PILLSBURY BAKE OFF! YOU BE THE JUDGE!

Hey All!

It has begun! Entries for the 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest are in and judging is now underway. And once again the Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest is letting You Be the Judge!

Beginning May 12, 2011, America will have the opportunity to vote for 10 of the 20 original recipes posted on www.bakeoff.com. The recipes will be posted in pairs every two weeks and during each two-week period, consumers will have the opportunity to cast their vote for their favorite of the two recipes. Voting is limited to one vote per person per each pair of recipes. Voters must be registered members of www.pillsbury.com and 18 years of age or older as of May 1, 2011 to participate.

At the end of two weeks, the home cook whose recipe receives the most votes in each pair will become a finalist in the 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest taking place in Orlando, Florida from March 25-27, 2012...getting one step closer to the $1 million grand prize. The contest will feature 100 original recipes-90 recipes whose creators will directly earn a spot at the competition and the 10 winning recipes determined by people like you through You Be the Judge!

This week, Italian Brunch Stratas submitted by JoAnn Belack of Bradenton, FL faces off against Breakfast Crostatas entered by Barbara Taragna of Collegeville, PA.It's up to you to decide which of these creative home cooks will compete for the $1 million grand prize so visit www.bakeoff.com for official rules and to cast your vote!

Looking for some guidance first? Click the link below for some helpful voting tips from Jann Atkins, the Bake-Off® Kitchens Manager.

Click here to watch the video!

Mark your calendar for May 26, June 9, June 23, July 7, July 21, Aug. 4, Aug. 18, Sept. 1 and Sept. 15 to vote for new recipes. Check back during mid-October to find out if your favorites made the cut when the final 100 recipes are announced.

***Disclosure: I was not compensated or paid in any way for this post. I am sharing this information that was provided by Pillsbury through MyBlogSpark for the benefit of my readers. All opinions are my own.***

CLOSED-The 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off! & GIVEAWAY!

Hey All!

Calling all home cooks! Do you have a million dollar recipe idea? The 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest is open for entries and one simple recipe idea could help you take home the dough!

Pillsbury is looking for original recipes that taste and look delicious, are easy to prepare and that families across America will love to eat. Consumers can submit recipes in one of four recipe categories:

The Breakfast & Brunches category includes casual brunch or weekend family breakfast ideas. For example, sweet rolls, pull-aparts, pastries, breakfast breads, egg dishes or breakfast sandwiches.

In the Entertaining Appetizers category, entrants can submit appetizers and snacks to serve at casual gatherings with family and friends or for holiday entertaining. For example, bite size appetizers, tartlets, pinwheels, puffs, bruschetta or focaccia. I would so love this competition as I love baking and cooking with Pillsbury Products.

For example I made this cemetery cake with Pillsbury for Halloween!

Or these amazing A Christmas Story Cookies!

I'm the hostess with the mostest when it comes to cooking and hosting parties and baking. And Pillsbury has always been my brand of choice. Below are some images of Pillsbury recipes.

The Dinner Made Easy category encourages home cooks to create easy-to-prepare main dishes that will delight your family. For example, pizzas, calzones, sandwiches, foldovers, casseroles, chilis, soups or savory pies. Quick and easy treats for anytime celebrations can be entered into the Sweet Treats category. For example, cookies, pies, tarts, brownies or bars.

Entries are being accepted online between now and April 18, 2011, at www.bakeoff.com. One hundred lucky finalists will compete for a chance at the grand prize during the contest finals, which take place March 25-27, 2012 at the Peabody Orlando Hotel in Florida. You´ll also find contest details, including eligible products, prizes and the official rules, on the web site.

The recipes will be judged for 1) taste, 2) appearance, 3) creativity and 4) consumer appeal. All entries must meet the requirements of the recipe category and appropriately use two of the eligible products in at least the quantity specified.

Sue Compton of Delanco, N.J. was named the grand prize winner of the 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest in 2010 for her original Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups recipe.

At the 43rd Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest in 2008, Carolyn Gurtz walked away with the million-dollar grand prize for her Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies.

