Tag: Giveaway

Homemade French Vanilla Ice Cream

Note: I was sent samples of Vanilla Bean Powder, Vanilla Beans, and Vanilla Extract from The Sweet Bean in order to write this post for Homemade French Vanilla Ice Cream. All opinions are my own.

I am still madly in love with my ice cream maker (paid link) and the delicious homemade ice creams I can now make! Today, I am excited to share a classic: Homemade French Vanilla Ice Cream, featuring The Sweetest Bean‘s Pure Vanilla Bean Powder.

The Sweetest Bean, a woman-owned company based in Colorado, sources its organic, whole-bean vanilla from Uganda where they employ a team who hand cures all of their gourmet vanilla. The company has a purpose of building an economy on the other side of the world, and is committed to one-single-supplier, their workers, their children, their futures, with the hope of true sustainable economic growth. Ugandan vanilla beans are known for their strong vanilla flavor, so the flavor stands out more in recipes.

source: thesweetestbean.com

The Sweetest Bean’s Pure Vanilla Bean Powder is made from 100% pure, ground, Ugandan bourbon vanilla beans. The vanilla beans spend months curing our beans in the sun, and then are ground fresh, to produce a fine powder rich in flavor and aroma. Pure vanilla bean powder was touted recently by the Wall Street Journal as the next spice you need to own.  The powder can be used in both savory and sweet recipes, including barbecue rubs, soups, stews, fish, pork, smoothies, and coffee — vanilla adds a touch of sweetness without additional sugar.

The Sweetest Bean sent me their 3 Product Gift Set and have generously offered an additional set to one lucky I Can Cook That reader! Details for the giveaway after the recipe.

So let’s get churning! This Homemade French Vanilla Ice Cream has just 6 ingredients. The egg yolks, which makes this ice cream “French Vanilla,” adds wonderful richness without competing with the vanilla flavor.

Recommended tools (paid links):

 

Ingredients (makes 1 pint, multiply as desired):

  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Bean Powder (or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Continue reading Homemade French Vanilla Ice Cream

Bravazzi Hard Italian Soda Bar

Note: I was sent samples and giveaway items in order to write this post. Opinions are my own.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and is having a great start to the new year! I wanted to share a fun party idea to keep the merriment going throughout these chilly months: a Bravazzi Hard Italian Soda Bar!

Bravazzi (pronounced “brah-VAH-tsee”) is a hard Italian soda brand with yummy flavors like Clementine, Blood Orange, Lemon, and Grapefruit. Inspired by gourmet Italian sodas, Bravazzi excites the senses with its naturally sweet, fizzy essence and fruity aroma. The sodas are gluten free, contain 4.2% ABV, and are made with simple ingredients like cane sugar and real fruit juice.

The name Bravazzi is derived from the Italian word for good, Brava, and Fizzi, which is the perfect way to describe these hard sodas! The flavors are super tasty and are delicious on their own, but are also great for mixing to make cocktails.

Bravazzi sent me some goodies just before New Year’s Eve, so I decided to make a simple Cocktail Bar. All you need to make a few different cocktails is the Bravazzi Variety Pack, some sparkling wine, Aperol, Gin, Elderflower Liqueur, and Bourbon, and you have a Bravazzi Hard Italian Soda Bar!

Plus, I have some items to give away! Details will be at the end of this post.

As I said, these really are fantastic on their own, but if you have extra champagne (or prosecco) lying around, add one part bubbly and one part the Bravazzi of your choice for a fun and easy champagne cocktail!

For the Clementina, which has the fragrant essence of freshly-peeled citrus with a kiss of subtle sweetness, I suggest the Clementina Aperol Spritz – one part Aperol and three parts Bravazzi Clementina poured over ice, for a taste of summer to keep you warm in these colder months.

More of a lemon fan? The Limonata Fizz is calling your name. Bravazzi’s Limonata has the crisp, clean bite of real lemon with a touch of natural sweetness. Add one part Gin to four parts Bravazzi Limonata in a glass filled with ice for a wonderfully refreshing cocktail.

If you love the flavor of grapefruit, Bravazzi’s invigorating blend of tart and tangy grapefruit is refreshingly bittersweet and going to become a favorite choice. Whip up a Bravazzi Cordial by adding one part elderflower liqueur to three parts Bravazzi Grapefruit over ice.

