While watching the movie The Naked Gun the other night, my husband and I were distracted by the scene of Frank Drebin and a fellow cop sitting in a car eating a mountain of pistachios, their mouths smeared lipstick-red. Red pistachios! They were a staple of my childhood, but I never see them anymore. Whatever happened to them?

I just returned from my first trip to Lebanon, where I spent a week eating and drinking all over the country. Whether in a restaurant or someone's home, no matter where I stopped for a drink, I was always offered a bowl or two of mixed nuts. This, I learned, was no coincidence.

Green almonds have the briefest whisper of a season in the spring before their shells harden and start looking (and tasting!) more like the almonds we know and love. They are tart and crisp and subversively addictive around cocktail hour. If you see them, promise me that you'll give this uber-seasonal delicacy a try.

Most energy bars, whether store-bought or homemade, include nuts as a primary ingredient. That's why I was thrilled to discover The Good Bean's Fruit & No-Nut Bar, a wholesome snack for the nut allergic or those looking for something different. More

My mom used to make homemade Chex Mix when we were growing up, so while I don't buy many packaged snacks these days, I sometimes grab a bag of Chex Mix as a guilty-pleasure treat. When I saw this recipe for Chocolate Coconut Chex mix last week, I knew I was in for trouble. More

I make hummus more often than I buy it. I find that not only is it inexpensive and fast, but making my own hummus tastes far better than the varieties I find at the grocery store. Fresh hummus has a spicy garlic taste that just never comes through in hummus that's sat on shelves for weeks or longer. But in all of my hummus making, I had never heard of this particular tip. Have you? More

I speak not as an angry spinster but as a happily married woman when I say: I hate Valentine's Day. It probably stems from my general dislike of anything overly girly or pink, and my feeling that a sweet gesture of love is much more special on a day when society isn't pressuring you into doing it. And don't even get me started on how alienating the holiday is for anyone not in a romantic relationship.

In short, my feelings about Valentine's Day are a lot like this popcorn: salty and a little bitter, but impossible to ignore.

I'm one of those people who always has a snack tucked away in my bag, a worst-case survival tactic for when the hours between meals stretch just a little too long. I love me some yogurt-covered snacks: raisins, cranberries, pretzels, all of them. It's taken me a while to work out how I might make these favorite snacks at home, but my golly, I think I've finally got it.

Even though I work largely from home, I'm still plagued by the 3 pm energy plummet like many of my friends and old coworkers. There's just something about that hour, especially in the winter when the days are colder and darker. Instead of reaching for a soda or another cup of coffee, a small snack with a bit of protein is a great picker-upper, and lately I've been mixing up a batch of quick no-bake snacks to keep on hand when the energy lows strike. More

What happens when apples and peanut butter – that old standby – get dressed up with a little flair? They turn into these charming little apple sandwiches. More