Valentine's Day Smiley Cookies

Valentine's Day is getting closer and closer so I'm pretty sure many of you-myself included- are trying to come up with ideas as to what to get your loved ones.

I for one, am not for giving big gifts for Valentine's Day instead I like to give gifts that fall into the following categories: small, thoughtful, inexpensive or sweet.

Smiley Cookie definitely falls into these categories.  They offer  wonderful gourmet sugar cookies that you can personalize by choosing between one of five shapes, then you select a base {icing} color and then you choose a smiley face color. 

Smiley Cookies offers these frosted heart shaped cookies all year round! 

These  cookies come delicately hand - iced with a pink base and a white smiley face.

These cookies not only look cute, but they taste divine.  As soon as I received the cookies, my family and I sat down to eat them with a nice, cold glass of milk.  These are seriously the best sugar cookies I have ever had.  My 22 month old son refers to them as mmmm-I guess because they taste good and because he can't say cookie yet.  My son is not a big cookie eater, but he loves these; it must be a combination of the flavor and how pretty they look.  I had to hide the cookies so he couldn't see them and as I'm writing this review he is asking me for a piece of cookie because he saw the picture.

 Our cookies arrived in excellent conditions.

I loved the box the white box with smiley faces that they came in; isn't it cute!

These cookies would definitely make for a great gift for Valentine's Day or any day so to speak.

If you are interested check out the site:

http://www.smileycookie.com/

Just so you know they have a tool where you can see how your cookies would look if you were to choose in specific which cookies you want.

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. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

Duncan Hines Decadent Cakes & Glazes: Apple Caramel Cupcakes with Vanilla Glaze

I love to bake sweets for my family, so I was excited to try out Duncan Hines new line of Decadent Cake Mixes and Amazing Glazes.



My family and I tried out the Duncan Hines Decadent Cake Mix in Apple Caramel and the Duncan Hines Amazing Glazes in Vanilla.



The cake mix box comes with two(2) packages: dry cake mix & a dry caramel mix 

Both mixes are very easy to prepare.

I decided to use the mx to make cupcakes-which calls for the same recipe as if you were making a cake. Afterward I poured the caramel mix on top of the cupcake batter.   Although I could've put less batter in the cupcake liners.

  After letting the cupcakes cool off, I drizzled some vanilla glaze on them.

Afterwards, we enjoyed our cupcakes with a cold glass of milk.

My family and I all loved the flavor and consistency of the cupcakes.  They were sweet, moist and delicious. I can't wait to try out the other mix I received, Duncan Hines Decadent Cake Mix in Triple Chocolate and the Duncan Hines Amazing Glazes in Chocolate, but those will be for another post.

If you want to find out more about Duncan Hines, make sure to visit their site at http://www.duncanhines.com/

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If you're intersted in finding new recipes, tips and discount coupons then make sure to join the Duncan Hines Baker's Club

Disclosure: I received no form of monetary compensation for this post. I received two (2) Duncan Hines Amazing Cake Mixes and two (2)  Duncan Hines Amazing Glazes, all free of charge. This is an honest review and the opinions expressed in this review are my own and were not influenced in any way.

Even Better Corn Muffins

As I had already mentioned in a previous post, I'm new to baking and am loving it. I went grocery shopping yesterday and picked up several muffin, bread, and brownie mixes. I've been experimenting with boxed muffin mixes and my last food post was about cornbread muffins.

Since my husband liked the cornbread muffins so much I decided to prepare them again, but this time around I added fresh blueberries to the mix. They turned out to be even better than the first time because the blueberries mostly tended to "explode" while baking so when you bite into the warm muffin you can taste the gooey fruitiness.

Wannabe Baker

Two weeks ago I decided that I wanted to start using the oven more. So, what better way to make use of the oven than baking! Since I'm new to the whole baking thing I thought it would be a good idea to start out simple. Eventually, I would like to bake things from scratch.

All-Time Fave Summer Treat

At last, my family and I are settled into our new apartment. We still have to unpack a couple of media mail boxes, finish hanging up wall art and buying a few things. Now I can start blogging again!



I enjoy indulging in sweets every once in a while but the truth is that there are some desserts that I could do without. Unless we're talking about premium frozen yogurt! I only recently came to savor this treat last summer (2009-mainly because there wasn't any type of premium frozen yogurt establishment in my native Caribbean island) and have been hooked ever since. Not only does it taste sinfully delicious but it's good for you!

Whether it be a cup from Pinkberry's in NYC, Blizz's original flavor in San Juan, or a self serve yogurt from Tutti Frutti's or Sweet Frog's I love them all!

I can't get enough! My flavor of choice is always the original one. I am a sucker for it's tart, tangy and sweet taste. I like to top my yogurt with any kind of fresh fruit, shredded coconut and a bit of white chocolate...so good!



I'm always on the lookout for a new yogurt shop. I think that was one of the first things I asked my husband about the place we were moving to.

What are your favorite flavors?

The Skinny on The Skinny Cow

It’s been awhile since everyone and their brother has been coming out with 100 calories food snacks.  I’ve tried a lot of them out there and on numerous occasions I have not been a happy customer.  Usually these 100 calories snacks lack flavor or are ridiculously small in portions.

All this changed when I just recently discovered The Skinny Cow and let me say that I will never ever buy any other 100 calorie ice cream popsicle product other than this. 

Caramel Truffle popsicles are only 100 calories each.  Click on the image if you want to know more about the caloric content

The Caramel Truffle popsicle is ridiculously delicious.  It is creamy but not too overbearing.  It’s sweet but it doesn’t overwhelm you.  The popsicle is wrapped in a somewhat crunchy chocolate ribbon which helps give the popsicle texture.  In terms of size you will not be disappointed.

It seems that The Skinny Cow products have been out in the market for a while but I had never seen them in my native island.  What’s up with that?

 

Triple Threat Dessert

 

We went grocery shopping today with the in-laws.  My mother-in-law thought it would be a good idea to pick up a cake to enjoy with afternoon coffee and tea.

Napolitan Cake

The cake has 3 different layers: chocolate cake, strawberry mousse and yellow cake.  It was so good although I would’ve chosen another type of frosting. This cake will probably last us for a while.

I enjoyed my slice of cake with a nice cold glass of milk!

 

What kind of cake have you had lately?

Cookie Dough Dream

 

After dinner my family and I decided to go out and get some yummy ice cream.

Cookie Dough Ice Cream

What better summer treat than this!   I asked for one scoop and still I couldn’t eat the whole thing.

This ice cream is made exclusively in Vermont.  My husband and I enjoy anything and everything local every time we come up for the summer.

This delicious treat can be found at Groucheese Snack Bar in Vermont.  This was our first time here but from eyeing the menu I could tell they sold many other yummy treats and traditional fast food menu items.

 

What flavor of ice cream do you like?