MARSHMALLOW CANDY CANE POPCORN

This post is sponsored by Coca-Cola.

Marshmallows, white chocolate and candy canes smothered all over your popcorn. Christmas Elves eat this for dinner, and I make this recipe as part of my perfect Christmas movie night (see my last post for my top FREE holiday movies). 

It's a festive recipe that your kids will always talk about, and it's also a great treat to make for gifts. Bundle it up in a Coca-Cola tin, add a movie gift card and a bottle of Coca-Cola and you have yourself the perfect gift basket.

MARSHMALLOW CANDY CANE POPCORN
by Nicky Vender

3/4 cup butter
8 oz mini marshmallows
1 cup white chocolate chips
4 candy canes, crushed
Red and green sprinkles
2 bags plain popcorn, popped (about 26 cups

In a large dutch oven or pot, melt butter over medium low heat. Then add marshmallows and stir until melted. Add white chocolate chips and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Pour popcorn into pan and stir gently until pieces are evenly coated. Then add the crushed candy canes and the red and green sprinkles before stirring a final time. (If you desire a stronger candy cane flavor, add a few drops of peppermint extract to the marshmallows while melting). Enjoy warm or spread out on parchment paper to cool and then place in a tin for later.

Photos by Melissa Jill Photography

GLUTEN FREE OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

'Tis the season for cookie exchanges and holiday parties filled with desserts. Eating sweets is probably one the best parts of this time of year, but for those of you that have dietary restrictions that prevent you from enjoying the average cookie here is a SUPER tasty chocolate cookie recipe created by Nicole Lee of Hey Dear.

When I was nursing Levi I had to change my diet dramatically to accommodate his sensitive stomach, and that led me to reaching out to Nicole. Nicole is an amazing food stylist, photographer and cook who has had to learn to cook gluten-free to help her body feel its best. She has three littles at home, so you know that this recipe has been taste tested by the ultimate experts. 

We hope you enjoy these cookies all year!

GLUTEN-FREE & DAIRY FREE CHOCOLATE COOKIES

INGREDIENTS:

1-cup vegan butter – Earth balance soy free baking sticks
1-cup sugar – Raw Sugar, preferably organic
1-cup light brown organic sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
2 eggs
1 ¾ cups Gluten Free Flour – Bob’s red mill  one/one mix is great! 
1-teaspoon baking powder
1-teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups Gluten Free Thick rolled oats (bob’s redmill is the best!)
1 bag of vegan chocolate chips/ or favorite brand 

An electric mixer, measuring cups, ice cream scoop, parchment paper, and cookie
trays.

DIRECTIONS:

In an electric mixer cream the butter, sugars, and vanilla, add in one egg at a time. In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients, minus the rolled oats and chocolate chips!  While the electric mixer is still going slowly add in the flour mixture and until dough forms. Then take off the bowl of the mixer grab a spatula, dump in the rolled oats and the chocolate chips. Hand mix until evenly through the dough. 

Now this part is key, you need to let the dough chill for at least one hour. If you have patience let it sit overnight. Instead of the dough being soupy it will bake perfectly.

Once the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 355 degrees. Line your cookie sheet with parchment paper, then scoop with a small ice cream scoop your dough and place on the tray. You will make rows of three about 1 inch apart from each other on the tray. Bake for 9-12 min. Until golden brown on the edges.

Once done remove the cookies from the cookie tray and place on a cooling rack until cooled. Then serve with milk and enjoy!

Photography and recipe by Nicole Lee.

POTATO & LEEK SOUP WITH SPICY SAUSAGE

The holidays are here, so that means entertaining season is here too. If you're planning on having a big party or small gathering you might want to consider serving soup, especially this potato and leek soup. This recipe is something you can make the day before or even earlier in the day and let it simmer on the stove while you enjoy your friends and family. What is also great about it is that it's gluten, dairy and nut free for those who have friends with food sensitivities. You can also modify the recipe to make it vegetarian or vegan, and it still  tastes great.

I hate it when you go to someone's house and you can't even converse with the host because they are too busy cooking. Haha! That's actually ME a lot of the time when I'm hosting because I'm not the best cook and it takes ALL of my concentration to do it. I'm really trying to be better at it, so I asked Nicole if she could help me.

Nicole Lee from Hey Dear came over to my house and gave me a private cooking lesson just in time for the holidays. It was exactly what I needed. I learned three different recipes, how to hold my knife correctly, how to chop my veggies the right way, and got some ideas of what to keep in my pantry. She is a brilliant cook and an amazing food stylist. If you're looking for some gluten free recipes be sure to check out her blog or hire her to help you become a better cook.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup dry white wine, preferable sauvignon blanc
1 1/2 cups free range organic vegetable broth
2 celery stalks chopped
2 carrots chopped
2 sweet onions, chopped
1lb leek, the whole thing chopped
1-2 garlic cloves finely minced
1 lb fingerling potatoes (russet or yukon gold work great too)
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
1 lb. Italian sausage, sweet or spicy (in casing)

DIRECTIONS:
Chop all of your vegatables with the carrots, onions and celery. Then peal the leeks, chop off the ends and slice them into quarters. Wash your potatoes and cop them into even cuts (in half, then half again, until they are in little squares). Put the carrots, celery, onion and leeks in a bowl, set aside. Put the chopped potatoes aside as well. Then finally chop the garlic and set aside.

