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Kahlua Chocolate Salted Caramel Ice Cream Treat Recipe

January 11, 2012 By 15 Comments

So I had a major break down tonight, ice cream and Kahlua and I thought I’d share! I hope that I haven’t gotten you too excited by the title because I didn’t do any cooking. I didn’t do any baking. All I did was poor some Kahlua over some Chocolate Salted Caramel Ice cream that I purchased at Safeway. Oh this ice cream is really good. It’s vanilla ice cream with swirls of caramel and bits of salted chocolate filled caramel delights. Then I poured a shot of Kahlua over it. So this is not for under the age of 21.

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Kahlua Chocolate Caramel Ice Cream Treat Recipe

Ingredients:

2 scoops Chocolate Caramel Ice Cream
1 shot Kahlua

Directions:

Get two scoops of ice cream out of that delightful ice cream carton
Pour the Kahlua over

EASY!

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Yep that bottom layer is Kahlua!

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Tasty Treat: Family Fudge Recipe

December 30, 2011 By 21 Comments

This cold and holiday season has me completely lost on what day it is. Turns out it’s Friday not Thursday so here is our Tasty Treat Thursday By Summer, a day late but not lacking in chocolate or yumminess.

Summer’s Family Fudge

 

FudgeMy parents have passed down a fudge recipe to me called “See’s Fudge”. They told me it was chocolate store, which wasn’t so big in the 1980s. Now See’s seems to be in every major mall area. I don’t really know where the recipe came from but my parents always made the best fudge; I, on the other hand, have not made this fudge successfully in the 9 years I’ve tried UNTIL this year thanks to marrying my parent’s ingredients with directions from Weight Watcher’s fudge (as recommended by a friend).

Here is how I FINALLY made successful fudge this Christmas:

This is the sugar, evaporated milk, and butter. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly,

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This is the chocolate, marshmallows, vanilla, and nuts.

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Family Fudge Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
5 fluid ounces evaporated milk
1 cup butter
18 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
10 ounces of marshmallows
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup walnuts (as desired)

Directions:

1. Grease an 8×8 pan.

2. In a medium saucepan, stir together sugar, evaporated milk, and butter. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes.

3. Stir in chocolate, marshmallows, vanilla, and nuts. Remove pan from heat and stir until smooth.

4. Pour mixture into greased pan and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. Cut and serve.

About Summer:

Summer is very active in our Local MOMS Club chapter, she is the mother of two adorable active boys, and is always thinking of ways to help others. She is a friend, a wife, and always busy as all mommies are. She is very active on Facebook, addicted to Geocaching and very interested in organic and green living while cooking up a storm

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Chocolate Marshmallow Muffins Recipe

December 6, 2011 By 10 Comments

This recipe is actually a baking fail in my opinion. I found this recipe in the Entenmann’s Big Book of Baking recipe book and thought let’s give it a go. The first recipe we tried out of this book was an amazing recipe and well received by everyone. This one however, not so much. However, I’d love to know your opinion on it.

I used vanilla marshmallows

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I mixed the dry ingredients together first

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I may have over mixed

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Chocolate Marshmallow Muffins Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup mini white marshmallows
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tablespoon baking powder
pinch salt
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup whole milk
6 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Grease a 12 cup muffin an or line with baking cups
Using scissors, cut the marshmallows in half (this is a trying exercise)
Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl, then beat in the milk and oil
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the beaten liquid ingredients>
Stir gently until just combined
DO NOT OVERMIX
Spoon the batter into muffin pan
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes
Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes then finish cooling on a wire rack

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Northgate Simon Mall Seattle #Tweetdrive 2011 Swag Bag Sponsor @SeaTweetDrive

November 27, 2011 By 4 Comments

Being an Ambassador for a company should bring me some perks right? Yes of course, but I love when being an Ambassador for a brand also helps me give to charity. Northgate Simon Mall is giving us chocolate swag for the swag bags. I love chocolate and already hope I get a swag bag too.

For the first 100 people who stop by and bring us a new toy, I have a Simon Mall chocolate bar. The Seattle TweetDrive begins on December 1 2011 at 5:30 at the Hard Rock. RSVP here.

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Please join us on Thursday December 1st  for tons of fun at The Hard Rock! We’re collecting toys for Treehouse. Treehouse serves over 5,000 foster kids annually. In conjunction with the Seattle Tweet Drive, MySeattleNightOut.com will hold the finale of an 8-week Jammin’ Challenge at 8:30 p.m. Come for the Tweet Drive; stay for the music! If you arrive after 8:30pm, admission to the event is a new toy for Treehouse or a suggested cash donation of $15.00. Seattle Wave Radio Jammin’ Challenge will give one lucky and talented local artist or band an opportunity to play on-stage with some of the “greats” in the Seattle music scene at Play it Forward, the All Star, Icon Jam with Music Aid Northwest on Jan 14, 2012.

