Free the Shopper

smart cookies

 

Auto delivery holiday cookies are a smart way to satisfy the holiday sweet tooth.

Order now and Cheryl & Co. will ship frosted apple right away, with new flavor selections automatically being shipped in October, November, and December via this auto-delivery plan.

Cookie confection's are individually wrapped to maintain freshness, making it easy to take on the road or pop in your child's lunch as a special treat.

• Each shipment includes 36 frosted holiday cutout cookies packed in a gift box with a red bow
• Shipment #1: frosted apple cookies
• Shipment #2: frosted Halloween cookies with ghost, bat, and pumpkin sprinkles
• Shipment #3: frosted cinnamon pumpkin cookies
• Shipment #4: 12 each of holiday bell, holiday tree, and round frosted cookies

sweet sweet sizzle

International Bacon Day

Bacon Day is held on the Saturday before Labor Day US (the first Monday of Sep.). This year that is the 5th of September. Last year Bacon Day was celebrated in the US, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Switzerland, and the UK. Lets see how many more countries we can add to the list this year!

Bacon: A Love Story A Salty Survey of Everybody's Favorite Meat

A celebration of the popularity and versatility of bacon by the creator of the BaconUnwrapped blog shares lighthearted facts and historical tidbits while tracing the process by which bacon makes its way to the table, in a volume that is complemented by recipes for such options as bacon-wrapped tater tots, bacon brownies, and bacon bloody marys.

bait and dish

This might be just the excuse you need to get a new (super clean) dishwasher... 

MacGyver Chef blogs at Gizmodo about attempts to cook meals without conventional cooking implements.  The latest attempt is cooking salmon in your dishwasher (really).  We wouldn’t attempt it in our current appliance, but we could use this as bait to get a new one... plus take 90 days to pay.

salud

Somebody mentions peach sangria and suddenly I need a new decanter.
Funny the way that happens...........

oh and here is a peach sangria recipe from epicurious too - dontcha love us?

Whoopie!!!!!!!

Read all about the rise of the Whoopie in the NYT today.....

Whoopie! Cookie, Pie or Cake, It's Having Its Moment 

However you may get really hungry so perhaps smart to order some first

Wicked Whoopies are Wickedly delicious. Satisfy your whoopie pie craving with this mouthwatering sampler. Three popular flavors are sure to please--red velvet pies, with red velvet shells filled with fluffy light vanilla cream; chocolate lovers', with devil's food cake shells filled with chocolate; and gingerbread pies, with gingerbread cake shells baked with ginger spice and filled with fluffy vanilla cream. Yum!

BLT prep

Cottage Farms 9-piece Rainbow Heirloom Tomato Garden from QVC

Summer favorites. Grow your own succulent tomatoes with this collection of nine plants in six heirloom varieties, all new to QVC. Stop sacrificing flavor with mealy, flavorless store-bought tomatoes--rediscover the mouthwatering taste you remember.

For the first time on QVC, each plant comes potted in calcium-rich soil, which helps stop blossom-end rot and keep your tomatoes free of blemishes. In addition, you'll receive nine sheets of red mulch film. Just put one sheet under each tomato plant when planting. This special mulch film helps maximize your yield by up to 20% and minimize production time.

Experience what tomatoes used to taste like with this rainbow of colorful varieties:

Mortgage Lifter (two plants): Developed in the 1930s, these huge pinkish-red heirloom tomatoes grow to be two to four lbs each. This variety sold so well for the original breeder, he was able to pay off his mortgage.

Black Prince (two plants): These heirloom plants from Siberia bear dark-colored 2" to 3" fruit considered to be among the most flavorful of all tomatoes.

Dixie Golden Giant (two plants): An Amish heirloom tomato from Kentucky, this sweet, tangy variety bears large lemon-yellow fruit with a pink blush on the bottom end.

Green Zebra (one plant): These striped heirloom tomatoes have an unusual flavor and striking coloration.

Sugar Lump (one plant): This German heirloom style produces extra-sweet red cherry tomatoes in clusters of up to a dozen or more.

Yellow Perfection (one plant): A British heirloom with a brilliant yellow color. The approximately 2" fruit is thin skinned and super sweet.

 

It's Official

February is Heart Health Month

The American Heart Association, America’s most trusted authority on heart-healthy living and diet, presents a cookbook that can help. One-Dish Meals is designed for the millions of health-conscious Americans who are always on the go.

oh and chocolate is good for your heart too, but we already knew that

How Much Chocolate Do I Need?

The Wall Street Journal reports today that Premium Chocolate Holds Steady in Tough Economy.

You can order Sephra Belgian Dark Chocolate by Callebau on chocolatefountains.com and they give you a handy guide as to how much of the stuff you will need to keep you and your friends happy:

How Much Chocolate Do I Need?

• 20 guests or less:  4 lbs.
• 20 - 50 guests:  8 lbs.
• 50 - 100 guests:  12 lbs.
• 100 - 150 guests:  16 lbs.
• 150 - 200 guests:  20 lbs.

But of course that is your call.....hold steady.

Think warm thoughts.........

Sights, smells, sounds......

Drinks with Vodka in them.

Stole this yummy recipie from a Grey Goose ad on Travel +Leisure

Get your fresh pears here.

P e a r , P o i r e

I N G R E D I E N T S

6 parts GREY GOOSE® La Poire Flavored Vodka

1 part fresh lemon juice

2 tsp sugar

1 small ripe pear – peeled, cored and cut into 1/4 inch slices

1 bottle sparkling moscato (or other sweet sparkling wine)

crystallized ginger for garnish

I N S T R U C T I O N S

In a pitcher, combine the lemon juice, sugar, pear and GREY GOOSE® La Poire

Flavored Vodka. Stir well to combine until sugar is dissolved. Pour into 6 champagne

glasses. Fill each glass with moscato and garnish with crystallized ginger.

T I P S

Using a juicy variety of pear such as Anjou or Bartlett will accentuate the

pear flavors.