At the 2006 competition, the 42nd Contest, Anna Ginsberg, a stay-at-home mom who you might know from her blog, Cookie Madness, earned the $1 million prize for her Baked Chicken and Spinach Stuffing.

YOU CAN BE A MILLIONAIRE FOR JUST ENTERING SO ENTER NOW!


GIVEAWAY:


Pillsbury Bake-Off gift pack that includes a Pillsbury Bake-Off that contains this adorable apron, recipe book, and pen! 

HOW CUTE IS THAT!

I've loved the Pillsbury dough boy since I was a kid.  He is beyond adorable so I think this apron is amazing!

MANDATORY ENTRY:

LEAVE A COMMENT BELLOW ON THIS POST TELLING ME YOUR FAVORITE PILLSBURY RECIPE and just click the button on your right and Become a “Google Friend Connect Friend” with The Queen of Swag! found on the (right side bar of the blog under THE FRIENDS TAB)

That's all you have to do to enter...Really SIMPLE! You only have to do those TWO THINGS TO ENTER...But if you'd like additional entries:

For Additional Entries after the main entry is completed, do the following and PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT BELLOW FOR EACH ADDITIONAL ENTRY YOU DO:


-SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG BY EMAIL OR VIA READER! Let's get me to 1000!

SCROLL DOWN THE RIGHT SIDE BAR OF MY BLOG WHERE IT SAYS "SUBSCRIBE TO ME"

- “Like” Pillsbury on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Pillsbury

- “Like” The Queen of Swag! on Facebook at Facebook.com/thequeenofswag (or click on the Facebook Like button found on the right side bar).


- Follow The Queen of Swag on Twitter @queenofswag4u or by clicking on the twitter buttons that say follow me on the right side bar.


-Tweet this Giveaway! 

Feel free to make up a Tweet about this Giveaway with #MYBLOGSPARK AND @queenofswag4u  and http://thequeenofswag.blogspot.com or this shortened link http://bit.ly/ahoOgH so I can see it or use the tweet I created below.

#Giveaway! Win a PILLSBURY BAKE OFF GIFT PACK from @queenofswag4u & #MYBLOGSPARK ! http://bit.ly/ahoOgH ENDS-3/12/2011

-Leave a LINK to your Tweet in a Comment Bellow.

(This is limited to 4 tweets per day, spaced apart not one right after the other PLEASE. I don't want anyone to be called spammers or blocked by twitter.)

- Connect with me on NETWORKED BLOGS found also on the (right side bar of the blog)

- Blog about this giveaway and leave a link to post.

- Add my REGULAR BLOG BUTTON to your blog and leave a link to show me you did.

- Use any of the social networking buttons found at the bottom of this post underneath my NAME/Signature to promote this giveaway. Be sure to tell me what you did and if possible provide a name and/or URL so that I can check it out.

-On any future Wednesdays, Participate in my Wednesday Hump Day Slump Day events by Posting a comment and leave a comment here saying you participated.

- ENTER ANY OF MY OTHER CURRENT GIVEAWAYS AND LEAVE A COMMENT SAYING WHICH GIVEAWAYS YOU ENTERED!

GIVEAWAY WILL END MARCH 12TH, 2011 at 11:59pm pacific time! Winners will be notified by email, twitter, or facebook and winners will be announced on this blog, on twitter, and on facebook.

This GIVEAWAY is open to USA ONLY! SORRY.

PRIZE WILL BE FULFILLED AND MAILED TO WINNER BY MY BLOG SPARK AND PILLSBURY!

**PLEASE SEE RULES AND DISCLAIMER FOR MORE PRIZE INFO. AGAIN WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN AT RANDOM USING RANDOM.ORG FROM ELIGIBLE ENTRIES.**

Good luck to All who enter! And THANK YOU so much for following my blog! 

**Disclosure: I was given the information, Pillsbury prize pack, and this giveaway prize pack to host for my readers by Pillsbury and My Blog Spark. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated in any way for this post.**

CLOSED-Holiday Traditions with Betty Crocker, GladWare®, & Safeway! & GIVEAWAY! Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!

Hey All!

