Cheesy Recipeesy: Berry Dessert Nachos

At first, we were incredibly confused by the very name of it, but hey, we're open minded. Check out this creative recipe found on eBay Guides for sweet, not savory, nachos to eat after, say, your regular nachos. This desert only look dangerous, but its actually a great solution for diabetics seeking a sweet fix. Try it out and tell us what you think.

Berry Dessert Nachos
Makes 6 servings
Prep: 15 minutes Bake: 8 minutes

What You Need:

3 8-inch plain or whole wheat flour tortillas

1 tablespoon butter, melted

2 teaspoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup fat-free or light dairy sour cream
3/4 cup frozen light whipped dessert topping, thawed

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 cups fresh raspberries and/or blackberries

2 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted

1 tablespoon grated semisweet chocolate

How You Work the Magic:

Preheat oven to 400 degree F. In a small bowl, stir together sour cream, dessert topping, vanilla, and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon. Cover and chill while preparing tortillas. Lightly brush both sides of each tortilla with melted butter. In a small bowl, stir together sugar and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon; sprinkle over tortillas. Cut each tortilla into 8 wedges; arrange on two ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until crisp. Cool completely. To serve, divide tortilla wedges among six dessert plates. Top with raspberries and/or blackberries and sour cream mixture. Sprinkle with almonds and grated chocolate.

A Dicey Contraption: OXO's Over the Sink Cutting Board

Here's a dicey contraption you'll love to love when you're making salsa or pico de gallo. The OXO GOOD GRIPS Over the Sink Cutting Board is great for saving counter space for the rest of the assembly line, among other things. This bad boy stretches to fit over any sink and has a perforated stainless steel food basket that sits beside the board which you can slide to your heart's desire so that when you dice up your tomatoes, you can just push everything right in there. Then, pull out the basket and bring it to your mixing bowl.

We love the easy transfer of "Stuff" and the fact that the juice leftover can make it straight to the sink. Our dogs, however, are wildly disappointed with this on account of the mess-free kitchen floor. Non-slip edges, odor free and won't dull your dicing knives. Plus it's dishwasher safe. Translation: It's kinda awesome.

Cheesy Recipeesy: Popcorn Nachos

For those of us who never thought the words "popcorn" and "nachos" could live together in harmony, Mrs. Williams of Ventura, CA aims to prove us wrong. Her spicy crowd pleaser recipe on our new favorite website, Allrecipes.com, mixes two of the best inventions maybe ever (excluding TP, which just goes without saying).

What You Need:

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 gallon popped popcorn
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

How You Work the Magic:

In a small bowl, mix together butter, crushed red pepper, cumin and paprika. Place popcorn in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the butter mixture and Cheddar cheese. Toss until well mixed.

Best Ever Allrecipes User Review:

"Not too spicey for my "Ash-ba-gash"! Her asbestos mouth really loved this after school snack. We decided to use cayenne instead of the pepper flakes. Ty thought it was a little too much for her, but she ate quite a bit anyway. Gotta go before my PC bids me farewell again and one of my favorite "I Love Lucy" episodes is on anyway."

Amazing. Let us know what you think.

The Dish: Half King, Whole Lotta Nachos

Hiding out in the West Village under the old New York train tracks is a great little happy hour joint/not little restaurant called Half King. With $4 drafts and $7 drink specials from 4-8, you can find hordes of locals piled high after a long day. The ye olde London style, rough wooden tables and, of course, Tortilla Thursdays, make this place a comfortable/non fancy-pants place to be.

Sit at the bar on Thursdays and enjoy free chips and salsa from 5-8, plus $7 bottles of Corona and a shot of house tequila, which you may forget about the next morning. Sold.

Have a seat at one of the picnic style tables and order up a plate of their ground beef nachos piled high on blue corn chips with sauteed green peppers, onions and tomatoes and cheese. The usual sides: guac, salsa, sour cream. These perfect for two (or me) palate pleasers are a pretty good example of the Stuff-to-Chip. The negatives: not really a lot of cheese, though the flavor is good enough you may not miss it. Too juicy soggies it up pretty fast, so you gotta be quick about it. You've been warned.

All in all, order the nachos. You won't be disappointed. At least not until much, much later.

Man Down! Man Down!

A moment of silence as we celebrate the life of Carmen Rocha, the woman, waitress (read: myth/legend) who introduced L.A. to nachos.

That's right. NPR reports that the late Rocha "started working at El Cholo Mexican restaurant in 1959. She brought a special treat from Texas: tortilla wedges, shredded cheddar cheese and slices of jalapeno pepper. One cookbook writer told the Los Angeles Times, 'If they were called 'Carmens,' not nachos, her name would be remembered forever.'" I think this is something we all can agree with.

Next time you're in L.A., visit, order and pay respects:

El Cholo
1121 S. Western Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(323) 734-2773