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Mrs. Prindable’s Gourmet Apples Review

Posted on April 19, 2010 5:36 pm by TheAngelForever

Back when TechyDad and I were distance dating, we used to meet up at an outlet where they had a place that specialized in candy coated caramel or chocolate covered gourmet apples. We used to split them and they were amazing. The place has long since gone out of business and nobody around here does anything like that. Thanks to MomImpact, I now know about Mrs. Prindable’s. When I was asked if I would like to try one of their apples I immediately said yes.

About Mrs. Prindable’s:

From their website:

Mrs. Prindable’s starts with a handpicked, extra-fancy apple, grown especially for us. Delivered fresh from the orchard and with the utmost care, it is gigantic in size, crispness, taste, and juiciness.

The apple is dipped-by hand-in creamy, smooth caramel cooked that very day. Using only the best all-natural ingredients-butter, sugar, cream, vanilla-the caramel is prepared in copper pots in small batches.

Why small batches? It enables us to better monitor the quality and consistency of the caramel, ensuring that each layer is up to the soft and creamy standards that make our caramel so famous.

Now coated in velvety caramel, the apple is hand-rolled in the finest nuts and toppings. Sometimes it is covered in premium pecans. Other times they are coated in large cashews. Now and then it’s chocolate cookie and cream pieces. From time to time it is rich toffee that becomes the final layer. Maybe, even, it’s dipped or drizzled with milk, white or dark chocolate.

Who determines the final toppings that our expert chocolatiers hand-apply to this apple? You do.

Each gourmet caramel apple ordered from Mrs. Prindable’s is made to order to ensure freshness and delivery without delay.

Mrs. Prindable’s apples come in two sizes and are certified kosher. They have have jumbo and petite apples available. The jumbo apples can weigh up to 1.5 pounds and serve 8-10 people. The petite apples are 8 ounces and serve 1-2 people. Both sizes are available in eight classic gourmet flavors that include:

Dark Chocolate Delight – apple dipped in creamy caramel, rolled in chunks of chocolate and doused in premium dark chocolate
Triple Chocolate – an apple surrounded by caramel along with milk, white and dark chocolate (this is what we received)
Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Almond – apple with peanut butter chips and bursts of dark and milk chocolate team up with whole almonds
Milk Chocolate Walnut Pecan – an apple hand-dipped in caramel, rolled in pecans and walnuts and smothered in milk chocolate
Milk Chocolate Toffee Walnut – an apple is hand-dipped in caramel, rolled in walnuts, smothered in milk chocolate and coated with Ol’ English Toffee
Dark Chocolate Cashew – an apple hand-dipped in caramel, rolled in cashews and smothered in dark chocolate
Dark Chocolate Splendor – an apple dunked in dark chocolate, covered with nonpareil-coated dark chocolate drops and topped with dark chocolate shavings
Milk Chocolate Pecan – an le hand-dipped in our caramel, rolled in premium whole pecans, and smothered in milk chocolate

Mrs. Prindable’s offers their apples, along with gift baskets and items for all occasions. Right now there are great ideas available for Mother’s Day.

What we thought:

The day after Passover we were sitting down to our traditional pizza dinner when we heard the doorbell. The boys were wondering what it was. I told them I had a feeling it was a delivery with a very special apple in it for us. NHL immediately asked what kind of special apple. I told him it was going to be a caramel and chocolate covered apple. I left the table and went to the door. From this point on, my 6 and 2 year old boys were telling me that they loved me. They learned quickly that it was a chocolate apple and they wanted me to share. Yes, even at their age they have mastered the fine art of kissing up. While the boys finished their dinner, TechyDad and I opened up the box to reveal what was inside. Take a look:

The pizza quickly took a back seat and the boys were chanting for some of the Mrs. Prindable’s apple that we received. TechyDad worked on slicing up the apple and getting them ready to serve.

Below are the two boys eating them. We also took video (will share that another day) because they gobbled it up so quickly.

I am not a big chocolate fan, but, oh my, this apple was delicious. The Granny Smith inside was sweet, juicy and fresh. The caramel was rich, creamy, and still gooey (that’s a technical term). I must admit, that was by far my favorite part. The combined chocolates tasted almost like the apple was coated in an extra special fudge and drizzled with white chocolate on top. I think this is what sold the boys. My three chocolate addicts loved them. Before you knew it, the four of us consumed what should serve 8-10 people. Shhhh. . . . remember, it was after Passover and we were celebrating the fact that we were done with matzoh for a year. Another huge perk to us, the apple was certified kosher. This allowed us to use our big knives and not rely on plastic to slice through it.

