Pampered Chef's New Cookie Press

The attendees at last week's Pampered Chef event were given a cookie press to take home and try out. Always up for an excuse to bake cookies, I put it to the test the day after I received it. Watch as my son demonstrates the press.

I followed the Pampered Chef's spritz cookie recipe, but I think my butter was not softened enough and as a result I mixed the batter more than I should have. This resulted in a dough that was a bit stickier than we used at the Pampered Chef demo, and as you can see, there is a bit of a learning curve.

Everyone who ate one of the cookies raved about the taste. They were delicious.

My Afternoon at Pampered Chef

I spent yesterday afternoon with a wonderful group of bloggers at The Pampered Chef's headquarters in Addison, Illinois. It was like going to a Pampered Chef party, or cooking show as they call them, only I didn't need to open my wallet. This was not a recruitment event; they focused on the products, the company, and the food and it was all very interesting.

We met with various representatives of the company and learned about the recipe development process, all while sipping a delicious cranberry fizz and nibbling delectable butter cookies.

Pampered Chef's recipe developers love their jobs. Truly, they get to follow their passions and foodie dreams with the added bonus of keeping typical office hours, something that's nearly impossible to do in many restaurant and hospitality jobs.

Office hours aside, even the developers are PC consultants and are required to host cooking shows a few times a year. This keeps them in touch with their network of consultants and makes them more aware of what they are asking those consultants to do when they host shows.

The Pampered Chef folks are especially proud of their redesigned cookie press, which (and this jazzes me perhaps more than it should) is also a potato ricer. It can also be used make crackers, too, which is something I'm excited to try. (Sounds very gourmet, no?)

In addition to the aforementioned cookies, as you will see in the photos below, we made and devoured honey-apple brie bites (yum!) and turkey tetrazzini (not quite my thing).

Our gracious hosts allowed us to create a wish list of Pampered Chef products we'd like to try. Though, indeed, I can look longingly through the PC catalog, we're in such a state of paring down that I only requested a few simple ones that I know will I will use like bamboo salad tongs and as cheese grater that I think the boys will like to use.

They gave us a few goodies for the road, as well--including said cookie press. I already have a cookie date night set with my boys.

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The Conscious Cook by Tal Ronnen

Though a dedicated carnivore, I was tempted by the offer of a review copy of The Conscious Cook: Delicious Meatless recipes that will change the way you eat.

According the book jacket, cookbook author Tal Ronnen is among the most celebrated vegan chefs around. A glimpse at his full-color cookbook confirms why. Ronnen is renown for applying traditional French culinary techniques to vegan food and this book shows the results. His original recipes for hearty corn chowder (thickened with cashew cream), a satisfying salad (with tofu ricotta), Gardein "chicken" scaloppini, are all pictured in tempting glory.

The book contains a primer of the vegan lifestyle and includes commentary from guest chefs like Chad Sarno, as well as seasonal menus and a listing of Ronnen's favorite vegan restaurants.

I have no doubt if Chef Tal were to cook nearly any of these meals for me, he'd have a good chance of turning me on to a vegan lifestyle. As for getting it on myself, well, I'm not quite ready. Many of the recipes called for ingredients we didn't have on hand like nutritional yeast flakes, the aforementioned cashew cream, or seitan. We could easily pick these on a trip to Whole Foods, but we're lazy like that sometimes.

Ultimately, this book is little more than vegan food porn for me. I'm going to pass it along to a vegetarian or vegan-curious friend who will surely be intrigued by the stunning photos, the gourmet recipes and the encouraging words related to a vegan lifestyle.

Ninja Master Blender and Starbucks VIA: A Video Review and Giveaway

When I received samples of Starbucks VIA and my Ninja Master Blender (turn down your sound before click) for review in the same week, I was inspired to try them out together in one tasty review.

Watch as I mix up a fancypants homemade coffee drink in my Ninja.


I enjoyed my iced mocha-like drink and the Ninja cleanup was simple.

I'm not one for drinking coffee straight, that is without a bit of mocha and topped with whipped cream, but I brought a few samples of VIA home from BlogHer09 courtesy of SoCal Vacation Gal Jennifer Miner, anyway. I gave them to my mom and she's now a huge fan of it. Gosh, I feel kind of like a drug dealer. The woman is now hooked.

Don't tell mom, but now I've got a few extra VIA samples to share with you along with a coupon for a can of Reddi-Wip whipped cream, so you can make your own fru-fru coffee drink.

US residents only, leave a comment by Sunday, October 12 at 1:00 PM CST . For extra entries, tweet or blog about the contest and come back to let me know in a new comment. Winner will be chosen at random.

Edited to add: After making the coffee drinks, my crew couldn't wait to try making other items with the Ninja Blender, so we followed up with guacamole and deliciously smooth mashed potatoes. The blender is a hit and I can tell we're going to be putting it to the test over the coming weeks.