My favorite is the Blood Orange, a burst of distinctly bold yet delightfully sweet citrus flavor. Enjoy the flavors of an Old Fashioned by mixing one part bourbon with four parts Bravazzi Blood Orange in a glass over ice.

There’s a little bit of something for everyone, don’t you think? Bravazzi has more suggestions on different cocktail combinations on the Bravazzi website, so be sure to check them out. You can also find out where Bravazzi is sold near you!

On to the giveaway! Bravazzi provided me with some fun gear to help one lucky winner set up their own Bravazzi Hard Italian Soda Bar!

Enter to win a Bravazzi metal bucket, two Bravazzi tumblers and a Bravazzi T-shirt below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Welcome to #Choctoberfest 2019

I’m so excited for the recipes I’m going to share with you this week; today is the first day of a week long event celebrating all things chocolate! Plus, there’s a pretty amazing giveaway too!

#Choctoberfest is an annual recipe-sharing event. I’m joining other food bloggers from around the world to create delicious chocolate recipes. This year, over 70 bloggers are joining together for a week full of chocolate cakes, pies, cookies, puddings, tarts, candies, and more. You can follow along by searching for the hashtag #Choctoberfest on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter. Or, simply follow any of the participating bloggers listed below.We also have some awesome sponsors, who make #Choctoberfest possible every year. Our sponsors have banded together to put together a delicious prize pack worth over $400! Here’s what you get if you win! (Scroll down to enter.)

  • Candy Gift Pack from blog host Triple Chocolate Kitchen, which includes 180-pack of Lindt LINDOR Chocolate Truffles (dark, milk, and white). Triple Chocolate Kitchen organizes #Choctoberfest, as well as posting chocolate recipes throughout the year.
  • Chocolate and Cocoa Gift Pack from Divine Chocolate, which includes a variety of high-quality fair trade chocolate bars, cocoa powder, and Divine Chocolate swag. Divine Chocolate’s baking line consists of three premium quality flavors ranging from 55% to 100% cocoa for a wide variety of delicious desserts. Their chocolate products are made with 100% cocoa butter and are non-GMO and Vegan Society Certified.
  • $100 Nordic Ware Gift Card and 40 Pounds of Granulated Sugar from Imperial Sugar. They are currently hosting their annual Scary Scramble, featuring delicious fall-inspired recipes using Imperial Sugar’s high-quality sweeteners. Imperial Sugar has been a kitchen staple for over 175 years!
  • Collagen Fuel™ Drink Mix Gift Pack from Primal Kitchen. The ingredients in these drink mixes help support hair, skin, and nails. Their chocolate version has organic, fair-trade cocoa and coconut milk powders, with no wheat, soy, or dairy ingredients.
  • Cracker Gift Pack from Mary’s Gone Crackers. The lucky winner will get to try a variety of crackers, many of which pair well with chocolate (check their recipe page for ideas!). Mary’s products are vegan, cruelty-free, and organic.
  • Fig Spread Gift Pack from Dalmatia Spreads. With flavors like sour cherry, plum, blackberry, and orange, you’ll find that several of Dalmatia’s fig-based spreads work well in chocolate recipes. Use as a filling for crépes, serve warm over ice cream, or spread onto toast. They even have a fig cocoa spread that uses fair trade cocoa.
  • Alkaline Water Pack from Perfect Hydration. Wash down all those delicious chocolate desserts with Perfect Hydration water. This 9.5+ pH alkaline water helps to effectively restore and rebalance the body to optimum pH levels. This water goes through a 9-stage filtration process, has no added sodium, chlorine, or fluoride, and is packaged in recyclable BPA-free bottles.
  • Kitchen Conversions Chart and Etsy Gift Card from Moonflower Mountain. Winner chooses the colors for this flower-adorned conversion chart, which makes it easy to double any recipe or convert from cups to tablespoons.

This is a prize pack worth over $400! Open worldwide, except where prohibited. Must be 18+ to enter (21+ in some locations). One lucky winner will be drawn randomly on October 20, 2019 and contacted via email. See terms and conditions for more details.

