Homemade

  Total time: 1 hour, plus setting time Servings: About 3 dozen candies, depending on size Note: This recipe requires the use of a candy or digital thermometer. 2 packages gelatin 3/4 cup water, divided Butter for greasing a baking sheet, if cutting out shapes 2 cups sugar 2 tablespoons light corn syrup 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups colored sugar 1/2 cup chocolate chips 1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, sprinkle the gelatin over one-fourth cup of water and let stand until the gelatin is softened.

Ever thought great homemade pizza was possible? It is! And the trick? Well, beyond a good dough and sauce, it's about tweaking your oven to get the heat just right. I did a story a few years back on homemade pizza: "There are many components that go into a great pizza, and opinions vary as to what they are. But any pizza lover will agree that you can't bake one without a super-hot oven, and you can't replicate the effects of a great pizzeria oven with a standard home model -- even with a pizza stone or ceramic tiles.

In 2009, Food did a story on fresh tofu in Southern California . We included a recipe for fresh homemade tofu. Very light in flavor, this delicate tofu is almost like a custard with its creamy texture. The method is simple: Combine some cold soy milk with nigari water (a brine used to set the soy milk) and steam the milk until it sets up like a custard. The whole process takes about 15 minutes. If you've never tried homemade tofu, give it a try! It makes a great weekend project.

Ever thought homemade bagels were possible? And great bagels at that? They are, and Peter Reinhart wrote a great story for Food to share his secrets :  " What I am about to explain could get me barred from the Lincoln and Holland tunnels or any other routes into Manhattan. But as a baker who loves bagels and all the things that can go on them, I am duty-bound to dispel urban legends and to tell you that anyone can make great bagels at home, no matter where you live.... "Bagels are about the simplest of all breads to make.

It's a sausage lover's world out there, right? Especially at this time of year, nothing goes better with a great cold beer. The crisp crunch of that first juicy bite, the perfect blend of fresh ground meat redolent with toasted spices and pungent herbs. Granted, you can increasingly find some pretty good packaged sausages. But for the true fan, nothing compares to the texture and flavors to be found in great homemade sausage. Sausage making is an art that spans almost every regional and ethnic cuisine, a craft carefully honed and perfected over thousands of years.

The military considers them just another piece of equipment; they even have service numbers tattooed inside their ears. Soldiers often treat them as pets, playing with them and feeding them the junk food common on the remote bases of Afghanistan. To their handlers, bomb-sniffing dogs are more like battle buddies. "I'd trust Urmel over most people," Army Sgt. Tait Terzo said of his 4-year-old Belgian Malinois (service number: L-424). At the same time, he said, if a bomb is lethal, better it kills a dog than a human.

Thank you for the wonderful article on tamale making ("A Christmas Tradition: Tamales," Dec. 13). We're a Japanese-American family that has been making homemade tamales every Christmas for more than 30 years. Someday soon I will be passing this tradition on to my 2-year-old daughter. JULIE KYOSAI-WATANABE From the Internet

A man died after the homemade soapbox racer he was riding in spun out of control during a race and crashed into a parked car. LAPD Sgt. Jim Mascola said the incident took place about 7:45 a.m. Other racers said the victim was 21 years old and one of about 35 members of the San Fernando Valley Illegal Soapbox Federation out for an early-morning downhill race.

Happy National Peanut Butter Lover's Day! To celebrate, we've compiled 11 of our favorite recipes. From massive peanut butter cookies to cream pie and peanut dipping sauce. VIDEO: How to make homemade nut butters Oh, and would you like to know how to make homemade peanut butter? It's easy. Check out the video above and read the steps below for tips. Enjoy! ALSO: Food photography 101 Go behind the scenes at the Test Kitchen Browse hundreds of recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen You can find Noelle Carter on Facebook , Google+ , Twitter and Pinterest . Email Noelle at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

A man who was already on probation for domestic violence against his estranged wife has been charged with possessing illegal bombs and weapons after making new threats against her, authorities said Monday. Ronald Gary Turner, 44, could face more than 13 years in prison if convicted on all counts, authorities said. He was arrested last week after police received information that he possessed illegal weapons and had threatened his wife, whose name was not released. On July 2, authorities pulled Turner's car over on the 22 Freeway and recovered handcuffs, pepper spray, knives and a stolen 9-mm firearm with its serial numbers removed.

In the recent story on homemade "peeps" , I allude to what it took to come up with a perfectly pipeable "peep" (say that 10 times). It wasn't easy. While there is no shortage to homemade "peeps" recipes online, the Test Kitchen staff and I had trouble finding a recipe that worked. We tested a variety of recipes, before rethinking our approach. Ultimately, it involved going back to tweaking a simple classic marshmallow. Here are some of my notes: The secret life of Peeps On marshmallows: Marshmallows were once made from the juice of the marsh mallow plant, beaten with egg white and sugar for a foamy consistency.

  Total time: 1 hour, plus setting time Servings: About 3 dozen candies, depending on size Note: This recipe requires the use of a candy or digital thermometer. 2 packages gelatin 3/4 cup water, divided Butter for greasing a baking sheet, if cutting out shapes 2 cups sugar 2 tablespoons light corn syrup 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups colored sugar 1/2 cup chocolate chips 1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, sprinkle the gelatin over one-fourth cup of water and let stand until the gelatin is softened.

Maybe they slowly grew on me. Or maybe it was the sheer sugar rush -- from testing close to 75 dozen chicks -- but I'll admit it. I've grown fond of Peeps. For most of us, an Easter basket simply isn't complete without a box of Peeps. The colorful marshmallow candy brand is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, and the popular chicks are to Easter what candy corn is to Halloween and candy canes are to Christmas. Of course, Peeps are probably just as famous for what people do with them, and I'm not just talking about fluorescent-tinted s'mores or a post-apocalyptic trip in the microwave.

Happy National Peanut Butter Lover's Day! To celebrate, we've compiled 11 of our favorite recipes. From massive peanut butter cookies to cream pie and peanut dipping sauce. VIDEO: How to make homemade nut butters Oh, and would you like to know how to make homemade peanut butter? It's easy. Check out the video above and read the steps below for tips. Enjoy! ALSO: Food photography 101 Go behind the scenes at the Test Kitchen Browse hundreds of recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen You can find Noelle Carter on Facebook , Google+ , Twitter and Pinterest . Email Noelle at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

I'm sorry, what is up with you people? Despite heaps of praise, too many of you are taking a pass. Are you worried that it's just another desert war movie, depressing story, faces hidden by burkas or beards? Well, let's defuse that notion. What we have here is a psychological thriller, man against machine, the clock ticking as Jeremy Renner, a stealth bomb of an actor, sets about disarming the homemade kind. It's chess reconceived as an extreme sport, every action carrying the possibility of reaction.

I think the problem Howard Leff has ["Your Big House or Mine?" June 30] is that he only knows single women. All the married women I know can whip up a fabulous tiramisu after they've just finished repainting the pool fence. See, what happened was that we all married smart, intellectual types who make a good living. But guess what? They don't know how, or care, to paint the house. As my husband said, "This is why I make a lot of money. Hire someone." End of story. I gave my husband sawhorses for his birthday, but they were really for me. True, he does know how to program the VCR and he's really sweet.