Product Love

I love....

Our Pullman Loaf Pan....that is all!

(OK Not really! If you are a yeast bread baker and refuse to spend $$ on grocery bread loaves, you need to get this pan! It's fantastic for sandwich bread! You cook it with a lid on it so that it comes out perfectly square.)

Cinderella, So Appropriate

I recently purcahsed my first piece of classic Pyrex at a local antique store. I just walked to browse and kill some time before I met a friend for lunch. When what to my wonderful eyes should appear in the little back room.... a bountiful collection of classic Pyrex.

Now my desire to start a classic Pyrex collection is not something I shared with the hubs, so I knew I couldn't go crazy or he'd just roll his eyes at me and shake his head and say "did we really need this?" (he says that a lot). So I looked and looked at all of the colorful and beautiful pieces, especially looking at price. I didn't want to spend more than $20 for this piece, so I wanted it to be something fantastic for that price. Browse, turn over, check price, repeat. Then all of a sudden, THERE IT WAS! My new piece of Pyrex - and I couldn't be happier.

It's a Cinderella piece, and the birds and flowers are just the most beautiful and dainty things ever.

I'm so happy with it! It was worth my patience and search. Next up, I'm on the mission to find a piece of pink Pyrex!

Uh-Oh - this is a Costly Dislike

So the hubs and I were on the waiting list for a while for Beekman Blaak Goat Cheese - and our number finally came up and a wonderful box of cheese arrived on our doorstep!

We were so excited to cut in to it and tried it on Thanksgiving day - and uh, oh - WE DO NOT LIKE IT!!! We just paid $45 for a wheel of cheese and it's way too strong for us.

HELP!

I'm contemplating shredding it up and making fondue with it, thinking once I add in the wine, herbs and such it may have a more subdued flavor and be good for dipping with bread and veggies?

If you love strong cheeses, this is for you. I do like a strong cheese, but not this strong!

Wine Wine Wine!

I love wine!

My mom was in town for the long weekend and so the hubs and I took her down to Newport to check out some of the wineries - which we have never been to either.

We already went to this really nice wine shop near our house and got two great bottles of wine for the weekend... so you need more right?!

Our first stop was Greenvale Vineyards in Portsmouth, RI. Great small vineyard. Very intimate tasting setting. They only had one red to try so the hubs was bummed but I found a chardonay I really liked. It was fermented in stainels steel barrels instead of oak - so it didn't have any of that woody finish that I'm not a hugefan of in wine. Mom treated me to a nice bottle and they had a few others we really liked that we'd buy again.

Our next stop was over to Newport Vineards - certainly the larger of the vinearyds on the island, and REALLY crowded. It probably didn't help that it was Valentine's Day and Winterfest!

The neat thing about Newport Vineyards is you got a punch card and you could try any 6 wines you wanted, in either the tank room, the barrel room or the patio. They tasted whites, reds and roses and dessert wines. We ended up with a really nice bottle of red from Newport Vineyards as well as some great sauces they were sampling by a local vendor.

Newport Vineyards certainly had a much larger selection but really it was the red we purcahsed that we really liked, one other red, and that was it - Greenvale had a much nicer selection with more wines that we enjoyed - a little crisper, nice after notes.

It was great to check out something we've skipped doing for 6 years out here. We got a nice listing of the other wineries in the area and the other day I was a a hotel for a workshop and picked up the CT Wine Trail brochure so we can try those next.

Oh and while mom was here, we went through 3 bottles of wine, not too bad - considering we also each drank about 3 glasses of wine while tasting!!!

Holy Cow!

I'm going to rave about something that isn't all that bad for you for a change!

I picked up a box of the new Kashi Fruit and Grain Bars at Walmart the other day- I of course went for the Dark Chocolate and Coconut.

MAN THESE ARE AWESOME!

The bar is wholesome and crunchy and the chocolate is soft and fudgy with this deliciously mildly sweet toasted coconut on top of the chocolate.

I just had one for a quick afternoon pick me up while working on taxes and WOW what a nice satisfying sweet treat in the afternoon or even for an after dinner tasty.

