November Gramma In A Box!

It is that time of the month again, time for the Gramma In A Box! I think that it drives my children a little crazy inside that we usually wait a day or two after it arrives before we start on the goodies in the box. What is a Gramma In A Box kit? This box was originally created by owner Terry, who has grandchildren who live out of state, this box gives her and her grandchildren a chance to work on decorating cookies together over Skype, over time it has turned into a full time business for other parents and grandparents who want to do the same with their children. As you can guess the November theme is 'Thanksgiving' and it comes with three fun treats to decorate with your children.

My favorite part of this subscription box is that it comes with everything you need to complete the projects! Any decorations, frosting, chocolate or other food item is included in your kit along with some wax paper to decorate over/store your projects on. The only other thing you will need is a bowl to melt the melting chocolates, and a fork (well and your microwave to melt the chocolate).

The first project we worked on together was the Turkey Buddies, this project requires: Ritz crackers, candy eyes, pumpkin seeds and candy corn. I suggest doing this project first as the remaining chocolate that isn't used for this project will be used for project number two. 

You'll need to melt the chocolate in the microwave and then place a small amount on each cracker, having your child spread it evenly over the cracker. Once that has been completed, you can add candy corn for feathers, a pumpkin seed for a nose and eyes. Your Turkey is now complete! 

Project number two is a fun Harvest Bark! We did this one a little differently than the card instructed us to do, I will go over what we did differently below. For this project you'll need the remaining chocolate from project one, cinnamon toast crunch cereal, candy corn, salted peanuts and a fall sprinkle mixture. 

The card instructs you to make one large bark and cut it into pieces after, I found that even though we used a small amount of chocolate in project one it didn't seem like we had as much left over chocolate to make the big bark it showed on the card. So instead of making one big Harvest bark we each decided to make a small bark pile so we could add what we wanted. You can also use candy corn in your bar or other small chocolates/candies you have in your home, we opted to not include the candy corn. 

The final project is always one of my personal favorites in this box! Plain sugar cookies in various shapes that you get to decorate as you please. The kids and I love working on these together, it is always a lot of fun talking with them about how they want to decorate their cookies. This time around my daughter decided to give one of the acorns a face and glasses! On the Turkey that I decorated I used a red sprinkle to add a wattle to the chin of my turkey. We also decided to use some of the sprinkles as "feathers", and also used the sugar glitter to add some sparkle to our cookies. These cookies are always so delicious! They are the perfect sugar cookie mixture so they are always soft and taste fresh (because they are).

Disclaimer- The products mentioned above were provided by Gramma In A Box for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Decorate goodies with Gramma In A Box!

Some of my favorite memories with my great-grandmother are of us in the kitchen baking and cooking. Every winter during the holidays her kitchen turned into a bakery filled with tins and tins of cookies that we baked for family members and friends, it always smelled so good in her house during the holidays. I am very thankful that we live close to my mother so that my children can create their own memories with their grandmother. However not everyone is fortunate to live as close to their families so their children might not get to spend as much time with their grandparents as they'd like. One grandmother named Terry came up with a way to still spend quality time with her grandchildren even though they moved away.

What was her solution? She still wanted to be able to create these memories with her grandchildren so she would come up with fun cookie/treat ideas she could do with them. She would pack up a box filled with plain sugar cookies, frosting, decorations and more to send her her grandchildren then she would chat with them via Skype while they worked on their cookies. After telling some friends about it, it has now become a full time business called Gramma In A Box!

I recently received their August box which featured Beach party treats, each box comes with three fun projects to do with your children or grandchildren and all of the supplies you need are included in the box. There are enough supplies in the box for several children and an adult to participate with easy to follow instructions. Our box included projects to do Goldfish Bowls, Seashell Pretzels and Sea Life cookies. I like how everything was packaged and made to be as easy to do as possible.

The first project we worked on was the Goldfish bowls shown above. This project required; Melting chocolate, goldfish, marshmallows and graham cracker dust. The melting chocolate does require an adult to melt in the microwave otherwise everything is ready to go, you dip the marshmallow in the chocolate to make it look like the water in the bowl, then roll it in the graham cracker crust to look like the sand, add a goldfish and let set. After the chocolate has set you can eat your fishbowls.

