You can receive Featurettes by e-mail daily, weekly or monthly by request. We can e-mail by your choice of topic or all stories as you may prefer. To make it even more convenient for editors to use our stories, NAPS has added an RSS syndication feed to our Web site. Simply hit the RSS button on our site for automated updates on available content. Please contact us to arrange to receive Featurettes in the format that works best for you at (800) 222-5551 or e-mail your request to us at printmedia@napsnet.com. We can provide Featurettes on CD-ROM or you can download it online at www.napsnet.com. Gary Lipton Media Relations Manager Phone: 1-(800)-222-5551 Fax: 1-(800)-990-4329 Web site: www. napsnet .com e-mail: printmedia@napsnet.com #2458 North American Precis Syndicate, Inc., 350 Fifth Avenue, 65th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10118-0110 Building Your Dream Backyard Winner Named in Cookie Mix Recipe Contest (NAPSA)—Whether the occasion was helping Mom bake a weekend snack or sneaking a sample of cookie dough, or if you recall the tantalizing aromas coming from the oven, baking cookies created tasty treats while we made memories with parents or grandparents and sometimes siblings. Bake Life Sweeter™ cookie mix recipe contestants recalled childhood memories as inspiration for their recipes. The grand prize winner used a cookie mix to save time and fuss to create “Cinnaspin” Cookies, reminiscent of her grandmother’s cinnamon rolls. For more winning recipes, go t o www.BakeLifeSweeter.com/ cookies. “Cinna-spin” Cookies Try a new spin on sugar cookies that's fun for kids to shape and tastes like snickerdoodles. Prep Time: 1 Hr, 10 Min Start to Finish: 1 Hr, 10 Min Makes: 21⁄2 dozen cookies Cookies 1 pouch (1 lb, 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix 1 ⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 ⁄2 cup butter or margarine, softened 1 egg, slightly beaten 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon Glaze 1 cup powdered sugar Cinnamon swirl cookies are almost to eat. 2 tablespoons milk 1 ⁄4 teaspoon vanilla 1. Heat oven to 375F. In large bowl, mix cookie mix and 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon. Stir in butter and egg until soft dough forms. 2. On a piece of waxed p a p e r, s h a pe 1 tab le s po on cinnamon into a line about 5 inches long. Using floured fingers, shape 1 level tablespoon of dough into a rope 5 i n c h e s l o n g a n d 1⁄ 2 i n c h i n diameter. Press one side of dough rope into cinnamon. 3. On ungreased cookie sheet, coil dough rope tightly, cinnamon side facing center, into cinnamon-roll shape. Press end of rope into as much fun to make as they are roll to seal. Repeat with remaining dough. Place cookies 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. 4. Bake 7 to 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes. 5. In small bowl, mix glaze ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over cookies. High Altitude (3,500-6,500 ft): Decrease butter to 1⁄3 cup. Success: To drizzle the glaze easily, place glaze in a small food-storage plastic bag, snip off a small corner of the bag and squeeze to drizzle glaze over cookies. (NAPSA)—Whether you call it relaxing at home or a “staycation,” an increasing number of Americans are forgoing the big family trip in favor of staying home and enjoying their yards. But it’s not just soaring gas prices that have turned travelers into homebodies. More than ever before, homeowners are turning their backyards into outdoor living spaces that suit their lifestyle. But instead of spending lots of money this year, people can enter Briggs & Stratton’s My Dream Backyard giveaway for a chance to win one of six themed backyards: Relaxation, Party Time, Nature’s Nook, Kids’ Zone, Gardener ’s Paradise or Backyard Athlete. One winner will be randomly chosen each month through September. Choices abound for the winners. The Relaxation backyard offers a choice of luxurious spas from Hot Spring Spas such as the Grandee Spa, which comfortably seats seven people while providing two back massage areas. Other prizes include a comfy hammock perfect for summer snoozing, teak rocking chairs from IndoorOutdoorStore.com, a palm tree from Paradise Palm Co. (cold-hardy varieties are available), landscape lighting to set the mood, speakers from the OutdoorSpeakerStore.com to pipe in soft music, a patio heater and many more items. For those who love to party, the Party Time package features an aboveground poo l, an all- Families are finding new ways to enjoy their backyards. weather table tennis table from Stiga, a teak bar set, a choice of Landmann fire pits from CSNFireplaces.com, a premium stainless steel Broilmaster gas grill and other prizes. To keep green thumbs busy, the Nature’s Nook prize package includes a Rion greenhouse from AllGreenhouses.com. Other “green” prizes are an Aquabarrel rain barrel, a Swedish-designed composter from compostingwarehouse.com, a 10-item birdhouse package from TheBirdWarehouse.com, a selection of specialty birdseed and feeders from Kaytee, a tree from Willis Orchard Co., the winners’ choice of seeds, bulbs and perennials from American Meadows, organic fertilizer and more. Every prize package includes the winner’s choice of a Briggs & Stratton-powered Snapper walkbehind lawn mower, Snapper tiller or Sarlo string trimmer. Enter at mydreambackyard.com.