It's that time of year again! It's time to spread holiday cheer to your friends and family with the gift of freshly baked Betty Crocker treats. From a Snowman Coconut Cake to Classic Gingerbread Man Cookies, sharing the warmth and sweetness has never been easier. I love to bake especially around the Holidays. I bake cakes, to cupcakes to cookies! I love to use Betty Crocker Sugar cookies especially if I'm making a lot of cookies, like for my teens school. It's cost effective and the cookies taste amazing!

This year, why not start a new tradition? With a little help from Betty Crocker, GladWare®, and the Safeway Family of Stores, you can keep your loved ones' hearts and homes filled with holiday spirit and homemade goodness of Betty Crocker. Whip up a plate full of cookies using a recipe from BakeSweetMemories.com and host a cookie exchange!

What better way to escape the hustle and bustle of the holiday season than inviting your friends and family over for a night of swapping cookies, recipes, and memories? I actually just bought this Cookie Exchange kit to organize and decorate my Cookie Exchange! I'm so excited to be hosting my Cookie Exchange for my coworkers.

In case you've never heard or done A Cookie Exchange, it's a wonderful way to collect an assortment of different cookies, without having to bake all of them yourself. The concept is simple: Host a party and invite friends to bring a batch of their favorite homemade cookies. Then everyone swaps cookies and returns home with a delectable selection to have on hand during the holidays. During the exchange participants collect each type of cookie featured in the exchange along with a copy of the recipe if there is one. It's a great fun activity to hold during the Holidays!

And be sure to keep your cookies fresh for the exchange and share them in GladWare! Glad® food storage products are the perfect solution for preparing, storing and transporting holiday goods. They´re also great for gift giving too, so count on Glad® products to help keep your holiday foods fresh and festive and ready to serve during your Cookie Exchange.

And from December 8th through December 14th , visit the Safeway family of Stores (which includes Dominick´s, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Vons, and Genuardi´s) to purchase any two participating Gladware products and get a free Betty Crocker Cookie Pouch while supplies last.  So you can even get ready for your Cookie Exchange for free with the help of Safeway and Gladware!

For great holiday recipe ideas, how-to videos, and tips for hosting your very own cookie exchange, visit BakeSweetMemories.com. While you´re there, be sure to play the new Sweet Memories game that gives you the chance to instantly win free Betty Crocker products!

If you hold your Cookie Exchange, I promise it will be a great time and it will certainly be a fun memory to cherish for the Holidays!


HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY!

ONE LUCKY READER WILL WIN A "Happy Holiday Treats" PRIZE PACK that includes a package of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix, a GladWare sample pack, and a $25 Safeway gift card (also valid at Dominick´s, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Vons, and Genuardi´s). 

  
How amazing is that! Trust me you will love this Prize Pack!

TO ENTER:

MANDATORY ENTRY:

LEAVE A COMMENT BELLOW on this post Telling me which are your favorite recipes from the Bake Sweet Memories website OR what Betty Crocker mixes and Glad products YOU are most looking forward to using if you host a Cookie Exchange?

That's all you have to do to enter...but if you'd like additional entries:

For Additional Entries after the main entry is completed, do the following and PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT BELLOW FOR EACH ADDITIONAL ENTRY YOU DO:  

-Follow @Safeway on twitter at  http://twitter.com/safeway

-Follow @bettycrocker on twitter at http://twitter.com/bettycrocker 

-SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG BY EMAIL OR VIA READER! SCROLL DOWN THE RIGHT SIDE BAR OF MY BLOG WHERE IT SAYS "SUBSCRIBE TO ME"

- “Like” The Queen of Swag! on Facebook at Facebook.com/thequeenofswag (or click on the Facebook Like button found on the right side bar).

- Follow The Queen of Swag on Twitter @queenofswag4u or by clicking on the twitter buttons that say follow me on the right side bar.

-Tweet this Giveaway! 

Feel free to make up a Tweet about this Holiday Giveaway with @queenofswag4u and #MyBlogSpark and http://thequeenofswag.blogspot.com or this shortened link http://bit.ly/ahoOgH so I can see it or use the tweet I created below.
 