Other flavors they had included Pumpkin Pie and Raspberry Chocolate. I don't know though, these Dark Chocolate Coconut ones are pretty killer! I may have to stick with them.

My Kitchen Just Got More Colorful and Fun!

I came home the other day to find a great little box on my door from The Spoon Sisters. I recently entered another contest at Blake Makes for a chance to win these awesome measuring/tasting spoons from The Spoon Sisters.



Now I love spoons. I fly through those more than any other utensil. I have spoons for everything in the kitchen - salt spoon, sugar spoons, honey spoons, serving, cooking stirring, spoons for only dark colored foods that can stain, spoons for high heat, etc. A spoon is my favorite untensil for cooking and eating!



So when I saw these colorful little guys I had to enter and crossed my fingers I'd win... If not I knew I'd probably cave and buy them at some point! That's just how cute they are.



Unfortunately my picture (or any of the ones I took) do these justice! You just have to buy a set to check them out yourself. I've already used them for my cooking and am totally digging them.



I've met a new spoon set - and I'm in LOVE!!!







And do check out the SS website for some other great gifts - great for those upcoming holiday exchanges!!! Hint Hint people!!!

Thank You Blake Makes!

I love the blog Blake Makes. I mean LOVE! Not only does he have great innovative recipes, he shares the glory with other cooks around the globe and their delicious recipes as well. He always features new and innovate products and foods and always gives us the chance to try and win products as well.

This was the first contest I entered on Blake's site. I don't know I've always been too nervous to enter them in the past but finally decided oh just get over it!

I was really glad I was chosen to try these new treat - You Bars. The company makes these bars with natural ingredients. And you can even go on the site and make your own bars that they'll make and ship for you.

Now part of the reason I was so interested in this give away was because I do like "bar food" as we call it in my family, but sometimes I am disappointed with the bars I try. I don't like the texture or the flavor. So I always like trying new bars to see if I can find a new one I like. I really enjoy a bar for breakfast with a glass of milk - it's filling and can hold me most of the morning along with a piece of fruit about 11 am or so.

So I tried the first You Bar out of the package and it was YUMMY. I loved it because for once it was a bar that didn't have the texture of a Power Bar - that stickiness to it and it wasn't candy coated or chocolate coated to make you think it was a candy bar. It was just wholesome and good and fruity and grainy.

I've still got a couple more to try out of the selection pack, but so far I've been a happy camper.

Thank You Blake and Thank You You Bar!

Product Rave

Run, don't walk, to your nearest market to try these out. Oh ok, what the hell, you can wait until after the Thanksgiving rush at the market to get these.

Strolling down the bread aisle Sunday - not needing ANY bread - a little pack of English Muffins with a red stripe on them caught my eye - NEW, Limited Edition Thomas Cranberry English Muffins.

Well, if you know me, you cranberries are one of my favorite foods ever - any way you make them - I'll eat them. And put them in a tasty toasty baked good - even better!

I bought two packages (I know I hadn't even tried them but come on how bad could they be?!). Oh My God! So glad I got two - one pack is in the freezer and the other is almost gone!

They are the most delicious thing I've ever tasted. The cranberries are fresh and huge in them and toasted with a touch of butter - mmmm delicious!

These are limited edition - just for the holidays - but you have to get them and stock up! You'll want them year round.

I hope they start doing more of these. A pumpkin English Muffin would be great, so would a blueberry one in the summer!

Product Rave!

My friend hosted a Tastefully Simple party the other week and I decided to go - I mean yes I sold the stuff but never experienced a party. The girl doing the party was my friend Alicia who took over my business from me.

Well, I knew I couldn't buy too much - we still have a basement full of samples, so adam and I agreed only NEW products that were good.

OH MY GOD the Tangy Thai Peanut Sauce is KILLER! The bottle is almost gone and we just opened it this week - thank gosh we have a second! If you like Peanut Sauce on chicken, pork, noodles, this is incredible!

You can order from my friend alicia at
http://www.tastefullysimple.com/Cultures/en-US/default.htm