Friday, September 19, 2014

Who wants to win some marshmallows?

Doing a little R&D this weekend with the marshmallows and since the holiday season will be here before you know it I figured why not share some marshmallows with a lucky winner?  Come visit the Fluffy n' Sweet FB page to get the latest news :)


Contest runs until Friday 9/26  :)


Saturday, September 13, 2014

Hello Keurig... my review of the Keurig 2.0

As an Influenster I sometimes get little perks and this has been by far the best perk yet! I love a good cup of coffee and although I still have my trusty old BHG Grind & Brew at home I'm the only coffee drinker here and making a whole pot of coffee is often wasteful.  I don't mind brewing a whole pot if I know I'm going to use it and over the summer it wasn't bad drinking coffee straight from the fridge, but it gets old fast.  Having the option now to brew just one cup or 3-4 in the carafe is very nice :)

 After taking a little coffee survey I was lucky enough to get chosen to try out the new Keurig 2.0.  After reading the reviews online and seeing the models here I was thinking we were going to get one of the basic models.  I was sure in for a surprise when the box arrived!


What I got was a Keurig 2.0 Model K550 Which is the top of the line model in the 2.0 series.  Lemme tell y'all I am NOT disappointed!  My BF has an older model Keurig and it's so noisy when you start it up and I was really kinda worried that this was going to be as well, BUT it's whisper quiet.

Say Hello to the Keurig® 2.0 K550 Brewing System — the first Keurig system that features revolutionary Keurig 2.0 Brewing Technology which is designed to read the lid of each K-Cup or K-Carafe pack to brew the perfect beverage every time. The K550 brewer allows you to brew a 4-cup carafe with the same ease and convenience of brewing a single-serve cup — all at the touch of a button. It’s so smart, and so simple!
The brewer has other great features including an extra large 80 ounce water reservoir, 2.8 inch color touch display, programmable clock, an auto brew option and a strength control setting for brewing bolder coffee. There’s even a separate setting for hot cocoa and other specialty beverages like lattes and mochas. The K550 model also has a customizable night light in the water reservoir and offers hot water on demand. So many options to choose from — not at all like a typical coffee maker.
Choose from over 250 varieties of coffee, tea and specialty beverages — including iced beverages — from 40 brands you know and love. Just look for Keurig Brewed® seal on your favorite K-Cup pack and K-Carafe pack varieties.
The Keurig 2.0 K550 Brewing System includes a Keurig Carafe, a 2.0 Water Filter Starter Kit with one filter, and K-Cup® and K-Carafe packs to get you started.
Variety pack includes:
4 K-Carafe packs:
  • Green Mountain Coffee® Breakfast Blend
  • Green Mountain Coffee® French Roast
  • Green Mountain Coffee® French Vanilla
  • The Original Donut Shop® Regular
6 K-Cup® packs:
  • The Original Donut Shop® Regular Extra Bold
  • Green Mountain Coffee® Hazelnut
  • Green Mountain Coffee® Nantucket Blend®
  • Barista Prima Coffeehouse® Italian Roast
  • Starbucks® Pike Place® Roast
  • Celestial Seasonings® English Breakfast Tea







You can see the difference in size between a standard K-cup and the K-carafe cup here.



 In my box I also received a full box of Decaf Breakfast Blend which I was a little befuddled with at first because I don't drink decaf but I will totally use it in chocolate cake and brownies :)  Since I got my box well after coffee drinking time for me (which I usually cut off to no later than 2 PM otherwise I know I won't sleep) the first one I brewed was the decaf to see how it worked, poured myself a small cup and then poured the remaining coffee into the ice cube trays and toss the cubed into my already strong iced coffee and it's awesome.





I love how quiet the Keurig is

Alright so it may not be the greatest sound in the world, but man do I love my coffee mug from Our Name is Mud.  I got this mug almost ten years ago and it's chipped and I broke the handle once, but it's really held up great and I can't seem to find another one just like it.

All in all, I love this machine, it's quiet, I can brew my coffee while I'm getting ready to haul ass out the door at 7am (I did mention in my last post my child is going to college and it's a two hour train ride each way didn't I?).  Pods can get a little expensive and for now this isn't compatible with any of the reusable cups but if you go to the Keurig site and sign up for special offers and Amazon always seems to have a good deal.  Otherwise every grocery store has them, for the new brewers make sure they have the Keurig logo on them, or they won't work with this machine.  For me it isn't an issue since this is my first Keurig.  I love all the varieties and that The Kid can use it also for tea and iced tea and cocoa when the weather gets cold.

So grab a mug and Enjoy your coffee with the new Keurig 2.0.  I definitely am :)

Saturday, September 6, 2014

This summer in review...

Monday was Labor Day... the unofficial end to quite possibly the shortest summer in memory for me. This summer was like this for me... Memorial Day, Bestie came to visit, BF got into car accident and totaled his car, Kid's Senior prom, Graduation, 4th of July, bestie left, it got hot for about 2 days, Birthday parties and cakes.  Never made it to the beach..again.  Two years in a row.  Ok, we did get to Long Beach once... but we went for dinner and then walked on the boardwalk so that doesn't count because it was nighttime.


Thursday The Kid started his Freshman year of college.  College.  If you follow me on my FB page You already know this ;)


My biggest adventure this summer was the cake I made for my nephew's first birthday.  It was my first attempt at working with fondant, both the boxed kind and a homemade marshmallow version.  It was interesting to say the least and probably not something I care to ever work with in that volume again.  It's fun to make decorations with, but I not only made decorations with it, but I used it to cover an entire cake and it was not fun.

The boxed fondant was fine to work with and I was able to squish it and mold it and screw it up multiple times before finally achieving the right shape and size crown to top the cake.

The homemade marshmallow fondant was, well.... interesting. after kneading the powdered sugar into the marshmallow I felt like it was good to go after a good 45 minutes and set it in the fridge overnight to finish the next morning when we got to our destination  but once I started rolling it out it didn't seem to have enough... umph? Structure?  It tore easily and sagged a bit once I finally had it on the cake, but still it wasn't bad for my very first try.





There have been many things cooked this summer.. a new amazing recipe to recreate a cookie from childhood for an attorney in my building, an ice cream roll cake that was precariously delivered to work on an exceptionally hot day, marshmallows, the best batch of brownies I've ever made, cakes.. two birthday cakes in two weeks, cupcakes.  It was great and amazing and Busy!

I've gotta get over here more often and now that things are semi-normal again (or, at the very least I'm not getting home at 8pm anymore).  With the kid back in school schedules are more or less fairly normal and meal planning has GOT to become more of a regular thing in my house instead of this daily craze of "ok, what do you want for dinner, omg I need to go to the grocery store again?

I need to get a new crock pot too... I had the insert of my crock pot on the floor after taking it out of the dish drainer to get it back in the cabinet once I was finished with the dishes and dropped a bowl on it... a dollar store ceramic bowl smashed my crock pot insert and didn't even chip -_- I tried gluing it back together but yeah, that didn't really work so well.  One of these days when I get to Target I'll remember to get one.. for now there's two on my amazon wishlist. ;)

Have a great weekend :)   I'll be back on Monday with a review of my new toy... a Keurig 2.0 :)