We are officially less than one week away from February. How did this happen? I would like one big snow, but then I’m okay with spring showing up.

Best breakfast ever? Before our croissants disappeared, Nick and I both had 2 little ones, heated and smeared with Nutella with coffee and a banana on the side. I’ve got to make these again.

I actually did something that I found on Pinterest!

Hurricane + candle + coffee beans. The perfect thing for our dining room table.

Are you on Pinterest? Come find me so I can have even more things to look at online.

I also did the Gibson Tuck that I found on Pinterest. It looks so hard, but it is super easy!

Do you remember the Topsy Tail? It’s almost exactly like that, but you don’t need that weird plastic tool.

After finalizing everything on my book (available for preorder – crazy!), I’ve gotten back into reading for pleasure.

First it was The Twilight Series..and I’m already re-reading it. I just finished this book, which is part of a fun Coffeehouse Mystery series I started a few years back. I’m also reading Redeeming Love for, like, the 8th time, and have started Water for Elephants on my nook.

Got any book suggestions?

Operation Nails is going great! I used this new OPI color last week and switched to a pale, shimmery pink on Monday night.

Last week, we had one of my favorite dinners. I found this recipe for Mongolian Beef and fell in love. It’s one of the best dishes I’ve made at home and it turns out fantastic every time. We used some local flat iron steak and I tossed in some broccoli and sugar snap peas to make it a meal.

And thanks to your input on Facebook yesterday, you got what you wanted: white and semi-sweet dipped truffles. Recipe coming soon!

What were the highlights of your week?

Today felt like spring.

Are you having winter weather? We’re…not. At all. And I’m kind of enjoying it. I’m trying not to jinx us, but I will keep hoping for a nice weekend while my family is here visiting.

I’ve got winners to announce! Then I’m going to cuddle with Maggie.

The two randomly-chosen winners of the Starbucks coffee package are:

Renee

I start my day with coffee, of course! I’d love to try this new blonde roast.

and

Austin January 19, 2012 at 2:27 pm [edit]

My mornings were changed for the better when I discovered Starbucks Ice Coffee Via. I LOVE my coffee cold, and the lightly sweetened ice Via mix is faster and easier than brewing hot coffee and then watering it down with tons of ice.

Every morning I fill a Magic Bullet cup with water and ice Via mix, add just a touch of natural, low fat vanilla creamer and three ice cubes. Then I tap it down on the Magic Bullet for three seconds and I have super delicious freezing cold coffee. Unfortunately, the ice Via mix is hard to find in the winter time, so I pretty much buy a box of it whenever I see it.

Congrats you two! Email me at branappetit [at] gmail to claim your prize.

And…

the winner of the KitchenAid 3 speed hand blender is:

Emily @ Glitz Glam Granola

Tweeted! (@emilyatGGG)

Congrats Emily! I’m officially jealous I really wanted to enter my own giveaway this time! Email me your info and we’ll get your blender in the mail.

We started doing homemade holiday gifts a few years ago.

This year’s baskets included:

Gingersnap Bark

Spiced Nuts

Homemade Vanilla Extract (do you want to know how I made it?)

Spice Rub

Sugared Cranberries

Chocolate Covered Toffee

and homemade jam: either Frog or Blueberry Orange

But one bark – this bark – didn’t make it to the baskets…because Nick and I ate it instead.

And yes, I know. The holidays are over. People are already thinking about Easter candy.

But I promise you – you need this.

Barks are the best. They’re quick, they’re easy, they’re usually 5 ingredients or less.

Go on over and visit my friend Carrie for this super easy double chocolate bark – and make it for this weekend!

This weekend, I crossed one major thing off my baking bucket list.

Learning how to bake is stressful enough sometimes.

Trying to make French pastry on your own? Equal parts exciting and terrifying.

This dough – and those layers – are why arms and abs still hurt today.

Making croissants is no joke. It’s mostly rolling, and rolling, and rolling some more with your rolling pin. Then folding, folding, folding, and chilling. Repeat 4 times. Then wait some more.

From Saturday around 3 pm until Sunday morning when we finally pulled these out of the oven, this dough was the only thing on my mind.

Over the past two weeks, Nick and I have fallen in love with the chocolate croissants from Our Daily Bread, our favorite local bakery.

And since I’d been wanting to make them anyway, I just went for it.

This was a great idea and a bad idea.

Great because the croissants turned out incredible! They were flaky and buttery and tender and everything you want in a croissant. And hot out of the oven? I’m not sure I can have them any other way now.

Bad because Nick told me today that I should make either croissants or danish (recipe coming later) every week. Uh…not sure that’s happening. These take time. And arm strength. And a lot of butter.