Enter the giveaway now:a Rafflecopter giveawayEntries from spam or inactive accounts are invalid. #Choctoberfest bloggers, sponsors, and their immediate families/households are not eligible to win. This giveaway is not affiliated with or sponsored by Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest.Make sure you check out the participating bloggers to see #Choctoberfest recipes throughout the week:Triple Chocolate Kitchen • 2 Cookin Mamas • A Day in the Life on the Farm • A Labour of Life • A Little Fish in the Kitchen • A Southern Fairytale • Amy’s Cooking Adventures • An Affair from the Heart • Bottom Left of the Mitten • Broken Teepee • Bunsen Burner Bakery • Champagne and Coconuts • Cindy’s Recipes and Writings • Cook with Renu • Cook’s Hideout • Cookaholic Wife • Crafty Cooking Mama • Daily Dish Recipes • Dixie Chik Cooks • Everyday Eileen • Fairyburger • Family Breakfast Recipes • First Timer Cook • Fix Me a Little Lunch • Frugal & Fit • Fun Happy Home • Get the Good Stuff! • Glenda Embree • Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks • How Was Your Day? • I Can Cook That • Join Us, Pull up a Chair • Karen’s Kitchen Stories • Kate’s Recipe Box • Kelly Lynn’s Sweets and Treats • Life & Medicine Blog • Life on Food • Long Distance Baking • Lynchburg Mama • Makes, Bakes and Decor • Making Miracles • Mama Needs Cake • Memories In The Kitchen • Our Good Life • Our Sutton Place • Palatable Pastime • Queenslee Appétit • Reviewz & Newz • Sarah Cooks the Books • Sarah’s Bake Studio • Seduction In The Kitchen • Shockingly Delicious • Simple Family Crazy Life • Simply Inspired Meals • Sneha’s Recipe • Style Island • Sumptuous Spoonfuls • Sweet Coralice • Sweet Dash of Sass • Take Two Tapas • That Recipe • The Awesome Muse • The Beard and The Baker • The Delicious Spoon • The Food Hunter’s Guide to Cuisine • The Freshman Cook • The Redhead Baker • The Schizo Chef • The Spiffy Cookie • The Urben Life • Trampling Rose • Turnips 2 Tangerines • Who Needs A Cape? • Wildflour’s Cottage Kitchen • Zesty South Indian Kitchen

Bacon Pancake Strips

Note: I was sent a breakfast kit from Krusteaz in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.

September is National Breakfast Month, so I’m trying to share a few more breakfast recipes on my blog!

Krusteaz, makers of premium pancake and waffle mixes, recently launched a new Buttermilk Protein Pancake mix that they were gracious enough to send my way.

(Krusteaz is also offering one I Can Cook That reader a breakfast kit! More details at the end of the post.)

The protein pancake mix is free of partially hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, flavors and preservatives and had 13g of added protein. The back of the box has a few additional suggestions to add even more protein to the pancakes, by using milk and eggs in the batter. I immediately thought this batter would be great for bacon pancake strips!

Ingredients:

Continue reading Bacon Pancake Strips

Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes with Strawberry Maple Syrup

Note: I was sent a Breakfast kit from Krusteaz in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.

For the last couple of years, I have had the opportunity to work with Krusteaz to bring attention to a fun way to switch up your dinner routine in February.

February is National Hot Breakfast Month, so to celebrate, Krusteaz encourages you to have breakfast for dinner once a week. As someone who never gets a hot breakfast on weekdays, I’m all for this idea, and have made a couple of yummy breakfast-for-dinner recipes in the past, including Cheesy Corn Pancakes and Frog in a Hole.

To help you celebrate National Hot Breakfast Month, Krusteaz is giving away a Breakfast Night Kit to one reader!

The kit includes:

  • two boxes of the following breakfast mixes: Buttermilk Pancake Mix, Belgian Waffle Mix, Blueberry Pancake Mix, Wild Blueberry Muffin Mix, and Cinnamon Swirl Crumb Cake and Muffin Mix
  • Kitchen items including a whisk, a tote bag, and pancake batter pen
  • A selfie stick, to help capture the fun!

Further details will be after the recipe.

This year, I decided to have a sweeter breakfast for dinner option, in honor of upcoming Valentine’s Day: Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes with Strawberry Maple Syrup.

This recipe uses Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake mix with a few additions to make Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes. I served them with a simple Strawberry Maple Syrup to top them off!