Kids Eat Free at Boston Market

Just in time for my trip to New York City, Boston Market is offering a kids meal deal. This is a great one, because it only requires the purchase of one adult meal ($6 minimum) to receive two children's meals. DH is set for my first night out of town.

According to their website kids meals are for those 10 and under. A meal with a drumstick, roasted turkey or meatloaf comes with milk or a soft drink, a kid's size side and cornbread would normally set you back over $4, so this sounds like a great deal.

Children must be present to claim their meals. This budget-friendly special runs through October 31. See full details on Boston Market's Kids Eat Free promo

Hat tip to Jessica Smith.

Edited to add: This offer is good for children up to age 14 see the link in the comments. Whew, my oldest son is 11.

Taste This! A Cookbook Review

What happens when you begin posting again on a blog you've ignored for a wee bit? Oh, you realize that you have more than a few dusty draft posts, sitting and waiting for review and the glory of being published.

Take Gina Von Esmarch's cookbook, Taste This! I received a copy in...let's just say it was in 2009.

This book is full of simple recipes. In fact, they're so simple, it makes me wonder why I don't cook a fresh meal every night* of the week.

I made the White Bean Casserole. Because it will be months before we can harvest tomatoes from our garden, I used canned ones. (*Cough* I warned you this post was a bit dusty.) A can of tomatoes, a few white beans and spices was all it called for.

I admit I was skeptical. How can it possibly be that easy to cook a decent meal? But within minutes my family had a delicious casserole which, served alongside a loaf of crusty bread, made an easy, healthy and filling meal. It was like magic!

My friends Ana at Bonggamom and Ilina at Dirt and Noise tried out other Taste This! recipes with equally delicious results. Go read and see for yourself.

*Oh yeah, because I'm disorganized and have a wicked Twitter addiction. Speaking of which, follow Taste This! author @ginavon.

Pirate Booty: My Boys are Hooked

I planned to share a treasure chest full of Pirate Booty products that the company sent me with a group of tween boys. As I imagined it, we'd do a an organized, if not sophisticated, tasting, working our way through the product line.

What was I thinking? They snarfed up the snacks right away; they practically inhaled one bag as I turned my back to open the next. I was tempted to serve up a bowl of packing peanuts topped with garlic salt just to make sure they were paying attention.

I managed to take a few quick notes during this process, though.

Veggie Booty was an old hit in our house. It was a favorite snack when my boys were toddlers during the early days of this millennium. It turns out the product isn't quite as healthy as it claimed to be back in the day, but labeling adjustments have been made. Because I had a bit of proverbial egg on my face for having been a vocal word-of-mouth promoter of the unbelievably healthy snack I wasn't a paid advocate-after all this was in the days before momblogs- but all my friends served Booty to their kids; I had talked it up as an amazing way to get some veggies and fiber into their little bodies.

Sooo, I guess I'm more unresolved about that then I realized.

Anyway, after the salmonella scare had cleared (in early 2007) we returned to the brand because damn it, my kids love the stuff.

I thought we'd sampled all of their product line- puffy rice snacks and crunchy corn creations- until I received the pack.

Sea salt and vinegar? ("Delicious, but a bit sour, but not as strong as most chips. Goes well with the puffiness," according to my boys.)

Barbeque? ("So good! Yum!")

Onion? ("So good! Tastes like onion rings, but smells like blah.")

Who knew about all these newfangled flavors?

The Tings are crispy, like a certain "rhymes with feetos" snack, but come without the seemingly toxic bright orange gunk. In fact they are just naked, crispy goodness. Tings are way better than "feetos" to serve to a basement full of videogaming boys. And by better, I mean less damaging to the house and Wii remotes.

That said, I take issue with the "nutritious" on the front of the bag. To me nutritious suggests a food loaded with vitamins and fiber (think, a tangerine). I mean, you could do worse than Tings or Booty puffs for a snack and I like my boys to enjoy a "chippy" starch in their lunches or as part of an after school snack, so I do buy these for my family, but let's not pretend they're nutritious.

Overall, the new flavors were a hit with the kids. With a little more truth in labelling (especially considering their--our-- history), they'll be a hit with mom, too.

Oh, and based on experience, the Booty products go stale quickly; you'll want to finish the bag within a day or two---fortunately this is rarely a problem in our house. If you're serving them at a party it's best to wait until the last minute to empty them into a serving bowl.

Photo: the Pirate Booty folks send me samples in an adorable treasure chest. Pressed for a last-minute birthday gift for a boy, I hacked the chest into a birthday present by tossing in a bunch of coins and bandanna. Argh, matey; it was a hit.

Kim Moldofsky who muses on parenting gifted children and life at Hormone-colored Days and writes about marketing to mom bloggers at Positive Impact, Inc.