CSN Stores Product Review – Food Storage Set & Wood Turner

About a month ago, the generous people at CSN Stores contacted me to see if I wanted to do a product review.  You mean, received a free product and then blog about how I like it?  Sign me up!

CSN Stores are great to work with and in the past, they have allowed me to host my dog-gone giveaway, my gift card giveaway and my cooking giveaway, plus I’ve done one product review in the past.  They  have millions of products, so if you’re in need of something new, head on over to their website and I’m sure you’ll find what you need.  And now onto my review…

I had a certain amount that my product could cost, so using my frugal shopping skills I selected two different items.  Woo hoo!  The first thing that I selected was the Fresh Keeper 31 Piece Citrus Organizer Set with Lid.  Jeremy and I always use storage containers for leftovers and lunches, but our current collection is a smörgåsbord of containers.  Until now!  These Fresh Keeper containers are awesome.  They come in a variety of sizes ranging from 8 cups to 3/4 cups.  Plus, they are so cute!  Look at the fun colors.  But perhaps the coolest thing is the rim of the containers…I couldn’t get that close of a picture, so you’ll have to believe me when I tell you that along the rim are little tick marks and the months of the year.  Coincidently, there is a little arrow/point on each lid.  Therefore, you can align the lid with the correct date on the container, and just like magic, you know when you put those leftovers in the fridge!  Isn’t that cool?  Really, you should have seen how excited I was when I figured that out.  These containers are freezable, microwavable and dish washer safe.  Love them!

My second item was the Paula Deen 2 Piece Slotted Wood Turner Set.  I only have two wooden spoons, so when I saw these I thought that they would be a good addition to my kitchen tool collection.  I’ve been using these mostly to break up and brown meat and they work great.  I like how they are flat and more like a spatula, than a spoon.  Plus, they are very sturdy material and I’m not worried about them breaking while I’m stirring/cooking something (true story, it happened to me before and I had to dig through the food looking for the missing piece of wooden spoon!).  Love them!

So, there you have it.  Two great products and a great opportunity from CSN Stores.  Thanks for the opportunity to do this product review!

First Cookies of the Season

Last night I had the honor of baking the first Christmas cookies of the season!  At work today we had a Mexican and Italian themed holiday luncheon.  I sign up to bring a dessert, so I decided to bring Mexican Wedding Cookies!  Have you had these cookies before?  They are so easy to make and quite delicious.  Plus, they look like little snowballs...how Christmasy!  I have been making them at Christmas time for the past few years and they are always a hit.  As usual, I used whole wheat flour and I did not have enough pecans, so I used almonds too.  I didn't get to try one (there were too many other goodies to eat), but they were all gone by the end of the day...so they must have been good.  Enjoy!

 

Ingredients.

 

Hot cookie being rolled in powered sugar.

 

Finished.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

by Paula Deen

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for coating baked cookies

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting hands

1 cup pecans, chopped into very small pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar at low speed until it is smooth.
3. Beat in the vanilla.
4. At low speed gradually add the flour.
5. Mix in the pecans with a spatula.
6. With floured hands, take out about 1 tablespoon of dough and shape into a crescent. Continue to dust hands with flour as you make more cookies.
7. Place onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 40 minutes.
8. When cool enough to handle but still warm, roll in additional confectioners' sugar. Cool on wire racks.