Monday, December 21, 2020

BAKING FOR THE HOLIDAYS WITH TRULY GRASS FED CHEESE

Disclosure: I received a free sample pack & recipe guide from Tryazon in order to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own. I may collect a share of sales from the link on this page if you decide to shop from it.

            My mom and I baked a batch of honey & natural sharp cheddar cheese scones using Truly Grass Fed's cheddar cheese from Ireland. Thank goodness the recipe we used was easy to follow. We have never made scones before. So,  it was a little like teaching ourselves the art of scone making. We really like to discover new recipes and try them out. The only scones we have tasted are the sweet types served at high tea. These are typically accompanied by lemon curd, clotted cream, or jam. Thus, we were excited to make a savory cheddar cheese flavored scone. It took about half an hour to prepare the scone mix using our electric mixer. We laid the dough on a sheet of wax paper to shape it into a large rectangle that we cut into thirds, length wise. Then, we cut smaller squares from each rectangle which we then sliced in 1/2 to create the triangle shaped scones the recipe called for.


            Cookies are one of our favorite things to bake together. Known for being a picky eater, who never said no to a cookie, my great grandpa used to call my mom the cookie monster. Stars are a fun & versatile shape that can be decorated for any occasion. We used a large star shaped cookie cutter, provided by Truly Grass Fed, to make a couple dozen stars shaped butterscotch latte cookies. They were very delicious. In fact, I was delighted that they tasted similar to one of my favorite drinks, the hot butterbeer, from the Harry Potter series. Again, we decided to try out another new recipe. It also turned out to be pretty easy to follow just like the savory cheddar scone one. One tip, is that we find it makes the process of following the recipe steps much easier if we gather all the ingredients first. Have everything measured & lay it out neatly next to the electric mixer. Don't forget to pre-heat the oven. We find that an electric mixer blends the ingredients evenly and quickly. However, not everyone has a mixer, so it's okay to mix it by hand using a large spoon or spatula. We've done that before for other recipes, & it turns out fine. One last tip is, if you want to use the cookie cutter method for the butterscotch latte cookies, don't add the chips in until after you've cut the shapes out. Don't fold in the chips. Instead, place them on top of the cookies before baking. You also have the option of decorating with icing. Happy Holiday baking everyone!


A star shaped cookie cutter similar to the one I was gifted: https://amzn.to/3dZWZgk

Truly Grass Fed product locator: https://www.trulygrassfed.com/store-locator/

Additionally, I am wearing my own design, The Queenie4ever green & yellow ball dress. If you are interested in the dress please send us an e-mail at info@Queenie4ever.com

Honey, Aged Cheddar Scones

Ingredients: • 2 ¾ cup all purpose flour • 1 teaspoon baking powder • pinch of salt • 1/3 cup cold Truly Grass Fed Unsalted Butter • 1 cup grated Truly Grass Fed Natural Aged Cheddar Cheese • 3 tablespoons honey • 1 cup whole milk + 3 tablespoons

 Directions:  1. In a large mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder, salt and diced cold butter. 2. With your fingers rub the butter into the flour mixture until sand like consistency forms. 3. Add the grated sharp white cheddar, honey, whole milk and form dough. 4. Shape the dough in square and cut it in six triangles. 5. Bake in preheated oven at 400 F or 190 C degrees for about 15 minutes. 6. Let them cool a bit and serve and dig in.

Butterscotch Latte Cookies

Ingredients: • 1 Cup Packed Brown Sugar • 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar • 1 Cup Truly Grass Fed Unsalted Butter, Softened • 2 Eggs 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract • 2 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour, Spooned & Leveled • 1 tbsp espresso powder or instant coffee • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda • 1 Teaspoon Salt • 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon • (1) 11 Ounce Bag Butterscotch Chips

Directions: 1. In a large bowl using a mixer, cream together the butter, both sugars, and vanilla extract for 2 minutes on medium speed until well mixed and fluffy. 2. Add eggs and mix until well combined. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, coffee powder, salt, and cinnamon. 3. With mixer running on low speed add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until just incorporated. 4. Fold in the butterscotch chips. 5. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for 30-45 minutes. 6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 7. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with nonstick cooking spray. 8. Scoop one heaping Tablespoon of dough at a time into a ball and place on the prepared pan about 1 – 1 1/2 inches apart. 9. Bake cookies in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, until slightly golden around the edges. 10. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan.

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Friday, December 11, 2020

Mom & Me Matching Christmas Aprons

Disclosure: I received two aprons for free from Dapper&Doll  in order to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own. I may collect a share of sales from the link on this page if you decide to shop from them.

            Christmas is a special time for my mom & me. We enjoy baking at home & dressing up for the festive occasion, in matching holiday themed aprons like the ones we are wearing. Not only is the print super cute with its' various decorated Christmas tree theme, but they are also very comfortable and large enough to protect your clothes. What we really appreciate about the design is the large pocket and adjustable neck strap. The print and style is gender neutral and offered in a variety of sizes from kids to adult. You can save 15% on Dapper&Doll’s Christmas Aprons with special discount code Y9DPGYSR https://amzn.to/3t1niHn

            Since we  run a parent and child small business, Queenie4ever, it is important to us to support other independent small family run businesses like Dapper&Doll. It's  run by mom Kirsten Chong & her son Timmy, who are currently offering these limited edition Christmas aprons. How many times have you received a gift that ends up in a box in the back of  your closet? This would not be the case, for anyone on your gift list, who loves to look stylish while baking during the holiday season. If you buy multiples, then it will surely encourage family members to tie on matching aprons and have fun make new and old recipes to celebrate Christmas. It certainly gave my mom and I an excuse to break out our baking pans and make a batch of delicious decorated sugar cookies.

            Every year my mom and I typically make sugar cookies using cookie cutters. We always have a lot of fun getting creative while decorating the cookies with colored icings. Usually we use a gingerbread person style of cookie cutter so that we can decorate them to look like our family members. But this year, we decided to make our cookies look like the decorated Christmas trees on our new Dapper&Doll aprons.

            Additionally, I am wearing my own design, The Queenie4ever Plaid Dress. If you are interested in the dress please send us an e-mail at info@Queenie4ever.com

Apron: https://amzn.to/3nj2CYW

Unboxing Video: https://www.facebook.com/504515601/videos/10164558592180602

Sugar Cookie Recipe: https://www.kleinworthco.com/wprm_print/48035

Icing: https://www.spendwithpennies.com/sugar-cookie-icing/?fbclid=IwAR3TyHOv8QvUjLILWEgRVW9SJzSaaVoq7sQCOjvnQ_wxj7om-2Po5kHG-4M

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