I'll Have a Maple Creamee For My Bath, Please

Vermont Maple Bath Treats

It's that time of year when we yearn for that delectable treat and wait in line to get our fill of Ice Cream.  In Vermont the line for the popular and much anticipated Maple Creamee is long, but well worth the wait.

After a day of fun in the sun, your skin is in need of some extra TLC.  We've made an extra special fizzing bath treat for your skin to enjoy.  Fizzing Bath Melts combine the fizzing action of a bath bomb with a luxury bath melt made with Cocoa Butter.  Each delectable bath treat has been scooped up to look like a scoop of ice cream.

To use, simply drop the Bath Treat into bath water and allow to dissolve.  Climb in the tub and allow your skin to enjoy the bath treat!  Please remember to use caution when exiting the tub, as the cocoa butter will make the surface of the tub slippery.

Bath Treats

In addition to Maple, we have Bath Treats available in Raspberry Sorbet, Margarita Lime, Orange Mimosa, Champagne, Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry.

Merry Soapy Christmas Cupcakes

Christmas Tree Cupcake Soap

Several weeks back I went a little bit crazy on the Christmas soap projects.  Finding the right tools to create the cutouts in the size I needed turned into another one of those "aha!" moments when I strolled down the clay aisle at the local craft store one day.  And those little cutout tools came in very handy for the Christmas soap projects.  Stockings, Christmas Trees, Snowmen, and Gingerbread men were quickly cutout of soap scraps begging to be put to good use.

Peppermint Cupcake Soap

I made cupcake soaps in a combination of chocolate and orange, peppermint and pumpkin spice, and then finally the Christmas Tree and cinnabun.

In the end I gained the awe and amazement of family and friends, with thoughts that they look good enough to eat.  I do not suggest that, however, as I am pretty sure they won't taste anything like they smell.  ;)

Chocolate Orange Cupcake Soap

Time for the Chocoholics to Unite!

Today's flavor of the day is all about chocolate. I love chocolate anything, and this scrumptious Chocoholics Unite Sugar Scrub is sure to bring decadence and delight to your bathing experience. This scrub is a truly euphoric adventure to be explored. Bubbling with excitement that one experiences with an intense chocolate explosion from the world's best chocolatier. This is definitely not for the faint at heart. Let the adventure begin!

Never leave home without our scrubs. We now package them in a convenient 4 ounce jar. These also make great stocking stuffers for the Holiday's. And, if you reside within the US you will enjoying FREE Shipping on our regularly priced products. Each of these chocolate explosions will ship for free if you reside within the US.

Chocomint Soap

Cool and refreshing peppermint drowning in a pool of chocolate is exactly what this soap is all about. This bar of soap is dressed up with curls of chocolate soap on top. Smells delicious enough to eat (although we do not recommend eating) and feels great on the skin. You will find some of these fabulous bars of soap in our shop.

The Most Dangerous Cake Recipe in the World

Someone sent this to me on email so I bring it here to share with all my bloggy friends...don't say I didn't warn you. Teresa, get your treadmill ready cuz you are REALLY gonna need it this winter!

The 5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons cake flour (that's plain flour, not self-raising)
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla essence
1 coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well
Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla essence, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The
cake
will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now
we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or
night!

Beetnik Cake

This cake recipe was graciously contributed by Mary Lou LaPierre, Jericho Elementary School, Vermont. It is part of a recipe booklet Vermont Feed has given as a handout from their various conferences and classes that I have had the pleasure of attending over the past four years. You can find a sampling of some of their other recipes in a PDF file here. I have tasted all of their recipes and haven't found one that I didn't like.

(Keep in mind these are written for larger quantities so you could cut the recipes in half or fourths for home use.)

BEETNIK CAKE
Yield: 25 servings
Set oven to 350 degrees

67 oz. cooked & peeled beets in water (chop in food processor and use juice)
2 cups cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup applesauce
2 Tbsp. Vanilla
3 pounds sugar
3 Tbsp. baking soda
7 eggs
1 1/2 pounds unbleached flour
1 1/2 pounds whole wheat pastry flour

Directions:
Puree beets in food processor with juice. Mix all ingredients in mixer. Pour into greased sheet cake pan (or lined muffin tins). Bake 40-45 min. (if cutting recipe in size I would check after 30 min.) Muffin cups check after 20 min. Test with toothpick. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or frosting of your choice.

Gourmet Feast

There are those (I won't mention any names, but I commonly refer to him as DH) who thumb their nose up to the idea of healthier meals in schools. He is of the opinion that people should have the choice of what they want to eat and no one should be forcing them to eat healthier. Part of my job is being creative with the healthier food options. I have many healthier options that look appealing and taste great so the challenge to prove him wrong went into full swing today.

Fresh Garden Salad made with fresh greens purchased at the Farmer's Market. After having to buy lettuce in the grocery store all winter long, fresh baby greens hit the spot!

Due to technical difficulties, there is no photo of the pasta salad made with whole grain pasta. Does not change the taste, and the slight color variation of the pasta isn't noticeable. I mixed in peas, red onion, white albacore tuna, a bit of mayo, and garden seasoning with no salt.


Jamaican Jerk Chicken hot off the grill. Made with boneless skinless chicken breast. Always a hit when I make it. I love cooking extra so I can add some of the leftovers to a Garden Salad for lunch. A vegetarian option - the jerk spice mixture would be awesome on a piece of firm tofu then grilled. YUM!


And what EVERY Gourmet Feast should have...Rich Dark Chocolate cupcakes with Whipped Icing. I seriously don't know what happened to the first two or three cupcakes. I certainly didn't go "healthier" on the dessert, although I do have a recipe for chocolate beet cake that is excellent and no one even knows they are eating veggies! I figured I best just break him in "slowly" with the healthier options. After all, he had baby beet greens in the salad and he didn't know what it was.

DH had no complaints, but the look on his face was priceless when I told him today's healthier food experiment worked. He really didn't notice anything different about the baby greens (won't tell him about the beet greens) and the whole grain pasta went unnoticed. It has made him think twice about his earlier opinion.

Today is National Chocolate-Covered Cashews Day

Check out Home Baked Memories for a great recipe to make some Chocolate covered Cashews at home!

OR, you could run out to the store and buy some cashews that have already been covered in chocolate. :-) YUM!

Soaping Funness Part 2

Soaping Success from yesterday. I got home this afternoon and couldn't wait to cut the soap from yesterday. Batch #1 turned out beautifully. Creamy, nice lather, a little soft but it will firm up more as it dries out a bit more.

Batch #2 is dark on the outside and much lighter on the inside. It will continue to darken up as it finishes drying out. This is a much harder soap formula, but it offered a nice lather. I left the house for a while and when I came back the first thing that hit my nose was the scent of this soap! It is simply divine!!!