miller’s newest book Robin to the Rescue: Quick & Simple Recipes for Delicious Home Cooking.

ENTER THE RAGU GIVEAWAY – EACH WAY = ONE ENTRY

1. Check out the Ragu recipes and leave a comment which one you would like to try, and leave a way for me to contact you.
2. Subscribe to my feed to keep in the loop. Leave a comment if you did.
3. Stumble, Kirtsy or Digg this post and leave comment if you did.
4. Blog about this 6 month supply of Ragu giveaway and leave a link.
5. Tweet it using hashtag #skimbaco and @katjapresnal and a link back

I made it easy for you, just copy and paste:

Win 6 Months’ worth Ragu tomato sauce at http://twurl.nl/tztvv8 by @katjapresnal #skimbaco Please RT!

RULES:
Deadline for comments/above: April 15th midnight EST. US only. Winner will be announced on April 16nd. Thanks to RAGU for this giveaway!