Archive for January, 2008
The Best Valentine’s Day Chocolates
Monday, January 28th, 2008The clock is ticking, but there’s definitely still enough time to order a great Valentine’s Day gift online. I know some people go for roses and jewelry, but the way to my heart has always been chocolate. Any one of the gifts below would totally make my day come February.
Lake Champlain Grand Valentine Chocolate Heart - This one’s not so large as to fatten up your loved one, yet not so small that you’ll look cheap. The colors are great, and the variety of chocolate flavors inside is unsurpassed in a box of this size and price. Even better, the ingredients are all-natural and the chocolate is made in the United States.
The Cheryl & Co. Valentine’s Day Tower - This one has pretzels, several types of cookies, popcorn, and brownies. This is the perfect gift to eat in bed the morning after Valentine’s Day.
Chocolate Body Paint - If you can’t figure out what to do with this, you’re hopeless.
Chocolate Fondue Trio - Grab some fresh strawberries and melon and poundcake, heat up these fondues, and you’re good to go. The set comes with chocolate fudge fondue, white chocolate fondue, and caramel fondue.
Just be careful, folks. These are some pretty great gifts, and if you don’t watch out, you and the recipient will be shopping for maternity dresses in a few months time.
Valentine’s Day Gifts from…Wal-mart?
Sunday, January 27th, 2008It would be great if everyone could buy Valentine’s Day gifts like diamonds and cars and Folly Beach real estate, but most people have some kind of budget in mind. While doing a little shopping today, I noticed that even Wal-Mart has some nice, affordable Valentine’s Day gift items. Take a look:
Mini Cheesecake Dippers
An assortment of 12 chocolate chip, raspberry, and cappuccino cheesecake dippers.
Mrs. Fields Delectable Chocolate Chip Cake
A delicious Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cake in a reusable tin.
One Dozen Italian Ice Cream Truffles
12 ice cream truffles with fruit, nuts, and chocolate.
Make Your Cheap Steaks Taste Like Omaha Steaks
Sunday, January 27th, 2008 Food and Candy GiftsObviously, not everyone can have thick, juicy, delicious Omaha Steaks delivered on a regular basis. As tempting as it may be, it’s just not practical. What nearly anyone can do, though, is buy a jar of their Omaha Steak Seasoning to transform their grocery store steaks (which can be just as good, if not better!). I can honestly say that I have at least one bottle of their seasoning on my shelf at any given time - at $4, why not? It’s very good, without being too overpowering and salty like a lot of seasonings. It also manages to avoid tasting like musty bodybuilding supplements the way some dried seasonings do.
Valentine’s Day Chocolate & Peanut Butter Buckeyes
Thursday, January 24th, 2008Maybe you’re broke this Valentine’s Day. Maybe you’re just an insufferable cheapskate. Maybe you just prefer the sincerity of a hand-made gift. Either way, you’ll do well with this recipe.
Note: This is not the gift to prepare for your date if she’s on a diet or happens to wear medical jewelry that indicates that she’s diabetic.
Buckeyes
2 pounds creamy peanut butter
1 pound real butter
3 pounds powdered sugar
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips of any brand
1/4 stick paraffin
Mix the peanut butter, butter, and powdered sugar. Once combined, roll into balls and put a toothpick in each one.
Melt together the chocolate chips and paraffin. This can be done in the microwave while stirring frequently, or in a double boiler.
Dip the peanut butter balls into the melted chocolate mixture. Chill for one full day. Remove the toothpicks.
Cookie Play Dough
Sunday, January 20th, 2008Seeing this Cookie Play Dough reminds me of a cousin that I spent a lot of time raising as a child. Her mother was a young single mom, so she spent most of her time at work, school, or out dating and trying to meet a quality man (for the record, she finally did). Anyway, that left many thousands of hours (and diapers) for me. Many of those hours were spent making sure that she didn’t eat things like paste and play dough, so these cookies would have been beyond perfect for her back in those days.
Today, she’s more into boys than eating play dough, but I suspect she’d still enjoy making cookies out of this play dough-like dough. I thought about sending her some, but with my luck, she’d do something awful like create anatomically correct cookie men and the moment would be ruined. I’m not ready to see my teenage cousin doing things like that, so I’ll probably wait for her 21st birthday instead. I’m still a little scarred by the time the picked up a piece of my boyfriend’s stray Cat 5 cable and cracked it like a whip. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t that dirty at 16.
Grey Poupon
Saturday, January 19th, 2008From time to time, I receive free products in the mail for review. Even though the products themselves are free, I’m always careful to give my honest opinion (or respectfully decline if I suspect it won’t be a pleasant opinion). Last week, I received a couple of jars of Grey Poupon. Free stuff is great, and free edible stuff is even better.
