Hello Kitty French Macaron and a Giveaway

Hello, to all Hello Kitty fans out there!  Yes, this post is all about the adorable Hello Kitty, again.  My Little Girl is a super fan.  She has over 10 Hello Kitty plush toys, big and small, along with dresses, slippers, utensils, hair clips, stationaries, etc.  My Hubby and I would get a little plush toy for her, whenever we traveled to different city, or country.  This particular one was from, France, of course.  I think she’s the perfect company to these cute Hello Kitty French Macarons!



My Baby Girl loves these macarons so much.  She thinks they are almost too cute to eat, almost!  I made these macarons in the morning and I purposely left a few without any decoration and let My Girl decorate her own after school.  She had so much fun!



I’m sure you’ve seen me made all kinds of different macarons, with various flavors and shapes (such as these, these, these and these).  These Hello Kitty are one of the most adorable ones I’ve made.  And they are inspired by The Hello Kitty Baking Book (see picture below), by Michele Chen Chock.  Michele is the author of the I Heart Baking blog, which I love and personally followed for quite some time.  She always share her whimsical cakes and cupcakes decorations on her blog.  If you haven’t done it yet, you should go check out her blog. 



One great thing about this book is that you don’t necessarily have to get the Hello Kitty character molds or cutters to made these adorable treats.  Michele would show you step by step in how to create these cuties with just a few basic baking and decorating tools.  But if you’re a Hello Kitty fan, or have a fan in the family, I’m sure you might already got some Hello Kitty kitchen tools around the kitchen. 



Another reason why I love this book is that you get 'options' with one recipe.  For instant, you can prepare this Ombre cake (see picture below) by baking the batter in a large cake pan cake; or into adorable cupcakes, or make both, whichever fits your needs.  



Halloween is coming up and these Jack-O-Lantern Spice cookies are just perfect for the occasion.  In this book, not only you’ll find recipes for cookies, cupcakes, but also pies, cake pops and many many more. 



You’ll also get the templates for Hello Kitty, and her friends.  Yay!



Check out these adorable cake pops!  I can’t wait to make them with my Kiddos!



The recipes and instructions in this book are simple and easy to follow.  Whether you’re a Hello Kitty fan or not, this is a great book to own.  I’m sure you have some Hello Kitty fans in your life.  This book will definitely make a great stocking stuffer for the holidays!



You can get your own copy of The Hello Kitty Baking Book here.  Or try your luck with my giveaway today!  Yes, you’ve heard me right.  I’m giving away a copy of The Hello Kitty Baking Book to one uTry.it reader, courtesy of Quirk Books.

This Giveaway has ended.

Here are the details on how to enter.
One lucky uTry.it reader (with an U.S., Canada or U.K. mailing address) will win a copy of “The Hello Kitty Baking Book”.

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post and tell me if you are a Hello Kitty fan, or how many Hello Kitty dolls do you have in your collection.  Deadline to enter is October 26th, 2014 by mid-night PST.  Winner will be selected through Random.org and announce shortly after the giveaway is closed.

For extra entries, do any or all of the following (leave a separate comment for each extra entry):
1)  Add me to your Google+ circle here
2) "Like" uTry.it's Facebook Page, click here.
3) Pin a picture from this post onto Pinterest.
4) Share this giveaway on Facebook (with a link back to this post please)
5) Share this giveaway on Twitter (with a link back to this post please)
That’s all and Good Luck everyone!

Disclaimer:  I received a copy of “The Hello Kitty Baking Book” for the purpose of this review and I was not compensated in any way to write this post.  All comments and opinions are 100% my own.

Just a side note: before I decorate the Hello Kitty Macarons, my Hubby thought I was making piggy macarons!  So, I decorated a few with piggy faces.  I guess they do work as piggy, too.  But next time I’ll make pink ones instead.  

