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When you first join Pinterest, it’s easy to fall into madly pinning everything you love, find interesting or that makes you laugh. Before you get started, think about how you are going to use Pinterest. Read more »

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If you’re wondering about how Pinterest works, get ready for some fun. Pinterest is like an electronic room full of bulletin boards where you can pin things you find on the web…or that you find on the Pinterest boards others create. You can even pin your own photos to Pinterest when using the Pinterest app on your smartphone or tablet.

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Laptop overheating? Tablet tumbling over? If you like to browse the web in bed or lay on the couch to play Angry Birds, you know all too well the frustration of having your lap start to heat up or your arms ache from holding up your screen. Here are two smart ways to make technology easier to enjoy.

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Okay, we’ve all been there: you start the new year all fired up about your resolutions, but by mid-January you find yourself on the couch with a bag of potato chips and the remote control, thinking, “Oh well, I’ll meet that goal next year.”

Here at the Solutions office, we’ve been through the resolution make-and-break cycle a time or two (or ten!), and we’re here with some advice. No, not advice on how to keep your resolutions; if we knew the secret to that, we’d all be millionaires. Instead, we polled our whole team and gathered a list of great excuses for breaking your resolutions. Each of these tried-and-true justifications has been used by a member of our team with rousing success. So if you find yourself at the end of January surrounded by broken resolutions, just pull out one of these for an instant excuse!

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These Marshmallow topped cookies are perfect for the holidays.  Everyone gets a kick out of the final presentation and they are fun for kids to help decorate.  The recipe below is a time saving store bought version.  If you have extra time in the kitchen, then start from scratch with your sugar cookies.  Here is a recipe idea for you Sugar Cookies >

Quick (pre-made) Recipe Ingredients:

• 1 package Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix
• 10 large marshmallows
• Betty Crocker Cooking Icing (white and orange)
• Wilton Decorating Icing tubes in Black, Red, Green, and Pink

OR, make your own Icing

• 3 tb Wilton meringue powder
• 1 lb Sifted powdered sugar
• 6 tb Water

Icing from Scratch Directions:
1. beat the meringue powder, powdered sugar and water together at a low speed for 8 minutes until icing starts forming peaks.  A hand held mixer will probably take more like 12 minutes.

2. Once the peaks become stiff, transfer 1/2 of the finished icing into another bowl.  Start adding a 1/2 a teaspoon of water at a time to one of the bowls of icing.  Keep stirring until the consistency is slightly runny.

3. Test the runny icing consistency by dipping a utensil into the icing and letting it drip back down into the bowl.  The drips of icing should slowly disappear into the rest of the icing so there is no indication of where they landed.

4. Put both finished batches of icing into a container covered with a wet paper towel and a lid.

Cookie Directions:

1. Make the sugar cookie dough as directed by the package or from your favorite sugar cookie recipe.

2. With the finished dough, scoop out golfball sized chunks and squish them down onto a baking sheet until they are between and 1/4 — 1/2 inch thick.

3. Bake the cookies as directed and then let them cool.

4. Once cooled, place the cookies on a flat surface of parchment paper and load them up with a soft or runny icing.  Smooth out the icing with a knife and let it set.

5. Grease a microwave safe plate, wax-paper or other cooking surface to place your large marshmallows on.  Cook the mallows for 20-30 seconds, watching them very closley so they down melt down too far.

6. Carfuly remove the warm marchmallows with a spatual or butter knife and place them onto of your frosted cookie.

7. Finish the cookie by decorating as you please with your colored frosting.

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When it comes to traditional family gatherings such as Thanksgiving, many families have favorite recipes that are used every year and shared with newlyweds, friends, relatives and neighbors—anyone lucky enough to be invited to dinner. In my family, one of those recipes is Cranberry Fruit Sauce that I introduced November 27, 1975. In the 37 years since, it has become an annual family tradition. This year, my sister-in-law is preparing Thanksgiving for the extended family, and you can be sure this cranberry sauce will be on the table. (See below for recipe.)

Time & energy saving TIP: 

Cranberry sauce can be prepared a week or more before serving.
If you plan to make cranberry sauce with fresh cranberries, you don’t need to do the work on Thanksgiving Day. Make it ahead and store it in the fridge.

Looking for some fresh cooking tools?
Visting Solutions.com for a great selection >

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Entertainer Extraordinaire Jeannie is sharing her decorating tips, hostess secrets and favorite products. With her inspiration, you’ll be entertaining holiday guests with style and ease. From Thanksgiving through Christmas, Solutions is the place to look for clever and time-saving kitchen tools, seasonal decorations and space-saving home furnishings that make it easier to welcome overnight guests.

Solutions has created an exclusive collection of decorations that make it quick and easy to beautify your home for the holidays. Watch the video and see how much time and effort you’ll save with these elegant, lighted decorations that make your  home look spectacular.

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If you haven’t noticed a trend of bright colors around the home, then flip through the most recent Solutions catalog. Something fun is happening in the kitchen and at Solutions: We’re welcoming a bright and cheery trend into our catalog pages. You’ll see bright, colorful and helpful kitchen gadgets.

To get to the bottom of what all the teal, yellow and magenta colored products are all about, I spoke with our Director of Merchandising about her inspiration.

Findings:  This new color trend is being created by a combination of forces—and interestingly enough, the economy has a lot to do with it. As the U.S. slowly gains faith in the economy, we are now starting to look for upbeat, fun colored accents around the home that can brighten the mood. At the same time, manufacturers are starting to take chances again. These two economic factors are met with a new material in the kitchen: Silicon.

Silicon kitchen tools are becoming more wide spread. Silicon as a material is also easily colored and produces vivid, bright finishes that hold their original color.

Another aspect to the bold colors in the marketplace are the products themselves. Since most appliances are basic black, white or silver, it can be fun to be adventurous with colors when it comes to cooking tools and gadgets. Anything that helps make cooking more fun and inviting is encouraged. And it doesn’t hurt to add bright colors in the kitchen while guests are helping or watching you cook. If you’re worried about shifting the entire color palette of your home, remember that these functional tools can be stored in cabinets and drawers and be brought out when they’re ready for use. So feel free to have fun with bright colors!

Finally, a slow growth in the natural food and garden movement has created a surge in kitchen gadgetry, to aid cooks in preparing and storing these foods.

The trend of brightly colored kitchen tools seems to be unraveled. People are looking for fun in the kitchen, manufacturers are taking more chances, and a new need for kitchen tools has created a fun and functional trend that Solutions is standing behind.

Check out our colorful selection of gadgets…it will put a smile on your face >

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