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Summer Sipping: Passion Tea Lemonade

May 23, 2013 By Carrie Leave a Comment

For about a year now, I’ve been trying to cut back on the amount of soda I drink. While I would happily sit and sip on Dr. Pepper all day long, it’s just not a good choice for my waistline or my health. So, for a while I was drinking almost exclusively water with a soda every now and then. But…that got boring. So, I started searching for something to replace my daily soda, and that’s when the good people of Starbucks introduced me to the Iced Passion Tea Lemonade. I know that this isn’t a calorie free drink, and the fact that I must order a Trenta makes it even worse, but for an occasional treat, I’m not going to beat myself up over it. So, during my last trip to Starbucks, I decided to forgo the drive thru and actually go inside so that I could buy a box of the Tazo Passion Tea, which would allow me to make my drink at home.

I think I’ve found my drink of the summer.

It’s so good, I can’t even stand it. Just brew your tea, (If you like your Passion Tea Lemonades from Starbucks sweetened, you will want to add some sugar to the boiling water before you add the tea packet.) dilute it to fill a two quart pitcher, and you’re ready to go.

I fill my glass to the top with ice, just like Starbucks. Then I fill the glass 2/3 full of passion tea. Fill to the top with your favorite lemonade, (I choose Simply Lemonade) and stir and prepare to be addicted. It’s like summertime in a glass…and it’s amazing!

And now, for the pinnable image…

Filed Under: Baking, Uncategorized Tagged With: cold drinks, food, lemonade, passion tea, passion tea lemonade, starbucks, summer, summer drinks, summertime drinks

Books: My Summer Reading List

May 20, 2013 By Carrie Leave a Comment

In the summer issue of A Sweet Spot: Home Magazine, I included a couple of articles about what books are on my summer reading list. This included both novels (and one non-fiction) as well as cookbooks. Just in case you missed the magazine, (and if you did, please read it here!) here are the books that are currently taking up a little space in my Kindle:

1. THE WEDNESDAY DAUGHTERS | Meg Waite Clayton: I’ve not yet started this book, but this book had my attention when I read that it was a story about mothers, daughters, and secrets…and the fact that it’s set in England didn’t hurt, either. 2. THE SILVER STAR | Jeannette Walls: With the massive success of The Glass Castle, I knew that The Silver Star would be a book I’d definitely be interested in reading. This story about “an intrepid girl who challenges the social injustices of the adult world” promises to be a good read. 3. THE TURK WHO LOVED APPLES | Matt Gross: This is the book that I’m currently tearing through and I’m enjoying it so much. As someone who would love to spend all of her time traveling and visiting new places, this book is really speaking to me. 4. WHISTLING PAST THE GRAVEYARD | Susan Crandall: I’m about one third of the way through this book and have found it to be a captivating read. So much happens in so few pages, it has definitely kept me intrigued. The book is told from the perspective of a child, which can make the story seem so much more heartbreaking in places, and more adorable in others. A great read so far.

But as if those weren’t enough books to keep me busy, I’m also reading some other books to help me improve my skills in different areas. Let’s call this my professional reading, shall we?

1. PLATE TO PIXEL | Helen Dujardin: I’ve been eying this book for months and months and clicked the “add to cart” button and ordered it. It’s a gorgeous book filled with extremely helpful tips on taking beautiful food photography. 2. WILL WRITE FOR FOOD | Dianne Jacob: This book has actually been on my Kindle for months and months…it’s just that I forgot I’d ordered it. While searching for a different book, I came across this one and started reading it. It’s filled with great ideas for improving your food blog, your reviews, and even ideas for cookbook writing. (Not that I have ANY interest in that at all…..*liar*….) 3. START. | Jon Acuff: This book was all the rage at Blissdom this year. My Instagram feed blew up with images of the cover and at first, I thought, they’re just promoting it because they’re at Blissdom, and that’s just what you do. Then I started hearing about people reading it who hadn’t been to Blissdom, and they were impressed. So, I downloaded a copy and started reading. It’s an easy read filled with inspiring ideas to help you escape being average and start being awesome, in all areas of your life! 4. FOOD STYLING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS | Linda Bellingham & Jean Ann Bybee: While I’ve only skimmed this book so far, I can tell it’s going to be a great resource book for me to keep on hand. Filled with tricks and tips that will help the food you’re photographing come across better in the images, this book is a real asset to all food photographers.

