Red Velvet Momma Loves, Loves, Loves Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa

*** I'll be posting some of my favourite things on my blog.  I haven't received compensation or incentive to review any products.  Some of these goodies are found in the USA, so for my Canadian friends - you'll have to hunt these down!  Some products are uniquely Canadian. ***

After having read about this product on-line, I knew I had to try it. Now it's the only baking cocoa I will use. It has a deep chocolate flavour and darker colour intensity. I've used it for cakes, hot chocolate, frosting, cream cheese dark chocolate frosting (!), and for ice cream. I really wish that it was sold in Canada. But until they do, I'll be buying multiple packages on my cross-border shopping treks.

My Walt Disney World Resort Dining Reviews.

I've used the internet for all my Walt Disney World Resort planning. Back in 2007, when we were planning our very first vacation, I found an overwhelming amount of information on the web. The Walt Disney World Resort website was a good beginning, but back then there wasn't much information about dining. There was information on the Disney Dining Plan but not the individual restaurant's menus. That's when I found The DisBoards and the wealth of information on the discussion boards.

I've been posting my Disney Dining Reviews over there. You can check them out here and here. Stop by and have a read! I'd love to hear any reviews you might have also.

Since then Disney has begun updating the official website with the actual menus and the ability to make reservations on-line. It's a great way to research and time-saver when making reservations.

Melted, Roasted and Cooked at Walt Disney World (and that's not just the food!)

We decided to take a trip to the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida for a Star Wars Weekend and beyond. Here is my story:

(Giggle *snort* - that sounded really dorky!)

We love going to WDW (this is what I'll be using instead of typing the entire name out, is that okay?) We've only been going since 2007, neither Fred nor I had ever visited as kids, but we always enjoy it. We've had favourite moments on all our trips, and we're always planning our next trip. Even while we're still there!

More Disney Magic, after the jump:

Did you think I had been abducted by Aliens?

Whoops! I have haven't posted in a while. I'm shocked at how long it's been. There are many reasons for my absence, a three week vacation, homeschooling, summer and just plain laziness. I have so much to share with you, our vacation at The Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, and later on our week in Montreal. I've been making ice-cream big time, there was a sale on 1/2 & 1/2 and the expiry dates had a huge factor in when I made the ice cream. I'll be posting the recipes later, though there are no photos. I also have a 10-day dining review for our Disney World trip. See you soon.

We're going to the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida!

It's time for a vacation.  Fred has been working ridonculous hours, and we've been saving up!  Of course there are many places we could go to, but we all agreed that it would be the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida!  (Just for ease of use, from now on I'm going to refer to it as WDW, okay?)

Originally we had planned on going to California this summer, from San Diego to San Francisco and everything in between.  But with Cars-Land opening at the Disneyland Resort in 2012, we decided to postpone that trip.

The last time we travelled to WDW was in December 2008.  It was time we went again.  This time though, we're going to make the drive home part of the adventure.  Wait a minute!  Did you say DRIVE?  Yes, yes I did.  We drive to Florida from Toronto.  It's all part of the adventure.  This time though, instead of driving straight through to go home we're planning on making two stops.  One at Patriot’s Point near Charleston, SC and one on Delaware Bay, somewhere.

Patriot's Point is an aircraft carrier/museum that Fred and I have wanted to visit for while now.  On our way home from Myrtle Beach, SC (a pre-kids trip) we visited Battleship North Carolina and we really enjoyed it.  (This was also the first time I saw a Piggly-Wiggly Store & an Alligator living in the wild).  We thought this is sorta-kinda on the way home, so why not?  Since we're homeschooling now, it seems like a fun field-trip.

The big deal for us though is going to Delaware Bay to help with the census/survey of Horseshoe Crabs.  We watched "Nature" on PBS a while ago and the kids were mesmerized. You can watch the full episode here.  I think I've found the best place to see and help with the horseshoe crabs, and now have to plan our stay.  We're all really excited, and I think it will ease our transition from WDW to home.  I think this is going to be a highlight for the kids too.  We've read so much about the Horseshoe Crabs, and to make it a "real" activity is going to complete one of our homeschool tasks for this year.

