Wholesome Wednesday: White Peppermint Chip Shake

Today's wholesome Wednesday is a little bit different cause it focuses on a drink!  As y'all probably know by now I'm more a vanilla kinda girl than anything else.  For me, when it comes to a milkshake I'll choose vanilla over chocolate nine times out of ten.

About a week ago, Torani shipped me a couple of bottles of syrup, vanilla bean and peppermint.  They also sent some $1 coupons which I plan on sharing.  Torani syrups are awesome to have on hand because you can use them for so many things.  You can change up your cup of coffee, use them to flavor recipes and even create some nifty cocktails with them.

The white peppermint chip shake gives you the creamy taste of white chocolate mixed with peppermint and then the mini chocolate chips add just the right hint of chocolate.  A definite win in my book.  :)  The vanilla pudding mix is the key component to keeping the shake from separating quickly.  It helps to thicken it.

White Peppermint Chip Shake

2 1/2 ounces of Torani Peppermint Syrup
1 ounce Torani White Chocolate Syrup
6 ounces milk
2 teaspoons instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups ice cubes
2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips

In a blender add Torani syrups, milk, pudding mix and ice cubes.  Blend to a milkshake consistency.  Add 2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips, blend 10-15 seconds to incorporate.  Pour into glasses and enjoy.  Recipe makes 2 servings.

*This post is sponsored by SheSpeaks and Torani.  All opinions are my own.*

Eric Lanlard at Nielsen-Massey Vanilla

A while back we got the chance to go to the Nielsen-Massey headquarters here in the Chicago area to check out the factory, but also to meet Eric Lanlard.  The minute we got out of the car I knew we were in the right place as everything smelled of vanilla.

Who is Eric Lanlard?  Eric Lanlard is one of Europe's top pastry chefs.  He also makes cakes for the Queen and other VIPs in England.  I was very excited to get to see him make two different recipes from his new cookbook Tart it up.  He made a pecan pie and a salmon tart .  Besides the time involved to make the dough and baking, it really took no time at all to make both tarts.  They were incredibly easy.  I've yet to try my hand at any of his recipes, but the gypsy pie looks the most intriguing.

After watching Eric make tarts, we were able to get a few photos.  :)

Then it was off to tour the factory.  Photos for the most part were not permitted, so I didn't attempt to take any.  I can tell you the factory is huge and smells absolutely amazing.  I'd much rather have vanilla and caramel over chocolate any day.  We learned all about how Nielsen Massey makes their vanilla, starting with vanilla beans and ending with extract and paste.

It's taken me forever and a day to get this post done as it was my first time using my Sony Bloggie Live.  I had to eventually hit up the Arlington Heights Memorial Library to get my footage edited correctly.  That said, I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Wholesome Wednesday: Roasted Garlic Rosemary Focaccia

This week's Wholesome Wednesday is really, really late.  The only excuse I have is the holiday weekend was exhausting, Miss Rosie's 12th birthday was Tuesday and I made a blogging work space for all my stuff this week.  Those are mostly good excuses.  You'll be seeing something about Miss Rosie's birthday soon.

I'm also incredibly excited to have a space for all my blogging stuff.  I cleaned out a space in the basement so I could put together our huge Ethan Allen trestle table.  I still have to rig up part of the table for photos, but its incredibly great to have all my stuff in one spot and not spread all over the house.  :)  We'll see if that keeps me more organized.

Anyway back to the post.  I recently came across Stanley Tucci's new cookbook.  I love, love, love the recipes in it.  Earlier this week I tried my hand at the rosemary focaccia.  While it was good, it wasn't great and the directions were a little off.  I've changed it up by adding 2 (that's right two!) whole heads of roasted garlic and letting my bread machine do most of the work.  I also changed up the milk, I used a cup of water with 5 tablespoons of dry milk.  Totally could not tell the difference.

Roasted Garlic Rosemary Focaccia
1/2 cup water
1 cup milk
5 tablespoons olive oil
4 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups flour
2 cups bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 package dry yeast
2 heads garlic
olive oil for drizzling
1 5 inch sprig of fresh rosemary

Place ingredients in bread machine following the guidelines for your machine.  Mine has me put them in this order: water, milk, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, flours, sugar and yeast.  Set your bread machine to the dough cycle and let it work its magic.