I’ve also got some great cookbook suggestions that will be releasing this summer, but you’ll have to check out the magazine to hear about those!

Happy reading!

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: books, food, food blog, food photography, non-fiction, novels, photography, summer, summer 2013, What I'm Reading, writing

Free Designs: Camping Kit Collection

May 15, 2013 By Carrie Leave a Comment

First of all, thank you to all of you who had such kind words about the summer issue of A Sweet Spot: Home Magazine. I’m so pleased with the end result and look forward to making the autumn/Halloween issue bigger and even better! I’m so thankful to everyone who took a moment or two to browse through the issue, and I’m also extremely thankful to those who contributed. Doing an entire magazine all on my own is so much more work than I’d ever anticipated, and having those who are willing and excited to participate in the process is such a gift. Many, many thanks to you all!

Now, on to today’s post. If you read the summer issue of the magazine, (and if you haven’t, you can read it here), you saw an article contributed by Thuy Bui of My Paper Pinwheel. When discussing in what way she’d like to contribute, Thuy threw out the option of creating little care packages for kids going away to camp this summer. I instantly thought it would be a great idea, and she ran with it. Together, she and the amazingly talented Bridgett Edwards of Perideau Designs came up with the perfect printables to send with your favorite camper this summer.

Aren’t these adorable? I love the color combinations that Bridgett chose to use, the blue, green, brown, and pop of red and orange from the campfire, the whole thing just works. If you’d like to download this entire collection including large note cards, small note cards, s’mores gift tags, and encouragement cards, for FREE, click here. Bridgett has graciously agreed to share the entire collection with all A Sweet Spot: Home Magazine readers for free.

Many thanks to Thuy for styling, photographing, and writing the article featured in the summer issue, and to Bridgett for designing such an adorable printables collection.

Filed Under: Around the House Tagged With: camp, camping, free, free printables, kids, note cards, notes, s'mores, summer

Food: Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

May 9, 2013 By Carrie 1 Comment

Summer is sneaking up on us rather quickly, and to me, summer is the time for strawberries…lots and lots of strawberries! That’s why I threw together these super simple Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes that you’ll definitely want to try. It uses fresh strawberries in a pound cake batter and is topped with an amazing whipped cream frosting, that won’t collapse on you like so many whipped cream frostings. Pin this recipe to your summer baking boards and be sure to give this a try soon!

Pound Cake Cupcake recipe: The Nesting Project
The only change I made was to add 10 medium-large chopped strawberries and increase the baking time by about 5 minutes. After washing your strawberries, make sure to pat them dry so that you don’t add any unnecessary liquid to your batter.
Sturdy Whipped Cream Frosting: allrecipes.com

And, here’s a “pinnable” image to make things simple for you…

Filed Under: Baking, Uncategorized Tagged With: baking, food, recipes, simple, strawberries, strawberry shortcake, strawberry shortcake cupcakes, summer

Food: Basil Infused Olive Oil

May 6, 2013 By Carrie 2 Comments

To me, basil is one of the flavors that will instantly smell and taste like summer to me, no matter the season. Every year, my garden is loaded with basil plants that produce so much throughout the summer, I end up drying a ton at the end of the year. Making a basil infused olive oil is a great way for me to find even more uses for this flavor that I love so much. It’s really simple to do, and the results are a fragrant, tasty twist on the usual olive oil. Use it in salads or for dipping crusty bread, basil infused olive oil is definitely something you’ll want to try this summer…or now!

It honestly couldn’t be simpler. Since it’s still really early in the growing season here, I went to my local grocery store to pick up some fresh basil. The first time I went, the basil looked a little less than fresh, so I passed on it and hoped they’d get some more. The second time I went, they had no basil at all…so I had to go another route.

This basil paste did the trick…and I love the fact that it’s organic.

In a bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of your favorite extra virgin olive oil, and 1 tablespoon of your basil paste. Then pour the entire mixture into a food processor and pulse to really boost the flavor. Next, I pour the entire mixture back into the bowl and let it hang out on the counter for a while. I have no idea if this helps the flavor infuse even more, but in my mind, it helps.

Finally, pour the entire mixture through a fine strainer, and you’re ready to go. Your olive oil will smell like a gorgeous combination of olive oil and basil…and it’s heavenly.