Solving Your Kitchen Problems One Giveaway at a Time!

Giveaway: EDIBLE BABY GEAR

I am excited for my last 2008 giveaway sponsored by Edible Baby. I got the fortune cookie, The Future Remains to be Seen, t-shirt above for my 2 year old son to wear on New Year's eve. Isn't it so cute?

Edible Baby makes t-shirts and onsies with food items printed on them.

Their cotton fabric is so soft and the packaging is fabulous.

For a chance to win visit the Edible Baby website and choose which onsie or t-shirt tickles your fancy. Come back and leave a comment on this post telling us your choice by Tuesday January 6th. One comment will be chosen at random. If you win you get the product you wrote about in your comment.

For an extra chance to win you can

1. write about this giveaway on your blog. Just write an extra comment here with a link back to your blog.
2. follow this blog
3. subscribe in a reader

Good Luck and Happy New Year!!

Lucky You!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Last week I had my most successful giveaway yet with 360 comments. The Mr. Zojirushi Bento giveaway was a hit. Thank you everyone for participating. As always a comment is chosen at random and this week the lucky winner is Linda who commented on her favorite Zojirushi product.

llinda29 said...
the electric kettleis just my style

Bem Casado

Bem Casados is a traditional Brazilian dessert served at weddings. The words Bem Casado means "good marriage" in Portuguese. This is a perfect name for this dessert. The marriage between the two mini cakes and the dulce de leche is a good one.

I've been wanting to make these for a long time but never had the time or courage to try. I knew they would be a pain to make since the first time I read the recipe where one of the steps is to "remove the skin around the egg yolk." I decided to rely on my good marriage and had my husband babysit all day yesterday so that I could get these done in time for our Christmas eve dinner. I know they are wedding cakes but my gringo family had no idea so they were happy to eat them as a special Christmas eve dessert instead.

Bem Casado
mini cakes dough

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup white flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon corn starch
• 1 teaspoon backing powder

filling

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk

syrup

• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup water

Directions
mini cakes

1. Preheat the oven to 420
2. Separate the eggs
3. Whisk the egg whites in a stand up mixer with the sugar until it is firm*
4. Add the egg yolks one at a time without their skin (use a metal stainer for this) and add the vanilla. Fold into the egg whites.
5. Slowly add the flour, corn starch, and baking powder and fold into the egg mixture.
6. Drop spoon fulls of the mixture on a cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes.
7. Remove from cookie sheet while it is still hot and place in a cooling rack.
8. When the cakes have completely cooled down spread dulce de leche on them and form a sandwich with a second cake.
9. Dunk the sandwiched cakes in the sugar syrup.
10. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
11. Place a chocolate leaf on top to garnish (optional)
    
    * Egg whites can be tricky. For detailed instructions on how to whisk egg whites visit this post at 101 Cook Books.

filling

1. To make dulce de leche pour the sweetened condensed milk in a glass bowl and microwave on medium for 10 minutes. Stop and stir every 2 minutes.

Syrup

1. Place the water and sugar in a small sauce pan.
2. Stir constantly until it begins to boil.
3. Cool down completely before submerging the cakes.

Lilikoi (Passion Fruit) Mousse

Yesterday we finally went out on a hike and found some lilikoi (passion fruit in Hawaiian) on the way up to a waterfall. Hawaii is so beautiful and it helps that there is so many varieties of delicious fruit, like strawberry guava (have you ever had any?), on the hikes we go on. Whenever there is passion fruit there is passion fruit mousse to be made. Mousse de maracujá (passion fruit mousse) is a popular dessert in Brazil. It's nice that we can find passion fruit in Hawaii and make this dessert that originated on the other side of the world.

If you happen to have fresh passion fruit where you live than here is how you make concentrate.

1. Rinse 4 medium sized passion fruits and cut in half
2. Put all the pulp in one container
3. blend the pulp with 1/4 cup water for 20 seconds
4. Strain the mixture to remove the seeds from the liguid and measure 3/4 cup for the mousse recipe

If you don't have passion fruit than you can usualy buy concentrate at latino super markets. Just search for Maracuya which is the spanish word for passion fruit.

Lilikoi (Passion Fruit) Mousse

• 3/4 cup passion fruit concentrate
• 1/2 pint heavy cream
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk

1. Make passion fruit concentrate.
2. With an electric mixer whip the heavy cream on medium speed for 2 minutes.
3. Add the can of sweetened condensed milk and whip on high speed for 30 seconds
4. Add the passion fruit concentrate and whip with the heavy cream and sweetened consensed milk mixture on high speed for 1 minute
5. Place in individual dessert cups or in a medium serving bowl and refrigerate over night.
6. Garnish with passion fruit pulp on top and serve chilled.
   

*In Brazil we use table cream instead of heavy cream. If you have table cream than substitute 1/2 pint of heavy cream for 1/2 pint of table cream. Put the cream, sweetened condensed milk, and the passion fruit consentrate in a blender for 1 minute refrigerate over night in individual dessert bowls and serve chilled.

Solving your kitchen problems one giveaway at a time!