While the bread machine is going, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Find a small loaf pan and coat the bottom with olive oil.  Slice the tops of two heads of garlic, so the tops are cut off each clove.  Place in loaf pan and drizzle with olive oil.  Cover loaf pan with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.  When done, remove from oven and let cool.  Squeeze cloves out of garlic heads and roughly chop.

When bread machine is done mixing dough, turn out onto a well floured surface.  Flatten dough a little, the sprinkle with half of the roasted garlic.  Knead dough 6-8 turns or until garlic seems evenly incorporated.  Allow dough to rest for about 10 minutes.  In the meantime, grease a 10 x 15 inch rimmed cookie sheet.

After dough has rested, use a rolling pin to roll out to a 10 x 15 inch rectangle.  Place on greased cookie sheet.  Allow to rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Then sprinkle with rest of roasted garlic and rosemary leaves.  Drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Sprinkle with remaining 2 teaspoons of kosher salt.  Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden.

Wholesome Wednesday: Snicker Doodles

Earlier last week I was looking for a cookie recipe that would go well with Starbucks Holiday Blend coffee. I ended up getting some for the women at the prayer shawl group and thought they might like some cookies to go with it.  I'd actually never made snickerdoodles before, I'm not quite sure why though.  I mean we love cinnamon and sugar, but I've never had them in a snickerdoodle.  I've always loved Mexican wedding cookies, which are also cinnamon and sugar, so I've always made those.

Let me tell you, if you've never had a snickerdoodle before that they're awesome.  Snickerdoodles are actually a soft, chewy, craggy-looking cookie that go great with holiday coffee blends.  Or just with some milk.  :)

This recipe comes from the America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book.  I've changed the size of the cookies as their recipe made bake shop sized cookies.  I prefer mine smaller

Snickerdoodles

1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 large eggs

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Line 3 baking sheets with silicone baking mats.  Combine 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon together in a shallow dish.  In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt.

In a large bowl, beat together rest of sugar, butter and shortening until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each to incorporate.  Reduce mixer speed and slowly add flour, mixing till combined.  Give the dough a few final stirs with the spatula to make sure the flour is fully incorporated.

Using a single tablespoon scoop, scoop out a ball of dough and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture.  Place on cookie sheet.  Bake for 8 minutes until the edges are set and cookies have cracks.  Let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack.

Susie Savors: Let me say, we love Snicker Doodles.  It's hard to resist fresh out of the oven cookies, but a Snicker Doodle is one step up from that.  Warm and soft but with that sugar cinnamon coating that melts in your mouth.  They do pair well with coffee, but honestly who can wait that long?

Indie Craft Galore

Source

So many things going on in Chicago this weekend.  There's the Chicago Fine Chocolate Show, the opening of the recently moved Old Navy in the Loop, and the indie craft show: The DIY Trunk Show.

I am so excited to attend The DIY Trunk Show tomorrow!  I've recently moved to Chicago for graduate school and have begun to explore the city and attend indie craft events.  In September, I attended the Randolph Street Market, which had an indie craft section.  I'm lucky because this show is only 10 minutes on the Redline from my apartment!  I love craft shows that are comprised of indie designers because it's fun to meet people my age and see what they're making.  Of course, the shopping aspect also counts!  

I bought these pages of illustrations that were $1.00 each at the Randolph Street Market and did a quick and cheap DIY to hang them in my kitchen.  I went to Michaels and bought jewelry wire, mini clothes pins from the kids craft section, and I already had these plant hanger hooks.  I have a ton of these pages that I plan to hang up when I live in a larger apartment.

I plan to check out the Trunk Show tomorrow morning and hope to find more decorative art.  I am also meeting my fellow Rosie Discovers bloggers for lunch at Navy Pier while they take a break from tasting chocolates at the Chicago Fine Chocolate Show.  

Chicago Fine Chocolate Show - Friday Nov 16th, 2012

Today was finally THE day for the Chicago Fine Chocolate Show!  Talk about excitement.  We saw most of it!  You can check out all our awesome (yet-unedited) photos in the slideshow below!  So much to look at and taste.

Google+ album

Starbucks at Sam's Club #DeliciousPairings

Alison:Did you know that its Starbucks Holiday Coffee Season?

