Spatulas, Corkscrews & Suitcases

Hello Cupcake Give Away & Floating Islands

                                       

Red Velvet Cupcake AFTER John got to it!                

Hello, Cupcake!
Don't miss out on your chance to own a brand new HELLO, CUPCAKE! cookbook. Deadline is Thursday, February 12, 2009 at midnight, EST. Leave your comments on the original post. Good Luck Cupcake Lovers!

Floating Islands
Sorry, with all my Blogiversary Give-Aways going on, I wasn't able to get to Dorie's Floating Islands yet. Technically speaking, I suppose WE could be considered a Floating Island, seeing as we live on a sailboat in the water. Is that enough to be called a Floating Island? We have a moat around our boat and we always have water in our basement! Does that qualify as a Floating Island, or am I going down with the ship?

                

Tuesdays With Dorie
I'm going to attempt the Floating Islands tomorrow. Then we'll see who's still floating! Thanks to Shari from Whisk A Food Blog for the recipe. Check out the blogroll at Tuesdays With Dorie for edible Floating Islands!

While You're Waiting...Some Noteworthy Floating Islands:
And Then I Do The Dishes by LyB
Scrumptious Photography by Kim
I Heart Food 4 Thought by CB
Confessions Of A City Eater by Stephanie
Chez Us by Denise

WINE TASTING & SEMINAR - People's Liquor Warehouse, Rhode Island

                                                          

Fine Wine & Chocolate Seminar

What could be more romantic on Valentine's Day than gourmet chocolates and  sparkling fruity red wine, a full-bodied Amarone, or a fun Muscato d'Asti? Impress someone special this holiday by showing off your wine smarts!

Marc the Wine Guy and People's Liquor Warehouse are trying to seduce us again with something really special for Valentine's Day. They've invited Jennifer's Chocolates of Wakefield, RI to tempt us with a sinful assortment of her luscious hand crafted chocolates.  Marc will then pair 4 specially selected wines with the chocolates for the occasion.

The fabulous Valentine Wine Line-up Includes:

• De Forville Muscato d'Asti
• Quinta des Bacaladas
• Banfi Rosa Regale - I've personally enjoyed this sparkling red wine myself, usually during the holidays. With its hint of fruity raspberries, this very romantic wine is perfect when paired with gourmet chocolate. You're sure to get lucky on Valentine's Day with this fun red bubbly!
• Rengo's 2004 Amarone - I've only been fortunate enough to taste this voluptuous, full-bodied Amarone twice (although I'm not sure of the vintage) and each time, I was enamored with it! If you truly want to impress someone on Valentine's Day, this deep, ruby red Amarone will not disappoint!
  

When, Where & Why
The Fine Wine & Chocolate Seminar is being held on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 6:00pm. Please call People's Liquor Warehouse, at 401-737-0900 so they have a seat waiting for you. Trust me, you don't want to miss out on this wine & chocolate tasting!

People's Liquor Warehouse (Apponaug), 1350 Greenwich Ave, Warwick RI 02886, 401-737-0900

Photo, courtesy of Jennifer's Chocolates

HELLO, CUPCAKE! Cookbook Give Away!

               

COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY! Hello, Cupcake!
Did everyone enjoy the Lake Champlain Chocolates give away last week? Congrats again to the winner! Well, get ready, because this week I'm giving away a copy of Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson.  Another deja vu moment? You're right! I gave away a copy of Hello, Cupcake! last November. It was such a BIG hit, that I decided to give away another copy! I ended up with 82 entries for the cookbook. Since it's my 1st Anniversary, and I'm all about the numbers, do you think you could help me out and spread the word? This time I'm going for over 100!

I loved this book so much that I regretted giving it away the first time, so I bought myself another one! And then, another one! That's how adorable  the cupcakes are in this book! But, I won't go on and on. You can read all about how cute the book is here in a previous post. Just believe me when I say, "Hello, Cupcake! belongs in your cookbook collection!"

I made Red Velvet Cupcakes just for this occasion! I'm not crazy about using so much red dye in the cake batter, but these cupcakes were delicious and moist and oh, so good! I made a batch of cream cheese frosting and added some color to the pastry bag to make cute little swirls. I'll be getting to the recipe in a later post.  

                                                 

How To Enter the Give Away
Leave a comment on this post only (I'll be having a lot more giveaways this month, so it's important to keep them all separate). Tell me what kind of cupcakes you love! Then, tell all your friends. Tweet about it on Twitter. Better yet, Follow me on Twitter! Add a link on your Facebook page.

