Sponsor Spotlight~ The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen

November 30, 2012 By 7 Comments

Happy Friday!

Can you believe that tomorrow is December 1st? Holy hockey pucks, time flew by. Christmas will be here before you know it.

Today, I’d like to introduce you to Susan from The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen. Do you know Susan? Well, I do. I know all about her delicious, award winning Belgian Supreme Ice Cream, her warm Chicken Tortilla Soup, and her drool-worthy Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Biscoff Cream. I frequent Susan’s site every chance I get. I go there to drool over all of the food I wish I had.

Can you guess what Susan’t favorite color is? Red, of course. She cooks in an eighty square-foot red kitchen (hence the name of her blog) in her New York apartment. She even has an obsession with red Le Creuset cookware. Susan learned to cook from watching some of her favorite chefs in action:  Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, Alton Brown, and Sara Moulten. Seems that Susan and I have something in common, we both enjoy Alton Brown’s quirky cooking show, Good Eats.

Susan is one of the sweetest and talented gals I know, and she can churn out ice cream with the best of them. Because cookie season is upon us, I chose to bake and feature Susan’s Speculoos Cookies. I’ve never actually had a Speculoos cookie before I made these, but I’ve become obsessed with Speculoos butter ever since I found it at Trader Joe’s. I literally smear the stuff on everything; it’s so good.

These cookies are made with some of my favorite warm spices like, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. All the spices that warm you up during the cold months of winter.

I made these cookies for my annual tree decorating festivities, and my family adored them. As soon as I took the sheet pans from the oven, I had hands plucking them off of the cooling racks. Impatient? Yup, that’s my family.

I proceeded to eat three of these as soon as they came out of the oven and a few more as I was decorating the tree. I had an ornament in one hand and one of these delicious cookies in the other. Hang an ornament, take a bite. It was a good day.

These cookies only took me five minutes to whip up- super easy! I wrapped the dough in some saran wrap and rolled it into a log for easy slicing, then plopped it into the freezer to chill for a bit before slicing. Freezer=less time I have to wait before I get to eat cookies. I’m impatient, too.

I plan on making these cookies for holiday gifts. They package wonderfully and taste absolutely delicious. And, since these cookies go nicely with tea, I’m going to pair them with a tea bag.

Click here to get Susan’s delicious Speculoos recipe. You can also stalk Susan on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Filed Under: Cookies/Brownies, Sponsor Spotlight Tagged With: , , , , ,

Sponsor Spotlight~ Renee from Magnolia Days

November 26, 2012 By 8 Comments

Hi, all!

Today I’d like to introduce you to Renee from Magnolia Days. Renee isn’t just any blogger. Nope. She’s THE blogger, and she just so happens to be the author of one of my very favorite blogs and a fellow member of the #SundaySupper and #BundtAMonth group.

Renee’s the sweetest person you’ll ever meet, and she’s always willing to lend a helping hand. Not only is Renee a wonderful person, but she’s a wonderful cook, baker, and gardener. I’m constantly stalking Renee’s site for new recipes. Some of my favorite recipes include her black cobbler cocktail (cobbler in liquid form? I’m in), pumpkin pecan cake (you know how I feel about pumpkin), and her family recipe for minestrone soup (I can see myself taking down the entire pot).

I had a hard time deciding on a recipe to feature. I kept going back and forth between her spinach salad with warm bacon dressing and her rocky road fudge. Hmm, bacon or chocolate? Decisions, decisions!

Chocolate won!

 

Renee made this fudge for our “Gifts from the Kitchen” themed #SundaySupper a few weeks ago, and I instantly fell in love with it the moment I saw those rich chocolate squares studded with fluffy marshmallows and salty peanuts. Yum!

I loved this recipe so much that I decided to make a few batches to give as Christmas gifts this year.

I purchased some white candy boxes from my local cake/candy store to package them in and wrapped the box in a red bow. They’re the perfect gift of friends, family, teachers, and co-workers.

I’m labeling the boxes “Renee’s Rocky Road Fudge.” I have a feeling there will be a line at my door for more fudge.

Want the recipe? Visit Renee here to get it.