GIVEAWAY: Zojirushi Mr. Bento

Christmas week is upon us and I am in a giving mood. I've decided to make this week's giveaway extra special. I recently wrote a product review for Zojirushi where I talked about my mini bento. Zojirushi America has been very generous and will be giving away one Zojirushi Mr. Bento to a lucky Kitchen Corners reader.

About the Mr Bento...
The Mr. Bento Stainless Lunch Jar contains 4 microwaveable inner bowls and includes a forked spoon with cover and an easy-carry bag. The outer container features durable stainless steel construction and vacuum insulation with excellent heat retention.

Ever since my first obento making experience I've been totally intrigued with different bento containers. I have to say that the Zojirushi is by far my favorite.

For a chance to win a Zojirushi Mr. Bento leave a comment on this post about your favorite Zojirushi product by Tuesday December 29. Visit the Zojirushi site to check out their cool stuff.

For additional comments you can do any or all of the following...

• follow this blog
• subscribe in a reader
• twittter this giveaway.

Good luck and Happy Holidays everyone!

Lucky You!

The lucky winner for last week's giveaway was this comment

Rasberryswrlgirl said...

I've subscribed.

rasberryswrlgirl@hotmail.com

Thanks for subscribing to my blog Rasberrysrlgirl. This is her previous comment where she talks about her favorite charm.

Rasberryswrlgirl said...

CUpcakes are my absolute favorite thing! I would love the cupcake with the pink frosting in a sugar cookie scent. Yum! Or even gingerbread.

Felt Gingerbread Cottage Scene

I haven't been cooking much since the flood. Hence the lack of recipes on this blog. Sorry dear readers. I promise that I won't be able to escape this week with Christmas around the corner. I WILL cook something, I WILL cook something, I WILL cook something...

In the meantime I am enjoying my Palmer family and all the cute nieces and nephews that are staying here with us. For this reason my mind is focused on kiddie things.

There is this blog that I read regularly called Chasing Cheerios. Melissa is a rad mom who uses Montessori methods to homeschool her toddler. Today I found this Felt Gingerbread Cottage Scene that she made. I love it!

some other favorites from this site:
Felt Gingerbread Cookie Making Kit
Felt gingerbread Village
Felt Gingerbread Boy Activity

ABC of Food

E is for Enzo, my 2 yr old son, and for eggplant.

C is for carrots and for Christmas. Enzo is getting some flash cards that I made as a Christmas present this year. The ABC of food. I had so much fun designing these today. Tomorrow I will print and laminate. Go HERE to view all the cards. Feel free to print them for your own kiddies to enjoy.

Solving your kitchen problems one giveaway at a time!

Hi everyone. Sorry it's taken me so long to post. The day we arrived in Hawaii we had a huge flood and my MIL's house, where we are staying, got completely flooded. I'll post more about it later. Right now I'm just happy to set up this giveaway to distract me from the craziness.



GIVEAWAY: Scented Junk Food Jewelry

The funk and funky Etsy shop DanzDzynes is giving away one Junk Food Jewelry to a lucky reader.
check out these cupcakes! Yum!!!!

The best part is that you can choose which ornament you want and also the scent that you like. Visit the DanzDzynes shop and come back here to tell us which Scented Junk Food Jewelry is your favorite. If you win you get the piece you commented about by Tuesday December 23rd. One comment will be chosen at random.

for extra comments you can
1-follow this blog
2-twitter this giveaway
3-subscribe in a reader.

Good Luck!

Lucky You!

the foodie Christmas ornaments winner is...

pixiepine said...

What a cute shop. I like the junk food!

e-mailme your mailing address so we can send these over to you in time for Christmas.

Hawaiian Style

Excuse me if I don't blog frequently in the upcoming weeks. I am off to Hawaii to hang out with my husband's 5 siblings, their spouses, and all 9 nieces and nephews. Sure there will be lots of eating going on but feeding that big of a crowd usually means daily BBQs at Waimea while we watch the surf.

In case you miss me and wonder what I am up to I suggest visiting my brother in law's photography website where you will get a glimpse of the beautiful places I get to visit when I'm there.

Solving your kitchen problems one giveaway at a time!

GIVEAWAY: FOODIE ORNAMENTS

I could not and would not resist these ornaments. I love how they are NOT Christmassy and I love the food theme and I LOVE that they are baby and toddler proof.

WINNIEATEPAPER is the sponsor for this week's giveaway. She makes all sorts of fun things with paper and felt like ice cream cone magnets and pretty greeting cards like this one that makes you want to eat it.

So for a chance to deck out your Christmas tree with some fun foodie ornaments and enter this week's giveaway just visit her shop and decide if you want junk food hanging from your tree or some fast food. Come back and leave a comment by Tuesday December 16 telling us your pick. If you win you get the ornament set you wrote about in your comment

For additional comments you can
1-twitter this giveaway
2-follow this blog
3-subscribe in a reader

good luck!

Lucky You!

the Bento Box winner is...

Kimberly L said...

I'm all about puzzles too. My favorite is the 3D Wood Brain Teaser toy GRID LOCK CUBE PUZZLE 1

brn2lisn(at)gmail(dot)com

Decorating With Food

I saw this dried orange slice ornament on one of my favorite blogs, The Shabby Nest, and fell in love.