Ingredients (makes 6 4-inch pancakes):

Strawberry-maple syrup:

  • 3/4 cup chopped strawberries
  • 3/4 cup maple syrup

Continue reading Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes with Strawberry Maple Syrup

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Note: I was sent a holiday cookie decorating gift basket from De’Longhi, and one to give away. All opinions are mine alone.

With the holidays upon us, it’s always nice to find extra ways to give back. This season, De’Longhi, an international leader in household appliances, is helping to give back by donating 10% of its delonghi.us sales site-wide until December 20th to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is a national non-profit organization dedicated to funding research for safer, more effective treatments for pediatric cancer, the #1 disease killer of children in the U.S. For the first time, CookiesforKids’ Cancer has launched a Challenge Gift Campaign where all of the money raised from now to December 31st will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $250K. Visit Delonghi.us to purchase products and see all of the great holiday gift ideas De’Longhi has to offer. Visit Cookiesforkidscancer.org for more information on ways to donate!

To help spread the word, De’Longhi sent me a holiday cookie decorated gift basket to help make some yummy cookies which included The Cookies for Kids’ Cancer Cookbook.

The gift box includes:

  • set of holiday cookie cutters
  • 3-pack of holiday colored icing
  • pair of cappuccino glasses
  • coffee
  • Cookies for Kids’ Cancer: Best Bake Sale Cookbook

I decided to make the cookie that started it all, a recipe for Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies that was developed for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer’s first bake sale.

This recipe is legit.  They are the perfect balance of chewy, buttery, and chocolately. It’s no wonder the recipe is so popular!

De’Longhi was generous enough to also make a holiday cookie decorating gift basket for an I Can Cook That reader! More details on the giveaway after the recipe.

 

 

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 lb  (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Continue reading Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Blackberry Syrup & Watermelon Blackberry Granita

Today (July 22nd), Ball brand is hosting it’s sixth annual Can-It-Forward Day. (You may recall my last post on Can-It-Forward Day, where I canned on my own for the very first time to make salsa.) Can-It-Forward day is a day to celebrate the joys of fresh preserving, and encourage both new and veteran canners to preserve more. This year, the day will be streamed online via Facebook Live from 10:00 am 3:30 pm EST. Throughout the day, the Ball brand and expert ambassadors will be demoing a variety of canning recipes. In the true spirit of “canning it forward,” for every engagement received on the videos, whether it be a comment, like or share, the brand donate $1 to a local charity, so be sure to check it out!

 

You can also ask Jarden Home Brands canning experts any preserving or home canning questions via Twitter with the hashtag #canitforward from 10AM – 5PM ET on July 22nd. Share your own #canitforward creations with the brand on Pinterest and Instagram as well!

Ball brand has also launched the Freshly Preserved Ideas Tumblr page, a “digital pledge page” a place for consumers to take the pledge to Can-It-Forward this year. Check it out and pledge!

To celebrate, I was sent The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving, a Case of Collection Elite Wide Mouth Pint Jars, one $5 off coupon to be used on FreshPreservingStore.com.

I really loved the new canning book from Ball; along with canning and preserving recipes, there are many recipes that incorporate the canned/preserved items.

source: freshpreserving.com/

I wanted to show off how great both types of recipes found in the book are, so I made a blackberry syrup to can, and used it in a watermelon blackberry granita.

 

The blue wide mouth pint jars are SO PRETTY. I have been using a set of the regular mouth blue pint jars as my drinking glasses for years so I was excited to use the wide mouth for their actual intended use!

source: freshpreserving.com/

 

I will get to the canning and recipes shortly, BUT Ball brand was also kind enough to provide a second set of the products I received as a giveaway to my readers! Details on how to enter will be at the end of the post!

Ingredients:

For Blackberry Syrup:

  • 3 lbs blackberries
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 3/4 cups sugar
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2 tbsp bottled lemon juice

For Watermelon-Blackberry Granita:

  • 8 cups seeded watermelon cubes
  • 1/2 cup Blackberry Syrup
  • 2 tbsp fresh lime juice

Gear:

  • stainless steel or enameled Dutch oven
  • wire-mesh strainer
  • 3 pint jars, lids, and bands
  • large pot for canning + a rack to keep the jars off the bottom of the pot
  • cheesecloth
  • 13×9 inch baking dish

So, since my last post, I’ve upgraded my canning situation to the Ball Fresh Preserving Kit. However, for beginners, you really can’t beat the value of the Beginners Kit that I used last year to make the salsa. On to the recipes!

