Holiday gift ideas for Moms

I am not posting many GIFT guides this year, but I will do a few. 

For starters, I wanted to put together one for moms. You see, this year, I became a first-time mother....so, I know just how challenging motherhood can be.   Every so often it's nice to receive a little something new ....ya know.........like a gift!   What better place to-go for gifting to mom than Sur La Table ? Below are some of my favorite items over at Sur La Table for moms. 

Heck, or for anyone that loves to entertain or enjoy a nice hot chocolate at home.  Which gift would you buy your mama friend or your own mother?

 

Have a great weekend!!! 

P.S. on another note, I am currently working on a blog re-design, stay tuned! 

-post by jen ramos

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FOOD: Salted Peanut Butter Cups

Oh Made By Girl readers do I have a treat for you! I'm Jen from Pretty Eats and am SO excited to bring you this homemade version of a favorite, Salted Peanut Butter Cups. Creamy, with such deep flavors brought out by a small sprinkle of salt. These cups are so decadent yet simple to make, their store-bought version will pale in comparison.

The key in simple recipes is always high quality ingredients, mainly the bittersweet chocolate used in these treats. Since making these peanut butter cups at home, I seemed to have gained a few admirers (everyone in my house)! Go on, try these for yourself and earn a parade in your honor!

Salted Peanut Butter Cups
Ingredients: makes12

• 1 c bittersweet chocolate chips (Ghiradeli used here)
• 3/4 c natural peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• sea salt

Directions:

• In a microwave-safe container, combine chocolate and coconut oil. Microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring in-between, until chocolate is just melted.
• Place mini muffin cups on a cutting board or flat plate.
• Spoon 2 teaspoons of melted chocolate into each cup.
• Pop into freezer for a few minutes, until chocolate is firm.
• Remove cups from freezer. Spoon 1 tablespoon of peanut butter into the center of each cup, taking care not to touch the sides of the paper.
• Spoon 2 teaspoons of melted chocolate around and on top of peanut butter.
• Sprinkle sea salt on top of each cup.
• Place cups back into freezer for a few minutes, until firm, and try not to eat all 12 at once!

Enjoy your weekend!

- Post & photos by Jen Olson

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FOOD: S'mores for TWO

Hi guy! Jen from Lemon Drop Love here. We are in the month of love and Valentines Day is creeping up on us. Today, I wanted to share a version of one of my favorite sweet treats—s’mores! But this time you get to share it with your special someone and get a little messy in the process.

S’more For Two
INGREDIENTS:

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Graham crackers for dipping
1 small skillet
 Get this one at Sur La Table or others via Madyson's Marshmallows or (or extra large marshmallows cut in half)
Heart-shaped cookie cutter

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 450.
In a small cast iron skillet, add chocolate chips. Take each Maddy Melt and cut into heart shapes or cut the large marshmallows in half and top the chocolate chips with them.
Once the oven is up to temperature, add the skillet to the oven. Bake for 7-9 minutes, or until the marshmallows turn golden brown.
Serve with graham crackers for scooping.

-images and recipe by jen costea

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William Sonoma This V-DAY

How will you be celebrating this Valentine's Day? My husband & I were originally going to go out to a nice dinner, but we decided to take the fancy dinner money & donate it to a charity.  It's the first time we've ever done this on V-day....but we knew that we could come up with something fun to do anyway.  So, Mat offered to make a lovely dinner instead - then we both will be making something FUN for dessert! Neat huh?

However, if you're NOT in the cooking or going out mode, I suggest ordering something sweet & pretty for your Valentine - I recommend William Sonoma.  They have the prettiest cakes & candies for that special day.

Here are a few of my faves, and even though I'm still looking to try some of these....just out of sheer beauty I'd buy some.

Seriously, who wouldn't be impressed with any of these arriving at their door?

-post by jen ramos

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FOOD: RUSTIC APPLE TART

Hi there! Jen from Lemon Drop Love here and I wanted to share an easy, but incredibly impressive dessert. This rustic apple tart is perfect for fall and you can eat it warm, at room temperature or cold for breakfast, an afternoon snack or, of course, dessert ( I ate it every which way and it was always delicious). In the past I’ve been a little intimidated by tarts and pies because I never want to mess up the crust recipe, but this little dish is fool proof and I’m looking forward to making this tart again and again with all different types of fruits and berries.

Rustic Apple Tart

INGREDIENTS: (recipe adapted via Ina Garten)
For the dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
12 tablespoons (11/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup ice water
For the apples:
4 Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, small diced
1/2 cup apricot jelly or warm sieved apricot jam
2 tablespoons water


DIRECTIONS:

• For the pastry, place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is in small bits the size of peas. With the motor running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
• Roll the dough slightly larger than 10 by 14-inches. Using a ruler and a small knife, trim the edges. Place the dough on the prepared sheet pan and refrigerate while you prepare the apples.
• Peel the apples and remove the stems and cores with a sharp knife. Slice the apples crosswise in 1/4-inch thick slices.
• Place overlapping slices of apples diagonally down the middle of the tart and continue making diagonal rows on both sides of the first row until the pastry is covered with apple slices Sprinkle with the full 1/2 cup of sugar and dot with the butter.
• Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the pastry is browned and the edges of the apples start to brown. Rotate the pan once during cooking. If the pastry puffs up in one area, cut a little slit with a knife to let the air out. The apple juices will burn in the pan but the tart will be fine!
• When the tart's done, heat the apricot jelly together with the water and brush the apples and the pastry completely with the jelly mixture. Allow to cool and serve warm or at room temperature. 

