And the winner is....

Last weekend I posted the guidelines for the Easy Bake Oven giveaway. And I've enjoy reading all the posts about your favorite childhood toys...Easy Bake Ovens, Light Brites, the Snoopy Sno Cone machine, and record player...all were great toys! I had nearly all the ones listed, too. Good times, good times!

Over the week, sous chef Shelby and I charted the followers, commenters and those who linked to the contest, plus the number of entries each lovely player earned. We threw all the names into a charming white wicker basket, and drew out a lucky winner. It was a wonderfully exciting day at Lightbulb Cuisine!

Sous chef Shelby drawing a name.

And our winner is...

HEIDI!!

Heidi, email you address, and I'll have our friends at Hasbro send your fabulous Easy Bake Oven! (I hope you will blog about it!) Congratulations!!

Wasn't that fun? Thanks to all who entered and shared your favorite childhood toy. It was nice to see some new faces, too. Welcome! And it was nice to pick up a few new followers as well.

Have a delightful week! And stay tuned for more recipes.

Love, Cookie B.

Easy Bake Oven Giveaway!

This is an exciting day for Lightbulb Cuisine! Our friends at Hasbro have offered up an Easy Bake Oven for one lucky reader, in honor of their recent "Baker of the Year" contest. Is that not the best news you've heard all day?

That's it on the right. Isn't it gorgeous?! --->

Here's the 4-1-1 on the EBO giveway guidelines...

1. Post a comment and tell me about your very favorite childhood toy. (Cue..."Memories, from the corners of my mind...") That gets you 1 entry!

2. Create a post about the giveway on your blog and link back to mine (email me your link so I can see it!), and you'll get another 2 contest entries.

3. Follow me and get another 2 entries.

You could get a total of 5 contest entries. Easy, right? And definitely worth the effort!

Sous chef Shelby will throw all the entries into a hat and draw a winner in one week.

Good luck! And don't forget to comment/blog/follow!

Love, Cookie B.

A genuine award-winning recipe!

My friends at Hasbro have recently completed their annual Easy Bake "Baker of the Year" contest. Seven finalists from around the country gathered in Orlando, FL, for a super-delicious bake off. This year's contest winner is master chef Catherine Ralston, 12, of New Albany, Ohio. Her winning entry was the "Queen of Hearts Strawberry Tart." Catherine is featured here with sous chef, Terry Ralston, and her scrumptious heart tart. Mmmmm!

Bakers had to create an original recipe using an Easy Bake mix, plus their own ingredients. Lightbulb Cuisine is uber lucky to have gotten its hands on the winning recipe, and I have featured it here for you! Isn't that exciting?!

For the Queen of Hearts Strawberry Tart, you will need:

• cooking spray
• 1 package-Easy-Bake Sugar Cookie Mix
• 3/4 teaspoon- water
• 1/8 teaspoon- lemon extract
• flour for hands
• 2 teaspoons- lemon curd
• 9 thin slices- strawberry (outer red slices, from small strawberries-enough to cover tart)
• jumbo pink, white and red heart sprinkles
• small white doily to put tart on

Prep Instructions:
Heat Easy Bake Oven for 15 minutes. Spray round baking pan with cooking spray. Blend sugar cookie mix, water and lemon extract in a small bowl. Lightly flour your fingers. Spread batter in baking pan evenly, taking care not to come up on sides of pan.

Baking Instructions:
Place pan in Easy Bake Oven baking chamber. Bake for 13 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in cooling chamber. Run a knife around edge of pan to loosen cookie. Turn out onto plate. Use a heart shaped cookie cutter (3 inches across by 2 1/2 inches long) to cut a heart shape. It should take up most of cookie round. Spread top of heart with lemon curd and decorate with strawberries following heart pattern, in a single layer. Tuck in sprinkles on tart, decoratively, as desired. Place doily on a small plate and top with tart. Yummy!

And there you have it...an award-winning recipe. Congrats to you Catherine! That's Easy Baking!

Love, Cookie B.

P.S. Watch Lightbulb Cuisine for the upcoming contest. We'll be giving away an Easy Bake Oven! You won't want to miss it.

It's time for a FIESTA!

It's Cinco de Mayo, so what a tremendous time for a Mexican feast. Don't you agree?!

Here at Lightbulb Cuisine, we think the beauty of Mexican fare is that all the elements are interchangeable. The meat, beans, tomatoes and cheese all get along in any combination. It's all good. So please feel free to go crazy with your combinations!

In an earlier entry, I mentioned reserving leftover meats. Today's fiesta is a perfect excuse for using up those leftovers. Grab the chili, the ground beef, the chicken...you name it! Today's fiesta features nachos, bean dip and chili quesadillas. Ole!

Nachos
Sprinkle some grated cheddar and/or monterey jack on tortilla chips and pop them into the oven until the cheese is melted.

Bean Dip
Fill a melting cup with refried beans and place on the warmer and cover. Heat throughout. Top with cheese and alow to melt.

Quesadillas
Preheat the oven for 15 mitnues. Spray a pan with oil and layer in a soft tortilla shell; a tablespoon of leftover chili or seasoned groud beef or spiced chicken; grated cheddar and/or monterey jack; and finally another tortilla. Bake in the oven for 5-10 minutes, or until the tortillas are crisp. Remove from oven an sprinkle with a pinch of cheese and allow to melt. Cut into triangles.

Serve with guacamole and enjoy! Es bueno!

That's Easy Baking!
Love, Cookie B.