Lots' a Lattes

Leah is the Starbucks expert, but I'm pretty sure these will amaze even her.

Can someone please let me in on the secret?

Check out the original source here.

In my quest for a snack...

If I was a mother, this wouldn't be considered weird at all. As a matter of fact, if it came in a different container, it would be compared to apple sauce and jello; something adults enjoy all the time.

Mango Pear was yummy, not gonna lie.

100 Pomegranate Seeds for 100 Posts

It's kinda craaazy in my mind that Pink Mixers has 100 posts. You know why?

Because each post takes, oh say, 40 minutes at least. (To conceive, write up, and post.) That means I have spent at least 4,000 minutes posting! That is 67 hours. 3 days.

Thank-goodness there are other things in this world which make counting to 100, a little easier.

Like, kilometers on your car.

Steps you take in a day.

Breaths you breathe in a hour.

Money you earn at your job (hopefully).

And of course, the number of seeds in a pomegranate.

Fabulous things pomegranates; loaded with antioxidants and loaded with seeds. Pomegranates make it easier to count to 100. Logic tells me that eating pomegranates will therefore make it easier to get to 200 posts. Mmhm.

So I'm-a eat up! You can look forward to the proof of this hypothesis.

There are 100s of seeds in a pomegranate. I write 100s of posts. Coincidence? I think not.

Mocha Chocolate Chip Brownies

So, let me paint a picture for you. I was wearing a bright flower dress, wearing an apron, baking my Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Squares, looking very Stepford Wife-ish... but I was dancing like a fool around my kitchen blaring the new Michael Buble CD, because I think the magical ingredient to some of the best cooking is dance... or love, or joy, or something like that. Anyways, the big secret ingredient to my Mocha Chocolate Chip Brownies isn't dance, or love, or joy, but...

**drum roll please**

Starbucks Via Ready Brew!

Yeah, you know the stuff. Every time you've gone in a Starbucks in the past month, you've been harassed by belligerent baristas to buy it. You can't turn on the T.V. without seeing an avant garde, yet accessible commercial about it. And granted, when you tried it in the store it probably tasted like dirty hot dog water, but it is one of the most useful baking ingredients to make a plain old batch of brownies into Mocha Chocolate Chip Brownies!

Pictured above: Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies and Mocha Chocolate Chip Brownies

Starbucks Via Ready Brew is %100 natural micro-ground coffee, so unlike other instant coffee's, you're not putting coffee flavored chemicals into your body. And while I'm a total coffee snob, and think that VIA will never taste like real coffee, (my mouth is watering at the thought of making a batch of Christmas Blend tomorrow morning for breakfast!) it tastes about a million times better than any other brand out there! The other thing I like about it is that it is so finely ground that it won't add any weird kind of texture to the batter.

Don't worry, if you don't like coffee, you cant omit it! I just like coffee with my... you know... oxygen, so it seemed like the perfect chance to mix it with my other passion: chocolate! I find that adding one pack of VIA doesn't really add TOO much of an offensive coffee flavor, but it does add a really nice depth to the chocolate in the brownies.

Mocha Chocolate Chip Brownies

Makes 16

What you'll need:

1/4 cup margarine or butter, melted

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 large egg

2 large egg whites

1 packet of Starbucks Via Ready Brew

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 DEGREES- In a large bowl, mix together melted margarine or butter, and sugar until well combines. Add egg, egg whites, vanilla and coffee and stir until throughly blended and smooth.

2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking bowder and salt. Add to the egg mixture and stir just until combined. (Remember, JUST until combined! You don't want tough brownies!)

3. Add chocolate chips.

4. Spray an 8" x 8" pan with nonstick spray. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan, but center is slightly soft. Cool in the pan on a wire rack, and after about 10 minutes, you'll be able to treat yourself to warm, dark, chocolaty brownies!

These brownies pair well with a GIANT cup of coffee, guitars, and sweet action/adventure movies. Enjoy!

**TIP**TIP**Hey! I have two tips for you this time!** TIP** TIP**

1. If you sift your cocoa into the flour mixture, you have a better chance of hitting that nice soft, dense, chewy brownie texture we're aiming for!

2. If you toss your chocolate chips with a little bit of flour, just so their coated, and THEN mix it into the rest of your dough, they won't sink to the bottom of your brownies! This also works with loaf recipes if you want to add dried fruit or nuts to it!

Next from leah michelle: a fast, healthy breakfast idea that's guaranteed to keep you full until lunch: Mighty Morning Muesli!