You can also follow Renee on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Filed Under: Candy, Sponsor Spotlight Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Sponsor Spotlight~ Anita from Hungry Couple

October 31, 2012 By 8 Comments

Happy Halloween! I have a very special sponsor spotlight for all of you today.

Do you guys know Anita from Hungry Couple? Well, you should. Here’s why:  Her philosophy regarding food is on point. She loves good food! What do you know, we have a lot in common. I love good food, too. Anita doesn’t believe in junk food, however, she does believe in delicious food made from scratch, like this pumpkin bread with cream cheese filling, and these peach crumb bars, or this lemon coffee cake (drool).

I refer to Anita as the Cocktail Queen, because any time I need a mixed beverage for a party, bonfire, or just to sip on while reading a good book, I can count on Anita to provide me with a delicious cocktail. She has a cocktail for every season. Fall? Try this apple pie martini. I did, and it was delicious. It tastes like a pie, but bites like a cocktail. Winter? Try this ultimate chocolate martini. It’s made with chilled hot cocoa, chocolate liqueur, and grated chocolate. I’d say it deserves it’s ultimate title. Spring? Can you say strawberry basil martini? Yum! Last but not least, summer? How about a peach martini made with fresh peach juice? The lady knows how to represent a cocktail. She even celebrated National Vodka Month and has a total of 52 cocktail recipes on her blog.

Since it’s fall, I felt compelled to choose one of Anita’s pumpkin recipes to make and feature. I had a hard time choosing one of her many pumpkin recipes, but after careful consideration, I decided on her pumpkin pie smoothie. There’s something about slurping my dessert through a straw that makes me happy.

This smoothie tastes exactly like the custard of an unbaked pumpkin pie, but without all the extra calories, as Anita’s recipe calls for greek yogurt and frozen bananas. It’s so good! I prefer my pumpkin pie without the crust, so this worked out in my favor.

Want this recipe? Trust me, you want this recipe. You can get it here.

If you want to be like me and stalk Anita, you can follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.

 

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Sponsor Spotlight: Kayle from The Cooking Actress

October 16, 2012 By 25 Comments

Do y’all know Kayle? Well, you’re about to. She’s the creative genius behind The Cooking Actress, and she happens to be one of my favorite foodie friends. I’ve known Kayle since I started this blog last December, and she welcomed me with open arms. Not only is she a food blogger, but she’s an actress. That’s right, I know a celebrity! How cool is that?

This girl sure knows how to rock a whisk, and she loves her some cookies. I counted 25 recipes with the word “cookie” in it. Twenty five! In honor of Kayle’s love of cookies, I decided to make and feature her Browned Butter Dark Chocolate & Marshmallow cookies. Can you say yum balls!

Kayle resides in New York, where she lives with her boyfriend (lucky guy), running a very delicious cooking blog and pursuing her acting career. I plan on visiting New York after graduation, and you bet I’ll be meeting up with Kayle to gallivant around New York and eat everything in sight.

I had a very difficult time trying to decide what recipe of Kayle’s I wanted to feature. Everything the girl makes had me drooling. How could a girl choose between whole wheat cinnamon swirl bread, brown butter macaroni and cheese (this one is on my to-make list), chocolate chip cookie dough balls (drool), and s’mores creme brûlée (OMG)!

It was hard!

The dough for these cookies is indescribably delicious, and I almost didn’t have any left in order to bake these cookies. The brown butter is the star of this delicious dough, and it’s what makes it irresistible. I sat there with a spoon and shoveled it into my mouth. Heck with the threat of salmonella poisoning; I didn’t care, because this dough was too good to resist, and at that point, contracting salmonella poisoning didn’t scare me.

The baked cookie was just as good as the dough. They were soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside (a perfect cookie, in my opinion) and studded with dark chocolate chips and mini marshmallows. The best part about these cookies, besides the fact that they’re made with brown butter, is the way the mallows caramelize and toast up in the oven, creating a gooey cookie center. Yum!

Kayle knew what she was doing when she created this irresistible cookie.

Want the recipe? You know you do. Visit Kayle over at The Cooking Actress to get this recipe, along with all her other delicious and creative recipes.

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