Posts

Chonky Boys: The Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches that Scream Summer!

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Featuring my thick and nuggy Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookies, these ice cream sandwiches are the stuff that summer dreams are made of.  If you've ever had the Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich at Disneyland , you are going to LOVE these!  These big and bold chocolate chip cookies are based on a recipe from my culinary school studies at Auguste Escoffier, but with a few modifications to give them that Jennuine touch.  They make the perfectas book for a fat slice of real vanilla bean ice cream.  And those mini chips?  You just gotta have that extra cronch! Thank goodness this recipe only makes 8 sandwiches, otherwise I would be eating them for breakfast lunch and dinner.  This way, my big family can help save me from my inner child diet-saboteur.   Print With Image Without Image Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches Yield: 8 Author: Jenn Erickson Loaded with chocolate chips and buttery, brown-sugary vanilla flavor, these mall-sized cookies form a perfect partnership with a
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BACH TO THE FUTURE

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With fine arts programs in the public schools becoming about as rare as a Bach Opera, parents with a passion for classical music may be interested to know there is a rich variety of mulitmedia out there to help inspire a love and interest in classical music in the next generation. Here are some of our favorite picks: The Composer is Dead, by Lemony Snicket (Book and CD) ~ "Benjamin Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" has been the gold standard for introducing children to instruments since 1946. The concept has been embraced (some may say enhanced) by none other than Lemony Snicket, whose picture-book overview offers the additional layer of a murder mystery. The CD presentation features music by Nathaniel Stookey, performed by the San Francisco Symphony. The story is well paced, employing wordplay, humor, and mild suspense to build a slow crescendo that originates with the delicate strings and climaxes with percussion. The bombastic Inspe
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RENEGADE CRAFT FAIR FAVORITES

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A few weeks ago, Rook No. 17 and friends visited the Renegade Craft F air in San Francisco. "What is Renegade," you may ask? The Renegade Craft Fair is a unique event featuring many of the most talented artisans and craftspeople in the country. To quote one fan of RCF, "this aint your Gramma's craft fair!" The event is held annually in Brooklyn, Chicago, Los Angeles & San Francisco. Each individual fair draws hundreds of applicants and tens of thousands of shoppers from all over the country and abroad! What sort of things can one find at RCF? You'll find thousands of handmade items from apparel to jewelry, posters to prints, craft kits, letterpress and other unique stationery, handcrafted plush, home decor, and much more. For the creatively inclined, the RCF is a great source of inspiration. Rook No. 17 was happy to see a lot of creative upcycling and recylcing going on. Here are some of our favorite vendors that we had the pleasure to meet at this Jul
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OUR FAVORITE TRAVEL RESOURCE: OFFBEAT GUIDES

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Planning a vacation this summer? Fed up with your current scene & packing your bags for an impromptu weekend escape? Tired of the same old travel guides with outdated information? Before you fly, drive, or pedal away on your next adventure, you need to visit Offbeat Guides . In just five simple steps you can build your own personalized travel guide tailored to your visit. What makes Offbeat Guides different? " Offbeat Guides are the first travel guides that you create online using the most current travel information available on the Internet for over 30,000 travel destinations. These personalized travel guides give you all of the information that traditional travel guides include, plus more. For the first time, you can personalize your guide based on your travel dates, destination, and personal travel interests." Cool, right? And the best part is that it's FREE.
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Healthy Family Shopping Guide and Free Printable Wallet Guide

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Does it sometimes feel like you need an advanced chemistry degree to make it through a grocery trip without filling your cart with cleverly packaged junk masquerading as "health food"? I've  found that it's difficult enough to navigate the aisles with a restless brood of cephalopod-like children (yes, they appear to grow tentacles at the mere mention of the grocery store), without having to channel an encyclopedic knowledge of food science at every twist and turn. So, I've created a nice little cheat sheet that fits neatly in to your purse or wallet. The "HEALTHY FAMILY SHOPPING GUIDE" includes Dr. Sears' list of the top 12 healthiest foods to help keep you on track while your two-year-old is screaming "COOOOKIE!" I've also included a list of healthy vs. bad fats, power proteins and the goods on good grains. To help you extrapolate the ingredient lists on all those packaged foods, I've included a list of MSG pseudony
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MSG BY ANY OTHER NAME?

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This is a great article that was published on rense.com. It was written several years ago, during the previous presidential administration, but the facts are still pertinent and alarming. MSG - The Slow Poisoning Of America "I wondered if there could be an actual chemical causing the massive obesity epidemic, so did a friend of mine, John Erb. He was a research assistant at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, and spent years working for the government. He made an amazing discovery while going through scientific journals for a book he was writing called " The Slow Poisoning of America ". In hundreds of studies around the world, scientists were creating obese mice and rats to use in diet or diabetes test studies. No strain of rat or mice is naturally obese, so the scientists have to create them. They make these morbidly obese creatures by injecting them with MSG when they are first born. The MSG triples the amount of insulin the pancreas creates; cau
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FREE FONTS FROM DAFONT...

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Looking to add a little style, pizzazz, or panache to your invitations, documents and projects? You'll never write a humdrum looking letter again with your free fonts from Dafont . Dowloading free fonts is safe and easy. You can find a font to perfectly suit every occassion. Putting together a birthday party invitation and want to use a font with true “character”? Try “ Calvin & Hobbes ”, “ Pokemon ”, “ Tartar Sauce ” (the Sponge Bob font), or “ Mickey ”. "Penning" a love letter? Try “ Jane Austen ” or “ Byron ”. Writing your own Declaration of Independence? Try the “ Jefferson ” script. For just the cutest little font ever, try “ Little Days ”. Planning a big fat Greek wedding? Try their GREEK fonts category. They also have Russian looking fonts , Mexican themed fonts and more. Create a neat little barcode label to put on the back of your personalized cards with a barcode font . Need a special font for Christmas ? Halloween ? Try their holiday font
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VELVET CUPCAKES, PART II

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Our friend Connie at Velvet Cupcakes has added a new flavor with the spirit of summer in mind: " GIMME S'MORE "- ....graham cracker crust, choc, chocolate cake smothered with roasted marshmallow..mmmmmm... To order these to-die-for treats for your next event in the (831) area code, call 831.760.7023 or email connie@velvetcupcakes.org
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