Frugal Family: Impress Mom with Your Gourmet Skills, Creativity

If you want to absolutely WOW Mom on her big day this Sunday, Paul Parten, The Fast & Frugal Gourmet, is going to make it easy for you with a little help from .

Known to his friends for his culinary skills and passion for cooking, he is also an amazing teacher of his own recipes. He takes the mystery and fear out of gourmet cooking, opening a whole new world to the Blue Bonnet crowd.

While some recipes require very expensive ingredients, he has a gift for taking generic ingredients and producing some very expensive-tasting confections.

This week Paul shares his recipes for Chocolate Pecan Turtles and Truffles you would swear came from a bakery. Neither recipe is expensive. They take under an hour to make and are elegant and delicious.

Rather than write down these two recipes, Paul allowed me to photograph the process so the amateur gourmet will have a visual guide. For private orders, recipes or just great ideas, Paul can be contacted at pparten@gmail.com

As for the connection, most of the ingredients used were Kroger generic brand. Plus, if you want to add an even more special touch to your Mother's Day Truffles or Turtles, Kroger has the following Mother's Day specials with prices good through Saturday:

• Knock-Out Roses 8" Plant $8.99
• Locally Grown Hanging Baskets 10" Pot $9.99