Now, where to stay?  I guess I'll be checking out TripAdvisor tonight, while Fred's at work and try to find a great hotel, that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.  I love planning vacations - wish I could do it more often.

Homeschooling. The Beginning.

I've been homeschooling the kids for the last month or so.  One day I'll go into detail about the reasons, but for now I'll say that we're very unhappy with our local school, the administration and many of the children that attend the school.  The administration also refused our request for a transfer to another school.  We can't afford a private school, and I'm not sure that's a solution we would like anyway.

So, we're homeschooling.  It's a decision we didn't take lightly.  This means that I won't be able to work outside the home, and with Fred's travel/work schedule this means very little, if any “me” time. 

I truly think we've make the best decision.  The Padawan is enjoying what we're doing, even if I have to remind him that we're homeSCHOOLING, not just playing video games and building with Lego.  The Princess really liked school, so I have to try a little harder to make it interesting for her.  She also likes that we can do whatever we want to, or not do each day.

I've been browsing many homeschooling websites, and took the advice of many sites to not buy too many things all at once.  I have quite a collection of small workbooks that we've used before, and took advantage of a few websites printable worksheets; but we finally went to an educational store and bought math workbooks and English workbooks comprised of Canadian curriculum.  We've also used the Library and internet for many resources. 

The kids have chosen topics they would like to learn more about.  They've also decided that planting a garden (flowers in the front and veggies in the back) would be a great idea.  We're also going to buy a membership to the Science Centre and use that often.  We’re also going to the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida in May and plan to include a stop at Delaware Bay on the way back to participate in the Horseshoe crab census/survey, this is something that the kids have wanted to do for a while.  We watched a documentary about the relationship between Horseshoe Crabs and Red Knots (birds) that has stuck in their minds for over a year.  Fred and I are pretty excited about this too!

But getting going in the morning is a challenge.  I have to focus on getting our school-work done in the morning, first thing.  The kids are most productive then, and there's less arguing about what needs to be accomplished.  It seems like we've had so many distractions lately getting in the way.  We took an impromptu trip to Montreal, while Fred was working there.  (We did learn quite a bit, stuff we wouldn't have been able to do if we had been stuck at home)  The weather hasn't been cooperating either.  I was hoping for a few days of snowy perfect weather, to use for animal tracking.  But lately it's been miserable and raining.  We go outside when we can, but I can't wait for Spring. 

Most days I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing!  But the kids are happy, they're learning and we're taking this one day at a time. 
 

Red Velvet Momma Loves, Loves, Loves Quebec Maple Syrup

*** I'll be posting some of my favourite things on my blog.  I haven't received compensation or incentive to review any products.  Some of these goodies are found in the USA, so for my Canadian friends - you'll have to hunt these down!  Some products are uniquely Canadian. ***

It's that time of year again!  Spring!  (Well, almost) Here in Eastern Canada that means Maple Syrup.  Cabane à Sucre.  Sugaring Off.  Sugar Shack.  Whatever you want to call it, it means lots of scrumptious, sweet, Maple Syrup.

I love a great day at a Cabane à Sucre in Quebec.  Where you eat until you have to undo your pants and everything is covered or baked with Maple Syrup.  We're lucky here; the beginning of Spring not only means mud, the smell of dog poop and crocus buds.  But sugary confections baked with Maple Syrup.  I prefer the "real" stuff.  Not "sirop de poteau" (fake syrup - telephone pole syrup!)  

As soon as I see displays of these glorious cans I stock up!  I only buy Quebec Maple Syrup.  The Ontario stuff just doesn't taste the same to me, and yes Vermont has some great Maple Syrup - but it too pales in comparison to sirop d'érable.

 

So go ahead, make some maple baked goods, pour it on your pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage.  Dip your finger in the liquid gold or pour a little in a shot-glass and enjoy!  Spring only happens once a year . . . 

Gingerbread Cheesecake = meh.

