Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Ben and Jerry's Free Cone Day!

And now for a KayB’s Public Service Announcement..



Everyone loves something for free. My favourite holiday of the calendar year is 7-Eleven day, because you get to stuff yourself stupid with slurpee upon slurpee upon slurpee..

And it seems I have discovered what I’m sure will become my second favourite holiday. Free Cone Day!

After many years, patiently waiting, Ben and Jerry’s hit our shores last year with their flagship store in Manly. Loyal Ben and Jerry’s converts have been flocking to the Scoop Store ever since to get their ice cream fix, and as a thank you our Manly shop will now be taking part in the international phenomenon that is FREE CONE DAY!

It’s a pretty simple concept. As the slogan states, you get free ice cream! Free Cone Day takes place around the end of March/beginning of April all over the world. This year’s Australian Free Cone Day is April 20th from 1pm -8pm.

If you haven’t experienced the delight that is Ben and Jerry’s, I suggest you use Free Cone Day as a fabulous excuse to get your first fix. After many hours debating with work colleagues about the most outstanding flavour, we have finally come up with two recommendations for this year’s Free Cone Day...
Chunky Monkey and Phish Food, both standout classics (and and and.. Peanut Cookie-burra Dough! Who doesn’t love food with a comical name!).

See details below, and enjoy!

Free Cone Day

Tuesday April 20th, 2010. 1pm-8pm

Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop, 25-27 South Steyne, Manly

http://www.benandjerry.com.au/


Thursday, March 11, 2010

Peanut Butter and Bacon Cookies - The perfect beer food


I think boys are hard to bake for. Sure, most of them enjoy sweets – my boy goes gooey for a mud cake, for example. But generally speaking, if you put a batch of pink cupcakes with elegant fondant flowers in front of a male, there is no way you’re going to get the same ‘ooooh’ and ‘ahhhhhh’ reaction as you would from a female.


My case in point – some time ago now, while discussing the engagement cake I had made for the groom, I asked him how many pieces of the cake he had eaten. To my utmost horror he had only had one piece, declaring that cake and beer just don’t mix well. He had a point. It was then decided that I must develop the perfect desert/cake/cupcake/baked item to match with a beer.


Sure, there have been a few trials and close contenders. Take the Luther burger, for example. Although I’m yet to come across any of my friends who have actually attempted this monstrosity! But finally, I think I may have found it.


Behold, the peanut butter and bacon cookie.


I recently went through the delightful process of having my wisdom teeth removed. I won’t glam it up for those of you potentially in line for this surgical procedure. It sucks. The worst. Ever. Tell your dentist to shove it. No, don’t do that! I’m sure he/she wont appreciate that. But on the plus side I now have these two gaping holes in the back of my mouth where I can easily store leftover food for later consumption. Ewww gross.


Anyway, after two weeks on the lounge feeling very sorry for myself, and very anxious from a lack of baking, I decided to ease back into it with this very simple recipe. And I thought they would be a delightful treat for my little bro, my partner in crime, JayB, to say thanks for taking care of me/getting me slupees/feeding me mashed potato and gravy, while I was withering away on the lounge.




Peanut Butter and Bacon Cookie


Makes 6 to 8 large cookies


½ cup good quality crunchy peanut butter

½ cup sugar (1/4 brown sugar & ¼ granulated sugar)

½ egg

2 rashers of bacon, diced.

½ teaspoon baking powder

*Optional - ¼ cup wholemeal flour*



Preheat fan forced oven to 175 degrees C.

Slice bacon into small cubes. Fry to your liking and drain well.

Using an electric mixer combine sugar and peanut butter, then slowly add in egg and baking powder (add flour at this stage if using). Mix for approximately 1-2 minutes, or until well combined.

Stir in bacon. Roll mixture into balls and place on a tray lined with baking paper. Press down on ball with your thumb or fork to flatten slightly.

Bake for 10 minutes. Leave to cool on tray for at least 10 minutes before transferring to wire rack or plate.




NOTE: Drain bacon VERY well on paper towel after frying. The combination of bacon and peanut butter means these cookies can become very oily when mixing. These are not typically crunchy cookies, they are more like a soft ‘subway’ cookie. If you prefer more crunch then add flour, increase amount to your liking.


If you haven’t eaten them all straight out of the oven, then I suggest storing these in the fridge if you plan to make ahead of time. Zap in the microwave for a few seconds before serving.


Just incase you were wondering, JayB loved the cookies. And he is a very hard man to please, he doesn't really like sweets (crazy, I know! Pretty sure he must be adopted).





...And just a little something for all of those lined up to have their wisdom teeth out anytime soon.


This photo pretty much sums up the whole experience. "F**k you world, I have a frozen sanitary pad around my balloon size face and I don't want to talk about it." Good luck to y'all!