Sip Guru: Jenny from The Southern Institute

So... remember last week when we said "let's celebrate fall with one last drink"? 
Well, we just have one more variation on Caramel Apple Cider. 
We had to share this one for several reasons: 

1. Homemade caramel sauce is great for lots of holiday recipes

2. Let's be fair to apple cider (my last post might have given it a bad rep), it really does carry over into Christmas time.

3. It's from Jenny at thesoutherninstitute.com, there's really no more convincing needed after that.

Jenny's blog is so fun. She has such cute southern style (love these mod podge letters. So fun for bookselves, or baby's rooms), a great blog series called Meals Kids Love, and Kirst always hopes that Piper and her will craft one day like Jenny and Abby.

So... enough from us, here's Jenny:

Hello, everyone!  When my friends at kojo designs asked if I would share a favorite beverage with you all, I thought "Um...".  Literally, that was it.  I wanted to share something, but I had no idea what!  I didn't currently have any drink "recipes" or anything special that I made, so what did I do?  I came up with something, and luckily it worked.

One of my favorite things about it getting colder is hot seasonal beverages.  Starbucks happens to have many of them... the Pumpkin Spice Latte, the Salted Caramel Mocha, and the Caramel Apple Cider.  The trouble is that I think they changed their Caramel Apple Cider recipe last year, but whatever they did, I didn't like it.  HUGE disappointment.  Why not try to make one at home from scratch though?  So I have.

Caramel Apple Cider from The Southern Institute

First of all, when you think of a caramel apple cider what do you think of?  The caramel, right?  Of course, it's the most important part of the equation.  I didn't want to use a stale old store bought caramel sauce, so I decided to try to make one from scratch.  Everything I saw online spoke of how easy it was to make homemade caramel sauce.  Well, that may be true if you have a good recipe to follow.  The first recipe I found had beautiful photography and sounded delicious.  Unfortunately it failed.  Twice.  I followed the recipe carefully, but after two failed attempts I decided it must not be me... it must be the recipe.  I did another search and found this recipe from Simply Recipes.  Success on the first try!  And it was gorgeous!

It tastes as beautiful as it looks, believe you me... I've had a lot of tastes.  So with a beautiful caramel sauce I was ready to proceed.  I did not make the cider from scratch.  I bought a gallon of Trader Joe's spiced cider, which is delicious.  Here's what I did:

• Warm 6-8 oz of spiced cider in a microwave safe mug for about one minute.
• Add one HEAPING tablespoon of caramel sauce and stir until dissolved.
• Top with homemade whipped cream.  This is what puts it over the top.
• Drizzle with the caramel sauce.
• ENJOY!

Incase you haven't ever made homemade whipped cream, I'll let you in on a little secret.  It's the easiest thing ever to make, and it tastes sooooooo gooooooood!  All you need is a container of heavy whipping cream and a hand held mixer (and maybe a pinch of sugar too).  Pour about a cup of the cream into a medium bowl and mix, mix, mix.  Start on low then slowly up to medium.  After a while the cream will start to get thicker.  You can turn the mixer to med-high at this point and continue to mix until it thickens up to the consistency of cool whip.  Yum!  

Enjoy the cool weather and your caramel apple cider!  I hope to see you over at The Southern Institute real soon!

See, we told you. Doesn't it looks de-li-cious!

Sip Guru: DIY Chai Tea Bags by Micalah from Project Run&Play

Hey guys! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

(I know we sure did!)

We were a bit busy while we were away...

Our fam decided to do our own "Turkey Trot Wobble" 5k around the park on Thanksgiving morning...

...And we were featured on Kojodesigns for their Gifts for Guys Series (why are boys so dang hard to shop/make for??) with some Whiskey Flavored Salted Caramels...

...and mostly just hung out with family, ate lots, played games, and of course, went shopping... 

This is seriously the only picture I took through the whole holiday and I took it tonight with Adam's cell phone just before we left his parents house, so sorry for the blurriness and poor quality).

But now we're back. Well, kind of.

We're here today just long enough to introduce the founder of one of our favorite blogs:

Project Run&Play

We think it's such a genius idea for an online contest and love checking it out during each season to be sure to vote for our favorites!

it's a little addicting actually.

Recently Kedron showed you how to make homemade Chai.

Well, today, Micalah is going to show you her recipe for homemade chai and how to make them into tea bags! (what a fun gift idea!)