Last year, we gathered 330 toys. Can we break that record this year, let’s gather 500 toys this??? Who’s coming?

Come for the Tweetup at 5:30; stay for the music at 8:30.

 

Follow @SEAtweetdrive on Twitter, and please use #TweetDrive when tweeting about the event.

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Wordless Wednesday – Chocolate Cathedral

May 31, 2011 By 14 Comments

chocolate cathedral

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Chocolate Ganache in 60 Seconds

May 24, 2011 By 11 Comments

A few weeks ago, my husband made me a cheesecake from Paula Deen’s recipe book. He made the Chocolate Explosion Cheesecake Recipe and I fell in love with the chocolate ganache topping. More to the point, I am addicted to the ganache. I find myself making excuses to make more just so I can lick another bowl clean, it’s that good! Not only is it good but it’s super easy to make. The ganache is made in the microwave and has only two ingredients. Since it’s strawberry season, I decided my strawberries needed to be covered in ganache!

 

Chocolate Covered Ganache Strawberries

So here is the Chocolate Ganache Made in a Microwave Recipe

Ingredients:

6 squares of semisweet baking chocolate
4 Tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream

Today I actually modified it a little bit. I used 1 Cup of semisweet chocolate chips and 4 Heaping Tablespoons of Heavy Whipping Cream and I didn’t notice a difference.

Directions:

Combine the chocolate and whipping cream in a microwave safe bowl and heat up for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between each 30 second interval, up to 1 minute. Use the ganache for dipping fruit, topping cheesecake, or serving over ice cream. When using on fruit or cheesecake, it may take a few minutes in the fridge to harden up, but it tastes great right away.

 

Oh and I feel I should mention, I had to eat about 20 strawberries before I captured the perfect photo.

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Green & Black’s Organic Fair Trade Certified Chocolate

April 18, 2011 By 2 Comments

I like to purchase fair trade certified ingredients and products that lessen my impact on the environment. I had the privilege recently to try Green & Black’s Organic Fair Trade Certified Chocolate in the dark 85%, peanut, and toffee.

clip_image001Green & Black’s using only the finest organically-grown cocoa beans, believes that every step from bean to bar is equally important and strives to ensure that all ingredients are grown in ways that are consciously respectful of the planet – including maintaining a sustainable relationship working directly with cocoa farmers. Green & Black’s is a Fair Trade Certified brand dedicated to empowering its cocoa growing partners to establish sustainable livelihoods and communities. Farmers receive a guaranteed minimum for their ingredients, along with an additional premium to invest in the social, environmental and economic development of their countries. Green & Black’s name carries on these values in its name; green referring to organic and black referring to the color of deep, rich dark brown and almost black color of chocolate.

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clip_image005On Thursday, April 28 I will be giving you a Monkey Bread recipe using Green & Black’s Dark 85% chocolate bar. These bars are yummy enough to eat solo (which I did sample the dark, peanut and toffee bars I received), but if you’d like to do more than eat a bar solo, you can find chocolate recipes on the Green & Black’s website or by purchasing the The Green & Black’s Organic Ultimate Chocolate Recipes: The New Collection or Green & Black’s Chocolate Recipes: From the Cacao Pod to Muffins, Mousses and Moles.

Green & Black’s offers chocolate bars: White, Milk, Toffee, Peanut, Almond, Maya Gold, Ginger, Hazelnut & Currant, Cherry, Espresso, Mint, Dark 70%, and Dark 85%. Green & Black’s also offers a 72% baking bar and hot chocolate. Get your own chocolate! It may be closer than you know; check your local stores for Green & Black’s!

You can find Green & Black’s Organic on Facebook and on the Green & Black’s US website. You can also get on their email list to stay up to date on Green & Black’s latest news and information.

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Disclosure – A product was provided to me free of charge by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the writing of this review; however, opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation

About Summer:

Summer is the President of our Local MOMS Club chapter, she is the mother of two adorable active boys, and is always thinking of ways to help others. She is a friend, a wife, and always busy as all mommies are. She is very active on Facebook, addicted to Geocaching and very interested in organic and green living.

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Have Chocolate Pirate’s Booty For National Nutrition Month

March 16, 2011 By 8 Comments

March is National Nutrition Month. To celebrate I’m giving my family chocolate, Chocolate, CHOCOLATE!