I know that we will definitely be getting more apples from Mrs. Prindable’s and it is something that I can send to our relatives that keep Kosher without a worry in the world.

Thank you Mrs. Prindable’s for making such a mouth watering delight!

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign for MomImpact on behalf of Mrs. Prindable’s. My family received a Triple Chocolate Gourmet Apple to facilitate our candid review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are from my family.

Categories:
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Ultimate Blog Party ’10 – The After-Party

Posted on April 18, 2010 6:16 pm by TheAngelForever

On Friday, April 9, I asked my readers if they were going to be joining in on the fun of:

That Aloha Friday question of the week also served as my official UBP10 post for the online festivities. I stayed up the evening it went live to put up my link and waited patiently while 5 Minutes For Mom were working out a few server issues. When the post finally was working properly, I linked up my #UBP10 post, put my Twitter name in and left a comment. My post was well into the 80’s within seconds, but I was the 13th comment on the post. During the week long event, over 2,300 people linked up on the original page. Now Janice and Susan are keeping the fun going. They are asking people to join them with the Ultimate Blog Party 2010 After-Party.

During the week, I spent time visiting many new blogs and meeting people on Twitter. Here are a few of them in no particular order:

Jolly Green Mommy – Another teacher, turned SAHM who also happens to be Jewish and have a love for Disney. Love all of her toddler projects to do with the kids and kosher/vegetarian vegetarian menu ideas.

From the Same Nest – Written by two sisters about their lives as wives, mothers and sharing the items that they create in a humorous fashion. They had a hilarious UBP10 post that really caught my eye.

Kelly’s Lucky You – Another Mom that went to DisneySMMom that I wish I had met. Kelly writes about many topics including winning contests, getting free samples and getting the best value for your money.

There were many others, but these are three that came to my head right now. I must admit, I am a little tired right now. I went to sleep early last night (before 11) because I was not feeling well. At about 12:20, I woke up and heard TechyDad going to check on the boys. At about the same time, my cell phone did a beep or two from text messages. I looked quickly and saw it was a Tweet coming in. Seconds later another. This time I could see it was a mention (@TheAngelForever). Suddenly, I saw person after person congratulating me for being the Grand Prize winner of the Ultimate Blog Party 2010!

I yelled to TechyDad to see if his computer was still on (mine was off – go figure). He said it was, so I told him why. We went to check and see what was going on and sure enough, there I was listed as the Grand Prize winner. What did I win?

The funny part, the post just 24 hours before was a wish list of practical things I would really like. Check it out. . . item #2 (the first really just for me):

New Laptop – My laptop is on borrowed time. It is almost 5 years old and the letters are worn off (stickers have not helped either). Plus, the fan makes a horrid noise from time to time.

TechyDad and I both laughed that I should make a new blog post immediately with a wish for a big winning lotto ticket! Well a girl can dream, no?

Thank you again to everyone for coming by my blog, I hope to see you again soon – remember I love comments. Janice and Susan, thank you for the fabulous party. Seriously, I am not just saying that because I won the Grand Prize. I feel honored to have met you both at DisneySMMoms and enjoyed my chat with Susan that Friday after the conference. Now I will be able to finish my Disney posts on the snazzy new computer when I get it.

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Home Farming with some help from Triscuit

Posted on April 15, 2010 10:05 am by TheAngelForever

Six years ago this April, we bought our house and moved in by July. The following year, TechyDad wanted to start planting flowers and possibly some vegetables. Over the years, he and our oldest son, NHL, have attempted growing many different items. Each year, our biggest nemesis has been the neighborhood "wild" bunny family. These furry pests have destroyed many items over the years.

After the first attempt at putting them into the ground did not work, the boys tried to put them into pots that were off the ground. This did better, but there were still problems. Last year, our plants were in large pots on our front patio. Finally, we had items that were successful. We had a bumper crop if jalapeno peppers, a lot of mint, several cucumbers and a handful of tomatoes.

With Earth Day coming next week, we will probably try to plant some items this coming weekend. Our 2010 home farm will likely be grown inside our covered porch. This will allow it to have plenty of light, but protect our plants from bunnies, birds and hail.

During the Spring and Summer, we always support our local Farmers Market and love the local and fresh produce. Still, there is just something extra delicious about items picked from our own garden. In addition to the savings, our children have also learned valuable science and life lessons from growing our own plants and vegetables.

Thanks to Mom Central, I recently found out about a Home Farming campaign that Triscuit is working on. I received one of the four million boxes of specially marked Triscuit boxes that contains seeds to help start our own Home Farm.