My initial reaction was something like, “Who knew there was more than one kind of Grey Poupon?” This is something I probably should have known. My second thought was that I should stop off at the store to get sausage, pepperoni, cheese, crackers, and some beer for the boyfriend. That turned out to be a great idea. You can never go wrong with meat, cheese, crackers, and mustards.
As you can see below, the jars I received were “Hearty Spicy Ground” and “Harvest Course Ground”. Of the two, I greatly preferred the Hearty Spicy Ground variety, although that may be because it seemed to make a better pairing with the meat and cheese and multi-grain Wheat Thins. I suspect that the courser mustard would have been perfect to add texture to a marinade, and I have plans for that one and some pork chops later this week.
While I’ve always thought that Grey Poupon was the garden variety, no-grills kind of dijon mustard, these newer flavors definitely improve the product’s standing in my mind. The taste was just as good as what you’d expect from the mustards you would get in a upscale/gourmet grocery store. Given the price difference and ease of purchase, I suspect I’ll be sticking with Grey Poupon the next time I need a good dijon mustard.
Valentine’s Day Fruit Basket
Monday, January 14th, 2008 Food and Candy GiftsIf your loved one is teetering somewhere between the “few extra pounds” and “morbidly obese” range, you may want to consider a healthy Valentine’s Day gift. As much as I hate to say it, there are some people who simply do not need a super fudge brownie 50-pack sampler. Instead, try something like this Sparkling Toast and Fruit Valentine Crate from Got Fruit. And of course, it’s a great gift for people who just happen to love fruit, too.
In addition to 2 red pears and 2 Fuji apples, the gift basket has a small tin of chocolate, 3 oz of chocolate covered cherries (a satisfying, but modest portion), a small chocolate bar with a love poem attached, and a bottle of sparkling cider. So no, it’s really not that healthy, but if your significant other has forgotten what it’s like to eat fruit (as opposed to say, Cheetos and pork rinds), it’s still helpful to get things moving in the right direction.
I’d say it’s worth the $64.95 for the love poem alone. If your loved one has a sense of humor, the two of you will probably be laughing at that all night.
Valentine’s Day Heart-Shaped Cookies
Thursday, January 10th, 2008 Food and Candy GiftsThese Heart Cookies make another great entry to the Valentine’s Day gift list. Half the cookies are chocolate, and half of the cookies are vanilla. They start as small as 2 oz. for $6, so these cookies will truly fit any budget. If you can’t spend a fortune but you still want a cute, pre-made gift, you should definitely check these out. You’ll do much better than if you tried to gift something like socks or an auto insurance quote (which obviously shows concern, but it’s not what I’d call romantic).
And if you want to spend more, they have larger packages, too. Obviously. 
The Brownie Sampler
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 Food and Candy GiftsI can’t say that I’ve ever had (or even heard of) apricot almond crumb brownies, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to. Cheryl & Co’s Signature Brownie Bow Box includes that flavor and then some: fudge, blondie, raspberry crumb, chocolate chocolate fudge, oatmeal scotchie, toffee crunch, caramel fudge, zebra, and cashew chocolate chip, to be precise.
In my mind, this is one of those cases where it is not only acceptable to buy pre-made, but advisable. Can you imagine how long it would take to make all of those brownie flavors? It would be a nightmare.
New Year’s Donations
Monday, January 7th, 2008I’m not a big fan of resolutions that involve giving up food. That’s just insanity (unless it’s a necessity for health reasons, of course). On the other hand, I think it’s great if you can get rid of some extra items and help others out while you’re at it. There are plenty of great programs that allow for car donation, clothing donation, and even boat donation.
CarAngel Ministries is a non-profit organization accepts vehicle donations and uses the proceeds to make positive videos for kids and teens. To date, they’ve given away 2.4 million videos and they hope to give away more. They’ll accept your used car, boat, RV, or house, giving you an IRS deduction and warm fuzzy feeling.
Powdered Sugar Spoon - Who Knew This Existed?
Thursday, January 3rd, 2008 Food and Candy GiftsSometimes, it seems as though I’m the last one to know. That was definitely the case with this Powdered Sugar Spoon. When I first saw it in a Miles Kimball catalog (Seriously, those old people catalogs are hoarding all the cheap and clever household products), I thought it was madness. The last thing I need is another kitchen item that does ONE THING. Then I thought about it.
When I make brownies (or anything else that needs a dusting of powdered sugar or cocoa), I usually get out a huge sifter. Then it proceeds to take up room in the sink until the dishes are done. Rather than taking up all that space, the powdered sugar spoon is small enough to fit in a drawer or silverware compartment in the dishwasher. For $3.99, I’d say it earns its keep.
