Cranberry Blondie Bars AND a Girly Giveaway!!

Good Mondy morning, my groovy foodie friends!  We are all officially on Spring Break as of today, and we are celebrating by having a Staycation.  I love staycations - we get to experience all the cool things that our hometown has to offer, we get to do the things we don't normally take the time to do and best of all - we get to come home and sleep in our own beds!!  (little known fact about me: I love, love, love my super comfy bed and I look forward to climbing in it every night!).

A couple of things on the docket: attend a basketball game, have a slumber party, go to a Diners, Drive Ins and Dives local restaurant with the kids. 

On to my GIVE-AWAY!!!  I would love to start giving away a few of my favorite things throughout the year - for no other reason but it being pure bliss for me to share what my favorite things are!  They may have to do with cooking, or not. 

A couple of weeks ago, I hosted a Stella and Dot party in my home by my very dear friend, Jennifer Allen.  Have you heard of Stella and Dot?  If you have, then you know how fantastic this company is and how beautiful their jewelry is!  If you haven't - then I urge you to hang on to your seat and read on!

First of all, Jennifer is one of the grooviest women I know.  She is utterly passionate about seeing women succeed.  She has always been this way, which is one of the reasons why I love her so much.  Not only is she passionate about seeing women succeed, but she is passionate about everything she does - she is an amazing mama to her sweet 4 year old, Audrey, she is a Life Coach who loves to coach women to succeed in their own lives, she volunteers with me on our church leadership in a ministry that oversees moms of young children, and now she has added this super fun role onto her already stellar resume!  I am absolutely excited for her! 

What does this have to do with my blog?  Well, I have seriously fallen in love with this jewelry line - one of my favorite things - and I am giving away this beautiful "On The Fringe" Necklace!

Isn't she pretty?  This piece is delicate and lovely - you can wear it every day whether you are on the baseball field, or going to work.  I love how Stella and Dot has jewelry that applies to all ages, styles and personalities - it's truly trendy and relevant for all!  You know you want it!!  Check out the Stella and Dot website - their jewels are worthy of adorning yourself with!

How can you receive this amazing necklace??!!  I'm going to make this VERY easy for you!  Why work hard when you don't have to??  :-)

Post a comment for each of the following:
1. Become a fan of Kitchen Groovy on Facebook (or post that you already are a fan)
2. Become a follower via Google Connect (or post that you already follow)
3. Become a follower via Twitter - YES!  I'm on Twitter now!  User name: kitchengroovy
4. Share this on Facebook and/ or Twitter with all that you know! (then post that you have shared or tweeted about it!)

REMEMBER: MAKE SURE YOU POST THAT YOU DID ANY/ ALL OF THESE!  YOU WILL NOT BE ENTERED WITHOUT POSTING A COMMENT!

** US entries only please - sorry to my international foodie friends!

You will recieve one entry for each that you do - the more you do, the more likely you will win! 

The winner will be announced one week from today - Monday, April 11th!! 

Oh - how about a recipe?  I served these blondie bars at my party, and they were a sensation.  Remember those Starbucks Cranberry Bliss bars they sell over the holidays?  These remind me of those, and I'm really excited that I don't have to spend $3 every time for them!  I found this recipe from a local grocery store but I've tweaked it a little bit to make them my own :-)

Cranberry Blondie Bars
Original recipe by Byerly's
Adapted recipe by Kitchen Groovy

- parchment paper
3/4 C melted butter
2 eggs
4 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 C flour
1 1/2 C light brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 C white chocolate chips
1/2 C craisins
1/2 C chopped pecans
- Cream Cheese Frosting (below)
1/2 C craisins, chopped

Line 13x9 baking pan with parchment paper, extending up over ends of pan.  In large bowl, stir by hand butter, eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined.  In small bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt; stir into butter mixture until thoroughly combined.  Add chips and pecans, stirring to combine.  Spread evenly into prepared pan; bake in a preheated 350 degree oven until top is shiny, cracked and light golden brown (25-30 minutes).  Cool in pan; lift bars out of pan with ends of parchment paper.  Frost with cream cheese frosting; garnish with cranberries.  Cut into bars.

Cream Cheese Frosting
In a medium bowl, beat 3oz. softened cream cheese, 2 T softened butter, 1 tsp. milk and 1/2 tsp. vanilla with electric mixer on low speed until creamy.  Gradually beat in 2 C powdered sugar on low speed until smooth and spreadable.

Chef Note: I think I will replace the pecans with sliced or chopped almonds next time.  Feel free to play with this a bit to make it your own!

