Our friend Julie Blanner takes a standard holiday treat and gives it a twist, literally. A large candycane dipped into a jar of milk not only has great visual appeal, but it also flavors the milk subtly, and adds a bit of color. A simple hack for holiday treat ideas that is sure to please kids and adults!

My family has recently discovered the joy of slow cooker dinner planning. And, by planning, I mean not really planning. This particular recipe is about as simple as it gets. Combine chicken breasts or tenders with a jar of your favorite salsa in your slow cooker. If you really want to get fancy, you can add some beans or fresh vegetables. Cook for whatever time your cooker recommends (usually 5-ish hours), serve and enjoy! Great served with rice. Pro-tip: adjust the spice level of your salsa according to your tastes.

Brown sugar. It’s a tasty goodness that no baker, eater of grapefruit or oatmeal connoisseur should be without. However, unlike standard sugar, brown sugar can be a bit high maintenance. Clumping and hardening are two woes that seem to come up all too often when you’re ready to partake in a brown sugar treat. According to the folks at Real Simple, all it takes to keep your brown sugar in peak shape is tossing a few marshmallows into whatever you’re storing the sugar in. Give it a try and let us know how it works out for you in the comments below. Sweet!

Pistachios are a treat to eat, but they do take a little work. Most pistachios pop right open, but some can have very stubborn shells. That’s when I discovered it was time to fight fire with fire. Simply take a single half shell from another nut, and insert it in the gap between the stubborn nut’s shells. Then just twist the half shell like a screwdriver and the stubborn nut will easily open up and reward you with a tasty nut for your clever efforts.