 #Giveaway! WIN A $25 @safeway GC & Happy Holiday Treats PRIZE PACK  from #MyBlogSpark & @queenofswag4u http://bit.ly/ahoOgH - ENDS 12/20

-Leave a LINK to your Tweet in a Comment Bellow.

(This is limited to 4 tweets per day, spaced apart not one right after the other PLEASE. I don't want anyone to be called spammers or blocked by twitter.)

- Become a “Google Friend Connect Friend” with The Queen of Swag! found also on the (right side bar of the blog)

- Connect with me on NETWORKED BLOGS found also on the (right side bar of the blog)

- Enter any of my other HOLIDAY giveaways (leave one comment for each giveaway you enter)

- Blog about this giveaway and leave a link to post.

- Add my HAPPY HOLIDAYS GIFT GUIDE BUTTON OR REGULAR BLOG BUTTONS to your blog and leave a link to show me you did.

- Use any of the social networking buttons found at the bottom of this post underneath my NAME/Signature to promote this giveaway. Be sure to tell me what you did and if possible provide a name and/or URL so that I can check it out.

-On any future Wednesdays, Participate in my Wednesday Hump Day Slump Day events by Posting a comment and leave a comment here saying you participated.

GIVEAWAY WILL END DEC. 20 TH, 2010 at 11:59pm pacific time! Winners will be notified by email, twitter, or facebook and winners will be announced on this blog, on twitter, and on facebook.

This GIVEAWAY is open to USA ONLY! SORRY.

PRIZE WILL BE FULFILLED AND MAILED TO WINNER BY MY BLOG SPARK, SAFEWAY,  BETTY CROCKER, AND GLAD!

**PLEASE SEE RULES AND DISCLAIMER FOR MORE PRIZE INFO. AGAIN WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN AT RANDOM USING RANDOM.ORG FROM ELIGIBLE ENTRIES.**

Good luck to All who enter! And THANK YOU so much for following my blog! I hope you enjoy my Happy Holidays Gift Guide Features!

***Disclosure: I will be receiving a coupon and prize pack of my own by Safeway, Betty Crocker, and Glad through MyBlogSpark. And the information and giveaway for an additional prize pack are also provided by Safeway, Betty Crocker, and Glad through MyBlogSpark. All Opinions are my own and I was not compensated in any way for this feature Giveaway.***

UPDATE!-HAPPY HOLIDAYS GIFT GUIDE 2010 EXTENDED- IS HERE! NOW FROM NOV. 19TH-DEC. ?

Hey All,


I'm extending my Holiday Gift Guide Until December 10th because I got some more sponsors I can't wait to tell you about and also got some products late and I WILL be having MORE amazing giveaways to give you and I want them two be featured and have their giveaways run for at least a week in the Gift Guide. So It will be now be going from November 19, 2010 through December 10th, 2010. SOME GIVEAWAYS WILL STILL END ON DEC. 5TH as stated, but Some will end on DECEMBER 10th! So Mark your calenders everyone! I’ll be posting gift ideas for everyone on your shopping list, even for dogs. You can find something for everyone in the family with this guide I'm sure.

I will also be hosting many AMAZING giveaways where you can win great gifts for someone on your holiday shopping list or for yourself of course. I'm so excited by this Gift Guide! I can't wait to share it with all of you!

You will also find recipes, crafts, movies, and lots of Holiday entertainment. Yay! Lots of fun stuff await!

You can easily access the guide by clicking HERE or ON THE RIGHT SIDE BAR under where it says LABELS and under that you will see the words “HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE”. You can click there to find everything as well.

If you are currently not a subscriber or follower PLEASE consider subscribing so you will be the first to know about all the great giveaways and features of the gift guide and you won’t miss out on anything. I promise you don't want to miss this!

You can subscribe to me by RSS subscription, E-mail subscription, Facebook, or Twitter which are all found on the right side bar. You can do all subscribing in my right side bar. I will also post info on my facebook page and twitter page through out the guide.

Also each day in the gift guide I will update THIS PAGE YOU ARE READING NOW to reflect all the new additions to the Gift Guide. You will find updates in the sections at the bottom of THIS POST UNDER CATEGORIES. This page will grow with  each day of the Guide so please make sure to refer to it daily. Save and BOOKMARK this page if you have to so you can find everything quickly.

