Jessica Merchant's Blog, page 384

12 Days of Christmas! Day 10: howsweeteats Squad Dinner and a Giveaway!

Are you as embarrassed by my title as I am?!

Last night, we went out for howsweeteats holiday dinner! It was super fun, we went to the Christmas pop up bar (Christmas totally threw up all over the place) and had dinner at Revel and Roost. I love being in the city at christmastime. 

Yesterday’s giveaway winner for the Mackenzie- Childs champagne flutes is Leslie who said “Those flutes are beautiful! NYE will be spent drinking champagne and ordering pizza at home with my husband and pooch! We’ll probably watch When Harry Met Sally. :)

Congrats Leslie! Please email me at howsweeteats (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address!

GIVEAWAY!

Today’s giveaway is another one for my beauty lovers! You will win three of my favorite Jo Malone products, but you can pick the scent so it will be something you love. xoxo!

To enter: leave a comment on this post telling me the perfume or cologne that you wear/wore as a teenager. For me, it was Lovespell and Amber Romance from Victoria’s Secret. I bathed in those. 

For a second entry: follow howsweeteats on facebook and leave a comment telling me you did so.

For a third entry: SUBSCRIBE to the howsweeteats youtube channel. There is a red button on the right side and you will only be notified when I upload a new video. This is the best way to be notified of a new video/giveaway in these 12 days too! Leave a comment telling me you did so.

The giveaway will only be open for 24 hours (!!), ending on 12/22/16 at 12 noon, at so be sure to enter and share! A winner will be picked at random. Come back for a new video and giveaway tomorrow. xoxo

The post 12 Days of Christmas! Day 10: howsweeteats Squad Dinner and a Giveaway! appeared first on How Sweet It Is.

Mini Cinnamon Orange Scones.

Guys!

I made you scones.

And! I don’t even like oranges. I don’t even care about orange flavored things. Those chocolate covered oranges that are out right now, around the holidays? Ohhhhh heck no. Don’t even come near me.

The only thing that gets me REMOTELY close to those is when I dip clementine wedges into ganache. That I can do.

BUT. There is just something so wonderfully nostalgic and Christmas-y for me about the orange cinnamon combo. And yes, of course it stems from those fabulous orange rolls right out of a can.

Confession: as I was sharing my orange cinnamon pull apart bread on instagram the other day? I declared that I was going to buy the orange cinnamon rolls from a can for the holidays. I said it.

I’m a huge hypocrite!

Really I’m just a nostalgic freak.

Instead of wasting my money on that stuff in the can though, I should probbbbbably just make these adorable mini scones.

They’re mini. So you get to eat more!

So good at math. Yes I am.

This is basically one giant hypocritical recipe because you probably know by now that scones are also not one of my favorite things. Unless I use this fantastic recipe. I think we can officially say I’m a holidazed mess.

Look at these adorable little triangles. Drizzled with delicious orange glaze. Sprinkled with crunchy, coarse orange cinnamon sugar. And yes, I totally think you can make the dough the day before, refrigerate it, then slice and bake come morning. This is the best gift ever!

Mini Cinnamon Orange Scones

Yield: makes about 12 to 16 mini scones

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cups cold butter, cut into pieces
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 oranges, zest freshly grated
melted butter for brushing


3 tablespoons coarse sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

orange glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
1/8 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 tablespoon orange zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract



Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. In a small bowl, combine 1/3 cup sugar with about 1/2 of the grated orange zest. Rub together with your fingers until combined and fragrant.

In large bowl combine the flour, orange sugar, salt, cinnamon, baking soda and powder. Using your fingers, a fork or a pastry blender, cut in butter until it forms coarse crumbs. Stir in the buttermilk and vanilla, and add the remaining orange zest. Add the juice from 1/2 of one of the zested oranges. Stir with a spoon until a dough forms, using your hands to bring it together. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently.

Divide the dough in half or in thirds and pat each into 5-inch round circles. Combine the coarse sugar, cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon orange zest. Brush each scone with melted butter and top with the coarse sugar. Cut each round into 4 or 6 slices, or use a biscuit cutter to make rounds. Bake the scones for 12 to 14 minutes, until the tops are slightly golden. Drizzle with the glass and any extra sugar. Serve immediately.

orange glaze

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth and a glaze forms. If it's too thick, add more orange juice 1 teaspoon at a time. If it's too thin, whisk in more sugar a few tablespoons at a time until desired consistency is reached.