RULES:
The rules are simple. US & Canada entries only. No duplicate comments. Mr. Random Generator was so eager to help me with the Lake Champlain Chocolates give away, that I'll bribe him again this time. I'll pick the winner this Thursday, February 12th, 2009, midnight EST. (I was gonna do it on the 11th, but I can't stand odd numbers!) I'll email the winner and post it here too.

                                               
Watch For More Giveaways
Like I said before, I have a LOT of things to give away this month, and things will go quickly. Keep your eyes glued to this blog. Bookmark it in your favorites. I am sooo enjoying my 1st Anniversary!

                                                                          

Aren't these cute? They're Silly Feet Silicone Baking Cups from Wilton!

WINNER! LAKE CHAMPLAIN CHOCOLATES - WE HAVE A WINNER!

 

Congratulations!
We have a winner for the The Grand Valentine Chocolate Heart from Lake Champlain Chocolates! Mr. Random Generator was used to pick the winner. I put in all the numbers, and he spit out #35.

Melanie from Mel, A Dramatic Mommy is the lucky winner! Congratulations Melanie, your number was 35! I'll be emailing you privately for your mailing address. Here's Melanie's comment and the time stamp. And she's right! All I have to do is hear someone talk about chocolate and I want a truffle! How about you?

"Chocolate is an instant mood lift. It can be combined with so many other flavors. I hear someone talk about chocolate and I have to have some!"
Posted by: Melanie @ Mel, A Dramatic Mommy | February 03, 2009 at 11:34 PM

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
35
Timestamp: 2009-02-08 04:19:15 UTC
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Web Design by TSDA

Let's all congratulate Melanie! I know you're thinking, "Darn, I wish I won those chocolates!"  Well, there's a solution for that! Get online and check out Lake Champlain Chocolates' catalog and order some for yourselves! You won't be sorry!

CHECK BACK AGAIN TOMORROW FOR THE NEXT GIVE AWAY!

WORLD NUTELLA DAY 2009 - Nutella Chocolate Fudge Brownies

              

Speaking of chocolate, don't forget the Lake Champlain Chocolates Give away going on right now! Ends tomorrow!                              

**************************************************

NUTELLA....mmmmm
Is this Deja Vu? Have you seen these brownies before? Well, as a matter of fact you have! But, this is the official "WORLD NUTELLA DAY 2009" that we're celebrating here! That's right, it's today! The official word is, "Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso (and Shelley from At Home in Rome, in spirit) solemnly declare Thursday, February 5th “World Nutella Day 2009″ - a day to celebrate, to get creative with, and most importantly, to EAT Nutella."

According to Sara and Michelle, "Two years ago we gave it its own holiday, and this year we’re continuing the tradition."  They made a holiday out of it! Can you really do that? Make a holiday for yourself, or something else, like WORLD CREAM PUFF DAY, or how about, SEND DONNA A BOX OF MONEY DAY???  I guess all we have to do is solemnly swear. I can swear - honestly - I know all the words!

                                                      

Nutella Chocolate Fudge Brownies
This is what I'm gonna do. I'm doing a re-do of my Nutella Chocolate Fudge Brownies. You all loved them so much. I know this because I get mega hits every day from people Googling them. So, I thought you could use a double batch of these sinfully sweet and gooey brownies! Not just because I love them so much, but for you too. Sweet, huh?

                                                                 

The Original Recipe
To save a ton of space, and a lot of blah, blah, blah that you've already heard, here's my original recipe for Nutella Chocolate Fudge Brownies. It's all there, all the sticky, ooey gooeyness. Just click on over to the recipe, get out your chocolate and Nutella, crank up the oven, and by the time supper is over, you'll be drooling all over these brownies. Make sure you have a BIG glass of milk ready. You're gonna need it! Don't wait. Just do it, NOW! You know you want to!

                                                                  

Now, Look what my Nutella blogging friends whipped up for you!

Nutella Flakey Swirls from What's For Lunch Honey?

Nutella Truffles! from Mele Cotte

Decadent Nutella Waffles from My Cookbook Addiction

Nutella Hot Chocolate from And Then I Do The Dishes

Nutella and Banana Filled Aebleskiver  from Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy

WORLD PEACE COOKIES - TWD

 

Don't Miss Lake Champlain Chocolates Give Away!
Check out this link for the latest giveaway for a 22 piece Grand Valentine Chocolate Heart from Lake Champlain Chocolates. This is the 1st give away in my month-long Blogiversary Celebration! This luscious box of gourmet chocolates are just in time for Valentine's Day too! Deadline is Friday, February 6th, midnight EST. 