Here is more about the program:

In an attempt to help Americans celebrate the values of simple goodness found on farms and encourage the growing of fresh herbs and vegetables at home no matter where you live, Triscuit has launched the Home Farming Movement in collaboration with the non-profit organization Urban Framing. Together, Triscuit and Urban Farming plan to create 50 community-based home farms across the country in 2010 in order to connect communities through growing food together.

To help get this fantastic program off the ground, Triscuit is putting plantable herbs seed cards in four million boxes of Triscuit crackers to be grown on home farms in backyards and balconies. With Earth Day right around the corner, this spring proves ideal for incorporating home growing values into your family’s life. Head to the Triscuit Home Farming Movement Web site, www.triscuit.com/homefarming, for more information on how you can start your own home farm or get involved in the Movement.

So will you be joining in on the Home Farming movement this year? If you are what do you hope to plant this year in your garden?

I know that we will be planting the basil that was included on our Triscuit box along with tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and other items that we find. With any luck we will have more nutritious and delicious items to eat right after we pick them. Happy planting!

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Trisciut and receive the product necessary to facilitate my candid review. In addition, I received a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

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Blog Tour food glorious food house looking back nhl photos Product review summer TechyDad

My belated birthday dinner – four months later

Posted on April 13, 2010 10:46 am by TheAngelForever

Being a December baby, I am used to the snow altering plans for my birthday celebrations. The white nasty stuff put a damper on things this past year. It is hard to believe that, four months ago, we had almost two feet of snow dumped on us – happy birthday to me!

Of course, the snow was just the start of the fun on that very cold and snowy December day. (Please note the extreme sarcasm here) While outside shoveling with my hubby, six year old NHL was hit near his eye with a shovel. I was inside the house baking my own cake when I heard screams and then saw a lot of red all over my child. A quick trip to the ER, glue and take out Chinese food rounded out the day.

TechyDad and I were supposed to go out for dinner at Hana Japanese restaurant, but it never happened. Things kept popping up and we pushed it off. Fast forward to Saturday when hubby and I left the kids with Nana and Papa and went out to dinner. We went to Hana and had an amazing dinner.

I had hibachi steak, while TechyDad opted for the hibachi salmon. We both started off with a bowl of miso soup. Everything was absolutely delicious. I made sure to save half of my meal for a lunch because I wanted to get something after dinner. Last year, we never made it to the local soft serve ice cream place. We packed up from dinner and went over. Both of us had the following:

That would be a mint and chocolate swirl cone. I swear, it tasted like a Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookie on a cone . . . it was amazing! When we were done with this, we went to Toys R Us for a kid free look around. JSL’s birthday is in a month, so we needed ideas without two kids telling what "I want" to everything they see.

All in all, my belated birthday dinner out was delightful. I told JL that I really liked the spring deal and not having to worry about driving to the celebration in snow and ice. Who knew a birthday outing could be so care free?! Thank you again to Mom and Dad for watching the kids, I know they had a blast with both of you.

So, do you go out to dinner for your birthday? What did you have for dinner on your last special day?

Categories:
birthday food glorious food jl looking back me moments photos TechyDad weekend yummy

The Great Debate – Roll Poll Results

Posted on April 8, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

When TechyDad and I got engaged, we had a few pieces of "business" to take care of. One item that I insisted on: he HAD to put the toilet seat back down when he was done using the bathroom. I had heard too many stories of women going to sit down in the middle of the night, while half asleep, and getting a rather unpleasant surprise. On the flip side, TechyDad had a demand of his own. He wanted the rolls of toilet paper to go over and not under. At the time, I preferred the roll going under, but was willing to give into his request. Now, almost 9 years later, we have both adjusted nicely to these bathroom rules of sort.

For months, I had been reading people on blog posting about Cottonelle’s campaign called The Great Debate or Roll Poll. People were asked whether they were part of Team Roll Over or Team Roll Under. The results of the Roll Poll are now in and it was not even close.

Thanks to these results, Cottonelle has reformulated their toilet paper to be even softer and stronger than it previously was. This will help those of us that roll over to keep our paper in check.

The paper seems really soft and durable to me. Very easy to grasp when rolling over for my oldest son. I have to admit though, I really like the cute puppy on the packaging and the fact that Cottonelle has Box Tops for Education. It is always great to help support our school, even when selecting what to use when . . . well -er wiping our rears!

So are you on the winning Team Roll Over or the less popular Team Roll Under?

BTW if you want to see some funny videos, check out the ones on the Cottonelle website. The boys and I laughed along with them.

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Cottonelle and received a sample to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.