Long Time No See!

Hey guys! I know I know. Where have I been?? Well my school's Spring musical has been taking an overwhelming toll on my free time, but it's totally worth it. I have a really nice part this year and I'm enjoying every second=) We sold out every single show so we are buying the rights once again to keep it going even longer so more people can come! That's the first time in the history of our school! I feel so honored to be a part of it, especially in my senior year. I do have some recipe sot share with you guys soon, but let me tell you about something else first.

I have a love affair with CSNstores. First off, they have the friendliest people working there. They couldn't be better at customer support. Not that I've ever had any problems with them! Second, the ship in record time! I'm totally serious. I get my products in less than two days every time! Lastly, they have all kinds of products. Being the avid baker that I am, I normally head straight to the kitchen appliances and bake ware, but I've found myself venturing to new areas recently. Furniture, recessed lighting, or storage options. The possibilities are endless! I love this website and I just ordered some new products from them so I can't wait to show you guys how I put them to good use!

CSN Stores

You've had to have heard about CSN stores by now! If you haven't, let me fill you in. They are one generous company. They contact a lot of bloggers to get their name out, and I'm lucky enough to have been with them for a while. So once again, I'm here to tell you guys about their great products.

One thing I can't talk enough about is their fast delivery service. It's seriously awesome. I always get what I ordered in a week or less! And their items? Ohhh their beautiful selection of items. Everything from bar stools to bake ware (my obvi favorite). So this time around, I have something in mind. I'm always for getting new items, but sometimes it's important to just replace some old things. Such as my dutch oven. I love it to death, and I mean that literally. It's getting pretty scuffed up and it may need to be retired.

In conclusion, thanks CSN Stores! You guys rock, as always. Can't wait to try out my new dutch oven, and I'll let you guys know how it works out!

Konnichiwa

You just have to love the CSN stores by now. They are such nice people with such amazing offers. They love allowing bloggers to do reviews of their products, and we love it too!

I've been contacted again and was asked to do a product review. Uhh duhhh. Of course I will! So as much as I would like get more baking equipment to make something I can relax and enjoy and eat with my coffee while resting my feet up on a coffee table, I'm letting my sister pick the item. Yepp I'm soooo nice.

She's really into Japanese style eats. Well a lot of Japanese style anything, actually. But I have to agree with her, I'm a big promoter of sushi. She also recently told me about these lunches known as bento boxes. We both agreed they'd serve as wonderful lunches for even us! So she's determined to start making them for the three women of my family. (I mean c'mon, my dad would never try this stuff)

More about bento boxes. After looking at some crazy pictures of these bento boxes, it seems the Japanese really consider it an art form. Take a look:


This last one, you'll notice, is much less extravagant. This is the kind my sister hopes to make. Those white shapes on the left are onigiri. They are white rice balls covered in seaweed (nori) and most traditionally filled with pickled plums (umeboshi) or anything salty. I'm looking forward to anchovies or something. We'll figure it out soon.

So the product we're hoping to try from CSN stores is..... a rice cooker! Hopefully it'll help us make some beautiful rice while inspiring us to continue making these great lunches! I'm hoping my sister will do a guest post whenever she is ready to make these. It'll be soon, so keep an eye out!

Cast Iron Skillet Review

I'm sure you've seen CSN stores talked about all over the blog world. And while you may be sick of hearing about them, they certainly haven't stopped supplying great products at great prices with great reliability. After ordering my product, I received it no less than four days later! Much sooner than they told me. So that's really awesome!

My product choice was a cast iron skillet, pre-seasoned mind you. I didn't own a cast iron skillet before, but I've heard about their wonders. Though it was called pre-seasoned, you still need to season it? Idk, whatever. It's still very nice and authentically heavy!It's first use? A dutch baby pancake of course! It was all my mom though. They've become her special breakfast item that I occasionally help her with (and make better hehe). But we wanted to see if using a cast iron skillet really made an authentic dutch baby with puffy sides and all!