But if you haven’t made your own and want to, just do it! I used Jessica’s recipe (plus, her pictures of the dough process are super helpful!) and the dough was perfect.

If you’re going to be home this weekend, whip out the butter and flour and make yourself some croissants. You’ll be very, very happy you did.

Also – Valrhona chocolate is incredible. I have to find more, and the sooner the better.

Got 5 minutes?

Let’s make some coffee creamer!

Most mornings, I take my coffee with just a splash of milk or cream. No flavors, no sugar. Good coffee doesn’t need much of anything.

But sometimes, I do like having a bit of flavor in my cup of joe – it just can’t be too much. I still want to taste the coffee itself, so it can’t be too strong or too sweet.

I usually stick with plain milk or half and half at home, but now that I know how easy it is to mix up my own coffee creamer, I’ll be making them more often.

Bonus! No strange ingredients or artificial colors or words you can’t pronounce. Just milk + cream + agave + vanilla in this mix.

Let’s get started!

Add your milk and cream to a microwave safe dish (or you can heat all this together on the stove top).

Heat it up together with the agave syrup until the agave is dissolved into the milk.

Stir in your vanilla bean paste, pour into a container (with a lid) and chill before serving.

Add as much – or as little – as you want to your coffee or tea or bread pudding custard.

New flavor coming soon!

Vanilla Bean Coffee Creamer

Makes: 2 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/3 cups milk (I used skim; you can use whatever milk you like)
• 2/3 cup half and half or heavy cream
• 1 Tbsp agave syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla bean extract or the beans from 1 whole vanilla bean, scraped from the center

Directions:

1. Heat milk, cream, and agave in microwave safe bowl for 2 minutes or heat on stovetop until bubbles form around the edges and the agave is melted and combined into the milk.
2. Stir in the vanilla beans.
3. Pour into a container and cool before serving. Will keep in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.

Hi friends.

Monday is almost over! We’ve finished dinner, the dishes are put away, and I’m about to pack my lunch and get settled so I can put a post together for you.

But – I’ve got the randomly chosen Keurig winner for you!

Congrats to…

Debbie January 18, 2012 at 2:34 pm

I love coffee…most any time and any type but on hand at home will always be Folgers medium roast. It’s still my best part of waking up…….I love how the smell of coffee makes me feel, cozy and homey. My coffee pot is set at night so it’s ready for my morning devotions…..me, God and my cup of coffee. We would love to have a Keurig here at work on those afternoons when you just need a little goodness in the day!!!

Yay Debbie! Email me at branappetit [at] gmail, and we’ll get your Keurig on its way.

Thank you all for entering!! You love coffee as much as I do.

I start every weekend with grand plans and long to-do lists.

I usually end weekends with my slippered feet up on the ottoman, a belly full of good food, and a still full to-do list.

This weekend, I actually crossed a few things off.

Laundry. Grocery shopping. Making croissants – that was a process, but totally worth the arm workout I got from using my crappy old rolling pin. Also – my abs hurt. Is that weird? Do your abs ever hurt from using your rolling pin 6 different times in 12 hours?

Did you have a list going this weekend? Did you get your stuff done and crossed off?

I hope you have “make a big Saturday morning breakfast” on your list every weekend. I don’t write it down on mine, but that’s always the plan.

If you didn’t have it this past weekend, let’s all write it down for this coming weekend, okay?

Pancakes, waffles, french toast, or biscuits. Eggs, sandwiches, a sugary bread pudding.

I don’t care what you make – just make it good and make it at home. Add coffee or tea and fruit.

I had “make cheddar biscuits” on one of my lists for a while and finally made them a few weeks ago. Why did I wait so long? I love biscuits. I love cheddar. I’m still obsessed with rosemary. It was a no brainer.

Nothing – and I mean nothing  – beats a hot Saturday morning breakfast.

Who’s in for Big Breakfast Saturday this week? I know I’ve got plans.

White Cheddar and Rosemary Biscuits

Makes: 12-15 biscuits

Ingredients:

• 1 cup self-rising flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup shortening or cold butter
• 1 cup sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix the flours, baking powder, sugar, rosemary, pepper, and salt together.
3. Cut the shortening (or butter) into the flour mixture, being careful to be light and not mash the mixture together. You want the flour and fat mixture to be the texture of cornmeal – a few bigger lumps are fine. Be gentle so you don’t make the mixture too clumpy and heavy. You can use your hands or a pastry blender or a fork.
4. Once the fat is combined into the flour mix, gently mix the shredded cheddar into the flour.
5. In a separate dish. beat the egg with the buttermilk.
6. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, and pour in the egg and buttermilk.
7. With a fork, slowly start incorporated the flour into the egg and buttermilk, pulling the flour away from the sides. Mix gently with the fork until the dough comes together. It will be sticky – that’s good!
8. Dump the dough onto a floured surface and knead the dough 2-3 times until the surface is smooth. Form into a round and roll out to 1-inch thick.
9. Using a biscuit cutter, cut out the rounds and place on a baking stone or cookie sheet. With the leftover dough, pat it back out into a round and cut more biscuits until you run out of dough.
10. Bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes until golden and puffed.

