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Disclosure: This site contains sponsored posts, affiliate links (which means I earn a percentage of the sale) and is part of the Amazon affiliate program, but all opinions are strictly my own.

California Kitchenware Silicone Cupcake Molds {Review}

June 16, 2014 by 3 Comments
Disclosure: This could be a sponsored post or contain affiliate links (which means I earn a percentage of the sale), but all opinions are strictly my own.

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

I love that we have reached the point in our boys’ lives where they fully grasp what birthdays are and what they mean: a party, presents, and treats!  They FLIP for the opportunity to celebrate anyone’s birthday, and will talk about it incessantly for days.  With their aunt’s birthday last weekend, good thing we had these adorable silicone cupcake molds from California Kitchenware to really make the party fun!

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I’m really into baking, and I’ve been looking for a set of baking cups like these for years and years.  Trying to get cupcakes out of a standard muffin tin intact is a pain, and the cost of paper liners can add up, so even though these require the extra effort of washing them afterwards, they much such a cute treat!  These really look like a mess, but that was all my fault.  The brownie batter I was working with just so drippy!

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Besides baking cupcakes (or brownies, in our case), these are excellent snack cups.  They’re perfect for a small serving of candy, small marshmallows, goldfish crackers, etc. and a simple rinse is all you need to keep these in rotation.  Because these are stackable, easy to store, and weigh nothing at all, they make a great alternative to storing muffin pans.  As you see above, you can place them directly on a baking pan, and they work great in a freezer or microwave as well.

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My opinion:  I love these!!  I’m a big fan of silicone, and being able to carry around these individually-sized cups and bust them out at parties is going to be so fun!  The kids think they are a special treat, and I’m going to love having these for all the upcoming birthday parties we’re going to celebrate.  I’d love to try making individual cheesecakes to bring to baby showers or something similar.  They feel sturdy and thick enough to handle continuous washings and bakings, and even though they are kind of a pain to wash, the vibrant colors are so happy and refreshing.  We’re going to get good use out of these, for sure!

This set of 12 liners is also available in all white and can be found on Amazon HERE for only $7.99.

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I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Filed Under: Dandiness, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Baker’s Mat {Review}

May 28, 2014 by 3 Comments
Disclosure: This could be a sponsored post or contain affiliate links (which means I earn a percentage of the sale), but all opinions are strictly my own.

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Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

We’re moving on Saturday to a different apartment just a few minutes away.  Its really going to be a dream-home, right by the beach, and completely remodeled, HOWEVER, after we did a walk-through and signed the lease, we got home and realized…did you see a dishwasher?  I don’t remember seeing a dishwasher!  Panic!  With all the other great things going for it, this isn’t a deal-breaker, but I’m really revving myself up for this new lifestyle change!  Haha, it could be rough!

As I’m preparing for the extra number of hours of my life that will be spent scrubbing at the sink, I’ve been reassessing everything I own that is particularly difficult to clean.  Large pots and pans are up on that list, so I’ve been thinking about using more liners and mats in the future to save myself a good scrubbing in hopes of just more rinsing.  This Baker’s Mat is going to be a life saver.

81ivRSP+GvL__SL1500_I love love love any bake-ware that comes in silicone.  Its utter indestructibility makes it worth the cost, which isn’t outlandish in the first place.  Silicone is perfect to store, especially in odd places, as light as a thin notebook, and super easy to clean.

matOk, so what do I love about this mat that makes it different than others I’ve tried?  This mat feels and looks a little thicker than others.  I’m hoping that transfers to durability and longevity.  I also love the turned corners, which really helps in maneuvering it around the pan and lifting to reposition or clean.  It works like a champ!  It does everything it claims to.  No spray needed, and these sticky monkey bread bites (that should have been a huge sticky mess) came up with a spatula like a dream.

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I plan on cooking anything and everything on this mat.  Rolls, cookies, pigs-in-a-blanket, etc.  The extra layer between the food and the pan allows for very even cooking, which is great for cookies and candies.  Because it can withstand temperatures of -40°F to 480°F, this mat is ideal for the oven, microwave, and freezer.  What an excellent way to transfer foods between locations.

Unlike some temperament Silpat mats that have to be handwashed lightly and rarely with soap, this guy can go straight into the dishwasher.  I’m so excited to avoid excessive cooking sprays and the costs of parchment in my future cooking.