                                              

Tuesdays With Dorie World Peace Cookies
These were the darkest, richest, blackest cookies I've ever seen! They were sinful and chocolaty and unbelievably awesome! Thanks to Jessica of cookbookhabit for choosing Dorie's World Peace Cookies. You can find the recipe on page 138-139 in Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking: From My Home To Yours, or click on over to Jessica's blog for the recipe.

I've been out straight this week with other duties, so I asked my son Brad to make the cookies. I gave him the recipe and all the ingredients and away he went! He did a great job, and like I said, the cookies came out awesome! Thanks Brad!

                                     

Check out the rest of Tuesdays With Dorie's blogroll for more World Peace Cookies!

GIVE AWAY #1- LAKE CHAMPLAIN CHOCOLATES

             

Lake Champlain Chocolates
My good buddy and chocoholic friend, Leann from Lake Champlain Chocolates in Burlington Vermont, is the #1 sponsor of my first giveaway this month! Lake Champlain Chocolates has always been my favorite. Not just because we lived in Vermont for 10 years, but because I truly believe they make the best gourmet chocolate in the world. I really should have bought stock in this company way back when, because I would be rich by now! I know, I eat enough of it!

Who Is Lake Champlain Chocolates?
You can read all about them in an article I did for Suite101, surprisingly called Lake Champlain Chocolates! Another one titled Corporate Gift Baskets, and finally a blog post about a giveaway LCC was doing themselves at Christmas. This will give you some background on who they are, and why I have a love affair going on with Lake Champlain Chocolates! Yes, John knows all about my addiction and he's forgiving!

                                                               

The Grand Valentine Chocolate Heart
Because February is the "Love Month", Leann and I decided that The Grand Valentine Chocolate Heart would be the best giveaway ever, and just in time for Valentine's Day! The 22 piece keepsake Heart Shaped Box of Chocolates is the romantic spirit of Valentine's Day filled with sumptuous chocolates. This is no skimpy box of chocolates, and at a retail price of $39.50, it is sure to get you somewhere *wink, wink* on Valentine's Day! Take a look at the rest of their line. You'll be sure to drool over all that they have to offer. While you're there, take a peek at Leann's Chocolate Blog. She has lots of cool stuff going on at her place too!

Leann says the Grand Valentine Chocolate Heart includes an assortment of:

• Luscious Chocolate Truffles
• Caramel Hearts
• Raspberry Creams
• Maple Crunch (maple syrup toffee and buttercrunch)
• Evergreen Mint
• Chocolate Hearts
• Dark Mint Crunch Squares

How To Enter the Give Away
This is what to do to enter the giveaway. Leave a comment on this post only (I'll be having lots more giveaways this month, so it's important to keep them all separate). Tell me why you love chocolate so much! Then, tell all your friends. Tweet about it on Twitter. Better yet, Follow me on Twitter! Add a link on your Facebook page. Whatever it takes! I want the world to know Lake Champlain Chocolates is the best! Tell your guy friends about this giveaway too. It's not just a chic thing! The lucky guy that wins this prize for his sweety, could be the lucky guy...if you know what I mean???

                                

RULES:
The rules are simple. US & Canada entries only. I'll use Mr. Random Generator to pick the winner this Friday, February 6th, 2009, midnight EST. I'll email the winner and post it here too. I'll get your mailing address and Lake Champlain Chocolates will drop ship the Grand Valentine Chocolate Heart directly to your door! You'll have it in time for Valentines Day! Simple, right?

Stay Tuned For More Giveaways
Keep your eyes glued to this blog. Bookmark it in your favorites. I have a LOT of things to give away this month, and things will go quickly. I've never done something on this scale before. But Hey, it's my 1st Birthday, I'm allowed some fun!

                                                                       

 

Photos, courtesy of Lake Champlain Chocolates

VALENTINE'S DAY CHOCOLATE DESSERTS

                          

Nothing says "I LOVE YOU" Like Chocolate!
I don't know about you, but when I have a craving for chocolate, I want a sexy dessert! The only reason I can come up with, is that chocolate makes me happy. It makes me feel better. To be quite honest, my idea of the ultimate Valentine's dessert would be an ooey, gooey chocolate dessert!