Continue reading Blackberry Syrup & Watermelon Blackberry Granita

Cheesy Corn Pancakes with Eggs

Did you know that February is National Hot Breakfast Month? Even more exciting, today, February 9, is National Pancake Day!

Krusteaz, which offers many different high quality baking mixes, sent me an awesome Breakfast Night starter kit, including:

 

Krusteaz is also offering one I Can Cook That reader the same starter kit listed above! Details after the recipe. Krusteaz currently also has  a coupon for $0.50 off any one pancake or waffle mix.

 

My fiance loves breakfast for dinner, so I decided to make a savory pancake topped with sunny side up eggs to celebrate National Pancake Day!

 

Krusteaz’s Buttermilk Pancake Mix makes this recipe a cinch to prepare! Just add some additional ingredients and you have a delicious dinner ready in minutes!

Ingredients (serves 2, multiply as needed):

  • 1 cup Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake Mix
  • 2/3 cup cold water
  • 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
  • 1/4 cup green onions
  • cooking spray
  • 2 eggs
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Continue reading Cheesy Corn Pancakes with Eggs

Cocoa Almond Pretzel Crust Brownies

Salty-sweet combinations are just. The best. My favorite involve chocolate; the saltiness really enhances the chocolate flavor!

These Brownies are an absolutely delicious salty-sweet combo. The super chocolately, fudgy brownie is made with Endangered Species Chocolate Almond Spread with Cocoa (and 3 other different kinds of chocolate!)  while the crust is make of a deliciously salty pretzel/graham cracker combination.

 

The Almond Spread adds a different lay of flavor to the brownies. To keep the almond flavor noticeable in the brownies, I also used some almond extract. If you don’t have almond extract, or don’t want as much almond flavor, you can use vanilla extract.

What makes these brownies even more tasty is that the chocolate spread used in the brownies also helps give back: Endangered Species Chocolate donates 10% of net profits annually to 10% GiveBack Partners. In the past three years, Endangered Species Chocolate’s (ESC) 10% GiveBack program has donated more than $1.2 million for its carefully chosen beneficiaries!

 

ESC recently announced its 2016-2018 partners: Rainforest Trust and Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN). The organizations will receive 10% of ESC’s annual net profits (or a minimum annual donation of $10,000, whichever is greater) to fund projects they deem most important to achieving their conservation goals.

Rainforest Trust has saved more than 11 million acres of tropical forests to-date, but ESC’s 10% GiveBack program will be vital in expediting the organization’s goal of preserving 20 million acres by the year 2020. WCN funds projects in 24 different countries where the 10% GiveBack program will contribute to helping a myriad of at-risk species.

Past 10% GiveBack partners include SEE Turtles, SEEtheWild, Chimp Haven and, most recently, the Xerces Society and African Wildlife Foundation (AWF).

 

Endangered Species Chocolate was also kind enough to send me some extra jars of their delicious spreads to give away to one I Can Cook That reader! Details after the recipe.

 

Ingredients:
For crust:

  • 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1.5 cups crushed pretzels (about 2 cups mini pretzels before crushed)
  • 1/2 cup ground graham crackers
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar

For brownies:

  • 2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter
  • 1.5 cups (~9 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
  • 4 ounces (1 baking bar) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
  • 1 (9.7 oz) jar Endangered Species Chocolate Almond Spread with Cocoa
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 tablespoon almond extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Continue reading Cocoa Almond Pretzel Crust Brownies

Chai Toddy

The Holiday Season is officially upon us! And what better way to begin the season than with a giveaway? This post and giveaway are brought to you by one of my favorite organizations, World Vision.

The World Vision Gift Catalog is filled with beautiful gift options for this gift-giving season and cover every budget ($10 to $5,100) that help children and families in need worldwide.