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Squares

Try saying THAT five times fast! I thought the best way to start my first real recipe post was with an alliteration, so I hope that grabbed your attention. If not, I'm sure the mouth watering succulence of these warm Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Squares will!

Heres the thing, I get in these moods, and I can't sit still. But I can't just go for a walk, or clean or something, I need to create. So I'll bake two or three batches of cookies, brownies, muffins, scones or squares, and then make my friends eat them! I also think I have a complex where I really don't like showing up anywhere without something. So today I was going to my friend's house and I had exactly one hour before I was supposed to be there. PERFECT! Just enough time to either watch one episode of Gilmore Girls or..... bake a batch of something chocolaty, delicious, and that will still be warm by the arrive!

So I found my favorite cookbook and found an awesome recipe! I changed it a LITTLE (aka doubled the vanilla- an old pasty chef trick) but I kept these ones classic. So get your spatulas ready and preheat your oven to 350 degrees!

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

(Makes 12)

You will need:

2 tbsp. Margarine or butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla (if you have good vanilla, thro

w in another teaspoon just for good luck!)

1 large egg

3/4 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 DEGREES- In a medium bowl, combine melted margarine, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add egg and stir until smooth.

2. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the egg mixture and stir until almost combined. Add chocolate chips, and stir until blended.

3. Spray an 8" x 8" pan with nonstick spray. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. (Don't over bake it though! Or you'll take one of the "C's" out of the CCCCB's! )Cool for a few minutes before cutting into the bars.

**Tip**Tip**Hey! I've got a tip for you!**Tip**Tip**

When you are making cookies, make sure you don't over mix your dough. Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients in as few stirs as possible. Once its combined, leave it! When you stir, you help the gluten form, which is good for bread, but why would you want to make tough cookies?

Up next? Mocha Chocolate Chip Brownies made with a VERY special ingredient!

Homemade Cookie Dough Ice Cream

For those of you who know me you may know that I have a vice or two, one of them being ice cream. My favourite flavors are: mint chocolate chip, maple walnut, plan ol' vanilla bean, rich chocolate fudge (with peanut butter), raspberry bugaboo, AND cookie dough!

My room mate Jenny and my Don Mitch decided to have a belated birthday celebration in honor of mine and Mitch's 20th birthdays! But mainly we wanted a reason to make cookie dough ice cream. Not gonna lie.

Now Jenny and Mitch seem to think I am a 'grandma' because I suggested rolling the cookie dough into little balls and freezing it (creating mixable--not squishable--cookie pieces), and because I told Mitch to leave the ice cream out to melt slightly a bit before we mixed in the cookie pieces.

That's just common sense and good advice if you ask me!

Apparently it is complete hilarity to some, and causes side stitching laughter. Very well.
Oh and they might have also made fun of me for telling Jenny not to 'aggravate the gluten' in the cookie dough by mixing it too long.

Pft. So I'm full of random cooking tips; sue me! This is why I'm the one with the blog.

Anyway, the final product was reaaaaaly yummy and I took some pictures for you all to enjoy. (Causing further outbursts of howling laughter and red faces.)

At least my hilarity causes people to smile. And so I laugh along, because if I'm laughing too, they are laughing with me, not at me. Silly common folk.

Luv you guys!

Note to the disclaimer: This recipie does permit eating raw eggs- it's raw cookie dough. So, you've been warned! However I have been eating cookie dough my whole life, and I'm just dandy.

Ingredients:

1 tub vanilla ice cream, slightly softened

a few almonds

2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 c. (2 sticks, 1/2 pound) butter, softened3/4 c. granulated [white] sugar
3/4 c. packed brown sugar1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 c. (12-ounce package) milk chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.

2. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla

in large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; gradually beat in flour mixture.

3. When everything is combined, allow the dough to sit in the fridge for about 15 minutes so that the butter hardens slightly. (This will make the next step a bit easier)

4. Remove dough from the fridge and form small bite size morsels of dough, placing them (seperated) on a tray. Assemble enough for your servings of ice cream. Place tray in the freezer for 20 minutes.

5. Scoop softened (but not melted) ice cream into a bowl and mix in cookie dough. Top with almonds, (take a pretty picture of your creation), and enjoy!

That pork used to be a pig, ya know...

Continuing on in the spirit of, well...not eating meat, I would like to share this thought provoking blog post. I like the way the author shares what I tried to capture earlier on. I used to totally seperate the cute little piggly-wiggly at the petting zoo from the back bacon on my eggs benedict. But no more I said!

Truly, to each his own.