Strawberry Marshmallows—Marshmallow Madness! Giveaway

 


Ever since I made my very first batch of homemade marshmallows, I’ve never look back to the store bought options.  So, when the kind folks from Quirk Books offered me a review copy of “Marshmallow Madness!”, by Shauna Sever, I jumped right at the opportunity. 



“Marshmallow Madness!” is a delightful cookbook that shows you how to create dozens of marshmallows flavors and shapes, from strawberry and banana to sea salt caramel swirl and margarita marshmallows.  Also, included are inspiring ideas for crafting these gooey treats made with mallow, and much, much more. 



If you have never made your own marshmallows before, don’t get intimidated.  Shauna’s book came with detail instructions and explanations on tools and techniques.  It feels like she’s in the kitchen with you, guiding you through step by step.  Most of Shauna’s recipes are egg-less (based on gelatin and sugar syrup), verses using egg-white meringue .  As Shauna explained in her book, the egg-less version result in sturdier mallows and avoid issues of food allergies and raw egg whites. 

Unfortunately, the first 2 trials of my egg-less version of mallows turned out a bit too firmed for me to shape them properly.  So, I added egg white into Shauna’s strawberry mallow recipe on my 3rd trial and they came out fluffy and beautiful.  I’ve never had issues with raw egg whites, if that’s a concern for you, try to use pasteurized egg whites or stick with Shauna’s recipes.  (Note: the pasteurized egg white might take a longer time to whip up but they eventually will.)



Ready to take a peek inside the book?  Have some tissue paper ready, you might drool a little.  It’s okay, I won’t tell.



See the varieties of creations that you can do with mallows?  Hm….I wonder what I should try next! Mallow Cones or S’mores cupcakes?  The Salted Caramel Swirl and the Key Lime Pie Mallows are calling my name, too!  These are just a few examples of what you can make with mallows, and there are so many more wonderful creations from the book.



These Chocolate-Filled Vanilla Marshmallows are just as tempting!



The Strawberry Marshmallows I made from “Marshmallow Madness!” are wonderful.  Not only there are real strawberries puree in them, the recipe also called for folding in freeze-dried strawberries at the end.  You can imagine, the strawberry flavor is very intense.  I love the tartness from the strawberries which balanced perfectly with the sweetness from these mallows.  Just one bite…I’m in strawberries heaven. These are fluffy, pillow-ey, strawberr-ey goodness.



So, are you ready to make your own marshmallows at home?  Here’s a chance to win your own copy of “Marshmallow Madness!”, courtesy of Quirk Books and Shauna.  Here are the details:

One lucky uTry.it reader (with an U.S. or Canada mailing address) will win a copy of
“Marshmallow Madness!”.  To enter, simply leave a comment and tell me what’s the most extreme/unusual flavor of marshmallow that you’ve ever tried.  Or, just tell me what new flavor you want to try.  Deadline to enter is March 20th by mid-night PST.  Winner will be selected through Random.org and announce shortly after the giveaway is closed.

This giveaway is now closed.  Thank you everyone for entering.


For extra entries, do any or all of the following (leave a separate comment for each extra entry):
1)  Add me to your Google+ circle here
2) "Like" uTry.it's Facebook Page, click here.
3) Follow uTry_it on Twitter, click here.
4) Follow uTry.it on Pinterest, click here.
4) Share this giveaway with your Facebook friends.


Good Luck everyone.



 

Disclaimer: I received a copy of “Marshmallow Madness!” free of charge for the purpose of this review. I was not compensated in any other way.  All opinions are 100% my own and always will be.

Little Old Lady Recipes Book Review—Candied Nuts Recipe And a Giveaway

Have you ever giggled while reading a recipe book?  It’s hard not to if you have the “Little Old Lady Recipes-Comfort Food and Kitchen Table Wisdom” on your hands.  I had such a wonderful time reading through the recipes and "Kitchen Table Wisdom" over the weekend.