The World Vision Gift Catalog offers an alternative (or addition to) traditional holiday gift giving. With a financial contribution, the gift giver can select from dozens of items that you will get while helping a person in need. For example, a gardener may enjoy giving hybrid or drought-resistant seeds to a farmer through a donation of just $17 to help one family. Or a child may be the perfect recipient of a donation of $35 which buys new toys such as stuffed animals, dolls, sports equipment, simple games, and more. Because of donations from leading companies, this gift actually goes 12 times further to provide fun-filled toys (it would buy $420 worth of new toys).

I’ve been lucky enough to work with World Vision for the past few years. In past years, I’ve made Star Anise Snickerdoodles to highlight the Prosperity Cinnamon, Couscous with Dried Cranberries and Pine Nuts featuring beautiful Hand-Carved Serving Spoons, and Tiramisu Jars using Fair Trade Coffee. This year, I was sent these gorgeous Capiz Shell Coasters, so I made a yummy Chai Toddy, perfect for cold winter nights! More information on entering the giveaway at the end of this post.

A Chai Toddy is a hot toddy made with chai, which is a tea made with a blend of spices typically including green cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, ground cloves, ground ginger, and black peppercorns.  With the addition of whiskey or bourbon, a Chai Toddy makes for a yummy party beverage, don’t you think?

Ingredients (serves 1, multiply as needed):

  • 6 oz steeped Chai tea
  • 1 oz whiskey or bourbon
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1 oz heavy cream
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 star anise

Continue reading Chai Toddy

#Choctoberfest with Imperial Sugar GIVEAWAY

 

This is going to be a very good week. Why? Because it’s #Choctoberfest! Today, October 5th is the first day of a week long event celebrating all things chocolate!

#Choctoberfest is a virtual event put together by The PinterTest Kitchen. Bloggers from around the world will be posting their favorite chocolate recipes, and you’ll get a chance to win some awesome prizes. What’s not to love?

Here’s what this event is all about!

#Choctoberfest would not be possible without our sponsors, starting with our 2015 Gold Sponsor, Imperial Sugar. Imperial Sugar has been a trusted name in family kitchens since 1843. Their sugar products and sweeteners are made from non-GMO cane sugar and ensure consistently delicious results. We’ll be using Imperial Sugar whenever we use sugar in our recipes this week, and can’t wait to share the sweetness with you! (You may have seen my Instagram post; I’ve got plenty of Imperial Sugar to make sweet treats for a while!)

You can find Imperial Sugar on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more. Make sure you visit the recipes section of their website for some sweet inspiration, and you can also find coupons on their website if you want to try out Imperial Sugar yourself.

Imperial Sugar and our other sponsors have banded together to contribute some awesome prizes for our #Choctoberfest giveaway! Entering is simple – just click below to follow us on Pinterest. Here’s what you could win:

We also have a nonprofit sponsor this year – Rescue Chocolate! They make vegan chocolate treats and donate 100% of their proceeds to animal shelters.

Enter now to win the #Choctoberfest prize. Hurry, because we’re picking the winner on October 12 at 8:00 AM, so if you don’t sign up before then, you’ll miss your chance!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A huge thank you to all of the other blogs participating in #Choctoberfest 2015. Check out their blogs throughout the week for chocolate recipes you won’t be able to resist:

The PinterTest Kitchen • 2 Cookin’ Mamas • A Day in the Life on the Farm • Aloha Flavor • Amy’s Cooking Adventures • Angels Homestead • Balancing Motherhood • Bless this Mess • Busy-at-Home • Chocolate Slopes • Coconut & Lime • Colie’s Kitchen • Cookaholic Wife • Cooking In Stilettos • Cooking With Libby • Cookistry • CopyKat Recipes • Cravings of a Lunatic • Crumbs in my Mustachio • Culinary Couture • Cupcakes Take The Cake • Deliciously Savvy • Eat It & Say Yum • Fairyburger • Famished Fish, Finicky Shark • Farm Fresh Feasts • Food Hunter’s Guide to Cuisine • Full Belly Sisters • Get Off The Couch and Cook • Grumpy’s Honeybunch • Hey What’s for Dinner Mom? • Honey and Birch • I Can Cook That • Jane’s Adventures in Dinner • Jessie Weaver • Life on Food • Life, Love, and Good Food • Majorly Delicious • Moore or Less Cooking Food Blog • Mother Would Know • Or Whatever You Do • Poet in the Pantry • Recipes Food and Cooking • Sassy Southern Yankee • Savory Tart • Seduction in The Kitchen • Serena Lissy • Sumptuous Spoonfuls • Take Two Tapas • That Skinny Chick Can Bake • ThatsSoYummy • The Chonchudo Files • The Crumby Cupcake • The Dinner-Mom • The Saucy Southerner • The Spiced Life • The Spiffy Cookie • The Two Bite Club • The Weekday Gourmet • Vintage Kitty • Wendy Polisi • What A Girl Eats • WhitBit’s Indian Kitchen • Wit Wisdom & Food • Zesty South Indian Kitchen

Are you a blogger who is interested in joining us during out next community event?