And lastly, I'm always open to adding more products to the gift guide once it begins, so If you have a product or service you would like to see included in the guide please contact me directly at thequeenofswag at gmail dot com or at the CONTACT ME button on the RIGHT SIDE BAR or by facebook or twitter. However you want to reach me feel free!

CATEGORIES:


Gift Ideas for Adults, Parents, and Grand Parents:

*The Nanny Factor & Care4Hire.com! & GIVEAWAY! Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!

*A Slice of Delight! Hand Made Soaps! & GIVEAWAY! Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!

*Holiday Family Flick Night! General Mills Big G Cereals GIVEAWAY! Holiday Gift Guide Feature!

*CSNSTORES.COM For the Holidays! & $35 GIVEAWAY! Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!

*Acquaessentials.com! Amazing Spa Products for the Holidays! GIVEAWAY! Happy Holiday Gift Guide Feature!

*Amazing Gift! Hallmark Recordable Storybooks! & GIVEAWAY- Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!

*Geeky Christmas Paradise! Luxury Lane Soaps! & GIVEAWAY! Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!

 *Igo For the Holidays! & GIVEAWAY! Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!


*Adorable Cupcake Cuties & GIVEAWAY! Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!







Gift Ideas for Children:

*A Slice of Delight! Hand Made Soaps! & GIVEAWAY! Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!

*Holiday Family Flick Night! General Mills Big G Cereals GIVEAWAY! Holiday Gift Guide Feature!

*CSNSTORES.COM For the Holidays! & $35 GIVEAWAY! Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!

*Amazing Gift! Hallmark Recordable Storybooks! & GIVEAWAY- Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!

*Ruckus Media Book Apps for the Holidays! & GIVEAWAY! Happy Holidays Gift Guide!

*Too Cute! PET CAKES for the Holidays! & GIVEAWAY! Happy Holidays Gift Guide!

*Go! Go! Sports Girl Dolls! & GIVEAWAY-Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!

*Adorable Cupcake Cuties & GIVEAWAY! Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!

Gift Ideas for Teens:

*A Slice of Delight! Hand Made Soaps! & GIVEAWAY! Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!

*Holiday Family Flick Night! General Mills Big G Cereals GIVEAWAY! Holiday Gift Guide Feature!

*CSNSTORES.COM For the Holidays! & $35 GIVEAWAY! Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!

*Geeky Christmas Paradise! Luxury Lane Soaps! & GIVEAWAY! Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!

*Igo For the Holidays! & GIVEAWAY! Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!


*Adorable Cupcake Cuties & GIVEAWAY! Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!



Gift Ideas for Pets:

*The Nanny Factor & Care4Hire.com! & GIVEAWAY! Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!


Recipes:

*Dunkin Hines Glazes, Mixes, and Recipes Ohh My! Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!



 Holiday Crafts:

*Holiday Gift Guide Feature Craft Idea! Christmas Place Cards: Candy Snowman!


Holiday Entertainment:

Sales & Discounts:

Hope you are enjoying my 1st ever Holiday Gift Guide and thanks for following everyone!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Holiday Gift Guide Feature Recipe! Sugar Cookies from Martha Stewart!

Hey All!

I found the most amazing Recipe for Holiday Sugar Cookies on Marthastewart.com today and I just had to share it with you! The Recipe was called Sugar Cookie Cutouts and it made these adorable Christmas Trees and Santa's.

Here is the link to the recipe: Sugar Cookie Cutouts - Martha Stewart Recipes but I also copied and pasted it below. There were two separate links on how to make and decorate the cookies. Here is the link to how to decorate the cookies:Decorated Santa Cookies - Martha Stewart Recipes.

I also copied the instructions on how to decorate them below. These cookies would make great cookies to leave Santa on Christmas eve or to hand out at your Holiday Parties or as Stocking Stuffers for your kids!

