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Tag: chocolate


november book giveaway!

31
October

Mast Brothers Chocolate pleasure in simple things

It is that time already…time to announce the winner of the October giveaway and to announce the selection for November!

Congratulations to Phyllis from Ohio for winning the October giveaway book The Cheesemonger’s Seasons: Recipes for Enjoying Cheeses with Ripe Fruits and Vegetables by Chester Hastings. Enjoy!

The November selection is a wonderful first cookbook by The Mast Brothers! Do you remember when I took you to their flagship factory and retail shop in Brooklyn for a Friday field trip?

a Mast Brothers Chocolate Products pleasure in simple things

Rick and Michael Mast are chocolate masters. Roasting cacao beans in small batches, The Mast Brothers create truly handmade chocolate – one of the few American chocolate makers to do so.

In this first cookbook, Mast Brothers Chocolate:  A Family Cookbook, the brothers tell the story of how they began their journey as chocolate makers.  And, in keeping with the Mast Brothers’ philosophy – elegant simplicity – recipes emphasize great ingredients and straightforward preparations. This book includes beautiful photographs and the Mast Brothers’ signature custom paper designs throughout.

page from the Mast Brothers Chocolate Cookbook pleasure in simple things
I plan to use recipes from this book to make some very special chocolate gifts for the holiday season.  Win a copy of this book so that you, too, can use the recipes to create some very special (and delicious) gifts. Just leave a comment, and you are entered to win!  Good luck!

Instagram users – for this month’s challenge, the theme is gratitude. Please use the hashtag #pleasuregram to share your photos.

November 2014 Instagram Challenge pleasure in simple things

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a safe Halloween and a wonderful weekend.

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

9 comments » | food & festivities, holiday, monthly book giveaway

chocolate excellence at mast brothers

29
August

Mast Brothers chocolate products pleasure in simple things

Have you tried Mast Brothers Chocolate? It is really something special. And, the excellence of this product extends to the packaging…it is truly a work of art! You know how I feel about package design! My first purchase of a Mast Brothers chocolate bar some years ago was actually motivated by the packaging. I really didn’t expect to be so wowed by the product!

display of chocolate at Mast Brothers in Brooklyn pleasure in simple things field trip

This display of chocolate bars at Mast Brothers Chocolate in Brooklyn reminds me of a museum installation!

For Friday field trip this week, I am taking you to the company’s flagship factory and store in Brooklyn, NY where these sophisticated chocolate products are created.

bags of cocoa at Mast Brothers Chocolate Factory pleasure in simple things

Mast Brothers Chocolate Products pleasure in simple things

To get to Mast Brothers Chocolate from Connecticut, take Metro North into the city. From Grand Central Station, either walk or take the subway to Union Square. From there, an easy trip on the L to Bedford. The store is located in Williamsburg at 111 North Third Street, near the corner of Bedford and 3rd – the Brew Bar just a few feet away at 105A.

Mast Brothers Brew Bar in Brooklyn pleasure in simple things

This visit, I was particularly interested in the newly opened Brew Bar. Opening only a few weeks ago, the Brew Bar creates and serves chocolate beverages that are quite possibly the first of their kind. High quality cocoa nibs are brewed in water for 24 hours and used to create a drink with an essence of chocolate. On my first trip, I tried an iced variety.

Angela at Mast Brothers Brew Bar pleasure in simple things

Angela at Mast Brothers Chocolate Brew Bar in Brooklyn.

Servers Angela and Derrick were extremely accommodating on my visit and took time to explain the process used to create the drinks and the varieties of chocolate available. The beverage itself is the color of a tea and has a subtle chocolate fragrance and flavor. It is extremely unique…I enjoyed it. I am sure most patrons probably add sweetener – a simple syrup is offered – I drank mine unsweetened. The subtleness of the flavor really appealed to me – so much different than a milk-based chocolate drink like hot cocoa.

Mast Brothers Chocolate store pleasure in simple things

Rick and Michael Mast are extremely passionate about their work and it shows in everything they produce. If you would like to learn a little more about them and their business, click here for a video. (If you would like to visit, sign up in advance online for a 45 minute tour of the factory at the cost of $16. by using Eventbrite.)

outside of Mast Brothers store pleasure in simple things

Thanks so much for joining me on Friday field trip today for a little glimpse of Mast Brothers Chocolate in Brooklyn.

Have a fabulous holiday weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

P.S. I purchase my Mast Brothers Chocolate locally at Whole Foods Market.

2 comments » | field trips, food & festivities

dessert shooters

17
August

friday field trip

Target trips are very different with my daughter away and settled in her own apartment.  It had become a weekly routine when she was living at home for her and I to make a Sunday trip to Target.  Sometimes we would have a specific item in mind to purchase…most times, not.

So today I had a little gap between work and an appointment and decided to look around in Target without my daughter …and it wasn’t even a Sunday.

Walking through Target at this time of year is sad for me…no school supply lists to purchase from or dorm room items to choose.  Of course, most of the aisles are flooded with back to school items – I avoided all these aisles like the plague.  Instead, l looked at stationary products (love)…home items…then  finished up in the food section.

As I walked through the dairy aisle on this particular Target excursion, I was shocked to see a product I apparently totally overlooked – chocolate cream cheese!  What a great idea!  I know the stores carry many chocolate spreads now (thanks Nutella!), but I did not know about Philadelphia Indulgence chocolate cream cheese spread!