Bring a frying pan to medium heat and sear the sausage for about minutes on each side. Once browned on each side, poke with a fork and reduce to low heat. Put a lid on the pan and finish cooking about 10-15 minutes until there is no pink the middle.

NOTE: Be mind that this is soup, it's rustic, it doesn't have to be perfect and really just throw it in the pot and it will do the rest.

Heat your soup pot to medium heat. Put in about a tablespoon of olive oil into the pan and add in the bowl of carrots, onion, celery and leeks. Mix together with a wooden spoon and let cook for about 5-10 minutes until the onions become translucent. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Also add your herbs. Add in your cup of white wine, keep the heat going so it reduced the alcohol properly. Let this cook together for about 8 minutes. Then add in your chicken broth, let it cook until you see it start boil.

While that finishes cooking, in another pot boil your potatoes until soft. Chop your sausage and then once both are finished add the sausage and potatoes to the soup mixture.

Let all of the ingredients simmer for about 20 minutes to an hour. If you have more time let it cool a bit longer. The longer it sits the better it will taste. Finally, add more salt and pepper to taste and serve with crusty bread and a dollop of fresh cream or fresh vegan yogurt. Enjoy!

Styling Food for Pinterest - Do's and Don'ts

Just because a picture is super successful on Instagram doesn't mean it will be engaging on Pinterest, and just because a picture is really pretty doesn't mean that it will be clicked on. When creating content for the web you always have to keep in mind a couple of things: 1) Where is this content going to live? 2) Will people click on the image? We ultimately want to capture viewers so that our voices can be heard above the noise, but too often I see people creating pretty things thinking that's enough to engage views. The reality is there's a lot of pretty out there to compete with, and not all of it gets the views it may deserve.

I think many people have the taste level and eye to style a pretty photo, but knowing what's pretty and what drives traffic are two different things. I see many photos on Pinterest that are drop dead gorgeous, but will I repin all of them? No. And will I click to view the photo on a blog? An even slimmer chance, unfortunately. So, what makes an image on Pinterest engaging and/or clickable? That's the big question! In order to answer this big question we need to break things down by subject. Let's start with food. (I'll tackle fashion next!)

Pinterest Food Styling Comparison

I did a little experiment for you guys and styled the same latte recipe three different ways. I kept certain elements the same, however.

Controls: Latte recipe Light Location Pinned to the same board

Variables: Cups Placement Text placement Font Pin description

Can you guess which photo performed the best? The answer surprised me at first, but it makes sense as to why. Latte A received the least amount of traffic with only 39,000+ impressions and only 127 clicks. Latte B received 58,000+ impressions with 197 clicks, and lastly, Latte C (the winner) received 63,000+ impressions with 213 clicks.

Why is this the case? When styling food people want to be up close and personal with the subject. Being able to see the drink through the glass matters. Photo C also has the best view of the donut even though that is not the star of the show. The donut adds an additional enticing factor for sure, so think about what complementary foods or ingredients can be added to your shots. Also, the text on this pin is the most readable, and I have the color black to thank for that.

Are all of these photos pretty? Yes, you an even view more photos from this post here to see what I mean. Readable text and being SUPER close to the subject your shooting so you can almost taste the latte matters as much as good light and photography.

For more Pinterest advice, check out these posts:

Under the Radar Pinners

How to Use Group Boards Effectively

How to Brand Your Business on Pinterest

Spooky Witches' Fingers Halloween Recipe

With the first day of fall already behind us, Halloween is quickly approaching. Instead of bombarding you with another sweet, pumpkin-flavored recipe of some sort, I wanted to share with you a healthier fall recipe that's just as fun. My friends over at Spork Foods have crafted these spooky pistachio witches' fingers which would make a perfect healthy Halloween party snack for everyone to enjoy! Pistachio Chewy Bite Witches’ Fingers

Yields 6

Ingredients:

6 Setton Farms Pistachio Chewy Bites

1/4 cup almond milk

1/2 cup non-dairy dark chocolate chips

Dash sea salt

12 dried cranberries

1/2 cup Setton Farms Roasted Pistachio Kernels, finely ground

Directions:

Unwrap all chewy bites and cut each chewy bite in half lengthwise. Gently press the two halves together, with the stickiest sides facing each other, creating one long strip. If desired, to create thumb and pinky finger, leave two halves short.  Set aside.

Place chocolate chips in a heat-proof bowl.

In a small pan, bring almond milk to a boil.  Pour over chocolate chips and let sit for about 20 seconds to melt chocolate.  Add sea salt.  Whisk until smooth.

Dip long Pistachio Chewy Bite strips into chocolate mixture and then sprinkle or roll in pistachios immediately. Place on wax paper lined plate and top each strip with 2 overlapping dried cranberries at the tip.

Set aside for about 20 minutes to firm up.

Recipe created by Spork Foods.