I've never baked a cheesecake before.  I've eaten many kinds of cheesecake.  I love cheesecake - as long it's not covered in sickenly over-sweetened strawberry goo.  I thought I'd try this recipe I saw in Kraft Canada's What's Cooking Magazine.  Gingerbread cheesecake recipe at kraftcanada.com   I thought it would be a great idea, Christmas themed, and since my son doesn't like cheesecake that tastes like cheese (!) would be a good non-cheesey option.

The verdict and the tutorial after the jump . . .

Shortbread Cookies or Bring on the Butter (Part Deux)

As I mentioned in my previous shortbread cookie post; I was thinking of tweaking the recipe to add more flava-flav, more zing, more oomph! I went a little nuts and used vanilla bean paste. I know what you're thinking; whoa, she's nuts, she's gone off the deep end! Well I did and it was delicious. I also doubled the recipe:

1 cup cornstarch
1 cup icing sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
4 squares Baker's chocolate (dark)

Wait?! What did that say? Chocolate? What is that for? Umm, for dipping the butter filled cookie goodness in of course!

I've never baked with vanilla bean paste and I can't believe the difference it makes. It adds the vanilla bean speckles that everyone loves so much, and intense vanilla flavour without diluting the dough. It smells wonderful also.

The result was a much better tasting shortbread in my opinion. I really wasn't happy with the previous recipe, it was definitely lacking in flavour. Then I really went nuts and melted the chocolate in a double-boiler and dipped half of each cookie and let it cool. Next time I will dip the entire batch. It was that good. I might even try to find a better quality baking chocolate (cross border shopping anyone?!) I think it would be much better with a richer, more high quality chocolate taste.

(Did I take any photos?  Maybe, but the camera is with Fred in Texas at a gig, so I'll post pics if there are any . . .)

Red Velvet Momma Loves, Loves, Loves Luzianne Iced Tea Bags

*** I'll be posting some of my favourite things on my blog.  I haven't received compensation or incentive to review any products.  Some of these goodies are found in the USA, so for my Canadian friends - you'll have to hunt these down!  Some products are uniquely Canadian. ***

I love sweet tea.  From south of the Mason-Dixon line.  I live north of the Mason-Dixon line.  I live north of the border.  You can't get sweet tea here.  You can have hot tea, almost too many varieties really.  Tea Lattes, green tea, white tea, tea in ginger ale; is it really too much to ask for a decent iced sweet tea?

When we travel south I can't wait for even a McDonald's sweet tea.  I'm that starved for the yummy sweet caffeine slurp from a straw!  So I looked for "recipes" for sweet tea and found out about Luzianne.  It's from Louisiana, hence the name, and it's made for iced tea.  I lucked out when I found it at the SuperTarget at Mall of Millenia in Orlando.  And it was on sale!  I bought six boxes, and now whenever Fred travels south for work or we head down to Walt Disney World, I stock up.  And I make it almost all the time.

Yum.  Going to brew a pitcher now.

Ugh, I really want to blog - but I can't find my Mojo . . .

I'm having a really hard time finding my mojo.  I want to blog my little heart out, and I've started a bunch of new entries but I've yet to complete them or post anything in ages.

Christmas has come and gone, I baked/cooked/slow-cooked/ordered-in until my fingers ached, yet I can't seem to find anything to say.  So I'll start with baby steps and post a couple of little things while I sit here and catch up on my PVR'd episodes of Coronation Street (from now on I'll refer to this as "Corrie" or "The Street").  Corrie has been my guilty pleasure since high school.  I'm still baffled as to why the CBC broadcasts episodes 9 months behind the current UK episodes.  I find this most irritating.

So here we go!  New post to follow - thanks for sticking with me.

Red Velvet Momma Loves, Loves, Loves Red Velvet Cake Mix

*** I'll be posting some of my favourite things on my blog.  I haven't received compensation or incentive to review any products.  Some of these goodies are found in the USA, so for my Canadian friends - you'll have to hunt these down!  Some products are uniquely Canadian. ***


It's only appropriate for Red Velvet Momma's first loves, loves, loves post to be Duncan Hines Red Velvet Cake Mix!