The second project used the second half of the melting chocolate to create chocolate dipped seashell pretzels. After dipping each pretzel into the chocolate, you get to add a chocolate seashell and some pearl sprinkles that look like bubbles. Both of these projects were fun to create, however we didn't quite like the taste of the melting chocolate itself but that is due to the company who makes the chocolate not Gramma in a box. Otherwise we enjoyed both of these projects, and thought they turned out pretty cute. You can do all three projects at once or you can space them out a bit to make the fun of the box last a bit longer. My children had a blast with this box, they love baking and cooking so this box was right up their alley, after we were finished they asked if we were going to get another box like this.

Last but not least was the Sea Life Cookies which we all had a blast with. The box included three colors frostings plus several decorating supplies that the kids really enjoyed using. I like that the decorating frosting was already in easy to use decorating bags, you just needed to cut a bit of the tip off before using it. The box came with eight sugar cookies to decorate, four of them were fish, two were seashells and two were starfish. I decided to decorate one with the kids as well and decorated the fish with the heart shaped eye above for my husband to eat. The sugar cookies were so good, and the decorations were not overly full of sugar which was nice.

You can purchase a singular box to try out or you can purchase a 3,6,or 12 month subscription and automatically at the start of each month your box will be shipped out. In total there are enough goodies in the box to create 15 to 20 finished items (each cookie counts as a finished item). A single box is $20 or if you buy a subscription the price lowers a bit depending on which subscription you purchase. If you are a new subscriber you need to place an order before the 3rd of each month in order to receive that month's box. This subscription service is only available in the US. During the holidays there are holiday themed items in the box which adds to the fun of the box.

Disclaimer- The products mentioned above were provided by Gramma In A Box for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others.My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

World Kitchen Review!

****This was not a paid post and my honest opinion was used. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others. The products mentioned below have been provided by World Kitchen for the review free of charge.****

To me cooking not only requires great ingredients but good tools that are dependable and work well. Finding the tools that work best for you can sometimes be a bummer because of the price tag, but World Kitchen has you covered by offering wonderful cooking tools at affordable prices.

 

 I recently received a small package which contained a Silicone Whisk, Medium Spatula and a Silicone spatula to try out. The whisk is pretty handy to have not only because some dishes taste better when whisked vs beaten with a fork, but because when it is time to be washed it can be washed easier then a metal spatula. If you apply a little pressure to the whisk it will smoosh essentially allowing all the food to slide right out and you don't have to worry about getting a sponge in there to get something you missed. Since it bends a bit it also helps you reach more places in your mixing bowl that a traditional whisk may have missed. The Silicone spatula is made from the same materials and it really helps you reach every inch of the bowl or dish you are mixing and pouring into the baking pan. I enjoyed all three products sent to me and look forward to using them more often! All three of these products can be purchased on their website for less than $10 each, the whisk is only $4.99 they also offer a number of other kitchen tools, gadgets and more.

Sisters Gourmet Review & Giveaway

I can't personally think of anyone I know who doesn't like sweets in some way or another so I was very happy to get to try out two cookie batches by a company called Sisters Gourmet. Want to know a little bit about the two sisters behind Sisters Gourmet? Here is a little information about them from their About Us section. "From the beginning, when we first prepared our mixes in our home kitchen, to now, over fifteen years later, our goal has been to make baking easy and convenient, with simple to prepare, one-bowl recipes, leaving you less time in the kitchen and more time with your family and friends. Our commitment has also been to offer you the highest quality ingredients available, many of which are all-natural, made without artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. Mom used to always tell us that, "Good things come to those who bake." We like to think she was right."

 

I was recently sent two cookie mixes from their Crisp & Colorful mixes line which were the Traditional Chocolate chip & the Hopscotch cookie. The way the mixes came packaged looked great I enjoy the fact they come in a glass mason jar because it can be resused after you use the cookie/baking mix. They finish the look of the mixes by putting decorating wrapping on the top with a bow & the instructions which are easy to follow. My daughter loved being able to help in the process of making these cookies it took about two minutes to mix everything properly & get them onto the pan. The cookies were very moist & delicious it is amazing the difference fresh ingredients make vs Ready made or ready mixed cookie dough. I think that these mixes would make great presents for any occasion,there are quite a few flavors to choose from & they also offer Cake & Brownie mixes. Shipping was fast the jars were properly packaged & their customer service is beyond friendly. ****This was not a paid post and my honest opinion was used. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others.Products were Provided by Sisters Gourmet for the Review & Giveaway free of charge****

PRIZE ALERT: 
One lucky winner will receive Two mixes of their choice from the Crisp and Colorful, Oprah's Favorites, or Special Occasion lines.

 a Rafflecopter giveaway