So, why does chocolate make us feel good? The Yale-New Haven Hospital says, ".....phenylethylamine is found in chocolate and seems to trigger feelings similar to “falling in love.” Chocolate cravings may also be triggered when the taste buds tingle with the taste of chocolate. When the taste buds are excited, endorphins are released from the brain. These endorphins are the body's “feel good” chemical."

Wiki Answers says, "A study reported by the BBC indicated that melting chocolate in one's mouth produced an increase in brain activity and heart rate that was more intense than that associated with passionate kissing, and also lasted four times as long after the activity had ended."

So, that's why chocolate makes me so happy. It's all those crazy endorphins! I now have the perfect excuse. I can't help myself! It's a natural chemical reaction that I'll just have to live with! I had no idea that chocolate did that!  I knew that dark chocolate was good for your heart...but your libido? OK, I'm convinced!

VALENTINE'S DAY CHOCOLATE DESSERT RECIPES

Valentines Day is right around the corner, and I'm pulling out all the stops! These are my best-of-the-best chocolate recipes that I have in my recipe box! Take your pick, and make someone you love happy this Valentine's Day! The Beatles said it best, "And in the end, The love you take Is equal to The love you make."

 

 

Heart Shaped Conversation Cakes

 

 

Red Velvet Cakes and Cupcakes Recipe

Red Velvet Cheesecake Recipe: Cheesecake Factory

 

 

 

German Chocolate Cake Recipe with Coconut Filling

 

Devil's Food Cake Recipe

 

 

Texas Sheet Cake with Chocolate Frosting

 

 

Nutella Hot Fudge Pudding Cake Recipe

 

 

Chocolate Truffle Cake Recipe   

 

 

Chocolate Eclair Cake Recipe

Chocolate French Silk Pie

 

Cherry Hershey Kisses Cookies Recipe  

 

Bacon & Chocolate Brownies - Ya Gotta try Them!

 

Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding Recipe
 

 

 

Chocolate No Bake Cookies Recipe 

                                                    

Chocolate Chip Cookies


  

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies


  

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies


   

Chocolate Pecan Pie


   

Chocolate Cheesecake with Oreo Cookie Crust

Kahlua Oreo Cheesecake with Oreo Cookie Crust


  

Chocolate Kahlua Mousse Pie


   

Junior's Brownie Swirl Cheesecake




Gourmet Chocolate Fudge Brownies Recipe


Gourmet Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

Chocolate Bread Pudding Recipe


  

Gooey Chocolate Cakes aka Chocolate Lava Cakes


 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte


  

Quintuple Chocolate Brownies



  

Cherry Chocolate Brownies



  

Chocolate Cream Pie



  

Chocolate Snickery Squares



  

Whoppers Chocolate Malted Milk Cookies

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes


  

Lake Champlain Chocolates Rice Pudding


   

Chocolate Pudding Cake


  

Nutella Chocolate Brownies

Buying Chocolates Online

• Lake Champlain Chocolates
• Amy's Chocolate Covered Apples
• Valentine's Chocolates & Shari's Berries Online

  

Here's some more great recipes from the Blogosphere!

• World Nutella Day 2010
• Red Velvet Cake by Pinch My Salt 
• Black Bottom Cupcakes from Slow Like Honey
• Red Velvet Cake by Serious Eats
• Heart Shaped Valentine's Day Desserts 
• The Simplest ADULT Dessert...Ever! by The Noble Pig

CHOCOLATE GINGERBREAD - Tuesdays With Dorie

                                                     


Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread
Tuesdays With Dorie's recipe this week, was chosen by Heather of Sherry Trifle. You can find the recipe on page 212 of Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking: From My Home To Yours. As always, you can find the Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread recipe at Heather's blog. Thanks Heather! It was a great pick!

                                                                      

REAL GINGERBREAD!
This recipe was easier than I had expected. I've made my share of various gingerbread in the past. For obvious reasons, they always come out a little different than the previous gingerbread. Dorie's gingerbread was unique. This gingerbread had REAL ginger in it! I bought a twisted and knarly looking piece of ginger root, peeled the "bark" off it and grated it with my trusty Microplane grater/zester. I love that kitchen gadget! It makes it so easy to grate fresh ginger!  Check out my Kitchen Gadgets, you'll see the Microplane is one of my favorites!

Chocolate Gingerbread
This gingerbread also had chocolate in it' I used bittersweet chocolate that I bought from Trader Joe's. It was a large 17 ounce bar, and it was rather cheap too! I chopped 2 ounces and melted it, then added it to the batter. Then, I folded the rest of the chopped chocolate into the batter before I spread the batter in the pan.