Be sure to follow howsweeteats on instagram and tag your recipes with #howsweeteats! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the howsweeteats facebook page. I appreciate you so much!

Also craving that like whoa.

The post Mini Cinnamon Orange Scones. appeared first on How Sweet It Is.

12 Days of Christmas! Day 9: Gingerbread Palooza, Q+A and a Giveaway! {CLOSED}

Yes, I made gingerbread with my little ginger.

If you guys have been reading my blog for a few years, you might remember that two years ago, the night before I had Max, I went to my parents’ house and we made a gingerbread house. I was in labor while doing it (but didn’t really know I was) and it’s sort of been a tradition ever since! The houses. Not the labor.

This year, my dad and I tried out the gingerbread village from Target. I loved it so much! It was so fun getting to decorate a few different mini houses.

Max and I also mixed up gingerbread dough to bake cookies dough. It’s chilling in the fridge and I can’t wait.

ALSO! I’m going to film a Q+A video this week, so ask whatever you want to ask in the comments, on instagram, on twitter or in an email! xo

Yesterday’s giveaway winner for the Madewell Tote is Stacy S who said “I’m grateful for the people that love me and my kids….without them, I don’t know where we would be.”

Congrats Stacy! Please email me at howsweeteats (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address!

GIVEAWAY!

Today’s giveaway are these STUNNING champagne flutes by Mackenzie-Childs! I could not be more in love with them. A lucky winner will win a set of 4!

 

To enter: leave a comment on this post telling me how you will spend New Year’s Eve this year. I’ll be at home with my babes and a big cheese plate! 

For a second entry: follow howsweeteats on facebook and leave a comment telling me you did so.

For a third entry: SUBSCRIBE to the howsweeteats youtube channel. There is a red button on the right side and you will only be notified when I upload a new video. This is the best way to be notified of a new video/giveaway in these 12 days too! Leave a comment telling me you did so.

The giveaway will only be open for 24 hours (!!), ending on 12/21/16 at 12 noon, at so be sure to enter and share! A winner will be picked at random. Come back for a new video and giveaway tomorrow. xoxo

The post 12 Days of Christmas! Day 9: Gingerbread Palooza, Q+A and a Giveaway! {CLOSED} appeared first on How Sweet It Is.

12 Days of Christmas! Day 9: Gingerbread Palooza, Q+A and a Giveaway!

Yes, I made gingerbread with my little ginger.

If you guys have been reading my blog for a few years, you might remember that two years ago, the night before I had Max, I went to my parents’ house and we made a gingerbread house. I was in labor while doing it (but didn’t really know I was) and it’s sort of been a tradition ever since! The houses. Not the labor.

This year, my dad and I tried out the gingerbread village from Target. I loved it so much! It was so fun getting to decorate a few different mini houses.

Max and I also mixed up gingerbread dough to bake cookies dough. It’s chilling in the fridge and I can’t wait.

ALSO! I’m going to film a Q+A video this week, so ask whatever you want to ask in the comments, on instagram, on twitter or in an email! xo

Yesterday’s giveaway winner for the Madewell Tote is Stacy S who said “I’m grateful for the people that love me and my kids….without them, I don’t know where we would be.”

Congrats Stacy! Please email me at howsweeteats (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address!

GIVEAWAY!

Today’s giveaway are these STUNNING champagne flutes by Mackenzie-Childs! I could not be more in love with them. A lucky winner will win a set of 4!

 

To enter: leave a comment on this post telling me how you will spend New Year’s Eve this year. I’ll be at home with my babes and a big cheese plate! 

For a second entry: follow howsweeteats on facebook and leave a comment telling me you did so.

For a third entry: SUBSCRIBE to the howsweeteats youtube channel. There is a red button on the right side and you will only be notified when I upload a new video. This is the best way to be notified of a new video/giveaway in these 12 days too! Leave a comment telling me you did so.

The giveaway will only be open for 24 hours (!!), ending on 12/21/16 at 12 noon, at so be sure to enter and share! A winner will be picked at random. Come back for a new video and giveaway tomorrow. xoxo

The post 12 Days of Christmas! Day 9: Gingerbread Palooza, Q+A and a Giveaway! appeared first on How Sweet It Is.

Tuesday Things.

1. I don’t listen to the radio much, but whyyyy must they start playing Christmas music on November 1st only to stop it on December 26?! Can’t they wait until New Years Eve or something?