How to make the cookies: 
Makes about 2 dozen 4-inch cookies

• 4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.
2. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Divide dough into quarters; flatten each quarter into a disk. Wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds. Let one disk of dough stand at room temperature just until soft enough to roll, about 10 minutes. Roll out dough between two pieces of plastic wrap to 1/4-inch thickness. Remove top layer of plastic wrap. Cut out cookies with a 4-to-5-inch cookie cutter. Transfer cookie dough on plastic wrap to a baking sheet. Transfer baking sheet to freezer, and freeze until very firm, about 15 minutes. Remove baking sheet from freezer, and transfer shapes to baking sheets lined with nonstick baking mats. Roll out scraps, and repeat. Repeat with remaining disk of dough.
4. Bake, switching positions of sheets and rotating halfway through, until edges turn golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

How to Decorate the cookies:

Ingredients:

Makes one cookie.

• Royal Icing
• Flesh-tone gel-paste food coloring
• 4-to-5-inch Santa-shaped Sugar Cookie Cutouts
• 2 purple or green jumbo rainbow nonpareils
• Red gel-paste food coloring
• Small gumdrops (halved), dragees, mini marshmallows (halved), or snowflake candies
• Black gel-paste food coloring
• White gel-paste food coloring
• Coarse sanding sugar
• 1 small red-hot cinnamon candy
• White sprinkles

Directions:

1. Mix together some of the royal icing with the flesh-tone food coloring until desired shade is reached. Transfer to a small squirt bottle. To create face and hands on the cookie, outline the area with flesh-tone icing (see template). Draw several zigzags across entire surface of the outlined area. If necessary, use a toothpick to spread evenly. Using tweezers, add nonpareils to create eyes. Let dry.
2. Mix together some of the royal icing with the red food coloring until desired shade is reached. Transfer to a small squirt bottle. To create hat, jacket, and pants on the cookie, outline the area with red icing (see template). Draw several zigzags across entire surface of the outlined area. If necessary, use a toothpick to spread evenly. Using tweezers, add gumdrops to create buttons on jacket.
3. Mix together some of the royal icing with the black food coloring until desired shade is reached. Transfer to a small squirt bottle. To create boots on the cookie, outline the area with black icing (see template). Draw several zigzags across entire surface of the outlined area. If necessary, use a toothpick to spread evenly. Let dry.
4. Mix together some of the royal icing with the white food coloring until desired shade is reached. Transfer to a small squirt bottle. To create trim on hat, jacket, and pants, outline the area with white icing (see template). Draw several zigzags across entire surface of the outlined area. If necessary, use a toothpick to spread evenly. Sprinkle trim with sanding sugar. Using tweezers, add a mini marshmallow to top of hat to create a tassel. Let dry.
5. To create beard on cookie, outline the area with white icing (see template). Draw several zigzags across entire surface of the outlined area. If necessary, use a toothpick to spread evenly. Using tweezers, add red hot candy to create a nose. Sprinkle beard with white sprinkles. Let dry. 

There is a template you need to download and follow in order to decorate these cookies. The link to the template is available where ever it says template in the instructions. Just click on the word template.

I'm going to attempt to do this recipe and pray it comes out OK. I'm no Martha, but I will do my best. Hopefully you will enjoy this recipe none the less. Again this is not my recipe, I do not take any credit for it. It is a recipe I found at MarthaStewart.com that I thought was great and should share with you my readers.

So enjoy this recipe and Thanks so much for following my blog! And I hope you're enjoying my Holiday Gift Guide just as much as I am.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Dunkin Hines Glazes, Mixes, and Recipes Ohh My! Happy Holidays Gift Guide Feature!

Hey All!

How many of you like to hand out baked goods as gifts for the Holidays? Do you still hand out those dreadful Fruitcakes? Well kick the fruitcake to the side this year and pick up some New Duncan Hines Decadent Cakes and Amazing Glazes!  These cakes and glazes will bring a smile to anyone who gets the chance to taste them. I recently had the chance to try these products and I have to say Duncan Hines has made it easy to make impressive Gift dessert’s with these Amazing Glazes and mixes.