                                                                

    

Chocolate Icing or Frosting?
The recipe calls for icing, but I wanted something thicker and more spreadable. I used the same ingredients, I just added way more confectioners' sugar, Nutella for that extra zing! and a little milk to make it smooth. I also whipped it with the mixer. I think either frosting or icing would work. BUT, and here's a BIG butt! If you do choose to make this recipe, make a double batch of icing or frosting. There will NOT be enough for the whole pan, and it will look skimpy. You'll just end up making another batch, so save yourself the time and aggravation, and make enough the first time!

                                                          

You can find more Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread  by gawking at the Tuesdays With Dorie blogroll!

Tis the season for Gingerbread, so I gathered up some more noteworthy Gingerbread recipes for you:

• Old-Fashioned Gingerbread Recipe by me from my collection of recipes at Suite101!
• Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread by My Cookbook Addiction. Everything Lilianna makes is delicious! This is no exception!
  
• Ginger-Vitis by Spork or Foon. If you're a South Park fan, you're gonna pee your pants laughing!
• Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread by Bake-En. Cute and adorable little gingerbreads!
• Gingerbread, Bananas & Caramel by Holly from PheMOMenon. Utterly amazing! You have to see it to believe it!
• Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread by The Food Librarian. Delicious gingerbread, so real you could lick it off the screen!
• Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread by Engineer Baker. Caitlin made scrumptious looking Gingerbread Parfaits. Now, why didn't I think of that?

                                                                     

MOST POPULAR CHRISTMAS COOKIES 2009

   

Most Popular Christmas Cookies & Recipes
Christmas cookies piled high in boxes, tins and cookie jars are evry kids delight, no matter how ld he or she is! Even though John is ahem... an adult, he still loves a plate full of Christmas cookies, as does my grown-up kids! No one is too old for Sugar Cookies!

 

COOKIES, COOKIES & MORE CHRISTMAS COOKIES!
I've been going nuts making Christmas cookies the last few weeks. I needed pictures for Suite101 and also for my blog, Spatulas & Corkscrews, so I figuured I may as well crank up my oven and bake! Thing is, it takes me so much longer with only one little baking pan and a small oven. John suggested I buy another Kitchen Aid mixer because I missed my old one so badly. But, no matter how much cookies dough I make, I still can't fit more than one pan in my oven at a time! 12 cookies, that's all I can do until the first pan comes out! So, what good is a Kitchen Aid mixer that pumps out enough dough to make 7 dozen cookies? It'd take me all day to bake those! Oh well, at least he was thinking of me...or was it his stomach he was thinking about?

 

Suite101's Most Popular Christmas Cookies
I wrote an article for Suite101's Baking & Desserts section the other day titled, "Most Popular Christmas Cookies & Recipes". The article has done really well too! Who would think that Christmas Cookies would be popular at this time of year? DUH! Anyway, I showcased a few of the most requested cookies in the article, according to my stats that is!

 

COOKIES!
My plan was to make a nice tidy list where you could find all the cookie recipes I've published over the months, without having to hunt for them. As always, feel free to scroll down to the bottom of the recipes and hit the "Print Article" button for later use. Click "Email Article to a friend" to share the recipe. Then, before you go, don't forget to hit the "Recommend Article" button, because well, you know why! So, without further ado, here's my.....

Most Popular Christmas Cookies list for 2009!

Pecan Butter Balls
Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
Soft Sugar Cookies
Cherry Kisses Cookies
Soft Snickerdoodles
Thumbprint Cookies
Shortbread Cookies
Santa's Whiskers Cookies
Pecan Penuche Fudge Recipe
White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies
Chocolate No Bake Cookies Recipe
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Peanut Butter Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Soft Molasses Cookies
Raspberry Linzer Cookies
Coconut & Lime Biscotti
Raspberry Rugelach
Buttery Jam Cookies
Chocolate World Peace Cookies
Chocolate Chunkers Cookies
All Occasion Sugar Cookies
Coconut & Lime Madeleines
Gourmet Chocolate Fudge Brownies Recipe
Gourmet Chocolate PB Cup Brownies
Nutella Chocolate Fudge Brownies
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cherry & White Chocolate Granola Cookies
Whoppers Chocolate Malted Milk Cookies
Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread Cookies

 

Don't miss My Most Popular Christmas Desserts list! It's full of recipes for cheesecakes, cakes, pies, tiramisu and much, much more!