Check out what others are saying about it:

"There’s been a lot of talk lately on the topic of whether or not we, as humans, should eat meat. About a month ago, the New York Times published a frightening article about one woman’s health crisis after consuming tainted hamburger meat, and of course there’s Jonathan Safran Foer’s recently published and much-ballyhooed book, Eating Animals, which takes a firm stand against factory farming and makes a strong case for vegetarianism...."

to continue reading Clare's article, click here.

Just Something to Think About...

This map shows McDonald's franchises around the globe. The Iceland locations have recently been shut down due to the financial crisis, however it would seem that loosing an entire country's business will not hurt McDonald's too much...

...not with advertising like this anyways.

Photo courtesy of http://www.roadtransport.com/blogs/truck-and-van-blog/McDonalds.JPG

Hello Blogesphere!

Can I just be the SECOND to say how exciting is it that Pink Mixers now has TWO authors!?!

I am so excited to be contributing to Pink Mixers and I am REALLY excited to start cooking! Julia is on of my best friends in the whole world and I while I am no blogger, I have a passion for cooking that I hope you will all be able to see!

So a little bit about us!

I met Julia when I was in high school. We took strings class together and became fast friends when we volunteered at camp one summer. We've both been through a lot in the past 5 years (WOW 5 YEARS!) but one thing has always been consistent, the amazing friend I have in Julia!

We discovered our shared passion for cooking one now infamous New Years Day, when there was nothing but an Iron Chef marathon! I think we sat in front of the television for 6 hours straight watching Bobby Flay BBQ, Mario Batalli make exquisite pasta, and Kat Cora make the most delectable looking southwestern food you've ever seen! We decided to cook! We made grilled chicken served on a bed of caramelized onions, brown rice, fresh cranberries and white wine. I can still taste it! Ever since then we have been inseparable, cooking up a storm, calling each other for ideas, and baking whenever we get the chance!

I cook and bake for every meal! Recently I found out I have a developing insulin resistance, (PCOS) which means that I have to be really careful about what I eat. No refined sugar, limited carbs, the carbs that I do eat have to be complex, low starches, so basically lots of veggies and protein! So you can look forward to a lot of stir fry recipes! Unlike Julia, I am not a vegeterian. Don't get me wrong, I love animals, but I also love steak, and flame broiled hamburgers, and roasted chicken, and ham and cheese sandwiches. So while Justin was bring sexy back, I'm bring meat back (to this blog anyways!).

And don't worry, just because I can't eat too much refined sugar, doesn't mean I don't use it! I have various friends that I'm trying to fatten up (muhaha!) so I am constantly baking muffins and scones and brownies and cookies. You should also know that I drink coffee like you wouldn't believe, and I have a weird passion for good foam on a double tall, lactose free, latte. So look forward to a lot of coffee education in your future!

I'm not much of a photographer, but I will try to capture the beauty of food on film! I am so excited to post and I am looking forward to hearing your feedback about my recipes!

As they say on Iron Chef,

ALLEEEEEEEEE CUISINE!

-Leah

It's a Ju-Leah Thing.

I would just like to be the first to say, how exciting is it that Pink Mixers has TWO authors!?

Julia and Leah

'Ju-Leah'

In my mind, food is about friendship. Sharing with others, and spending time together while laughing and engaging in general tomfoolery in the kitchen. Thats me and Leah to a tee, and we are coming to you live from two different cities, two different kitchens, and with two different tastes.

It takes a lot not to bump shoulders in the kitchen. But (hehe), not here! It's a Ju-Leah thing.

Sam AKA Mole

I want to introduce you to some of the people that I mention so very often throughout my blog. They are oh, so, important to me. And they make for fabulous food buddies!

Meet Sam:

My dear Samantha- affectionately known to a few special individuals as 'Mole.'

Why?

Well that is a terribly long story. I'll just say that it involves 3 best friends, the 30 hour famine, a nursery, and an incriminating photo.

This isn't it.


But it's pretty funny anyways! (Sorry Sam).

I met sam back in elementary school for a brief period of time, but it wasn't until high school that we really started to get to know eachother. We had one of those instant friendships; the kind that come so naturally, you feel like you have known eachother your entire life.

We make up two members of the three musketeers along with lovely Alesha, and spent every free moment together. Sam's family of 4 took the three of us in and provided us with a home and second family, many breakfasts, lunches, afternoon snacks, and dinners, a place to spend my hours away from home, and laughs that were never ending.

Sam has a brilliant sense of humor that really helped me become who I am today. She finds something funny in everything and it is that quality that makes her so endearing. I would not be who I am today without her friendship, and I can't see myself without her.

