Guest Post-Banana Truffle Sundae Bites

Hello readers! Today I want to introduce you to a new blog I have recently stumbled upon. It's called Shugary Sweets and it's written by Aimee. She has a lot of great looking sweet treats on her blog and today she is here to share a new one with us. Her recipe sounds awesome and they are so adorable. Here she is....

Hey everyone, I am so honored to be guest-blogging here at Lavender Clouds! I've never been a guest on someone else's blog before, so I am truly honored and humbled that Lil invited me to share with all of you! Just a little about myself, I have been blogging my family life since 2007. I have brothers, and other family all over the world, and it's been a way for us to keep in touch (they do the same with their famiy). However, over the years, it became boring, both to write and read about my life! I mean really, how many times can you say, "well we went to another soccer game this weekend," or "kids are doing great." So in January of this year, I decided to take the plunge and start sharing recipes with my family. Through the months, I've expanded and learned that there is a whole world of food blogging! In April, I learned about linky parties- how cool are those?! Anyways, I am a stay at home mom to 4 awesome kids- my oldest, son, is finishing 8^th grade this year (just like Lil's) and will be headed off to high school in the fall. Please pray for me! Then we also have 3 daughters, aged 12,9, and 7. Again, continue the prayers! They keep us very busy as they are all active in sports and church! However, I have found it's very important to strive to have family dinners together...some days it happens at 4:30pm, some days we don't eat together until 7pm. But our goal is to try every night! And what's dinner without a little dessert? Speaking of which, why don't we get to that right now! 

Here's how it started. I wanted to make a banana split dip. I realized I didn't have any strawberries. I really enjoyed making the chocolate chip cookie dough bites, so I thought I could do some sort of banana truffle. See in my family, we eat a lot of bananas. At least we normally do. I buy 3 bunches of bananas a week (about 20 bananas). There are 6 of us, so that's not so much. Except when everyone decides they don't want bananas, they want grapes. Or apples, or oranges. And the bananas sit there are lonely and neglected. I feel bad for them. So I either have to stick them in a ziploc in the freezer, make more of these, or do something new.

I chose new, and boy am I thrilled. These have an amazing center that is soft and rich (come on, it's banana and chocolate and cream). And they look cute too! Now I have to find a way to use those sad, neglected grapes that sit at the bottom of the bowl, squished and unloved. Any ideas?

Banana Truffle Sundae Bites Recipe:

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 small banana

11 oz white chocolate morsels

12 oz vanilla bark, melted

4 oz chocolate candy coating, melted

sprinkles and red hots for decoration

In small saucepan heat cream until it starts to bubble, not boil. Set aside. In food processor, add banana with white chocolate morsels. Process until combined. Slowly pour in hot cream while processing. Continue to mix until smooth. Pour into a freezer safe bowl and freeze for 2 hours (or overnight).

Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a tablespoon, scoop out ONE tablespoon of mixture and roll into a ball. Place on baking sheet and continue until all balls are formed. Freeze for one hour. Makes about 36 truffles.

When ready to assemble, using a toothpick dip each truffle into the melted vanilla bark. Set truffle back on parchment and repeat until all truffles have been dipped. Don’t worry about the toothpick hole, it will be covered by chocolate. They should set within minutes because the truffle was cold. Melt chocolate candy coating and pour into a ziploc bag. Snip small hole in corner of bag and drizzle a little blob of chocolate on top of each truffle. Add sprinkles and red hot. The weight of the sprinkles should make the chocolate drizzle down the sides a bit. Otherwise use a little more chocolate with the next truffle. Allow to set in refrigerator and enjoy cold!

Major Problems With Google Blogger and GFC

Hello Folks! Just a quick update to let you know my blog is slowly but surely becoming more screwed up by the day. I swear I didn't even change anything today! My GFC followers have disappeared. My dashboard still shows I have 102 followers, but I can't actually see any of their pictures. So...I don't even know if these post will still show up in your Dashboard Reader for you.

Separately, I have not been able to comment on anyone else's blog posts either. I write my comment, type in the security word, and it redirects me to my login page. I login, same as always and it takes me back to the comment page and asks me to type in a different security code only to redirect me back to my login page, over and over. So please know, I'm here, I'm reading your posts, I'm just stuck :(

I hope I can get it fixed soon, because I'm supposed to have a guest blogger tomorrow and I want you all to be able to read her post. If you are a GFC follower and receive this in your Reader, please let me know that it is working by leaving a comment below.

Williams and Sonoma Brooksters ***Fail***

I recently purchased a box of Brooksters from a retail Williams and Sonoma store. They are not available online. I decided to purchase these because I figured they would be easier than making them from scratch, which I have done before. It was $16 for a box that contains packages for two separate batches of 9 Brooksters, giving you a total of 18 Brooksters.

The directions state all you have to add is butter and eggs. I opened my box and followed the first part of the directions to make the cookie dough. I wrapped it and put it in the fridge. Next, I went to make the brownie part of the recipe. It was at that moment I had to re-read the ingredient list and directions over and over to make sure I was reading it correctly before I called Williams and Sonoma to complain of missing ingredients. That's when I snapped this photo.That's right, my box of Brooksters did not come with all the ingredients. It was missing two packets of chocolate chips that are melted and used in the brownie mix.