So let's compare:

A regular cake pan dutch baby:


A cast iron skillet dutch baby:


Verdict: Obviously it's visually apparent that I got way more fluff from the regular cake pan than the cast iron skillet. It also tasted much much better than the cast iron skillet version. However, in all fairness, my mom (no offense here) chose a new recipe which was horrible. So that could explain it. We will for sure be making more babies in the future;) JK that just sounds weird... We'll be making DUTCH babies again.

I won't share the recipe for the cast iron skillet dutch baby since it was so bad, but click here, and you can find my post for that delicious apple dutch baby!

CSN post

So it's no secret that I'm in love with my ice cream maker. I am so thankful for it and can't wait to continue tryin great new flavors! And I was lucky enough to win a bread maker recently, though it's taken me awhile to get it out of the package... But who can I thank for both of these amazing gifts? CSN stores! You've probably seen and heard about them all across the blog world at this point, but here goes another mention!

In addition to these lovely food related items, they sell things from a vanity to a bar stool, stuff for babies and kids, and a ton of furniture. Of course my favorites are everything they have related to food. Such as a cast iron skillet perhaps? A cast iron skillet seems like a basic everyone should have and I realize I'm lacking by not having one myself. So the lovely CSN store is willing to provide me with one! That's amazing! I hope now I can make some fabulous cornbreads and perfect dutch babies; the possibilities are endless!

Check back in soon to see how it goes when I try it out for the first time!

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream With My New Ice Cream Maker

I got my brand new ice cream maker! I was surprised how fast it was shipped to me, actually. It's just taken me a bit to getting around to using it... I'm a busy girl, ya know? Then there's the whole matter of posting about it. But I got around to it!

I definitely knew I wanted to make a vanilla ice cream because it's simple and the best way to tell if the ice cream maker's legit or not. This one was completely legit.


The Deni ice cream maker worked wonderfully. I've never used one before, obvi, but this was super easy. It says to let churn for anywhere from 5-30 mins. I think going the full 30 gets you to that ice cream state and not just soupy goodness. 'Cause trust me, even before it's actually ice cream, it tastes HEAVENLY!

I am so thankful to the CSN Stores for giving me this opportunity! I have always wanted an ice cream maker and everyone in my family is so excited!

We all thought the ice cream was superb! It is so much more cost effective as well. Not to mention no preservatives or other chemicals. And you can control what you put in it!

The recipe I used was one given in the pamphlet I received with my product. It produced great results. However, I may not return to some of the others because they use a lot of 'light', 'reduced fat', 'skim', or 'egg beater' ingredients. I'm all for the more fat or more natural the better.

I didn't skimp on the vanilla ;)

Nice and thick=)

French Vanilla Ice Cream
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup of sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups of heavy cream
2 tsp. vanilla

Method:
1. Beat eggs and milk together in a large saucepan.
2. Add sugar and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened (approx. 10 mins).
3. Mixture should coat the spoon.
4. Cool, then add cream and vanilla.
5. Mix well and refrigerate to chill thoroughly.
6. Slowly pour contents into your already spinning ice cream maker.
7. Leave running for about 30 minutes.
8. Allow to freezer in your freezer until desired hardness.

Graham cracker base, homemade vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, whipped topping. Missing: Dark chocolate brownie (I didn't get a photo of that one=/)

I Want New Stuff!

That title honestly makes me sound horrible. ButI don't really have all the latest kitchen gadgets or supplies like some people. I have older appliances and kitchen equipment, and for the most part, I'm okay with it.

However, I have been looking around to see whats out there that's new and exciting!

I've seen everything from new kitchen stools, to food processors, to kitchen carts, to new bake ware.

Yet after all these probably more practical items, all I can think about getting is an ice cream maker! After I saw this Deni Ice Cream Maker with a Candy Crusher I got really childish and thought, "gimme gimme gimme!". I've seen so many ice cream recipes out there and felt left out. But no more!


As soon as it's in my possession I will tell you all how good it's been to me=)
Already I'm imagining the ice cream possibilities I'll have with it!
Pomegranate Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream
Nutella Ice Cream
Coffee Ice Cream
Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream
Key Lime Frozen Yogurt

And ice cream sandwich possibilities will be endless! Ohhh I'm sooo excited!