Thanks for being my best friend through thick and thin, Sam. You da best.

Sauteed Potato Hash-Browns

Hash-Browns

I luuuv hash-browns.

Hash-browns with eggs and ketchup.

Hash-browns at the diner with lunch and fresh fruit.

Hash-browns for dinner.

Hash-browns the morning after meat and potatoes.

Hash-browns with maple syrup. Seriously, but just a dab.

Ingredients:

chili powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper, herbs de Provence, and any other savory seasoning you like, (No over kill, please.) butter, and olive oil.

Directions:

1. Cook potatoes until just underdone and let sit in the fridge to cool and firm up. This is what makes day old cooked potatoes the perfect leftover.

2. Melt a dab of butter and a Tbsp of oil in the frying pan, and then gently place potatoes into the pan. (Careful, don't splatter!)

3. Add seasonings and toss the potatoes in the pan until fully coated. Cook until brown, hot and there are some nice pan marks. (Grill marks, but from a pan.)

Bed & Breakfast: Orange French Toast

The Peach Grove Bed & Breakfast: one of the prettiest places I have ever stayed. Let me attempt to set the scene for you.

I was 12 years old, and my parents, sister, and my Uncle George all took a road trip to New York, tracking down the ol' family homestead. You see, my Uncle George loves himself some genealogy. And we, as a family, are indebted to him for much of the information we have in our noggins and published. Yes, that's right, we have a family book. I'm not in it because it was published before I was born, but anyways, almost the whole family is in it.

Our family lineage begins in the New York State area where we stayed for a few days before heading to the Big Apple!

I had never stayed in a B&B before so my parents thought it would be a nice addition to our trip. And let me tell you, it was stunning. An old Victorian home, black shutters, a large porch at the front of the house--very Notebook-esque.

Here is the photo I got off of their website:

See?

The home was full of old antiques, a baby grand piano, and had a lovely sun room off the back where we had our tea and breakfast.

Breakfast was an option of (I think) eggs or orange french toast. Orange french toast sounded interesting so we went for the second option. Today I present to you, my version of this breakfast from the B&B tucked away in Warwick, New York. If my taste bud recollection serves me correctly, this version is pretty darn close.

Ingredients:

(Makes 3 pieces of french toast)

3 pieces of 12 grain bread (or you can use texas toast if you wish)

2 eggs

1 Tbsp. real vanilla extract

1 Tbsp. orange juice concentrate

cinnamon

Directions:

1. Mix eggs in a large bowl and combine vanilla and orange juice concentrate. Stir until the concentrate has melted.

2. Dip both sides of the bread into the egg mixture and place in a pan over medium heat. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon.

3. Cook both sides until the bread is slightly toasted and no longer soggy (about 2 minutes on the first side and 1 on the other.)

4. Serve with yogurt, fresh fruit, and maple syrup.

It's Photo Time.

This morning I got the best belated birthday present: my new lens!

It arrived on Friday via UPS but the housing office at my school (which receives our packages) didn't call me, so I got a nice surprise this weekend when the online status of my lens read: Delivered.

Sa-weeeet! (Only took a month.)

Meet new pal, Mr. 35mm:

It is a Nikon 35mm f/1.8 (a fantastic prime lens.) It doesn't have any zoom on it, which I will have to get used to, but it does great produce awesome bokeah. (Photographer term, no big deal.)

Like this:

See how only part of the image is in focus, and there is blurriness everywhere else? Thats bokeah. It is a really visually appealing technique and it is used a lot when photographing weddings and...(drumroll) FOOD!

My specialty!

Look foreword to good quality photos (consistently) from now on:)

P.S. This isn't a plug, but if you are interested in getting into photography (or you already are), this is a great lens to look into!

First you will need a camera (of course), and I recommend the Nikon D40. It is the cheapest and simplest camera for those who want great pictures, but don't want all the bells and whistles. It is really a superb camera despite being the entry level Nikon digital SLR.

Now second to getting a great camera, you need some lenses. (Or in my case, just one lens for now, thank you.) And to get this look...

...you need to have a nice prime lens that has a f-stop of at least 2. (This one is f/1.8)

Am I confusing you yet?

Other lenses offered by Nikon and Canon (like the very popular 50mm f/1.4) are GREAT, but will not auto focus on my D40 camera. (Annoying. I know.) That is why this is such a great lens. It is like specially designed for the D40, 60, and I think 90. (Not sure about that one.)

Plus...a nice price tag.

So if you are looking into getting serious with your photography, I would recommend the Nikon D40, and one of these lenses in your collection.