A+ in my book!  You can find this mat on Amazon HERE for less than $12.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

FoodWorks Ice Pop Molds {Review}

April 19, 2014 by 8 Comments
Disclosure: This could be a sponsored post or contain affiliate links (which means I earn a percentage of the sale), but all opinions are strictly my own.

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Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

I can think of nothing else besides all the fun things we have planned for this summer.  We’re moving next month to a new apartment right by the beach (!) and I go to sleep at night thinking of all the beach parties, lazy afternoons, and snacks on the beach we’re going have.  These Ice Pop Molds from FoodWorks are going to get a LOT of use this summer!

IMG_0531Remember how I’m such a big fan of anything silicone?  I love how light the material is while still being microwaveable, oven-safe, freezable, and dishwasher-safe.  I tell you, in a few years, everything in the kitchen is going to be made out of silicone.  These do have a 100% Money Back Lifetime Guarantee, after all.

moldThese are SO easy to use.  You could go extremely basic by just pouring juice inside.  We froze apple juice, and the kids thought they were the tastiest things every created.  You don’t have to stick to juice–you could fill these with all sorts of creations.  Purees, fruit, berries, yogurt, sherbet, ice cream, etc.  You don’t even have to freeze them.  They work great as cute little holders, as in you could fill them with candy or treats to take out.  I think these would be great for parties!

IMG_0545Regular plastic popsicle wrappers usually irritating my mouth with their roughly cut edges, and they can be terribly drippy.  These flexible molds are so smooth around the rim, and they do a great job at holding up their shape in little toddler hands.  Its also nice to know these are BPA-safe, and that there is a lid to save any leftovers!  Just toss it back in the freezer and enjoy the rest later.

IMG_0549Obviously, these were a hit.  “Popsicle” is the new favorite word around here.

You can find these FoodWorks (Set of Six) Silicone Ice Pop Molds on Amazon HERE for $10.95!

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I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Epica Classical Ice Spheres {Review}

August 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Disclosure: This could be a sponsored post or contain affiliate links (which means I earn a percentage of the sale), but all opinions are strictly my own.

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Have you enjoyed the incredibly cool weather this summer, and taken advantage of the temperatures by throwing lots of parties?!  I’ve been honored to review several of Epica’s products, and they all seem to be fabulous for entertaining and quickly become a topic for conversation when we have guests over!  The Extra-Large Ice Ball Silicone Double Mold has proved to be exactly that, while also being a fun toy for my kids!

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These are an alternative to the traditional ice cube tray.  These work the same way, as in they are effective in cooling down your drink, but because these spheres have less surface area than the cube, they are slower to melt.  Slower melting ice means less watering-down, which means tastier beverages longer.

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Plus they look so fancy!  The instructions are simple and completely intuitive.  Just put the two pieces together, pour water through the hole at the top, freeze for 5-7 hours, and open the ball.  Make sure the seal is tight.  One of mine leaked a little as I was finding a space for it in the freezer, but I don’t think I had ensured a tight seal.

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When we first pulled these out, I thought how fun these would be when we have guests over, but also, how fun it would be to hide toys and objects inside to make little activity balls for my boys!  I dropped a few surprises into the water before putting them in the freezer, and they created fun little activity toys.

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I let my boys play with them in the bathtub and they were a hit!  They melted fairly quickly, but it was pretty warm bath water.  I’m sure in a lukewarm glass, they would not melt so fast.

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The frozen balls were easy to release, especially because these are not made of plastic.  The flexible silicone makes it easy to pop out the balls, and still makes them dishwasher safe.  The directions don’t indicate being able to use these in the oven, but I wonder how they could handle baking, since silicone really is the wonder material that can do practically anything.

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So fun!

You can purchase your own set of extra-large ice ball silicone double molds on AMAZON.

*The product(s) in this review was provided to me free of cost for the purpose of conducting this review.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own are not influenced by monetary compensation. 

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

HIC Brands that Cook {Giveaway} – CLOSED

April 29, 2013 by
Disclosure: This could be a sponsored post or contain affiliate links (which means I earn a percentage of the sale), but all opinions are strictly my own.