Sign up here now!

We’ll make sure you get an email about our next blogger event.

Check out some of my#Choctoberfest posts below!

Overnight Iced Coffee

This post is sponsored by Equal. All opinions are my own.

I love coffee. No,  I need coffee. And in the summer, I crave iced coffee, but don’t want to have to go to a coffee shop every time I have a hankering (that can really add up!)

 

Really solid iced coffee is made strong enough to stand up to the ice as it melts. I also prefer a really strong brew so that I can add sweetener and half and half to make the perfect iced beverage. So overnight iced coffee is a simple and awesome option, plus it’s ready for you in the morning!

 

Overnight iced coffee is cold brewed; the ground coffee “brews” in the water overnight to give a rich deep flavor, and is really easy to make. I was sent a summer beverage kit from Equal to get ready for all the delicious drinks of summer and thought this would be the perfect time to try out an overnight coffee using the kit and Equal 0-calorie sweetener!

 

 

Equal 0-Calorie Sweetener pairs wonderfully with a strong brewed iced coffee. Equal packets are concentrated (1 packet = the sweetness of 2 teaspoons sugar) while Equal Spoonful measures cup for cup. Equal is a great option to sweeten recipes without adding calories! (For more recipes using Equal, check out their recipe page.)

 

 

The summer beverage kit includes:

  • Equal® 0-calorie sweetener 115-ct boxes
  • Equal® Spoonful 4-oz. “Easy Pour” Container (226 servings)
  • Takeya Flash Chill Tea Maker
  • Republic of Tea Green tea sachets
  • Blended iced coffee packets
  • Cool Peach Iced Tea Recipe Card from The Diabetic Chef® Chef Chris Smith
  • Equal® Recipe Guide Booklet
  • Equal® iPad holder

 

 

I decided to use the Takeya Flash Chill Tea Maker to make the overnight iced coffee and sweetened my coffee with Equal Spoonful. The Tea Maker has a built in Tea Infuser which also works great to hold the coffee grounds. (Equal is also providing one reader with a kit of their own! Details after the recipe…)

 

Ingredients:

  • 10 tablespoons coarsely ground coffee
  • ~2 quarts water
  • ice cubes (or coffee ice cubes)
  • 3 tablespoons Equal Spoonful 0-calorie sweetener (or 4 Equal packets)
  • 1/4 cup creamer or half and half
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Continue reading Overnight Iced Coffee

{Giveaway} The Joy of Writing a Great Cookbook Review

If you’ve ever dreamed of publishing a cookbook, Kimberly Yorio’s THE JOY OF WRITING A GREAT COOKBOOK: How to Share Your Passion for Cooking from Idea to Published Book to Marketing It Like a Bestseller is right up your alley. I was sent a free copy of this book to review, and I was surprised with how much content was in this book that I never really even considered before!

 

Kimberly Yorio is a brand strategist, food authority, and women’s business advocate who has worked as an in-house publicist and marketing director, a for-hire publicist and agent, a cookbook co-author and proposal writer.

 

Kim, with 20+ years experience in the cookbook industry, has developed an amazing how to for cookbook author hopefuls. In her own words, the cookbook “will show you how to get from great idea to bookstore shelves (or, at the very least, Amazon).”

This book is filled with not just Kimberly Yorio’s advice, but tips and tricks of publishers, editors, publicists, recipe testers, food stylists, journalists, bloggers, agents, and celebrity chefs. It even includes a history of cookbooks and a thorough review of social media, which I found to be really helpful for my own blog!