 -post and images bu jen costea

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Dude, Sweet Chocolate

Dude, Sweet Chocolate. What a cute name for a company no?  Lets' face it, pretty much anything with dark chocolate will make me look twice.  So, this company based out of Texas is no exception. It's run & owned by Chef Katherine Clapner - with 3 locations in Texas.  They manufacture, distribute, and retail dark chocolate inspired creations as their core business. The chocolates usually contain fudges, truffles, toffees, nuts, artisan chocolates, and basically anything the talented chef decides to improve by introducing it to cacao.

Another thing I thought was cute... was the names they give their unique chocolate products, such as, Crack in a Box , FDA Chocolate Vegetarian Salami (which is made with dates & dried figs ground and added to California marzipan with Valrohna cocoa nibs), Tub of Love Spread (great for spreading on breads),  One Night Stand Potion (great with sorbets or coffee) & more!! Unfortunately, I'm lactose intolerant - so I'd have to stay with the vegetarian & dairy-free options they have...would love to try these someday!

Have you tried Dude, Sweet Chocolate??



-post by jen ramos

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FOOD: PINEAPPLE + COCONUT CHIA FLURRY

With the current Pineapple craze - While on my Instagram, I came across a photo of a Pineapple drink I had to make. Of course, I enlisted the help of my husband & this is what we made.  It is truly the perfect Summer treat!

How to make:

Add 1/2 C agave or simple syrup to 2 C pineapple juice and whisk together. Pour the mix into a tupperware, cover and freeze (will take 2+ hours).

Add 1/3 cup white chia seeds to a 13 oz can of coconut milk and whisk together. Portion into serving glasses evenly (should make 4 3.5oz servings, so the glasses should be small tumblers or aperitif glasses). Chill for 1-2 hours.

When ready to serve, remove the frozen pineapple mix and scrape hard with a spoon to "snow" it, then spoon on top of one glass of the chia pudding. Serve with a wedge of pineapple.

&.......if you still can't get enough this Pineapple trend - check out my Pineapple Summer Trend post I wrote recently. Want more?  How about some of my original Pineapple paintings! Check them out here.


-images by jen ramos

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FOOD: Cinnamon and Sugar Palmiers

Hi there, Amanda here from A Life Well Lived. Today I am sharing one of my super simple and super delicious entertaining secrets - puffed pastry. Store bought puffed pasty is a godsend. It is versatile, easy, and always delicious. I love to use it both in sweet treats and savory dishes- so I always keep a box in my freezer just in case. Today I am sharing with you my easy puffed pastry recipe for the French cookies - palmiers.

I  love palmiers because they remind me of elephant ears I used to get at the country fair growing up. Elephant ears were huge (huge!) pieces of fried dough topped with mounds and mounds of cinnamon and sugar.

These palmiers are a little more sophisticated and instead of frying the dough, layers of sweet puffed pastry are baked until golden and crispy.

My choice in puffed pastry is Dufor Brand from Whole Foods. I know it is a little more expensive than the Pepperridge Farm version, but the reason I like Dufor is that it uses real butter. But if Pepperridge Farms is easier for you - no worries - I promise your palmiers will be just as delicious.

 

There are so many different versions  you can make these palmiers. Right now they are sweet palmiers stuffed with cinnamon and sugar but you could also add in lemon in place of the cinnamon to make them light and refreshing. Or maybe brown sugar and cardamon.  I like recipes that are versatile and can be amended pretty easily depending on what I want. These puffed pastry palmiers are just that.

You don't have to keep them sweet either. You can make savory palmiers by using parmesan cheese and an herb like thyme or rosemary or maybe get crazy and add in proscuitto and djion mustard. The possibilities are endless. So if you like to entertain try these palmiers  - you can make them ahead of time and bake them off just as your guests arrive.

INGREDIENTS & HOW TO MAKE:

1 box puffed pastry such as Dufor Puffed Pastry 

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Make sure to defrost puffed pastry in the refrigerator  2 -3 hours (or overnight) before making these cookies.

Preheat oven to 400F.

On a well floured board or countertop, unfold puffed pastry and roll out to a 13 x 15 rectangle. Combine sugar and cinnamon and spread over puffed pastry in an even layer. Beginning at the shorter end of the rectangle roll in the puffed pastry until you reach the center. Repeat on the other side of the puffed pastry.  Cut 1/4" cookies out of the dough and place on a baking sheet.

Bake for about 10 - 12 minutes or until palmiers are browned and sugar has begun to caramelize.


have a nice weekend!!!!


-post by amanda frederickson smiley

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