2. Can’t even get over these adorable peppermint bark cookies. Adding them to my list!

3. Eddie can eat the same food over and over again and for weeks he has been getting these mini donuts as his Saturday night dessert. I’m pretty sure I am now ruined on donuts as I don’t even want to touch them anymore. Whyyyyy.

4. What did you guys think of The Affair?! Oh my gosh – best episode yet this season. Freaking Pacey. Also! I just realized that Nashville will be starting up on CMT in a few weeks. I wonder if it will be as good?

5. I desperately need this unicorn hot chocolate in my life.

6. Christmas falling on the weekend is so depressing, while we’re on the topic of first world problems. I wish it could always fall on a Wednesday. So much time off! I mean, since it’s normal that I still think of my time in school year breaks.

7. I’ve been thinking about something else lately: with all of our technology and kids getting phones at the age of, like, seven, do they google about Santa?

8. Do I really need an instant pot? Tell me the secrets. Because I have no more kitchen space. But they are such a THING right now.

9. Are you already thinking of 2017? Do you make lists of goals? I’m in between wanting to plan for it but wanting to enjoy these last weeks of 2016. I’m going back and forth between making mini plans and immersing myself in the end of 2016.

10. I’m filming a Q+A video, so leave your questions below!

The post Tuesday Things. appeared first on How Sweet It Is.

12 Days of Christmas! Day 8: a Nice Little Sunday. {CLOSED}

In a rather uneventful Sunday, we went to lunch, Trader Joe’s ran a few other errands and wrapped some gifts! Boring and perfect. Max also got into Eddie’s dessert donuts, but since I missed capturing that on video, here’s a pic below. xoxo

Yesterday’s giveaway winner for the Nespresso is Sara Gelder who said “Followed FOR. EV. ER. On insta.”

Congrats Sara! Please email me at howsweeteats (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address!

GIVEAWAY!

Today’s giveaway is the Madewell Transport Tote! I love this bag so much and stuff my entire life into it. It can hold a ton and is super soft! This giveaway is not sponsored or affiliated and is given by me. xoxo

To enter: leave a comment on this post telling me one thing your favorite travel or vacation spot.

For a second entry: follow howsweeteats on facebook and leave a comment telling me you did so.

For a third entry: SUBSCRIBE to the howsweeteats youtube channel. There is a red button on the right side and you will only be notified when I upload a new video. This is the best way to be notified of a new video/giveaway in these 12 days too! Leave a comment telling me you did so.

The giveaway will only be open for 24 hours (!!), ending on 12/20/16 at 12 noon, at so be sure to enter and share! A winner will be picked at random. Come back for a new video and giveaway tomorrow. xoxo

The post 12 Days of Christmas! Day 8: a Nice Little Sunday. {CLOSED} appeared first on How Sweet It Is.

12 Days of Christmas! Day 8: a Nice Little Sunday.

In a rather uneventful Sunday, we went to lunch, Trader Joe’s ran a few other errands and wrapped some gifts! Boring and perfect. Max also got into Eddie’s dessert donuts, but since I missed capturing that on video, here’s a pic below. xoxo

Yesterday’s giveaway winner for the Nespresso is Sara Gelder who said “Followed FOR. EV. ER. On insta.”

Congrats Sara! Please email me at howsweeteats (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address!

GIVEAWAY!

Today’s giveaway is the Madewell Transport Tote! I love this bag so much and stuff my entire life into it. It can hold a ton and is super soft! This giveaway is not sponsored or affiliated and is given by me. xoxo

To enter: leave a comment on this post telling me one thing your favorite travel or vacation spot.

For a second entry: follow howsweeteats on facebook and leave a comment telling me you did so.

For a third entry: SUBSCRIBE to the howsweeteats youtube channel. There is a red button on the right side and you will only be notified when I upload a new video. This is the best way to be notified of a new video/giveaway in these 12 days too! Leave a comment telling me you did so.

The giveaway will only be open for 24 hours (!!), ending on 12/20/16 at 12 noon, at so be sure to enter and share! A winner will be picked at random. Come back for a new video and giveaway tomorrow. xoxo

The post 12 Days of Christmas! Day 8: a Nice Little Sunday. appeared first on How Sweet It Is.

Caramelized Winter Fruit Stuffed Brie Cheese with a Pinot Poached Pear.

I feel as if you need a wacky appetizer in your life.

Okay, so I get it.

Most times I also just want a super easy, throw-together-on-the-fly appetizer that I can take to holiday parties. I don’t want something fussy, something that is going to take a million steps to prep OR something that is near impossible to transport to a friend’s house. I HEAR YA.