 

Not only has Kim given novice writers all of the tools to create a cookbook of which they can be proud, Page Street Publishing is offering  a chance to win your very own cookbook contract and marketing campaign executed by Kim and her team. Hopeful cookbook authors can submit their proposal by August 1, 2015 and have a chance to earn a publishing deal for a printed book and an e-book. (Guidelines and official rules can be found at pagestreetpublishing.com.)

 

If it’s always been your dream to write a cookbook, don’t hesitate, and enter now!

 

screen shot of pagestreetpublishing.com

 

A copy of Kim’s book would be super helpful in preparing a proposal for this contest though, wouldn’t it? Luckily, I have also been given the opportunity to give away one copy of The Joy of Writing a Great Cookbook to one reader! Use the widget below and good luck!

For those who can’t wait to get their hands on a copy, the book is available now and retails for $21.99.

 

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MARY’s Secret Ingredients Giveaway

 

Source: https://www.maryssecretingredients.com/
They are snazzy limited edition culinary surprise boxes that come out seasonally (4 boxes a year) and are filled with fun culinary-themed items. The boxes are filled with unique gourmet, artisanal ingredients as well as small kitchen products. To get an idea of what comes each season, check out previous boxes here.

 

Source: https://www.maryssecretingredients.com/
Mary also has a blog, LOVE – the secret ingredient, where she shares recipes using each of the box’s ingredients, which is so helpful when you need some suggestions on how to use what is in the box.

 

The first box of the year is being prepared now, and will be shipped on April 25th. There are only 100 subscriptions available each season, so it is best to sign up for them as early as possible.

 

Source: https://www.maryssecretingredients.com/
What makes these boxes even more special is that MSI helps fight hunger and is a proud supporter of Feed the Children.

 

Source: https://www.maryssecretingredients.com/
The boxes are $25.95, while the average value of each box is $45.00! The team at Mary’s Secret Ingredients is offering one I Can Cook That reader a FREE spring box! Use the widget below to enter!

 

For those who are interested in a year subscription, Mary is also offering I Can Cook That readers a special promo code for $16 off a full year subscription! Use MSICANCOOKTHAT when signing up to receive the discount! (Note: the promo code expires April 25, 2015)

 

Source: https://www.maryssecretingredients.com/
Lastly, Mary’s Secret Ingredients is also currently running a Crowdfunding Campaign to allow them to grow and donate more money to Feed the Children. There are some cool rewards for those that donate, including receiving a cooking class with Mary. Check out the campaign here. There are just a few days left to donate!

 

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Frog in a Hole with Blueberry Pancakes

Did you know that February is Hot Breakfast Month? If your schedule is anything like mine, the closest you get to a hot breakfast on a week day is instant oatmeal. So why not switch up a weeknight dinner and serve breakfast instead?

Coinciding with National Hot Breakfast Month in February and to make sure everyone can regularly enjoy both the simplicity and fun of breakfast for dinner, Krusteaz has officially named every Wednesday Night in February “Breakfast Night.”

 

To make Breakfast Night super simple, Krusteaz sent me some of their Baking Mixes so I could have breakfast for dinner!

My fiance absolutely loves breakfast, so he was so excited for us to switch it up and have a sweet and savory dinner. I used Krusteaz’ Blueberry Belgian Waffle Mix to make pancakes (I don’t have a Belgian waffle maker), and cut out the center of each pancake to make a spin on Frog in a Hole with Blueberry Pancakes. (Frog in a Hole is usually made with a piece of toast that has the center cut out to make room for an egg.) I added some crumbled bacon for good measure on top as well.

You only need to add water, oil, and eggs to the Krusteaz Blueberry Belgian Waffle Mix to have your batter ready to go, the blueberries are already in there!  Krusteaz was also kind enough to allow me to host a giveaway. You can receive a bunch of their yummy mixes, including:

  • 1 box of Buttermilk Pancake Mix
  • 1 box of Blueberry Belgian Waffle Mix
  • 1 box of Chocolate Chunk Muffin Mix
  • 1 box of Honey Wheat Pancake Mix
  • Krusteaz coupons for free product

More details and how to enter after the recipe!

Ingredients:

  • 4 strips of bacon
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 3 cups Krusteaz Blueberry Belgian Waffle Mix
  • 6 eggs, divided
  • 1 1/4 cup water
  • 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
  • cooking spray
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Continue reading Frog in a Hole with Blueberry Pancakes

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