These glazes and mixes are sooooo easy to use. They’re quick and easy to make and they taste fantastic. The glazes require you to just pop the bottle in the microwave for a few seconds and you then you can pour it out onto your favorite desserts! The glazes come in a chocolate and vanilla flavor. They are great for cakes, cookies, for dipping fruit into, or even Popcorn. I tried some on popcorn and it tastes great. In fact both of the glazes taste great and again are extremely easy to use. The glaze is more like icing than frosting just so you get an idea of what it's like.

I got to also try the “Triple Chocolate Cake” and the “Apple Caramel Cake“. They’re both amazing! Amazing is probably an understatement. Dunkin Hines as really out done themselves with these mixes, I kid you not. 

The “Triple Chocolate Cake” comes with chocolate chips and a rich fudge swirl filling and the “Apple Carmel Cake” has real apples and a rich caramel swirl filling. So YUMMY! You simply prepare the cake batter and filling and then add the “swirl filling” into the cake batter and your done. Pop it into the oven and what pops out are cakes that are moist with gooey center oozing out of them!

The cakes and glazes are available in stores now and they are offering a $1 coupon off of these products so you can try them too and the coupon is available here.

You can also find great recipes on their site for these cakes and glazes like this one bellow. I loved this recipe and I think it's a perfect recipe to use if you'd like to hand out these tasty treats as gifts for the Holidays.

 

• 1 box Duncan Hines® Apple Caramel Decadent Cake Mix
• 1 container Duncan Hines® Vanilla Amazing Glazes 

1. Preheat Oven to 350° F
2. Place 14-16 liners in muffin cups. (Baking tip: Spray top of pan with cooking spray for cupcakes to release from pan easier.)
3. Mix batter according to directions. Spoon batter into muffin tin, about 2/3rds of the way full. You will have enough batter for 14-16 cupcakes.
4. Mix caramel pouch as directed on box. Spoon a heaping teaspoon of caramel on top of the batter. Do not mix into batter. Gently swirl caramel into surface of cupcake using a knife.
5. Bake for 21-24 mins. Cupcakes will be golden brown and spring back when touched in center. Allow to cool completely before glazing or frosting.

6. Top with Duncan Hines Vanilla Amazing Glazes: Follow instructions on package to remove paper tab under cap, open cap, microwave and pour. For easy clean up, put cupcakes on a rack, which is sitting on top of a piece of foil, wax paper or parchment paper -- then pour the glaze over the cupcakes.

You can make these amazing cupcakes and wrap them up individually in some wax paper and Holiday cellophane like this:

And you can hand them out at your Holiday gathers or as gifts or at your workplace. Or if you're going to a Holiday Dinner party you can make a Holiday platter and wrap it up all on one dish like in the pic below.

These Decadent Glazes and cake mixes are perfect for the Holiday season in so many ways. I highly recommend you try them and see what amazing things you can do with these treats for the Holidays. I'm sure you will love them just as much as I do.

Thanks for allowing me to share my love of these amazing Dunkin Hines treats with you and I hope you are enjoying my Happy Holidays Gift Guide Features.

Thanks so much again for following my blog.

**Disclosure: I received two boxes of cake mixes and two bottles of glazes from Duncan Hines for this review feature. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated or paid in any way for this post.**

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! TIME TO PARTY! - SWAGGERIFIC HALLOWEEN GUIDE FINALE!

Hey all,

Oh how fast October went by. I loved having this Swaggerific Halloween Guide for my followers. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I can't wait for next year. I hope you enjoyed the recipes and giveaways.

Halloween was amazing for me and my family. We had the most amazing time this year at our Annual Halloween Party this year. We had Amazing Tombstone pizza.

Amazing deserts including cupcakes, my famous cemetery cake.

And amazing hand made chocolates from CandyCassions.

We also had the most amazing recipe for Halloween drinks that we made yummy Alizé Red Passion for the adult guests.

The recipe was called Vampire Kiss Martini. Such a perfect drink name for Halloween or for when you're having your True Blood Parties. The recipe is:

1 ½ ounces Alizé Red Passion
1 ounce Alizé Gold Passion
1 ounce premium vodka
Top with lemonade and serve in a martini glass.

These drinks were a big hit at our party and the perfect spooky drink for Halloween. They were the drink of choice to all who tried them. You definitely need to try these amazing drinks made with Alizé Red Passion. I promise you will love them just as much as everyone in my party did. I'll surely be making these when True blood comes back on.

