TGIF! I hope you have some fun things planned for the weekend. I know that I’ll be spending plenty of quality time at my desk.
Yesterday I was organizing my photos and found some pictures I’ve taken in the past week when I’ve been out and about:
This Starbucks Blonde Veranda Blend coffee.
Do Blondes have more fun? We should ask Marla, a brunette. We actually spotted this coffee together on our last meetup.
I like the sound of “delicate nuances of cocoa” but something tells me this coffee would be lighter and like drinking brown tinted water more mellow than I prefer.
My latest coffee find is this one. Inexpensive and it’s been around forever, but it’s new to me and I like it. For now, this blonde is having fun with that blend.
I saw this spatula when I bought the KitchenAid Bowl-Scraping Blade, which I am loving, and it almost negates any need to scrape down the mixing bowl. If you do need a spatula, this one has a handy measurement conversion chart on it.
Because real quick off the top of your head and before you’ve had coffee and have someone asking you why the sky is blue and can they have a snack and can dogs tell time, try to quickly think about how many cups is 11 tablespoons of butter? This is important because you need to know how many sticks of butter to take out of the fridge to soften.
Or how many squares of baking chocolate should you break off if a recipe calls for one third of a pound of melted baker’s chocolate plus two tablespoons reserved for drizzling, knowing first of course, that baking chocolate squares come in ounces.
Truthfully, I’d rather bake than do math. Especially before coffee.
I forgot to buy the spatula because I was so excited to take a picture of it. Looks like I better brush up on my fractions. That, or just eyeball the dough and hope for the best.
When I make brownies, bars, or cookies, I try to create recipes that either use a half stick, 1 stick, or 2 sticks of butter and not mess around with those 1 and 5/8ths of a stick recipes plus reserve 1 tablespoon. Gah! No.
Because let’s face it, we want cookies, not math.
I saw these ice cube trays in the Target “dollar” bins for $2.50 for a pair. I snatched up a pair of these on the hunch that they will make perfect chocolate molds for Valentine’s Day candy making.
The dollar bins (or $2.50 bins) tend to have great cookware finds. One year before Easter, Target had pastel-colored silicone muffin liners, 6 for $1 dollar. Those tend to be pretty pricey at places like Williams-Sonoma or at Bed Bath and Beyond, and the same goes for silicone chocolate molds.
Whatever I make, I’ll be using this chocolate because I love the way it melts.
And l Iove the way it tastes in Ritz Cracker Stuffed Peanut Butter Cups (No Bake)
Friday January 20 is also National Granola Bar Day.
Maybe I’ll make Microwave Chocolate Peanut Butter and Oat Snack Bars which only take 5 minutes to throw together in honor of the holiday today.
How good are you at kitchen and recipe math?
I can do math. I just prefer not to. I’d rather be cooking than converting fractions, cups, ounces, pounds, sticks, tablespoons. This is why the metric system would probably be so much easier.
Any good Target Dollar Bin Finds?
Have you seen anything interesting out and about lately?
Have a great weekend!
I am so happy you posted those ice cube (read candy) trays at Target, I was planning on going to Target this weekend anyways!
My best Target Dollar Bin find was an adorable preppy corduroy fall jacket for my son (read puppy). You just can’t go wrong for $2.50!
2.50 for a coat?! Major score. Love those!
I’m with you: I can do math, but prefer not to. :)
I tried the Blonde roast for the first time at an airport Starbucks. I thought it was pretty good!
And also- I have more fun when I am blonde. :)
Love those heart trays. Too bad there is no Target close by. :(
I almost bought that chocolate at a recent trip to TJs- now wish I had. The peanut butter cups look soooooo good. My favorite combo- pb & choc!
I’m great at math, or I should say I was great at math in high school. But I tested out of having to take any in college so it’s been years! I prefer cooking where I can just throw things in, taste, throw more in etc. Easier than numbers for me! Have a great weekend!
I’m a math teacher so I kind of like doing all the fractions in my head… I regularly 1/3 or 3/4 recipes or that sort of thing depending on how much of something I have (or I want), and so a lot of conversions are needed on the fly. Math and baking = two of my favorite things!
I prefer to do baking + taste-testing :) and skip the math!
