Age: 41

Town: Mount Joy

Profession: Communications specialist for The Jay Group

Food and family are "hopelessly entwined," noted Barbara Rockwell, "and I've tried to convey that to my children."

When her sons James, 17, and Willy, 15, were very young, she and her husband, Jody, started the tradition of a regular Saturday "family night." Barbara prepared a snack food — nachos or chicken nuggets, for example — and, she said, "we would put a blanket on the living room floor and eat there while we watched a movie.

"The boys loved it," she recalled. "It was a chance to eat fun food, in a place where they weren't usually allowed to eat, and spend quality time together." To this day, Rockwell said, "you'll find my boys dragging out a blanket and picking out a movie!"

One of their family-night favorites is baked jalapeño poppers. "They taste like the poppers served in local restaurants" and are easy to make, she said. Because they are baked instead of deep-fried, "they are healthier, too. I like this recipe because the longer you bake them, the milder they are. Jalapeño peppers have an amazing flavor behind all that heat!"

BAKED JALAPEÑO POPPERS
1 pound fresh jalapeños*

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

2 cups shredded cheddar

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon chili powder

½ cup plain, dry bread crumbs

*Remember that when working with hot peppers, you should wear gloves or wash your hands thoroughly and immediately. "I learned this the hard way years ago," Rockwell shared, "when I got pepper juice on my contacts!"

Preheat oven to 300 F. Slice each pepper in half lengthwise; scoop out the seeds. The seeds and the membranes give the peppers a lot of their heat; so, if you don't want them to be too hot, clean them out well!

In a medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, cheddar, salt, garlic powder and chili powder. Mix well.

Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the cheese mixture into each pepper half.

Roll the stuffed pepper in the bread crumbs.

Place on greased cookie sheet or jelly-roll pan (15-by-10-by-1-inch). Bake uncovered: 20 minutes for hot peppers, 30 minutes for medium or 40 minutes for mild flavor.

Note: You can substitute reduced-fat cream cheese and cheddar; the peppers will still taste phenomenal!

Yields about 2 dozen.