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Every time we have company over from out of town, which ends up being much more often than I imagined, I make our guests a Boston Cream Pie.  Its so nice having a go-to dessert, and I’ve been intent on making it better every time.  Ladies and gentlemen, after two and a half years of Boston Cream Pies, this was my best one yet!  I had family in town to run the Boston Marathon (and yes, they were all ok, just having crossed the finish line four minutes before the explosions), and I was more than happy to make their visit complete with one of my pies.
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I owe all of my success to my new baking supplies from HIC Brands That Cook.  I was sent a Mrs. Anderson’s Cake Cutter, a Mrs. Anderson’s 8″ Springform Pan, and The World’s Greatest Stretch n’ Twist Silicone Bag Ties!
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These tools make cake making a breeze, and whole lot more fun.  Just call me silicone’s greatest fan, again, because these silicone bag ties are great.  Now I don’t have to save all the twisties from empty bread bags since these are reusable.  They are sure strong, and the friendly face on the end makes my ingredient bags happy :)  These would also be great to use on cords or bundles of odds and ends.  The seal is rather tight, but easy to undo.
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First I got to work on the yellow.  Baking in a springform pan is great–you don’t have to worry about how you’re going to dump out your hard work in a single piece with out sticking.  After the cake bakes, just unlatch the spring on the side, and the cake stays put on the center round while you lift off the sides.  As far as springform pans go, this one is top-notch.  The parts glide together and apart, it has a tight seal, and it is smooth and durable.
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After the cake cooled and I let it sit in the freezer for a while to stiffen up, I pulled out this cake cutter.  I worked for a summer as a cake decorator, and to make filled cakes, we had to first saw them in half, and mine never turned out quite even, as in the filling would end up higher on one side of the cake and lower on the other.  I still can’t slice a cake down the middle, even after that whole summer of practicing.  This cake cutter is heaven sent.  The wires are intensely strong, and adjustable so that you can move where you’d like your filling, and with two wires, you could make two slices and have a 5 layer cake.  Its a piece of cake, haha.
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After I spread the filling, I put the springform rim back on and set the whole ensemble in the freezer.  Having the sides back on was so helpful so that the filling wouldn’t smoosh out while it settled.  Once the cake was slightly frozen and I didn’t worry about it falling anymore, off came the springform rim, and I served the cake directly on the base.  This set-up was great!  For every future Boston Cream Pie, I will do exactly this!
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You too can make a cake to impress!  I am always pleased with HIC’s products, and I’m sure you will be too!

One lucky winner will receive these same baking supplies!  One cake cutter, a springform pan, and a package of twisty ties!

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Because I was sent the winner’s prize items along with my review items, the winner will be responsible for paying shipping from me to you, via paypal invoice.  This also means that this giveaway is open to WORLDWIDE entries!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*The winner will be responsible for paying shipping from me to you, via paypal invoice.  *This giveaway is open to WORLDWIDE entries.  *The winner of this giveaway will be drawn no later than the evening of May 9th and will be emailed.  If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new winner will be drawn. *This posting and giveaway were sponsored by HIC, but all opinions are strictly my own

Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Silpat® Entremet by HIC Brands that Cook {Review}

February 15, 2013 by 8 Comments
Disclosure: This could be a sponsored post or contain affiliate links (which means I earn a percentage of the sale), but all opinions are strictly my own.

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I’m sure you’ve caught on to my love of silicone bakeware by now.  I’m pretty much a silicone salesman whenever guests are over and they comment on my collection.  There are just so many good things to say about it!  One piece of silicone bakeware I hadn’t yet tried was this Silpat® Entremet by HIC Brands that Cook, so of course, I jumped at the chance when HIC asked if I would review one.  First of all, an entremet is a French special cake, either sweet or savory, but you could cook all sorts of delicate treats in this.  Basically it is a silicone baking sheet reinforced with a special fiberglass mesh that allows for an even transfer of heat and even cooking throughout the dish.

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Silicone is naturally nonstick, so specialty items like ganache and jellies are easily removed.  I would next like to try drizzling baking chocolate in intricate designs onto the sheet.  I’m sure I could cool them on the pan and preserving the beautiful presentation after lifting out of a flexible nonstick baking sheet like this.

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The pan measures 10″ x 13 3/4″ x 1″ to fit inside an 13″ x 18″ cookie sheet, since placing it on a hard surface is recommended to transfer best in and out of the oven.  The Silpat® Entremet is microwave, oven and freezer safe, so you could even bake in the microwave on this!  I bet it would do a great job!