Susie: No...I didn't know there was a coffee season.

Alison:Well it is!  We absolutely love all things coffee at my house, so we headed out to Sam's to see if they had some.  Even though we use lots of coupons when shopping, coffee is typically something you never find a great deal on.

Susie:I think you mean never.

Alison:For this reason we try to find coffee brands we love at stores like Sam's because they're a much better deal.  I mean where else can you pick up a 28 oz. bag of Starbucks coffee for $18.98?

Susie: I can't think of anywhere.  Unless of course you travel straight to the source.  But that would include airfare and most likely a strange journey with donkeys or some other stinky animal.

Alison: Uhhh...I think you over thought that one.

Susie: Says the person who'll end up on a donkey.

Alison: That will never happen. Another reason I wanted to pick up the Starbucks holiday blend was to use it as a little treat for the Prayer Shawl group over at Our Lady of the Wayside since November 15th was National Philanthropy day.  They knit and crochet shawls for those in need.  Their annual bazaar is coming up this weekend, November 17th, and I wanted them to have a little treat for all their hard work.

Susie: It's true.  They are quite amazing.  I mean, not many people knit and crochet in such quantities.

Alison:I expected to see a huge holiday Starbucks display, but there was only this sad little box of holiday coffee in the coffee aisle.

Susie: I know, it's more of a sad shelf.

Alison:I didn't see any other holiday coffee displays either.

Susie: Giant goose egg.

Alison:I also picked up some pumpkin and cinnamon muffins to make it more of a #DeliciousPairings coffee klatch for the volunteers.

Susie: Muffins.  They remind me of puffins, except you know with a P instead of an M.  Puffins are so cute!

Alison: I suppose they are...

Susie: Plus puffins remind me of all sorts of holiday decorations and cartoons!

Alison:As you can see, I'm not the only one who loves a great holiday blend! Seven decided to love the bag while I was setting up my Starbucks Holiday coffee spread. 

Susie: He is well trained.  There's a reason he's the favorite.  He has great taste!

Alison:No one can resist coffee in our house. The proof is in the sniffing.

Susie: *deep inhale* I don't smell any coffee.

Alison: It's not coffee time.  You had coffee this morning!

Susie: What?  I can't have more?

Alison: Not right now! While I do love lattes, I also love a great cup of coffee at home.  I tend to pick artisan roasted coffees as I love all the flavors you get in a cup.

Susie: More accurately a whole pot.  One cup is not enough.

Alison: I do love a holiday blend as it has great flavor notes such as cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.  Picking up a bag this size is always a great idea if you love to brew your coffee at home like we do.

Susie: We almost always use a french press to make coffee as it allows all the great tasting oils to shine through flavor-wise.

Alison: I typically find Starbucks coffee to be a little strong tasting.

Susie:That's one way of putting it.  Dark might be another.

Alison: But the holiday blend was surprisingly tasty with a little cream and sugar added.  First, we tried the coffee alone.

Susie: Then we quickly mixed until our lips no longer puckered.

Alison:My sister and I definitely noticed a holiday spice taste.

Susie: Which is a good thing, or else that'd be one lame holiday blend.

Alison:Next we tried the muffins, I had the cinnamon.

Susie: I had the pumpkin.

Alison:Then, it was time to see if they brought out extra flavor notes in the coffee.

Susie: Surprisingly, they did!  After tasting a treat containing similar flavors brought out the cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger notes in the Starbucks holiday blend.

Alison:This afternoon I brought the coffee and muffins over to the Prayer Shawl group.  The ladies over there love coffee and treats.

Susie: Heck, who doesn't love coffee and treats?  Probably that donkey carrying all that coffee.

Alison:They were excited to get to try them.  Most commented how much better the coffee tasted after they'd tried the treats.  The huge bag of Starbucks holiday coffee will last them well into the new year!

Susie: They like to savor their coffee.

Alison:Sam's Club will open at 7 am on Black Friday and will greet members with free Starbucks Holiday Blend coffee and Artisan Fresh pastries (while supplies last).

Susie: Coffee?  Can I have some coffee now?

Alison: I don't see why not!

Susie: Wooo! *slurp* Mmmmm.


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