Sometimes you have a Red Velvet emergency, or a hankering; and you need some tasty cupcakes FAST.  I know these things happen to me.  You can't buy this in Canada, so when we head to the States, I stock up.

I don't use cake mixes very often, my chocolate cake recipe is scrumptious, if I do say so myself.  But I do use this one.  I don't use canned frosting, I always have cream cheese in the fridge, and icing sugar kicking around; so it's easy to whip up some icing (frosting?  I'm not sure which name I like better). 

There will be a tutorial soon, my birthday's coming up, and I want these for my dessert!

Shortbread Cookies or Bring on the Butter (Part 1)

Confession.  I don't think I've ever baked shortbread on my own before.  The recipe is crazy easy.  The result is a rich, buttery cookie that makes me think of Christmas.  I used a recipe found on the side of the cornstarch box. 

I'm going to look around for another recipe, or tweak this one.  While we found the cookies good, both of my kids thought it could use a little something.  The Princess said cinnamon, the Padawan said vanilla.  So there will be a Part deux to this post in the next couple of weeks)

Here we gooooo!

The Disney Social Media Moms Celebration Debacle, in 700 words or less.

I've been thinking about blogging for a couple of years now.  But I never thought anyone would want to read what I had to say.  Then I remembered that some people like to listen what I have to say - why should blogging be any different?  Plus blogging means testing my spelling and punctuation skills.  This leads me to thinking about blogging conferences, get-togethers and mommy-blogging.

I was beginning to think that being a mom-blogger wasn't exciting or meaningful - but when I looked at the blogs I was reading, or using Google to research something that ultimately led to a mom-blog I realized that we're out there, we have something to say and we're intelligent.  But I needed a push to start blogging.  I had bought a new KitchenAid mixer this summer (and started using it right away, even though it's meant to be a birthday gift - and my birthday's in December) I knew that I would have to include cooking & baking in my blog.  Then I was laid-off from a part-time job I had started, after not working for almost nine years.  And then I heard about the Disney's Social Media Moms Celebration (Conference) coming up in March.  I wanted to go, but from what I understood, you need to be a blogger/tweeter/facebooker.  I wanted to learn how to do this:  be part of the social media.  I also thought it would be a learning experience for seasoned as well as newbie bloggers. 

It was the jump-start I needed.  I started blogging.  I have been on Facebook for years now, but that's a personal account, just for friends and family.  And also some fabulous DisBoutiquers that started me sewing and crafting again!  I've had fun on Facebook and had been thinking about Twitter for quite some time too.  So I waited for the registration date and time for the Social Media Moms Celebration to open.  The dates for the conference were good for my family, and I loved that I could bring the family with me, and even spend some time with them.  We don't have the desire to travel without our kids, so this was perfect.  I set my calendar reminders, set the alarm on my phone, and waited.

And waited and waited and waited.  The time for registration (it was advertised as "First Come, first served") arrived and it was nearly impossible to complete.  The server was overloading, and the page kept refreshing and refreshing.  Tweets from far and wide were describing the "orange spinning circle of death".  I had faith, trust and (hopefully) pixie dust on my side.  Right?  I didn't think it would take almost two hours to "register".  I had to put that in quotes, because it was really an application process.  With no explanations or qualifications listed.  I was sent an e-mail stating that I would receive e-mail notification of acceptance (or not) shortly.  I then waited some more.  A day later, I received notice that I wasn't accepted.  I was confused.  I thought it was a given that if you were able to register, you were in.  I guessed they were going to review and make certain that you were a real person before sending confirmation, but that wasn't the case.  I'm disappointed that I'm not able to go, I would have loved the experience to go and craft my blogging skills.  Maybe even get some inspiration and some new followers.  Find lots of new blogs to follow too. 