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I tried a favorite pumpkin roll recipe of mine, knowing that after cooking the pumpkin in a sheet pan, it would need to be rolled.  The Silpat® Entremet was perfect for the job.  I could flip over the cake and peel off the pan like wax paper.

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I made my recipe with fresh pumpkin that I pureed in October and had frozen for a few months, so it has a much lighter orange color than canned pumpkin.  And don’t tell the kids, but those are actually carrots and zucchini bits instead of funfetti sprinkles, haha!  I am not ashamed of smuggling a few veggies in where I can!  After it cooled, I filled the roll with a cream cheese filling, and it can be sliced like bread.  Oh mercy, I love this stuff!

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This pan would be great for layered baking, where you bake one hard layer at a time and remove from the pan in an entire piece to place on top of another.  When you’re done, you just rinse off the pan.  No scraping or dishwashing, but the nonstick surface doesn’t hold on to a lot of residue anyways.  I’m excited to try more recipes with this shiny guy!  See what else is new at Harold Import Co. and try your hand at some new recipes using your own Entremet, then come back and share with me your recipes!

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*This posting was sponsored by HIC Brands that Cook, but all opinions are strictly my own.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Glove By HIC Brands That Cook® {Review}

December 10, 2012 by 1 Comment
Disclosure: This could be a sponsored post or contain affiliate links (which means I earn a percentage of the sale), but all opinions are strictly my own.

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I was recently asked for ideas of what I’d like for Christmas, and silicone bakeware was practically the only thing I could think of!  I love everything about silicone kitchenware lately!  I love that it is lightweight, flexible, doesn’t rust, doesn’t morph, doesn’t stain, etc. etc. etc.

Imagine my delight when HIC Brands That Cook® asked if I would review a Fits Like A Glove Silicone Glove.  Perfect timing for all the holiday baking going on right now!

This Glove is obviously made of silicone so its completely flexible.  It is hygienic, durable, and heat resistant.  I can see myself using this same glove in twenty years.

My favorite features:

  • It can handle anything up to 500 degrees.  I sat here holding this pizza pan for more than a minute trying to get the settings right on my camera, and my hand felt as warm as it would being held out above a toaster.   In a regular mitt, I would surely have felt a burn by that point.
  • I love that if I thumb the casserole, I can run the glove under the sink and have it clean and dry instantly.  I could even throw it in the dishwasher if I wanted.  I don’t have to worry about scraping food off and waiting for wash day to get it back.
  • I love that it takes up practically zero space.  I have a drawer full of crusty oven mitts.  So full its hard to shut all the way.  I don’t at all like collecting oven mitts, I think I’ve just looking for the right one, and until now have been afraid to throw them out.

Welcome to my kitchen, Glove.  See ya later drawer of crusty quilted fabric mitts.  You are so last year.

You can buy yourself one on Amazon HERE for $12.99!

*This post was sponsored by HIC Brands That Cook®, but all opinions are strictly my own.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Entertaining Edibles by Tops Malibu {Review}

November 21, 2012 by 2 Comments
Disclosure: This could be a sponsored post or contain affiliate links (which means I earn a percentage of the sale), but all opinions are strictly my own.

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“Charlie” and I are celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary today!  FOUR YEARS!!  I could honestly tell my newly betrothed self that I made an excellent choice in a companion.  We decided no gifts this year because we’re saving up to do something cool for our 5th anniversary, but I reeeeally wanted to at least make us a dessert to share on our day.  What to do, what to do…Tops Malibu came to my rescue with these adorable Entertaining Edibles!

Besides brownie letters pressed into a cheesecake, is your mind not spinning with dozens of ideas of things you could do with these?!   Think about jello molds, or colored ice letters in glass pitchers!  You could celebrate almost any fun occasion with some of these letters!  The best thing about these molds is that they are oven, microwave, dishwasher, and freezer safe.   They can pretty much handle anything you want to do with them.  “Little Brother” even had a ball chewing on them while me and the big kid made CRAYONS!  Check this out:

And because the molds are made out of silicone, I could melt them in the microwave, then send them straight to the freezer, and we had new crayons is less than 5 minutes!  Are you sold yet?

You can find these Entertaining Edibles at Tops Malibu for $12.00!!!

*This posting was sponsored by Tops Malibu, but all opinions are strictly my own.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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