Much to my husband’s dismay, I love fruits and veggies. He swears he’s some sort of super-taster and that all fruits and veggies are bitter, but I just think he has an adverse reaction to anything that is good for him.

Obviously, he wouldn’t enjoy this week’s Four Foods on Friday, because he’s crazy anti-veggie man.

1. Fruits and veggies. Do you prefer them peeled or not?

I used to be a strictly peeled fruits and veggies kind of person, and I do occasionally enjoy taking the skin off my apples, but I have learned to love crispy roasted potato skins and peach fuzz.

2. What’s your favorite fresh fruit or vegetable smell?

I don’t think fresh veggies smell all that great, but I’ll take a wiff of a fresh cut watermelon or pear any day.

3. What’s the worst food smell you’ve ever smelled?

When I lived in Indianapolis, I worked in the same building as Oceanaire, and one summer their grease trap backed up and I was never able to eat there again. They had terrific food, but after smelling what the remains of fried fish smell like, I couldn’t stomach it.

4. Share the recipe for the dish that you love to smell cooking in your oven.

Sugar cookies! I made several batches a few years ago, and the house smelled fabulous for days. I’ll have to remember that smell, because sugar cookies are too much damn trouble to make and that fresh baked smell will not be coming from my house again!

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

NOTE: The cookies taste way better when you let the dough chill overnight, and taste even better when you take the time to roll the dough out and cut it into stars and snowflakes. Seriously. It does!

I’m officially addicted to Shear Genius on Bravo. While I don’t fully understand what qualifies Jaclyn Smith as a host (it’s not like she’s the Heidi Klum of the salon world), Daniel makes up in personality what Jaclyn lacks in hosting skills.

There’s nothing I love more than a Southern gay man who appreciates a prom poof and a good teasing comb. That sweet little southern accent, and how he gets all excited when the celebrity judges are unveiled, just makes me want to be BFF with him!

Why is there never enough frosting in the packets that come with Pillsbury Toaster Strudel? The photos are very misleading, because there’s really only enough icing for half the pastry!

And before anyone in my family starts pointing fingers, I was NOT the one that was stealing extra frosting for my strudels when we were kids. I suspect it was the same person who used to dip their fingers in the Cool-Whip and then shake the container to destroy any evidence.

When a special occasion arises, I make it my mission to find a Personalized Gift. I’m always looking for the perfect gift, and personalization shows that thought went into my shopping and I didn’t grab any old thing off the shelf.

Letter Perspectives offers the best personalized gifts by way of photography of items resembling letters assembled to spell special name or meaningful word. What a great gift to design in a new baby’s name, or the title or a new graduate, or even just a cool piece depicting your family name for an entryway.

The art is really reasonably priced, too. My last name, matted and framed, is only $160!

It’s time for another giveaway, and this time I’m giving away something that is very near and dear to my heart. Something I cherish and share with friends. Magazines! Celebrity news, entertainment, and health and beauty; I love them all, and so will you!

One lucky winner, chosen at random, will receive a full year’s subscription to my favorite magazines: US Weekly, Interview, Marie Claire, Vanity Fair, and Lucky. That’s over $300 worth of magazine subscriptions!

It’s super easy to enter…

• Leave a comment naming your favorite magazine for 1 entry
• Blog about my giveaway with a link back to this post for 5 entries
• Stumble this post for 10 entries and leave a comment so I can verify

Entries will be accepted until midnight Friday, July 11th and the winner will be announced Monday July 14th.

US winners only. Please remember to use your real first name and email address when commenting. Bogus or duplicate entries will be deleted (I see you people entering multiple times from the same IP address!). If the winner already has a subscription to one or more of the listed magazines, I will be happy to either send the subscription to a person of their choice or let them pick a replacement magazine of equal or lesser value.

EDIT: Below is a running list of individuals with multiple entries. If you blog or Stumble, please let me know so I can keep track of your entries!

Ginny has 16 entries!
Hil’Lesha has 6 entries!
Val has 16 entries!
Kat has 11 entries!
Natalie has 6 entries!
Chrysa has 16 entries!
Sara has 6 entries!
Sarah has 16 entries!
Randy has 6 entries!
Lori has 16 entries!
Adrienne has 11 entries!