Happy Friday!

It’s been a doozy of a week on here. Lots of giveaways with some of my favorite things and celebrating 3 years of blogging with you guys.

To say thanks, I brought brownies.

I have tried a. lot. of brownie recipes, and I usually end up feeling like Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

These ones are too cakey, those weren’t rich enough, these didn’t have the brownie crust that makes them a brownie.

Just like with cookies, we have brownie rules in this house.

1. They must – Must! – be fudgy rather than cakey. If we wanted cakey, I would just bake a cake.

2. They must – Must!- call for unsweetened baking chocolate or cocoa. No semi-sweet or milk chocolate here, unless it’s cut with unsweetened. That’s how you get the deep, rich cocoa flavor.

3. There cannot – and I repeat, Cannot – be frosting. Brownies + frosting = cake, not a brownie.

Do you have certain food rules, too, or are we just crazy?

Either way, I think I’ve finally come up with the perfect, classic brownie recipe. You can add walnuts or chocolate chips or pretzels or whatever other crazy things you want in your brownies. But first – just makes these plain.

They are deep and rich and dense and fudgy and have that crispy crunch of a crust on the top.

Fantastic warm after dinner with a glass of milk and eaten cold with a fork out of the pan for an afternoon snack. I did my research.

The Best Classic Brownies

Makes: 12-16 brownies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup brewed coffee
• 4 and 1/2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
• 1 and 1/2 sticks butter
• 1 and 3/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Grease an 8×8 baking dish.
3. Place the coffee, chocolate, and butter in a microwaveable bowl. Heat on high for 3-4 minutes, stirring after each minute, until the butter and chocolate are melted.
4. Let the butter mixture sit and cool for 5 minutes.
5. Stir the sugar and salt into the butter mixture.
6. Whisk eggs into the mix, one at a time, until the eggs are completely combined.
7. Stir in the vanilla and flour until the flour is incorporated.
8. Pour the batter into the pan and bake at 300 degrees for 50-55 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

To finish out my celebration week, I’ve got another giveaway for you!

I’ve got this sweet KitchenAid 3 Speed Hand Blender – you can use it as an immersion blender, or a whisk, or a mini food-processor. Whisk, chop, whip, blend, puree, crush, do it all.

It’s like the McGyver of small appliances.

The chopper and blender jar are BPA-free, and the attachments are dishwasher safe. Bonus!

To Enter:

Answer this question: What would you make first if you won this 3-speed blender?

If I had one, I would definitely make some homemade nut butter. I need a food processor so bad!

For an extra entry:

Tweet about the giveaway (using @KitchenAidUSA) and let me know you did!

I’ll pick the winner on Thursday – good luck!

Happy Thursday night!

I’m currently laughing out loud, on the couch, watching Parks and Rec while watching Nick and Maggie nap together. It’s a good night!

I just picked the winner of the Stonyfield Gift Package….so, congrats to…

Cassie

Congrats Brandi! Keep the good stuff coming. My favorite way to use yogurt is in cream sauces in place of sour cream, cream cheese and/or mayo.

Yeah Cassie! Please email me at branappetit [at] gmail and we’ll get your gift pack on its way.

Keep entering for the Keurig and the Starbucks giveaway – those end next week, so you’ve still got a few days.

That’s right.

Another coffee-related giveaway this week.

Did you know today is National Coffee Day? Are you celebrating? I am.

I got some samples of the new Starbucks Blonde Roast last week and I tried my Blonde Roast K-cups in my Keurig this week at work. The verdict? I loved it! It’s not too dark and is really well balanced.

I will still always have locally roasted, whole beans to use most days, but this is definitely one of the most well-balanced pre-ground coffees I’ve tried in a long time.

Two people will win a Starbucks Gift Package, which includes:

- A mug

- A sample of Blonde Roast coffees

To Enter:

Leave a comment with your favorite way to start your morning.

For an extra entry:

Tweet how you’re celebrating National Coffee Day, using #StarbucksBlonde and let me know you did!

I’ll pick the winners next Thursday – good luck!

PS: Don’t miss out on these other giveaways happening!

Stonyfield Yogurt Gift Package – ends today! Hurry and enter

Keurig Special Edition – ends Monday. Keep those entries coming!