I totally think blondes have more fun! (Not bias or anything hehe) but that coffee is a must-try!! Happy Friday!! xoxo
I agree with you, not biased either :)
I want those ice cube trays!
If I start playing around with recipes and trying to “half” them, I need to write all the ingredients out and half them before I start otherwise I’ll end up forgetting to half something while I’m in the middle of baking and then end up with everything halved except one ingredient (which has already made it’s way into the mixing bowl of course) and end up with a total flop.
Yes I do the same thing b/c I frequently halve recipes. I don’t need 4 dozen of anything or a sheet pan sized pan, an 8 x 8 pan is sufficient as is 1 to 2 dozen, max.
Blonde coffee, how cool! I’ve been a blonde and brunette and really couldn’t answer that age old question! Those candy molds are so cute. I bought a bunch last year after Valentines so I could go all out this year but I’ll be in India! Sooo those molds will just have to collect more dust until next year. Have an awesome time editing pictures this weekend, Averie :)
I cannot believe you are leaving so soon! It’s my dream trip, what you’re doing. And if I hadnt become a mother, I would have gone the fall/winter I was pregnant but now, one day, I will go with Skylar :)
After trying a sample of the Verona blonde roast at Starbucks, I went ahead and bought a bag. I like it just because it’s so different from the darker roasts I usually drink. When I can’t decide if I want a mug of coffee or tea, it’s perfect.
Ok that’s good info!
Hi Averie. I just wanted to say I love your new photo! It’s totally you and shows your fun loving personality. Your apron is adorable :)
I love my new citrus squeezer. It makes squeezing an orange, lemon or lime a breeze. It use to take me 3 lemons to get 1/4 juice now it only takes 1.5 lemons! Easy breezy!
Thank you for the compliments, Jackie. I really appreciate them, thank you!! :)
I love to peruse the Target $1 area. Usually find stuff for my niece and nephew mostly. My only complaint it the way ours is set up in 2 of the stores, makes it really difficult to get through when everyone pushing a cart into that area.
Or people that just stand in front of them and will.not.move and block the whole area….yeah, I know :)
Look at those cute little heart shaped… thingies! You could do so many things with those. Have a great weekend Averie!
and where you live in Mpls, the Targets are The Best and get merchandise no one else gets sometimes. That, and General Mills cereals!
I work with kids so I must admit that many of my socks come from the dollar bins at Super T. I have the BIG heart shaped silacone cake mold which is so much fun. I think I will pick up some of the ice cube trays to try with fudge for our upcoming Valentine’s party. Just saw a sweet looking fudge (with white chocolate) on cookies n cups!
Great idea!
Shelley’s fudge looked amazing, I know…saw it! And ALL of Skylar’s socks practically come from the dollar bins…they have the cutest socks in those bins.
My coworker has a kids pair (from Target) that together make Kermit the frog (one eye on each foot). So cute!!!
In honor of the snow, today I had penquins socks with santa hats. Gotta love pediatrics!
I didn’t know you were in pediatrics…that’s wonderful!
Thank you! I laugh when I get dressed at the gym in the morning. Everyone is looking very professional and I have socks for EVERY holiday Valentine’s Day through Xmas : )
I tried the blonde blend and I don’t really like it – it’s too watery for my liking! You know how there’s a total different between the roasts in starbuck’s and dunkin’ donuts? This is more of a dunkin donuts blend – too light for me!
Ok very good info..the SBux vs. Dunkin comparison just sealed the deal for me. No dice.
I don’t really have a choice to do maths when I’m baking especially when I’m using an American recipe! I tend to do all the maths before I get going and write down the numbers and hope for the best!
Hope you have a happy weekend, I look forward to seeing the results of your time at your desk!
I can’t imagine cooking in foreign ratios. I should probably just familiar myself mentally like 250g is ___ of a cup or a tablespoon but I don’t pay attention so what you do, is pretty amazing!
Averie, I hope you timed this post and are not up already in California. I’ve been working today for a couple hours in the cold Maryland air and can’t wait to sleep in Saturday. I plan on baking a Valentine’s Day cookie tomorrow as well. These ice cube trays are too cute, may have to change to making candy instead if I can find them here. I did see so really cute Valentine’s plates at CVS for a couple bucks a piece and may use those too. Thanks so much for sharing what you found. Have a warm day there in California. B-)
autopost, yes :)