But. Sometimes I want an unrealistic, impractical, dramatic and insane version of an appetizer. Basically, an appetizer version of myself. You know?

I blame it all on MTV’s My Super Sweet 16. That started the unrealistic expectations in my life and then heck, pinterest came along and it was like WHYYYY don’t I have 20-foot ceilings with neon pink walls and a bright yellow couch and three marbled bathrooms and also, why do I not have a VSCO filter built into my eye lens? I’d like one, please and thank you.

This would be the reason that I’m placing a perfectly pinot poached pear (hands up alliteration!) on top of your wheel of brie cheese that is literally going to melt into a slop pile mess the moment you serve it.

And why I actually STUFFED the caramelized fruit into the brie cheese. Double the brie, double the fun.

It’s pretty! It’s Christmas! We all deserve to be a little unrealistic at times.

Let’s talk about the fruit. Apples, pears and cranberries swirled with butter and sugar and cinnamon. It’s essentially caramelized fall and winter fruit. Scoop out a very shallow piece of brie so you can stuff the wheels and place them together. It’s up to you where that brie goes but I’m thinking that there’s a bag of pita chips with your name on them.

Once you cut into the brie, there is tonnnns of delicious warm fruit oozing into the cheese. Not only is it completely delish, it’s so super pretty! And it’s hot pink. Winnnnning.

The adorable seckel pear is poached in pinot noir infused with cinnamon sticks. It’s edible, you’ll just need to cut it into pieces.

OR.

You can tell everyone that it’s not edible and save the entire thing for yourself. Booze soaked fruit is everything I want on December 20.

The rosemary is just for decoration because, well… pinterest.

Caramelized Winter Fruit Stuffed Brie Cheese with a Pinot Poached Pear

Yield: serves 4 to 6 (or more if there are lots of apps)

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

2 (8 ounce) wheels of brie cheese
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of cardamom
pinch of salt
1 apple, peeled and diced
1 pear, peeled and diced
1/4 cup whole cranberries, cut into half

pinot poached pear

2 cups pinot noir
2 cinnamon sticks
1 seckel pear, peeled (or more, if you just want to share, you can probably fit 3 in the pot)
1 cup sugar (if you'd like to make syrup once the pear is poached)



Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a baking dish or pie plate with nonstick spray. I suggest using the dish you'd like to serve this in so you don't have to transfer it.

Take both wheels of brie and on one side, gently slice a shallot 2-inch wide hole in the center of both. You are going to place the fruit in one of the openings and then cover it with the other wheel of brie!

Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the butter. Stir in the apples, pears and cranberries. Stir in the sugar, cinnamon, cardamom and salt. Cook, stirring often, until the fruit is soft and golden and the sugar is bubbly, about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the fruit from the heat.

Scoop as much of the fruit into the opening of the brie that can comfortably fit. Top it with the other wheel of brie, placing the cut-open side down on the fruit. Your fruit should now be inside of two brie wheels! Save the remaining fruit for topping.

Bake the brie for 10 to 15 minutes, just until it almost bursts and the cheese is melty. Gently top the brie with the remaining fruit (if there is a lot, you can place it on the sides of the brie), the poached pear and a rosemary spring. Serve immediately with tons of crackers, breadsticks, crostini or whatever you'd like.

pinot poached pear

Heat the pinot and cinnamon sticks in a saucepan over medium heat. Once simmering, add the pear(s). Keep it at a light simmer and cook the pear, tossing occasionally, for 10 minutes or so. Just until it's fork tender, but still holds together. Remove the pear with a slotted spoon and place it on a plate.

If desired, you can turn the pinot poaching liquid into syrup! Remove the cinnamon sticks. Add about 1 cup of sugar (you want the same amount of sugar that you have to liquid, so it will be quite a bit. Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the sugar dissolves. Once simmering, remove from the heat and let sit until it cools to room temperature. You can drizzle it over the pear and the brie, or just store it in the fridge for other delicious uses. Keep it sealed in the fruit for about a week or two.

Be sure to follow howsweeteats on instagram and tag your recipes with #howsweeteats! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the howsweeteats facebook page. I appreciate you so much!

Now isn’t that just melty goodness.

The post Caramelized Winter Fruit Stuffed Brie Cheese with a Pinot Poached Pear. appeared first on How Sweet It Is.

