Cooking for Seven

Hey everyone! Remember me? Sorry I’ve been such a bag blogger lately. I promise I’ll make it up to you…perhaps with pancakes. Let’s make it pancakes, K? K.

Today, since I feel bad about not blogging, I’m having a giveaway!

Ever since I first spotted Mignon Kitchen I’ve wanted to buy everything in the shop. I haven’t been able to justify buying anything for myself just yet, so I’m gonna buy something for one of you!

Here’s how it work:

Leave a comment on this post answering the following question: What was the last thing you ate or drank?

If you win, I’ll buy you anything you’d like from Mignon Kitchen, up to $20!

Rules:

• Only one comment per person allowed!
• U.S. residents only, please.
• Giveaway ends Wednesday, October 10 at 12:00 noon, Central Time. No comments will be considered for the giveaway after that time.
• You must leave a valid email address in the comment form so I can contact you if you win.
• Using random.org, I will choose one winner. If the winner does not respond with a mailing address within 48 hours, a new winner will be selected.

Good luck, and happy Friday!

Disclosure: The author (that’s me) received a gift package from Land O’Lakes, including two cookbooks, a whisk, a slotted spoon, tongs and a full-value coupon redeemable for LAND O LAKES^® Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt, for recipe development and review purposes. All opinions are my own.

Now that the formalities are out of the way, let’s talk butter.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a major fan of butter. Besides being incredibly healthy, it just plain tastes awesome. On just about everything. That’s why I was excited to be able to test and review some new butter from Land O’Lakes.

Pioneer woman has teamed up with Land O’Lakes to help sing the praises of one of their new products: Butter with Olive Oil and Sea Salt. Last month I was lucky enough to be able to attend a webinar hosted by Ree, in which she detailed some of the wonderful qualities of butter, its history and how to cook with it.

It was so informative and fun, and the folks at Land O’Lakes even sent me a thank-you package with some awesome items (more on that later). When I couldn’t find any of the butter in our little town, Land O’Lakes sent the butter straight to my door. Yep, I was impressed.

To test out the butter, I decided to see how it performed in baking. Using my buttermilk biscuits recipe as a base, I substituted the olive oil & sea salt butter for all of the fat, added a bit of rosemary and brushed the tops of the biscuits with extra virgin olive oil. They were simply scrumptious. My sisters-in-law and I gobbled them down (spread with the olive oil butter & honey, of course) before Reuben could give them a try. Poor guy was rather disappointed.

Final Breakdown of What I Think of the Butter:

• Because there is some oil in this butter, it comes to room temperature faster than “regular” butter, which is quite handy.
• I was a bit skeptical when I heard about this product - it’s “adulterating” my perfect food, I thought. And whereas I think it’s an awesome idea to pair olive oil and butter, I wish Land O’Lakes would have used extra virgin olive oil, which is much healthier.
• As for taste, it’s lovely. I would say, since there’s only one less gram of saturated fat in the olive oil butter than regular butter (olive oil is mostly monounsaturated fat), it’s still mostly butter. Thus, the olive oil doesn’t overpower the butter flavor, it just complements it slightly. It’s wonderful spread on bread and crackers. The sea salt is also a nice addition.

But on to the giveaway. Land O’Lakes will be giving away Ree’s Cooking Essentials (the same package I received) to one lucky Cooking for Seven reader! The winner will receive both of Ree’s cookbooks, a whisk, a slotted spoon, tongs, and a full-value coupon for Land O’Lakes Butter with Olive Oil and Sea Salt.

Here’s how you can enter to win:

Leave a comment on this post answering the following question: What’s your favorite use of butter and/or olive oil?

Rules:

• US residents only, please.
• Only one comment per person allowed.
• You must leave a valid email address in the comment form so I can contact you if you win.
• Giveaway ends Wednesday, July 25th and 12:00 noon, Central Time. No comments will be considered for the giveaway after that time.
• Using random.org, I will choose one winner. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new winner will be selected.

Good Luck!

Have you ever visited Shabby Apple? If not, you are in for a real treat. I have long been an admirer of their shop, so you can image how excited I was to be able to host a giveaway. This adorable online clothing boutique offers vintage-inspired dresses, skirts, aprons, and more!

Some of my favorites are this red trench coat dress (named Lois Lane - how cute!), this chocolate military style dress, and this black maxi dress.


Would you like to win an item of your choice from Shabby Apple?
Here’s how it works:

[Mandatory] Visit Shabby Apple, come back and leave a comment telling me which dress/skirt/apron you would choose if you won. You must also “like” Shabby Apple on Facebook.

Rules:

You MUST provide a valid email address so I can contact you if you win.

Only one comment per person.

US residents only, please!

If you are the winner, you must respond within 48 hours with your mailing address or a new winner will be selected.