“When it comes to comfort food, little old ladies know what's up. They know what will taste good, how to fatten up a family, and what will leave their diners craving seconds (if not thirds and fourths). Collecting these gum-smacking, finger-licking-good recipes from the matriarchs of society is Little Old Lady Recipes by Meg Favreau.”

Book Cover Image from Quirk Books’ site

“Little Old Lady Recipes honors the extraordinary women who create pot luck dinners, church socials, wedding banquets, and the best desserts you've ever tasted. Every page features their simple, no-frills recipes for pot roast, meat loaf, dumplings, corn bread, fried chicken, bundt cake, and other mouth-watering favorites-along with gorgeous photography of the chefs at work and generous portions of their kitchen table wisdom ("Butter comes from a cow. Tell me where the heck margarine comes from, and then maybe I'll eat it!").”




I followed one of the little old ladies’ advise and recipe and made some of these scrumptious Candied Pecans. “A good hostess makes big show-stopping meals, but a great hostess pays attention to the details. Place a bowl of these nuts in every room guests occupy during the cocktail hour before a dinner party; it’ll give them something to munch on and help ensure people don’t get sauced too quickly.” I took the advise a step further and packaged some of these candied pecans for guests to take home after the party. They are great for holiday gift-giving as well!



Here are a couple Kitchen Table Wisdoms that I love….”A grandmother isn’t the same thing as a restaurant. Shut up and eat the eggs.”—Ruth, transcriptionist, 77. LOL…Does that sound familiar or what?
Here’s another one, “Club soda is a wonderful thing. You can use it to remove any stain, or mix it with gin and drink until you don’t care about the stain anymore.”—Chastity, deli clerk, 72. 



While I was searching which wonderful recipe to make from the Little Old Lady Recipes book, I came across this quote on the Pumpkin Butter Recipe.  “Like good-looking people, pretty pumpkins are often really stupid on the inside.  Find an ugly, knobby variety for this recipe, because it’s likely to be sweeter.  Also keep this point in mind when looking for a husband….”  Opps…..I guess it’s too late for me to follow this advise as I’m already married to my handsome hubby for 7 years now.  hahahaha….

The Little Old Lady Recipes book is definitely a fun book to read for all.  Guess what, the size of the book will make it the perfect stocking stuffer as well!  Pack it along with a bag of these Candied Pecans and you’ll be all set.  For sure your foodie friends and family would waive about them. 

Update: This giveaway is now closed!

Rules for the Giveaway:

With the courtesy of Quirk Books, one lucky uTry.it reader (with an U.S. mailing address only) will have a chance to win a copy of The Little Old Lady Recipes Book.   You have until November 27th, 12 midnight PST to enter this giveaway.  Winner will be announced and contacted via email shortly after the deadline.

Mandatory Entry: 

Simply leave a comment and tell me what your favorite holiday treat is.  

Additional Entries: (You can do any or all of the following, just leave a separate comments for each entry.  If you already did, they do count.  Simply leave a comment to tell me so.)

1) Add uTry.it to your Google+ circle.  (See sidebar to the right)
2) Click on the +1 button. (See sidebar to the right)
3) “Like” uTry.it’s Facebook page.  Here’s the link. 

4) Follow uTry.it on Twitter.  Here’s the link.

5) Tweet about this giveaway.  Or share this giveaway with your Facebook friends.
6) Subscribe to my blog via email.  You’ll receive an email to verify the subscription.  

7) Subscribe via RSS feed.

Good luck everyone!




Disclaimer: I was given a copy of The Little Old Lady Recipe Book free of charge for the purpose of this review. I was not compensated in any other way.  All opinions are 100% my own and always will be.

Pinwheels Cookies, The Cookiepedia Review and a Giveaway

My Mom was staying with me when my hubby was out of town for a few days last week.  It was one of the relaxing afternoons, with no plans of going out but just hung out in the kitchen.  We wanted to bake something together, then relax and enjoy the afternoon at the backyard with a cup of tea.  So, we were flipping through The Cookiepedia, searching for something fun to make. 