I will apply again next year, just as I will once again apply for the DisneyWorld Moms Panel.  At least with the Moms Panel I know it's an application process.  Hopefully next year's Disney Social Media Moms Celebration will have some glitches ironed out, and a more open application process.  I look forward to reading all the blogging about the conference.  I congratulate all the bloggers who were accepted to attend.  I hope you have a great time!  Please have a Mickey ice-cream for me 'kay?  ºOº

Christmas displays of Hershey's kisses are so tempting!

I needed to pick up a few things today and I entered the store there was a massive display of Christmas chocolate and candy.  I couldn't help myself; I had to take a peek.  There are so many varieties, but I kind of envy my friends in the USA, there are even more there!  There was the white chocolate candy cane, mint truffle, but I couldn't find the cherry filled.  But I resisted, and didn't buy any.  Not yet anyway.

I needed some supplies for the Christmas gifts I'm making the kids' teachers.  But I forgot the cream of tartar for the Snickerdoodles, so the next tutorial will be about something else, until next week when I can bake the Snickerdoodles.  Snickerdoodles.  Can't say Snickerdoodles enough today.

So I'll put the kids to bed, and hope that Grey's Anatomy isn't a repeat tonight.  I could use some mindless fluff tonight.  Watch for a new tutorial soon . . .

Mincemeat Tarts, the Red Velvet Momma Way.

Christmas baking, smells of gingerbread, sugar cookies and shortbread fill the air.  It's a magical time.  You can justify having pie for breakfast because it contains fruit.  And the pinnacle of pies (according to all males over the age of majority living in my household) is the mincemeat tart.

Mincemeat here in Canada usually contains raisins, currants, citrus rind, and spices . . .

Shepherd's Pie - to Peas or not to Peas, that is the Question . . .

Shepherd's Pie.  It's comfort food.  It's called pâté chinois in French (loosely translated to Chinese Pie).  Very popular with French Canadians.  Some people eat it with ketchup oozed all over, I don't agree.  I do like it with pickled beets though.  It's so easy a frat-boy could (and should) make it.

But the big question is:  peas in the mix or not?  I prefer corn, and creamed corn at that.  Canned creamed corn is gross on its own, and I only ever use it in Shepherd's Pie.  But peas just don't make the cut for me.  I think they look to green, too out of place.

So here it is, the great Shepherd's Pie tutorial.  Minus the peas.  After the jump.

More posts coming soon! Pinky-swear!

I promise there are new posts coming soon, I've been baking - I'm ready to share some great recipes with you.  But there's a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie on tonight, my lovely man is out working, so I thought I'd watch that tear-jerker (and you know it will be) and cry my eyeballs out.  Tomorrow:  stock up on Kleenex! 

What to post, where to begin, and should I use emoticons or not?!?

When I started thinking about blogging, my obsessive need to research kicked in.  What theme would I follow?  Would I even have a theme?  Or would I have a typical Mommy-blog?  I read so many blogs, some were great and I follow them all the time, but some I've never visited again. 

Well, since I'm a Stay-at-Home-Mom, I didn't want my blog to be only about being a Mom, it's who I am, but not all I am.  I love to bake, cook, travel; I love Star Wars, coffee, Mojitos and all things Disney.  I watch too much TV, and I probably don't eat enough fibre.  And I do all of the above with my family.  Except the coffee & Mojitos - that stuff's not for kids!

I have two kids, a boy aged 8 and a girl aged 61/2.  I haven't decided if I'm going to use real names and faces yet, so for now let's call them "The Padawan" and "The Princess".  They also have a Dad, and I'll call him "Fred".  My name is Stephanie, for real. 

So I'll be posting how-to's, recipes, reviews and random girl-geek stuff. 

Oh, and yes I do love red velvet cake, cupcakes and (hopefully) cheesecake.  Though I didn't grow up with such deliciousness - my first encounter with red velvet was "Steel Magnolias", the movie.  You know the scene - the wedding with the Armadillo groom's cake?  Where Shirley Maclaine hacks the rear-end of the cake off and dumps it on a plate?  Yup, that set me on a path to red velvet love . . .  And has led me here to Red Velvet Momma.