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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My Pet Cloud -- An Adorable, Easy and Inexpensive Craft

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Adorable, super easy, and less than 15-cents to make... That's what I love about the "Pet Cloud" project. A few months back I saw this ingenious little idea on Pinterest and traced the source to the SWAPS-a-lot website -- a great source for readymade Girl Scout swap kits.  Fast forward to this week...my final week of student teaching in a first-grade classroom.  I wanted to give each student a little something to remember me by.  I wanted to do something sweet, inexpensive and with an inspiring message.  I thought immediately of the Pet Cloud.  The original version is miniaturized to be handed out as a swap at Girl Scout events, but for my clouds, I wanted something a bit bigger. So I put my personal twist on this delightfully squee project by making up a custom tag and poem (free printable below).  My eight-year-old and I whipped up two dozen in less than half and hour and all for around $2.00.  The kids' reactions were priceless!   These swee
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Recipe: Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Truffles
{with salted pumpkin seed brittle}

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  Happy October!  Student teaching has kept me pretty busy lately, but I couldn't help but whip up a new fall confection over the weekend to share with the staff at my school.  I love the combination of pumpkin, autumn spices and dark chocolate.  It all goes back to childhood with my mom's chocolate chip pumpkin bread that she'd always make around this time of year.     For this two-bite treat, I combined the flavors of pumpkin cheesecake and dark chocolate ganache.  For a crunchy contrast to the smooth truffles, I added a garnish of salted pumpkin seed brittle.  Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Truffles {with salted pumpkin seed brittle garnish} Yield:  Approx. 3 dozen     For the pumpkin cheesecake 2 ounces cream cheese at room temperature 3 Tablespoons pumpkin puree 1/2 Tablespoon butter at room temperature 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 1/2 Tablespoon heavy cream 1/4 cup powdered sugar  1 teaspoon real maple syrup For the chocolate
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Sweet & Simple Apple Tags -- A Fall Craft for Kids
{Sowing the Seeds of Love with Fiskars Champions for Kids}

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I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client.  All opinions are genuine and are my own. “Education is the most powerful weapon  which you can use to change the world.” ― Nelson Mandela I can think of no greater task in the present, than preparing our young people for the future.  That's why, when I learned about the Champions for Kids project, Fiskars Shape Their Future , I didn't have to think twice about diving right in.  The Shape Their Future campaign puts school and craft supplies in the hands of students in schools where those supplies are scarce.  I knew that I could develop a Shape Their Future project that would benefit the students in the class where I'm student teaching, as well as a classroom in our community that is not quite as fortunate.   My whole family worked on the project, along with the first grade teachers
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Recipe: Homemade Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar & Salad
A Heart Healthy Idea from Save Mart #FreshFinds #shop

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I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client. All opinions are genuine and are my own.  Sponsored posts can be a great way for bloggers to earn a little bit of pocket money to help cover the costs (and countless hours) that go in to providing free, quality content.    But I feel strongly that sponsored gigs should be a natural fit for the style of the blog and present a real value to its followers.  Here's what you're not going to find me blogging about here at Rook No. 17:  Products that I do not or would not use.  This includes heavily processed and/or chemically laden foods, non-recycleable plastics, chemical air freshener and other items that I wouldn't naturally buy for my family.  I don't judge those that do -- it's just not authentic for me.     When considering a campaign, I ask: Do I already use and l
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Recipe: Deep-Dish Streusel-Top Cream Cheese Apple Pie

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A few weeks ago my family joined 504 Main 's crew in an apple picking excursion to the Santa Cruz foothills.  Holly had heard about an organic u-pick apple orchard, and we decided to give it a try.   The orchard was beautiful and the trees were heavy with fruit.  We picked several varieties that included Ginger Gold, Sali Red Delicious, and Royal Gala.   The Ginger Gold were our favorite -- both sweet and tart and very crisp.  We've been enjoying them whole, chopped up in salads, and sliced with peanut butter for an after-school-snack.  But just the other day my husband and I were both struck with a craving for apple pie.  Unless it's made by my step-mom, I usually pass on classic apple pie -- it's a bit too sweet for my liking.  Sour cream apple pie is more my style -- a perfect balance of sweet and sour.  Alas, when the craving hit, there was no sour cream on hand.  So, we decided to improvise by using cream cheese.  The experiment paid off
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Chocolate & Caramel Dipped Apples Slices {on a stick}

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  Nothing says fall like a caramel apple! The only shortcoming of this quintessential harvest-time treat is that once you've taken several candy-laden bites, you're left with nothing but apple.  It's a bit...well...anticlimactic. A while back I pinned an ingenius idea from rosa-rot.blogspot.ca (now defunct, I believe) where she used thick slices of fresh apple rather than a whole apple.  The apple slice gets a dip in caramel and then is enrobed in chocolate.  This creates the perfect ratio of caramel to fruit in every delicious bite! I decided to take the idea one step further by capitalizing on the plump, pumpkin-like shape of the candy coated apples.  This is one Halloween trick that is sure to be a treat for all who behold these goofy jack-o-lantern grins!   Chocolate & Caramel Dipped Apple Slices (on a stick) Yield:  18 6 large apples, washed 18 lollipop sticks* 1 batch 15-minute caramel (click HERE ) 16 ounces semi
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