It didn’t take long for us to decide and we had a winner.  There were many classic and fun cookie recipes in this book, but the pinwheels really caught my eyes (pun intended).  These pinwheels looks whimsical and I know my little boy would enjoy them as much as we did when he returned from school.




“Full of delightful hand-drawn illustrations and mouth-watering full-color photographs, The Cookiepedia, by Stacy Adimando, features delicious recipes and inventive variations for all the cookies everyone loves, from Amaretti, Butter Balls, and Chocolate Spritz to Gingersnaps, Rugelach, and Snickerdoodles, as well as dozens of other favorites—more than 50 in all.”  



There were many things I love about this book.  I summarized them into ten main points:

1) Hard cover—I intended to use this recipe book over and over again and the durability is important to me.  I don’t know about you, but I had some other cookbooks that I used so often that the cover is coming off.

2) The spiral binding—This let the middle pages of the book stay opened easily, without having to press hard and winkle the pages.  Imagine your recipe book stay nicely opened on the book holder (if you have one of those fancy thingy) or on your counter top, making it easier to read.



3) Mouth-watering full-color photographs—Don’t you want to know how the end-products supposed to look like?  That’s how the Pinwheels caught my eyes!  Don’t people always say a picture is worth a thousand words?

4) Easy to follow instructions—Very important in any recipes book. 



5) Tips—Tips in this book are very helpful.  Some gave me the “ah-ha” moments.

6) Variations—These are all classic cookie recipes that we all familiar with, in The Cookiepedia.  It’s fun to try the original, but then it adds a little more excitement with the variations added. 



7) Note space area next to the recipe—I love writing my own notes on recipes.  Weather it is the variation I made on a recipe, or an idea for a tweak I wanted to try next time; the note space to me is a thoughtful gift from the author to the end users.

8) Personal experience—On each recipe, Adimando added a little background of the the recipe.  Some are her own childhood memories, some are the experiences she had with that recipes, some are just facts about the cookies.  I love reading those little stories and memories.  The stories made it more personal than just a recipe book.



9) Varieties—From Italian Biscutts, Chocolate sandwich cookies, to fig bars and Molasses Spice Cookies, the variety is broad and for sure you’ll find something you like.


10) I love and adore cookies, period.  I mean, who doesn’t?  Do I need a better reason to love this book? 


This Giveaway is now closed.  Winner will be announced shortly.  

Rules for the Giveaway:

With the courtesy of Quirk Books and Stacy, one lucky uTry.it reader (with an U.S. mailing address only) will have a chance to win a copy of The Cookiepedia.  Must be a uTry.it public follower/member through Google Friends Connect to participate.  (See the right hand side bar under “Follower” with the button “Join this site”).  You have until September 30th, 12 midnight PST to enter this giveaway.  Winner will be announced and contacted via email shortly after the giveaway is closed.

Mandatory Entry: 

Simply leave a comment and tell me what your favorite cookie is.  Or you can describe if you like your cookies buttery, crunchy, or chewy?  Or how much you love cookies!  Let's have a cookie talk, shall we?

Additional Entries: (you can do any or all of the following, just leave a separate comments for each entry)

1) “Like” uTry.it’s Facebook page.  Here’s the link. 

2) Share this giveaway with your friends on Facebook.  Please include the link to this post when you share.

3) Follow uTry.it on Twitter.  Here’s the link.

4) Tweet about this giveaway.  Please include my Twitter handle @utry_it and the link to this post in your tweet.

5) Subscribe to my blog via email.  You’ll receive an email to verify the subscription.  

6) Subscribe via RSS feed.

Good luck everyone!

These Pinwheel cookies are whimsical and perfect for gift-giving for the holiday season.   I'm entering this to the Holiday Recipe Swap.  Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Beanilla.


Disclaimer: I was given a copy of The Cookiepedia free of charge for the purpose of this review. I was not compensated in any other way.  All opinions are 100% my own and always will be.