Be mine, Valentine?

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Kelly Diamond

Valentine’s Day is a week away!

Whether or not you’re romantically involved, Valentine’s Day is just an excuse to get overly lovey-dovey, crafty, cute, and (my favorite) eat deliciously fattening foods. Right? So right.

That’s why we have been hard at work building our Be Mine, Valentine? Pinterest board. We’re talking craft ideas, recipes, tips, how-to’s, gift ideas, and pretty much anything cute. It’s definitely worth a peek!

We’ll be adding more pins all week. Let us help you get into the spirit!

What’s your typical Valentine’s Day like?
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Float-a-licious!

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Kelly Diamond

Ice cream soda floats! Can you say delicious .. or FLOAT-a-licious?

These are such a perfect treat — they’re refreshing and satisfy your sweet tooth.

And the best part about ice cream floats is that you can create your own! There is no limit to the soda-ice cream combos. Go crazy!

Here are some combinations to noodle:

… and so many more!

What are your favorite combinations?
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* Sources: How Does She? //
Divine Caroline //
Personal experimentation

A Nutella obsession.

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Kelly Diamond

I won’t lie. I have an obsession with Nutella — and I’m okay with that. Eat it on cookies, on toast, on sandwiches, on fruit, out of the jar .. it’s pretty much one of the greatest substances ever. For some reason I’m craving it much more today than usual. Therefore, I figured it was best to share my hazelnut love and post a few delicious Nutella recipes. That’s right. You’ll be RUNNING to the kitchen after reading these.

CHOCOLATE NUTELLA COOKIES

{4 INGREDIENTS} NUTELLA BROWNIES

NO-BAKE NUTELLA CHEESECAKE PIE

CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT SPREAD (HOMEMADE NUTELLA)

How do you eat your Nutella?
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My Halloween Diet

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Nichole Magoon

Happy Halloween from all of us here at Social Grocery!

And let”s be honest, this is what our diet REALLY looks like today:

Happy Halloween!

Sweet, Sweet Halloween Candy [INFOGRAPHIC]

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Nichole Magoon

Move over skeletons, ghosts, and ghouls–we all know what Halloween is REALLY about–candy! We love it all, Tootsie Rolls, Snickers, M& Ms, chocolate, gummies, gum, all of it! We hope you have a spooktacular and sweet Halloween from all of us at Social Grocery!

Click the image (or here) for a larger version.

Last chance for Halloween recipes!

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Kelly Diamond

With Halloween weekend looming, the clock”s a”tickin” to make your favorite Halloween desserts and treats in time for parties and get-togethers. Luckily, The Stir at CafeMom.com has put together a slideshow of 20 Favorite Halloween Recipes — from cookies, cakes, to big people drinks — to help us get a head start on the brainstorming.

Here are 4 of my favorites from the bunch:

PUMPKIN-CREAM CHEESE TRUFFLES

If the title isn”t enough, they”re covered in white chocolate and sprinkled with crushed gingersnaps. My work is done here. (Originally from Whole Foods Market)

MINI PUMPKIN CAKES

These cakes from BusyMommy are absolutely adorable, and they”re actually made with little bundt cakes! The stem is a hand-molded Tootsie Roll. These would be delicious as little carrot cakes, don”t you think?

PEANUT BUTTER CANDY BAR SQUARES

This recipe from Bake or Break is a perfect way to utilize your leftover Halloween candy (if you even have leftover Halloween candy, that is). Maybe I”ll buy some extra candy this year just so I can make these bars.

THE GREAT PUMPKIN MARTINI

Who says Halloween isn”t for adults? This martini from The Stir contains OJ and pumpkin puree. Sounds interesting to say the least — definitely in spirit of the season!

What Halloween treats will you be whipping up this weekend?

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Fall means time for cider

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Kelly Diamond

Not really sure why I”m on such an apple kick lately. In addition to the post from yesterday, I have also been eating apples nonstop. Over the weekend I made chocolate dipped apples topped with coconut and crushed Reese”s pieces (yes, they are AMAZING), I sit here now typing this with a locally picked honeycrisp apple in my hand. But I need more. So I think of the apple cider in my fridge and it comes to me — time to hit the kitchen.

Typically during the Fall season we”ll enjoy a nice warm cup of apple cider and call it a day. I”ve been known to drink a cup or two alongside a cider doughnut. But this year I think I want to step it up a notch. Alas, I give you these few recipes that I cannot wait to try! But first, we have to go a traditional route (with a twist):

CIDER DOUGHNUT MUFFINS

Cider doughnuts have taken a whole new form. This recipe from Tablespoon.com transforms the traditional cider doughnut into a muffin treat — sorry blueberries, you”ll have to wait! I can”t wait to have these for breakfast. (Or lunch. Or dinner. Or a midnight snack ..)