I called Williams and Sonoma Retail Customer Service at 866-224-4598. She was unable to help me but connected me to my store's manager even though it was only 9 am, an hour before my store opened. While the woman at the main customer service was very nice, I have to say that Amy, the store manager, was not. She seemed very inconvenienced to have to help me. Her first suggestion was that I bring it back and exchange it. I declined because I was literally in my apron making the darn things! I also noted that her store is a good 35 minutes from my house. I asked her if she could open a box and check the ingredients. She said no, and asked me to further explain the problem. When I did she said it was a misprint on the box. I again explained that it was not a misprint in the instructions, it had to do with the ingredients provided. She agreed to open a box and informed me that, yes, I was missing two packets of chocolate chips. I told her I had some mini chocolate chips. Could she measure the chips for me so I could use what I had? Clearly she was annoyed and put me hold to come back with a weight measurement of three ounces. I asked if she could instead measure them in a cup because I didn't have a scale. Even more annoyed she came back and said it was 1/3 of a cup. I told her thank you and she said you're welcome and hung up. I am extremely disappointed with her poor customer service.

I used my chocolate chips and finished the recipe. I baked as directed. Unfortunately, there is difficulty with getting the brownie completely cooked without compromising the cookie. My brownies were undercooked slightly and upon removing them, they just completely separated from the cookie. Also my batch only made 7 Brooksters despite adding exactly 2 tbls. of brownie batter to each muffin cup as directed, which is why I'm confused that mine turned out a lot thicker than the ones shown on the box. The flavors of these Brooksters were lacking. I will NEVER make or purchase these again and next time I'm at my mall, I will return the box and insist on a full refund.

Brookies or Brooksters do seem like they could be really delicious, and they can be, but I would suggest making them from scratch. I've used this Matt Lewis recipe with decent results. The flavor of these Brookies featured on the Martha Stewart show are absolutely perfect, but they are a lot of work and results of the finished product vary. There is even a video. Good luck!

How I Taught My Child Multiplication

Chloe entered third grade this last fall and I knew this was the year they would start learning multiplication. I wanted her to know her multiplication tables before they started learning them in class for a couple of reasons. One, I wanted whatever she learned at school to be extra practice and two, I thought if the tricks I taught her didn't work, she would surely learn different ones at school. When Nash was in third grade he attended an amazing charter school. I remember that his teacher used stories and pictures to help the kids remember the facts. I had no idea what lesson she used, so I began Googling.

I found Multiplication.com 

I purchased the book, Multiplication In A Flash.

It's actually on sale right now for $21.95.  

The book starts with several schedules. You can choose one to fit your needs and desired pace. I picked the 3 day schedule. When it was time, Chloe and I would sit down at the table with a white board, our printouts, and some m&m's for motivation! I would talk her through the short lesson and whatever else.  I used the whiteboard during the lesson, then she got to use it, to show me what I just explained. The book walks you through everything and it is VERY EASY to follow.

The best part about the book is that it has different teaching approaches for each kind of learner. It teaches with funny stories that are easy to remember, pictures that tell the story, games, and cookie graphs.

Here are a few snapshots from the book:

Teacher Gift Idea

See the eight and skate picture below? I printed that and all the others like it off onto white cardstock. I printed the story that goes with it on the back. Then, I had Chloe color the photo. We did this on a few cards each week. When they were all done and we completed the book, I had them lamenated. We gave the cards and the book to Chloe's teacher.

At times, we struggled to start the lessons, but we got through it. The m&m's helped. So did the bribe. I promised Chloe that after she was done with the lessons, I would get her the Marbleworks toy from Discovery Toys. I'm so happy I took the time to do this with her. It definitely gave her an edge. She never had any trouble when she did multiplication in class. In fact, she was the best in the class, scoring 100% on every timed test before any of the other children. Aren't those bragging mom's so annoying?

*I was not asked to write a review for this product, nor did I receive any compensation.

I'm just sharing something with you that I really loved!

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

In my Teacher Appreciation Week post I mentioned that I was going to make these caramel apple cupcakes I found on Tidy Mom's blog. Have you been to her blog? You'll love it I'm sure. Well, I made them and they were more than amazing. Her Cinnamon Buttercream is the best buttercream I've ever had. And I'm not a fan of buttercream at all. I dropped some off at Nash's school in the morning and by noon the secretary was calling. I immediately got worried something was wrong with Nash, but she said she wanted to place a cupcake order for an upcoming baby shower. She is the best kind of customer. You know, the kind that says, do what ever you want, be creative. Honestly, I really do love those customers. Then if you screw something up they'll never know that's not what you had planned!

On to the recipe. You start with a box of Duncan Hines Decadent Caramel Apple Cake mix.

Simply follow the instructions for cupcakes on the back of the box.

*Note: The instructions call for mixing the caramel and spooning it on top of the cupcake batter and then swirling it with a knife. I had trouble with this step. Next time, I think I will add the caramel mixture to a piping bag and use a small tip to pipe it in little swirls. It was difficult to spread it with the knife because it's so thick and it ended up being kind of clumpy.

Next, click here for Tidy Mom's Cinammon Buttercream recipe. It's basically regular buttercream with the addition of cinamonn and some vanilla bean paste, which I found at a gourmet market and I loved. I have never used it before, but I will use it often. She also uses cream instead of milk. She adds corn syrup to the frosting, but I inadvertently left it out and it was fine. I'm not sure why she added it, but maybe it was to make the frosting more manageable. I bet you could use piping gel for the same purpose.

I purchased these adorable glasses from Starbucks the same day I made these cupcakes, so I thought I would use them as props!

I love taking pictures of cupcakes.

The sit still, they don't make funny faces, and they have an endless amount of patience.

Thanks for a great recipe Tidy Mom, it's a keeper!