Check out this new contest hosted by Smucker's:

From September 14 to November 23, 2011, Smucker’s invites you to visit www.smuckers.com <http://www.smuckers.com/> and share your favorite recipe made with Smucker’s jams, jellies, preserves, or fruit butters, plus a short essay about how your dish makes family celebrations special.

In March 2012, five contest finalists will be selected and flown to New York City for a live recipe demonstration and judging. The lucky winner will receive $20,000 towards planning and creating the family reunion of his or her dreams. 

I crave crackers when I'm in need of a snack. I especially love the six pack of cheese-filled ones that live in vending machines. You know what I'm talking about--the ones full of fat and empty calories. Oh, how I love them so! But I recently tried a not-so-guilty pleasure that still satisfies my snacking needs....Ritz Crackerfuls. Surprisingly, they are multigrain, so you get 5 grams of fiber per serving, which helps fill you up (bonus!), and they have significantly fewer fat grams and calories than the other ones previously mentioned. So when it comes to choosing better snacks, Crackerfuls are certainly a healthier option in the cracker category. Everything in moderation, right?

What's your favorite snack?

If you're traveling this summer by way of Interstate 65, be sure to make a pit stop at Johnny's Cafe in Calera, Alabama (about 30 miles south of Birmingham). My Test Kitchen friends and I took a little field trip to Exit 231 for some of the best Southern cooking we've ever had! Everything is served cafeteria-style--hot and fresh. Our goal was to taste practically everything on the menu, and we came pretty close. Here's a snapshot of the remains.

Believe it or not, we tasted: fried catfish, red beans and rice, baked Greek chicken, fried pork chops, beef tips and rice, chicken pot pie, collard greens, fried okra, creamy baked mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, fried green tomatoes, cornbread, banana pudding, and key lime pie.

Everything was delicious and homemade. Chef and owner Timothy Hontzas designed his meat-and-three menu around his grandfather Johnny's philosophy: "We prepare food for the body, but good food to feed the soul." Trust me, your soul will be singing once you taste what's cookin'!

For summer hours, visit www.johnnyscafe.biz. In the meantime, go ahead and program this address into your GPS: 4570 HWY 31, Calera, AL, 35040. It's less than 1/2 mile from the exit, and so worth the stop!

Best Shrimp & Crawfish Boil Mix

My husband, a self-proclaimed foodie and lover of all things seafood, went to a shrimp and crawfish boil over the weekend. He came back a changed man after tasting a new Cajun boil mix. “This mix is so good, I could drink the leftover water in the pot,” he said to me with a half-serious look on his face. (Here’s a snapshot of his adventure, complete with his cup of Abita beer to grace the table.)

I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of artificial sweeteners. As a dietitian, I understand the need for them, but they taste, well, artificial. I'm a sugar girl, I must confess. I want the real thing and lots of it.  My coffee, for example, technically constitutes as a dessert. But that doesn't help my waistline, considering each tablespoon of sugar I so joyfully sprinkle into my beverage is 45 calories. Yikes! Why can't they make a real sugar that has fewer calories? Oh wait, they do! Meet my new favorite sugar product--Whey Low.

 I recently discovered a menu item at Moe's Original Barbecue   in Birmingham that I have to share with you. They're called Barbecue Nachos. I was so intrigued, I took a snapshot for your viewing pleasure.

Instead of tortilla chips, they use crunchy kettle chips as the base and generously top them with smoked pulled pork, melted cheese, and two sauces. I told my coworkers about it--they loved the idea so much that it inspired our own version of barbecue nachos, coming to a Southern Living issue near you.