CARAMEL-STUFFED APPLE CIDER COOKIES

Even just looking at these cookies make me think of lounging in front of the fireplace on a crisp Fall evening. Am I right? The cider cookie with caramel center seems like the perfect companion for a cup of hot tea. Thank you to Scrambled Henfruit for sharing this amazing treat!

APPLE BUTTER CINNAMON ROLLS W/ CIDER ICING

Cinnamon rolls just got even better — apple butter cinnamon rolls. Add cider icing for noming bliss. These rolls from Babble.com would be a perfect addition to your next Sunday brunch. As someone who loves breakfast, I feel I might be making these sooner rather than later.

APPLE CIDER CHICKEN

Apple cider chicken! Who says cider has to be used only in baking? There are many recipes that use apple cider in gravies and marinades, but I found this Food Network recipe to be exceptionally interesting. Maybe it”s just the picture, but that chicken looks like its bursting with Fall flavor. A great way to use up any leftover apple cider in the fridge!

What”s your favorite Fall treat? Share with us!

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Pancake Pretzels?

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Nichole Magoon

The closest I ever got to traveling the world when i was younger was “Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?”. (Anyone? Anyone?) It wasn”t until I was a junior in college that I got my first opportunity to leave the country.

Now that I”ve done a bit of international traveling, I”ve realized one of my favorite things when traveling is finding new and strange foods. Some are new and exotic dishes in restaurants or street markets, and some of them of fun packaged foods sold in grocery stores in that country. So, you can imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon Jaunted.com”s weekly “Foreign Grocery Friday” blog series. These fun folks are in the travel biz, and therefore have come across some of the world”s best (and strangest!) foods.

In their most recent post, Jaunted features a product that combines my favorite Sunday morning breakfast with my favorite Thursday night bar snack. Enter pancake flavored pretzel sticks called Pretz.

At first glance they look seemingly harmless, but the Jaunted.com reviewers warn of the sickingly artificial sweetness smell that overpowers your nose on first sniff. Apparently the taste is just as sweet, according to their post:
” The flavor has been baked into them, and it”s the flavor of Japan”s idea of Pancake Syrup: an extremely rich honey milk paired with regular syrup. Just one stick should do for a while; five and you”ll think you”re due for a cavity.”

Want to read more on this or other fun, foreign grocery Friday finds? Check out their blog here.

Halloween ALREADY?

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Kelly Diamond

It feels like the school season has barely even started and already stores are stocking the shelves with candy corn, pumpkin Reese”s and ghost Peeps. I”m not completely against this, however, I feel like I haven”t even had time to go apple picking yet! (Can you tell I”m from New England?) But really, whether we like it or not, seasons/holidays start over a month in advance in most retail stores. So, while we”re still over a month away from Halloween, there”s only one logical thing to do — STOCK UP!

Grab your Halloween favorites now, because in only a few weeks, store shelves will be completely wiped out. You know it”s true! How many times have you waited until the day before trick-or-treating to get your goods? I once went to three different stores before I could find anything but plain old Tootsie Rolls and Whoppers (sorry for those of you into that sort of thing) the day before Halloween. Not a good plan in any means — take it from me and get your candy early this year!

In addition to stocking up for your candy pile, now is the time to be planning your festive treats! Do you usually participate in Halloween parties at work, school, or in your community? While you still have some time, do your homework NOW so that you can wow the crowd come Halloween. Here are posts from two of Social Grocery”s favorite bloggers to help you get the ball rolling:

SPIDERWEB COOKIES by Bridget at Bake at 350

How many times have you seen cookies such as these and wondered how to make the frosting webs look so flawless? Search no more, because Bridget at Bake at 350 breaks it down step by step for you. Now we can all make these adorable spiderweb cookies. If you want to see some more of Bridget”s spooky cookies, be sure to check out all of her Halloween posts. I love the tombstone ones myself — let”s face it, Halloween is the time to be morbid!

HALLOWEEN CAKE POPS by Bakerella

Bakerella has single-handedly made cake pops and cupcake pops a huge phenomenon. In this particular post, she attacks Halloween with jack-o-lanterns, mummies, Frankensteins, ghosts and more. They are cute as a button and would surely be a hit at your next Halloween get together — or even just to have at home and give out to friends and family. If you”re interested in cake pops, cupcake pops or cake balls, be sure to check out Bakerella.com for recipes and tips! (P.S. The cartoon character cake pops are TOO GREAT!)

What are some of your favorite Halloween treats? Share with us!

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Fridge Notes

Tag Archives: sweets