We played lots of Halloween movie trivia and it was just an amazing night filled with lots of eating, drinking, and enjoying the company of our friends and family.

Just FYI this was our adult only party and our teen went to sleep over at his best friends house. So it was like our one night out to ourselves. It felt great to just have one night to relax and enjoy the company of our friends especially on Halloween. Oh how it made me feel young again. I digress...

Hope you all had the most amazing Halloween as well. I hope I helped aide in making it a little better with my Swaggerific Halloween Guide.

Thank you all again for following my blog and again I hope you all had a very HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

My Amazing Cemetery Movie Cake and Cupcakes! Halloween Recipe! - Swaggerific Halloween Feature!

Hey all!

Every year I make the most amazing cemetery cake for halloween. This cake is a great centerpiece for any Halloween party! You can either leave it in the pan like I do, or prepare a sheet cake, your choice! I decorate my cake with Halloween candies and crushed oreo cookies to make the dirt. This cake is cute, easy to make, and seriously tastes amazing. Just make it you're own and just have fun!

This is a picture of a cake I made last year.

This is the cake I made this year!

I put a twist on the cake this year and made it a horror movie cemetery cake with Jason...

And Michael Myers included.

I also included the old cars, bottles of booze, guns, knives, you know since teens are always getting killed in horror movies after boozing it up. zombie hands, candy pumpkins, tombstones made out of Milano Cookies, Marsh mellow peep ghosts, and anything else you can think of that is Halloween and movie related.

Isn't it adorable! I love my cemetery cake so much this year.

You can make your own cake or use a mix. I used the Pillsbury Funfetti Halloween Cake mix and a tub of Milk chocolate whipped frosting. This cake can be made super quick!

I also made some Halloween spooky cupcakes.

Also complete with zombie hands and Jason heads! Again all I used was the Halloween Funfetti cake mix from Pillsbury and the Pillsbury Halloween orange frosting and the chocolate whipped frosting I had left over from the cake.

So Here is everything you need. I got the cake decorations and cupcake liners at target and at the amazing online shop called The Cupcake Confessional which I feature in my Halloween guide earlier this month. I used her Horror Movie Cupcake kit and zombie hands and liquor bottles that I bought to make this cake.

So you can get your decorations from where ever and decorate your cake and cupcakes how ever you'd like.

Ingredients for the cake:
1 (18.25 oz.) box of Halloween Pillbury Funfetti cake mix or Dunkin Hines Yellow cake mix
1 1/2 to 2 C. of already prepared Milk chocolate frosting
1 pack of Oreo cookies to turn into cemetery dirt. You simple take apart the oreos one by one by hand just to get the chocolate cookie part separated. I placed my cookies in a blender for two seconds and poof chocolate dirt.

For Graveyard, any Combination of:
Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookies (gravestones)
Cake Decorator's Icing (various colors and flavors)
Candy pumpkins
Green sprinkles
Spooky novelty candies (gummy worms, candy pumpkins etc.)
Halloween Ghost Marshmallow Peeps
Food-safe plastic Halloween decorations

Instructions:
1. Prepare cake mix according to package directions in a 13 x 9 inch glass cake pan (or make your own). Let cool in pan.
2. Spread frosting evenly over cake.
3. Top with Oreo crumb "dirt."
4. Decorate as desired with any combination of coconut grass, cookie gravestones, nut paths, pretzel fences, etc. I write R.I.P. (or anything else you want) on Milano cookies with decorator's frosting before inserting in cake.
5. Add Halloween party snacks for decorations, like marshmallow peep ghosts, candy pumpkins, and any other spooky candy you like.

The cupcakes you do the same except place the cake mix into Halloween themed cupcake liners in your cupcake pan then decorate how you see fit.

That's all you have to do to make these cakes and cupcakes. I hope you enjoy this recipe for this Halloween and for future Halloween parties. It's an amazing cake to make. I love it and I'm sure you will too!

Thanks for letting me share this recipe with you and Happy Halloween everyone.

Thanks again for following my blog!