Giveaway ends Tuesday, December 20 at 12:00 noon Central Time. Not comments will be considered for entry after that time.

I will select one (1) winner using random.org.

Good luck!

You can receive 10% off your order at Shabby Apple by using the coupon code ”cooking4seven10off“. Coupon good until January 9, 2012.

I just love getting things in the mail, like baking mixes. Lovely baking mixes, like Dassant baking mixes.

I was lucky enough to receive four mixes for review. Now, I must admit that normally I’m pretty much averse to baking mixes - they’re usually filled with gross ingredients and taste very fake. Dassant baking mixes I found to be different.

Let me tell you what I think:

Packaging:

Each mix is enclosed in a beautifully designed box with an illustration of the finished product. It also indicates the country/state of origin. For example, the pumpkin spice bread is from Vermont (there’s a little American flag that indicates the country).

On the back, the ingredients are listed with cute little illustrations, and the directions are quickly summed up. There’s also detailed instructions for the perfectionist.

Many of the mixes include recipes to accompany the treat, such and the pumpkin icing pictured above. There are also handy suggestions for deciding when the mix is finished baking, how to make it into muffins, etc.

Taste

I was privileged enough to try out four different mixes (Cinnamon Bread, Chocolate Cake, Pumpkin Bread, and Truffle Brownies). I must admit that each one was delicious and baked up perfectly.

But the real question is: Would I buy it?

Yes, I would buy these mixes as a gift. However, there’s still a place in my heart that’s against baking mixes, so I probably wouldn’t be buying them for myself. But it would be a wonderful Christmas present for someone special. I highly recommend the cinnamon bread mix. It was scrumptious.

Now for the Giveaway!

The folks over at Dassant have generously decided to give away four (4) mixes of choice to two (2) lucky Cooking for Seven readers!

Here’s how it works:

• [Mandatory] Leave a comment on this post, answering the following question: What was the last thing you baked?

Rules:

You MUST include a valid email address in the comment form.

Only one comment per person.

US residents only, please!

If you are the winner, you must respond withing 48 hours with your mailing address or a new winner will be selected.

Giveaway ends Sunday, November 13, at 12:00 noon Central Time.

I will select two (2) winners using random.org.

Good luck!

P.S. Can’t wait until the giveaway ends to try out these awesome mixes? Here’s a coupon code just for you: Receive 25% off your order at Dassant by entering coupon code SEVEN

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

A while back, the folks over at RiceSelect sent me a jar of “Jasmati” rice, and in exchange, I agreed to publish my opinion of it!

RiceSelect, which has been around since the 70s, was the first company to successfully produce basmati rice grown in the USA. Their rice is USA grown and milled/cleaned. I think that’s super-awesome.  They also offer whole grain and organic rice, as well as couscous and orzo.

What I found:

This is a very nice white rice. It cooks up beautifully and quickly (about 15-20 minutes from boil) and has a very good texture. I used it for Thai Coconut Rice - heaven!

Would I Buy It?

Yes. Superior quality rice is sometimes a must. And I’d be interested in trying their whole grain rices and pearl couscous. However, the shipping charges seem quite high, so it would be for special occasions.

On to the rice pudding!

When I was little girl, my mom would make us boiled rice for breakfast. White rice. Brown sugar. Cinnamon. Cream. Scrumptious. There’s still a place in my heart for creamy, dreamy white rice. I know it’s not the most nutritious meal, but oh does it taste good.

Here’s a version that’s a bit more sophisticated.

My favorite part is that this rice pudding only uses five ingredients. Five awesome ingredients: Cream, whole milk, rice, sugar, and vanilla beans.

Together, they meld into something magical and comforting. Vanilla Rice Pudding.

Vanilla Rice Pudding

Adapted from Tartelette

Printable Page

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup rice (I used Jasmati)
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 of a vanilla bean, cut in half lengthwise and seeds scraped out
• 1/2 cup demerara sugar

Directions:

1)Place all ingredients (including the empty vanilla pod) in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice is tender, about 20-25 minutes.

2) Remove from heat and discard the vanilla pod. Spoon into serving dishes and serve warm or at room temperature with a bit of heavy cream. Enjoy!

On to the Giveaway!

RiceSelect is offering a tote bag and two full-sized rice products (Texmati and Jasmati) to one lucky Cooking for Seven reader.

Here’s how it works:

• [Mandatory] Leave a comment on this post, answering the following question: What did you have for breakfast yesterday?
• For extra entries, tweet, blog, or post on Facebook about this giveaway. Make sure to leave a separate comment for each extra entry with a link to the post.
• For more entries, subscribe to my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, or become a fan on Facebook. Make sure to leave a separate comment for each extra entry.

Rules:

Giveaway ends Wednesday, October 19, at 12:00 p.m. Central Time. No comments will be considered after that time.

I will select one (1) winner using random.org.

Good luck!