They were sensationally sinful and delicious!

Please click here for a printable version of this recipe - Kitchen Groovy

Enjoy, live with gusto - and enter to win!!
Carina

Darth Chocolate Cupcakes + GIVEAWAY Winner Announced!!!

Today, my kids are off from school.  I am thrilled - am I such a bad mom that I love it when my kids are not off receiving an education?  I love it when they are home.  Even better, I love it when their friends are over and that our home is the hub of social networking. 

Last night, my oldest daughter had 2 friends over and they decided to make cupcakes.  Actually, a few more kids were supposed to come over and watch the Star Wars movies, but due to yet ANOTHER snow storm, most of them couldn't make it.  However, that didn't stop me from encouraging them to make Darth Chocolate Cupcakes.  I went to Williams Sonoma the other day and picked up a Star Wars cupcake kit, so there was no turning back!  This recipe is from my Martha Stewart Baking Handbook Cookbook (my go-to baking book) and it was so much fun to watch these up & coming young bakers experiment in the kitchen. 

While I did not have my oven mitts on helping them out, I thought I would post pictures and blog about it anyway - Mr. Groovy and I sampled their cupcakes, and they were nothing short of delicious!

One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes

Recipe from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook, pg. 168

2 1/2 C all-purpose flour

1 1/4 C Dutch process cocoa powder

2 1/2 C sugar

2 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 1/4 tsp. salt

2 large whole eggs, plus 1 large egg yolk

1 1/4 C milk

1/2 C + 2 T vegetable oil

1 1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 C warm water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two standard 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners.  Into the bowl of an electric mixer, sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; add the eggs and yolk, milk, oil, vanilla, and warm water.  Beat on low speed until smooth and combined, about 3 minutes; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.  Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.  Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool slightly.  Invert cupcakes on to the rack; then reinvert and let them cool completely, top sides up.  Frost cupcakes (recipe to follow).  Cupcakes can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. package cream cheese, cold

5 T unsalted butter, softened

2 tsp. vanilla

4 C confectioner's sugar, sifted

Beat cream cheese, butter & vanilla in a medium bowl at a low speed just until blended.  Adding 1/3 at a time, the sugar and beat just until smooth and at desired consistency.

The Empire!

Click here for a printable version of this recipe - Kitchen Groovy

Now - for the big announcement!  The winner of my very first giveaway is . . . . Christine Lasley!!  Congratulations!!  Thank you to everyone who participated!  There will be another giveaway in April! 

**I used Random.org to generate who the winner would be.  There were 44 entries. . . Random.org generated #11.

Enjoy and live with gusto!
Carina

NEW Features and My First GIVEAWAY!!

Hello and Happy Thursday to all!  I don't know about you, but here in MN - it is amazing outside!  The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and the snow is finally completely disappeared from my roof!  It is a glorious day, indeed!!!

I have been making changes here and there to my website, and I appreciate your patience as I work through these changes.  Maybe you haven't even noticed them?  One big addition that I recently added is my "Monthly Meal Plan" page.  So many people have asked me to post my own meal plan so they can have some help in creating their own.  I know it's challenging so hopefully this will provide ideas, tips, guidance and most of all - inspiration.

I recently reached an important milestone - my 1 month mark of blogging!!  Is that called a blogiversary?  Well, what ever it is called, I thought we should celebrate!!  And what better way to celebrate YOU then by giving something away to a special lucky winner? 

This is a super heavy duty spatula - and you can't really have too many spatulas in the kitchen while cooking or baking, right? 

I would not still be blogging, if it weren't for you.  Really.  I know, cheesy.  But seriously, you all have been patient with me as I find my way and discover who the blogger is inside of me.  Who knew I’d be blogging?  But, if you know me and how much I love the idea of expressing ourselves – well, this blog is just an extension of . . . me.  Thank you for wanting to know what I cook and how I attempt to "love on" my kids through cooking - failures and all.  From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!

So – back to bizness.

Here is how you can win your prize - and you will receive one entry for each of the following:

1.       Become a follower of my blog (for those of you already following, you are automatically entered!!!)

2.       Become a follower of my blog via Facebook Networked Blogs!

3.       Leave a comment anytime from now until Sunday! 

 I hate it when things get complicated with too many rules, so let’s avoid it!  That’s it!  Happy reading and thank you for all you do in encouraging me to keep on.

The winner will be chosen and announced on Monday, 2/21/11!!!

Good luck to all of you!

Enjoy and live with gusto!

Carina