Target had a package of four individual tubs for $1.70…they had milk or dark chocolate.  I immediately thought of the strawberries back at home in my refrigerator.  What a quick and easy last minute dessert…to be able to just fill some fresh strawberries with this product.  Could I be this excited for a purchase that didn’t even amount to $2.!

I got home and immediately filled some strawberries with the chocolate cream cheese.  They needed more…I wanted to dip them in chocolate…well, wouldn’t adding that step ruin the whole point of being quick and easy?  Chocolate cream cheese on chocolate chip bagels….pretzels dipped into chocolate cream cheese…my mind wonders…okay, back to the task at hand!  Quick…simple.

Then, I had the perfect idea…’shooters’…I would make little shot glass-sized indivdual desserts.

A photo of  s’mores shooters.  A great single serving dessert made with Philadelphia Indulgence chocolate cream cheese spread.

As it turns out, this is the PERFECT way to use the package I bought since it comes in little cups that are the optimum size (1.25 oz. cups) to make this dessert.  It is a great way to indulge in a dessert without going crazy…a great dessert that is easy to create variations with little fuss.

I started with a s’more shooter – a nod to the Girl Scout’s  100th anniversary this year.  After that, I just couldn’t stop with the variations.  And, I went back and picked up the other two flavors.  Using the milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and white chocolate product there really are infinite possibilities.

I started with a graham cracker crust.  I mixed a cup and a quarter of graham cracker crumbs with 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter.  (This will make about 12 desserts.)   I used this as my base and put 2 tablespoons in the bottom of a straight–sided clear glass shot/cordial glass.  Use a 2 ounce or 2 1/2 ounce size.  If you want disposable (Labor Day picnic?), 2 ounce clear plastic cups are inexpensive and readily available (this is the size used for jello shots).

The s’more one was layered as:  1 tablespoon of the graham cracker mixture, 1 tablespoon of fluff,  1, 1.25 oz tub of milk chocolate Philadelphia Indulgence chocolate cream cheese spread.  I garnished the top with a marshmallow that was cut in half and toasted.  (You can toast this quickly under your broiler.  Don’t put the shot glass under the broiler if it is not oven safe – toast the marshmallow by itself and then add to the top of the dessert.)

A photo of a s’more shooter…a dessert made with Philadelphia Indulgence chocolate cream cheese spread, graham cracker crumbs, and marshmallow fluff.

 Some of my favorite combinations:

  • 2 tablespoons of crumbs, 1 tablespoon of coconut, 1 tub of milk chocolate Indulgence, almond garnish
  • 2 tablespoons of crumbs, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, 1 tub of milk chocolate Indulgence, peanut butter cup garnish
  • 2 tablespoons of crumbs, 4 or 5 raspberries, 1 tub of dark chocolate or white chocolate Indulgence, raspberry & mint garnish
  • 2 tablespoons of crumbs, 4 or 5 blueberries, 1 tub of white chocolate Indulgence,  blueberry & mint garnish
  • 2 tablespoons of crumbs,  2 or 3 banana slices, 1 tub of milk chocolate Indulgence, banana slice garnish

It is very easy to gauge how much cream cheese you need to purchase since each indivdual tub makes one serving or  ‘shooter’.

A quick, easy, and fun dessert…mission accomplished!

Enjoy!

Thanks for visiting, Jackie

 

3 comments » | food & festivities

the original sweet & salty

29
April

easy sweet recipe using saltines

Long, long,  ago – when I started my first serious full time job, the woman I worked for brought in a dessert that she had made from saltines crackers.  At the time, it seemed very mysterious and unusual.  Looking back, it was the first time I really enjoyed the combination of sweet and salty.  With salted caramels being so trendy, I was reminded of the old favorite saltine recipe.  It is one of the few dessert recipes I have committed to memory, because the measurements are so easy to remember.  A nice thing about the recipe is that it only uses four simple ingredients.  More recently, I made it for my twenty-something son and he went nuts over it.  Makes sense….when I think about it, I was his age when I first went nuts for it.  The recipe:

2 sleeves of saltines, 1 stick of butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 2 cups of chips

Ingredients

  • 2 sleeves of saltine crackers
  • 1 stick of butter (I use unsalted)
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Cover a cookie sheet with a piece of aluminum foil and give it a light coat of cooking spray.

Arrange the saltines on the foil, covering all the space.

Arrange crackers in a single layer to cover all the space on the pan…you may need to use a couple broken ones to fill in all the spots.  Take 20 of the crackers you have left and seal them in a zip-loc bag.  Use a rolling pin to crush them up and set the bag aside.

Use a rolling pin to crush 20 of the saltines in a zip-loc bag

Put the butter and brown sugar into a medium size saucepan and stir until it is boiling strong enough that it can’t be stirred down.  Then, pour it slowly over the crackers, covering them the best you can.  I use a dull knife to carefully spread the mixture evenly, trying to cover most of the cracker layer.

Bake in the oven for 5 minutes..the topping will be bubbling.  Remove the pan from the oven and let it sit for about a minute.  Sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the top.  After a minute or two the chocolate will be soft and you can use a dull knife to spread the chocolate evenly over the crackers.  Then, take the bag of crushed cracker crumbs and sprinkle over the top of the hot chocolate.

Let cool slightly, then put the cookie sheet in the refrigerator to set.  After about 45 minutes or so, remove the cookie sheet and break the crackers into irregular pieces.  Store in a plastic airtight container in the refrigerator…enjoy!

 

 

4 comments » | food & festivities, recipe

     

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