Chocolate Pirate's Booty

Now that I have your attention, let me introduce you to the new thing from Pirate Brands (drum roll, please) Chocolate Pirate’s Booty! So maybe that was a little predictable from my introduction, but what will really surprise you will be the way Pirate’s Booty’s chocolate flavor meets your chocoholic taste bud needs at a satisfying 140 calories per serving.

Pirate's Booty logoWe’re fans of Pirate’s Booty. My sons love the “original” white cheddar flavor, and I’ve turned them onto the veggie flavor as well. Now chocolate is adding a whole new dynamic to their line of Pirate’s Booty snacks. This new flavor, like all of the Pirate’s Booty flavors, is all natural baked rice and corn puffs snack that is gluten free. I love that they are also trans-fat free. These Pirate’s Booty are lightly touched with chocolate; the flavor is not over powering, but it gave me the satisfaction of eating chocolate. The key to this new flavor is the Fair Trade Certified Peruvian cocoa and Madagascar vanilla. YUM! However, my 4YO was disappointed because he was expecting a more dominate CHOCOLATE snack, which this isn’t. I think I’ll need to give him a little more time with a bag of chocolate so I hope to see them in a store near me very soon because unfortunate for him my family polished off the bag sent to us for this review. My 19MO liked them and had no problems challenging me to the next handful.

Child with Pirate's Booty

And believe it or not … I’ve already shared almost all the ingredients in chocolate flavored Pirate’s Booty! Here is what’s inside: Corn Meal, Rice, contains one or more of the following: Sunflower, Expeller Pressed Canola, or Corn Oil, Dextrose, Peruvian Cocoa (processed with alkali), Salt, Madagascar Vanilla. The only thing I needed to search Bing for was dextrose, which turns out to just be sugar in fruit and honey – well, that’s simple … LITERALLY!

Pirate’s Booty is also offered in the flavors of New York Pizza, Sour Cream & Onion, and Barrrrrbeque. The Pirate Brands also offer Potato Flyers, Smart Puffs, and Original Tings. All of these are healthier options for replacing those fried chips and cheese curls on your party menu, as a snack, or inside lunch boxes. (Side note: Where the Ages White Cheddar Pirate’s Booty offer a healthier alternative to puffed cheese chips; Tings offer an AWESOME alternative to crunchy Cheetos.) Pirate Brands has been making snacking healthier since 1987, so they know what they’re doing!

 

Summer received samples to facilitate her review.

About Summer:

Summer is the President of our Local MOMS Club chapter, she is the mother of two adorable active boys, and is always thinking of ways to help others. She is a friend, a wife, and always busy as all mommies are. She is very active on Facebook, addicted to Geocaching and very interested in organic and green living.

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Suzie’s Confections Giveaway

May 23, 2009 By 92 Comments

About Suzie’s Confections:

http://suziesconfections.com/images/navigation/suziesconfections125x125.jpgYou can purchase these handmade candies and goodies directly from Suzie’s Confections on Etsy. You can also keep up with the latest news, products, and promotions on the Suzie’s Confections blog. What are these handmade candies I am  talking about? She makes chocolate, with peanut butter, fruits, mints, and caramel. She decorates pretzels and marshmallows. I mean these look nummy as my 1 year old would say. Suzie’s Confections was recently featured on television recently on Good Morning America. The GMA website article.

 


FREE - 15.00 Dollar Suzie's Confections Gift Certificate - Sponsored by Step Mom Extraordinaire - Giveaway Ends 06/02/09

Enter To win 15.00 at Suzie’s Confections.

 

 

To Enter:

1) adding Suzie’s Confections’ my button to their page .
2) blogging and linking back to Suzie’s Confections’ my shop in a blog post.
3)  subscribing to Suzie’s Confections’ blog (via RSS or follow).
4) following Suzie’s Confections on Twitter and/or Tweeting about the giveaway.
5) becoming a fan/friend of Suzie’s Confections on FaceBook
6) Making a purchase from Suzie’s Confections’  my shop and linking to it as a comment.

Save

All participants are eligible for 10% off (excluding shipping) all orders placed within 30 days of the giveaways end. 

Rules:

My giveaways are currently only open to United States deliveries (other areas may enter but the recipient has to be within the US.)
Gift certificates must be redeemed within two weeks of contest end.
Winner must respond to e-mail with in 3 days.

Even More Entries:

Subscribe to my blog
Follow me on twitter tell me your twitter ID
Blog about the giveaway include a link to me and a link to the sponsor for five extra entries Tweet the giveaway (every time you tweet you get an entry) Link to the giveaway please!!! Add my button to your blog/blog roll
Leave a comment for every entry and the giveaway ends June 6th

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