Thanksgiving 2009

Has your body finally digested your Thanksgiving dinner? I didn't even want to bring it up in case you were still stuffed but it's been a week and I can't contain myself. This was my first Thanksgiving as an American Citizen and it is by far my favorite holiday ever. I love the whole concept of eating with family and enjoying each others company. I love having time to reflect on some of the things I am thankful for like
being able to cook for a very forgiving crowd and

for my very own baker.

I am also really thankful for my sis-in-law who took great shots of the whole extravaganza.

Zojirushi Mini Bento Stainless Lunch Jar

It's been coldy, coldy, coldy here in Northern California. Which means that I was finally able to use my thermal Zojurishi bento set. On Tuesday I packed Enzo a nice warm lunch of turkey noodle pumpkin soup and he was all over it. I am loving this bento and will use it again tomorrow.

Some info about this particular mini bento from the Zojirushi website...


The Mini Bento Stainless Lunch Jar features durable stainless steel construction and vacuum insulation with excellent heat retention to keep hot lunches hot and cold lunches cold. It contains a washable vacuum insulated main bowl, two side bowls, chopsticks, chopsticks holder, and easy-to-carry insulated bag. All bowls are microwaveable and the carrying bag reconfigures to half its size when the bowls are empty.

Check out their site for different bentos and other products.

Kale Salad

Yesterday I read a HILARIOUS post from my friend Claudia. It read...

"My aunt, who is hosting this year's Christmas gathering, wants to have a "soup and salad" meal. My mother just told me this. So I responded, "Soup and salad, and what else?" Because WTF? Everybody could stand to eat more healthily, sure, but it's Christmas, not Tuesday. I told mom that we can bring a pie and just put it in a pot."

Claudia, this salad is for you my friend (and all of my readers who may be faced with a similar problem). It's totally delish and refreshing. It will go fabulous with your pie in a pot!

KALE SALAD



Christian's aunt made this last week for Thanksgiving. And thank goodness she did because I was looking way more forward to this than the Turkey. This is her recipe. No measurements so just use as much as you think necessary. How's that for free spirited?

1. Cut kale in thin strips and bite size
2. Marinate the kale in olive or hemp oil and lemon juice.
3. Refrigerate over night.
4. Slice a red onion and marinate it in balsamic vinegar.
5. Slice red, orange, and yellow sweet peppers and add to the marinated kale.
6. Add the red onions, crumbled feta cheese, sesame seeds and hot pepper sesame oil.
7. Garnish with sunflower seeds and sliced celery.
8. Season with herbal salt and Braggs liquid amino acids

360 Paper Water Bottle

Yes please. I would very much like a paper water bottle that I can recycle and would cause very little environmental degradation compared to plastic. This bottle is completely making me gitty. Hurray for designers who have green flashing inside their brains.

Check out the first ever paper water bottle and how this project came about and is developing.

Solving your kitchen problems one giveaway at a time!

GIVEAWAY: Cookbook Set with Bento Box

It's that wonderful time of year where you have to give presents to everyone and their dog and all of a sudden you're buying cheap presents that no one wants. Can you tell I'm already frustrated just thinking about it and it's only the second day of December? ARGHHH!!!!

My solution...ETSY!!! I am committed to buy as many presents on ETSY as I can because the stores there ROCK with cute stuff.

One of my favorite stores is SOPSOP88 because it is filled with very cute and versatile things. Great presents for under $20. Now that is what I am talking about!

For a chance to win a Cook Book set with a Bento Box you can visit SOPSOP88 and tell me which item from her store is your favorite by TUESDAY December 9 by leaving a comment on this post. You'll be surprised by how many fun things she has at her store that would make great Christmas presents.

You can write an additional comment for
1-twittering this giveaway
2-following this blog
3-subscribing in a reader

good luck!

Lucky You!

The felt food pattern winner is

Becca Ann said...

The homemade bread!

we'll both be making some delicious felt bread. FUN!

Pomegranate Mousse with POM Juice

I first learned about pomegranates from my husband's family. His grandpa brought some pomegranate cuttings from the family farm in Nevada when he moved to California over 50 years ago. His grandpa lived to be 99 years old and his Grandmother is now in her 90s and still takes good care of the pomegranates that grow strong in her backyard. His family has many good pomegranate recipes and to add to the tradition I decided to create one of my own using fresh pomegranates and POM juice.

POMEGRANATE MOUSSE

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
  
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cup POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice
• 1 packet unflavored gelatin
• Enough pomegranate arils for garnish

1. Using a stand-up mixer whip the heavy cream on medium speed for 3 minutes.
2. Add the sweetened condensed milk and 1 cup of POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice and mix for an additional minute.
   
3. Dissolve 1 packet of unflavored gelatin in 1/4 cup POM Juice
4. Bring to a boil the remaining 1/4 POM Juice. Once the juice begins to boil add it to the dissolved gelatin and stir for 30 seconds.
5. Pour the dissolved gelatin in to the cream mixture and mix on medium speed for 1 minute
6. Refigerate for 1 hour and garnish with pomegranate arils.
7. Serve chilled.