12 Day of Christmas! Day 7: Brunch with Santa, Pittsburgh Christmas and a Giveaway! {CLOSED}

We’ve been looking forward to this day for weeks! Last year, on the morning of the Hotel Monaco’s breakfast with Santa, Eddie discovered it online and called to see if we could get a ticket last minute. We had SUCH a fun time that we couldn’t wait to get back this year.

It was a little different this year – breakfast was more of brunch, and it was in the Commoner (yes, so basically we took our kid to brunch with Santa in a bar) which was… different. It meant that we were at our own table and other people were still dining, so it didn’t feel *quite* like breakfast with Santa did last year. But we still had so much fun! As you can see in the video, let’s just say that this is a very adult friendly breakfast with Santa. Santa and his reindeer are up on the roof (a local farmer brings them in) and there is a big cookie decorating party with a grown up hot chocolate bar. Super fun! I think this would be even more fun when you have kids that are a bit older.

After, we walked around downtown in the rain to capture some of our favorite Christmas sights on video. xoxoxo

Yesterday’s giveaway winner for the Ambient Lighting Edit Palette is Anne Weber-Falk who said “I love the rich deep colors like cranberry red, forest green, navy blue and deep dark brown.”

Congrats Anne! Please email me at howsweeteats (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address!

GIVEAWAY!

Today’s giveaway is something I use every single DAY! I’m giving away a Nespresso Vertuoline Machine – it makes coffee AND espresso and I couldn’t live without it. This giveaway is not sponsored or affiliated and is given by me. xoxo

To enter: leave a comment on this post telling me one thing you are grateful for. 

For a second entry: follow howsweeteats on facebook and leave a comment telling me you did so.

For a third entry: SUBSCRIBE to the howsweeteats youtube channel. There is a red button on the right side and you will only be notified when I upload a new video. This is the best way to be notified of a new video/giveaway in these 12 days too! Leave a comment telling me you did so.

The giveaway will only be open for 24 hours (!!), ending on 12/19/16 at 12 noon, at so be sure to enter and share! A winner will be picked at random. Come back for a new video and giveaway tomorrow. xoxo

The post 12 Day of Christmas! Day 7: Brunch with Santa, Pittsburgh Christmas and a Giveaway! {CLOSED} appeared first on How Sweet It Is.

12 Day of Christmas! Day 7: Brunch with Santa, Pittsburgh Christmas and a Giveaway!

We’ve been looking forward to this day for weeks! Last year, on the morning of the Hotel Monaco’s breakfast with Santa, Eddie discovered it online and called to see if we could get a ticket last minute. We had SUCH a fun time that we couldn’t wait to get back this year.

It was a little different this year – breakfast was more of brunch, and it was in the Commoner (yes, so basically we took our kid to brunch with Santa in a bar) which was… different. It meant that we were at our own table and other people were still dining, so it didn’t feel *quite* like breakfast with Santa did last year. But we still had so much fun! As you can see in the video, let’s just say that this is a very adult friendly breakfast with Santa. Santa and his reindeer are up on the roof (a local farmer brings them in) and there is a big cookie decorating party with a grown up hot chocolate bar. Super fun! I think this would be even more fun when you have kids that are a bit older.

After, we walked around downtown in the rain to capture some of our favorite Christmas sights on video. xoxoxo

Yesterday’s giveaway winner for the Ambient Lighting Edit Palette is Anne Weber-Falk who said “I love the rich deep colors like cranberry red, forest green, navy blue and deep dark brown.”

Congrats Anne! Please email me at howsweeteats (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address!

GIVEAWAY!

Today’s giveaway is something I use every single DAY! I’m giving away a Nespresso Vertuoline Machine – it makes coffee AND espresso and I couldn’t live without it. This giveaway is not sponsored or affiliated and is given by me. xoxo

To enter: leave a comment on this post telling me one thing you are grateful for. 

For a second entry: follow howsweeteats on facebook and leave a comment telling me you did so.

For a third entry: SUBSCRIBE to the howsweeteats youtube channel. There is a red button on the right side and you will only be notified when I upload a new video. This is the best way to be notified of a new video/giveaway in these 12 days too! Leave a comment telling me you did so.

The giveaway will only be open for 24 hours (!!), ending on 12/19/16 at 12 noon, at so be sure to enter and share! A winner will be picked at random. Come back for a new video and giveaway tomorrow. xoxo

The post 12 Day of Christmas! Day 7: Brunch with Santa, Pittsburgh Christmas and a Giveaway! appeared first on How Sweet It Is.