Micalah is great and we're excited to share her recipe for homemade chai tea bags with you today:

Hey! I'm Micalah and you may know me as the founder of Project Run&Play (although, probably not- I stayed mostly behind the scenes). I got to know Kirstin during the first cycle when she was part of Team Kojo, and again when they guest posted for Boys Week this last cycle. I was so excited when she approached me with the opportunity to guest post for Sips, Etc. What a great idea for a blog! And, as a former barista, and wife of one of the biggest coffee snobs EVER, I have a few yummy warm drink recipes up my sleeve. I was really torn on what to share though- lattes can be difficult to make at home, everyone has a favorite hot cocoa recipe, and I've already spotted several apple cider recipes this season. Then it hit me- chai.

I never liked chai until I started working at a coffee shop a few years ago. They made their own chai (as opposed to a syrup or powder) with real spices and it makes all the difference! It is a really flexible recipe- you can brew it as tea, steam (or froth) it with some milk for a latte, or brew it and chill it for an iced tea or latte. This recipe makes 1 serving, but you can easily make multiple batches. You can also adjust the spices to your preference.

1 tsp cloves + 1/2 tsp sugar + 1/4 tsp pepper (I know it sounds weird but it gives it a special kick) + 1/4 tsp ginger + 1/4 tsp cinnamon + a sprinkle of nutmeg

I used a Lipton black tea, but you can use any black tea (even loose leaf if you want to make your own bag). Cut off the sealed top and tag.

I mix the spices together in a small measuring cup with a spout to make it easier to pour.

Pour into either side of the open tea bag. I try to split it up pretty evenly.

I made my own pretty tag with two pieces of scrapbook paper glued together with a piece of cotton crochet thread in between.

I made a small loop at the end of the thread and tucked it into the tea bag (and, yes, spilled spices all over my machine). This ensures that the thread will catch. Using the zipper presser foot and a small stitch length (I set my machine to 2), I sewed the top of the tea bag closed.

All done! Boil some water, brew for 3-5 minutes, add some honey and/or milk, and enjoy! Or make a couple and wrap them up with a pretty mug for a gift for a friend!

Sips Guru: Tam from Sew Dang Cute Crafts

Remember I told you about surprises this week? Well you get one of them already, because no one likes waiting for surprises... 

We have another Sip Guru here to share one of her special drink recipes with you.

But before you get to meet her, let me tell you a bit more about Tam from Sew Dang Cute Crafts...

In addition to being a wife, mom of four, and an Ironman (!), Tam also heads up Crafting With the Stars (an online competition between some of the best crafters out there), has been on TV (!!) lately and has awesome style--love those boots!, has great tutorials and recipes, and just a couple days ago wrote the best post about bloggers in real life.

So now that she's been properly introduced, here she is to share her Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix recipe with you:

Hello to all of you sips, etc. peeps! I’m Tam from Sew Dang Cute Crafts.

My site is full of tutorials and projects that are mostly DIY and sewing, but I do venture out in other areas – like paper crafting. Pretty much I just love to create!

I’m thrilled to be here today sharing with you my favorite drink (especially this time of year when the weather turns cooler).

Hot Chocolate

Now some of you may be thinking. Why make your own?

1. This makes A LOT of the mix, and when your family goes through it as fast as mine does – this is much more economical.

2. You don’t have to worry about little packets. You can add as little/much mix as you like so your hot chocolate is just to your liking!

3. This is such a YUMMY recipe!!!

Hot Cocoa Mix

12 cups powdered milk (25.6 oz. box)

2 cups powdered sugar

2 lb. can Nestle Nesquik

1 cup creamer

Generic ingredients work great for everything except the Nesquik.

Mix it all together and you are done!

Now go add it to some hot water in your favorite mug, throw in some marshmallows, and sit down to relax and enjoy!!!

Thanks so much for having me here Tricia and Kristin!

I hope you will all come visit me over at Sew Dang Cute Crafts!

Wouldn't this be such a fun homemade Christmas or winter birthday present for someone? Love it!

Thanks for sharing Tam!



Sip Guru: Sumo's Sweet Stuff

I'll let you in on a little secret: there's a part of me that has always wanted to be a talk show host. 

How great would it be to have a career where someone makes you look fabulous, 

and you spend your morning sipping a latte and talking to famous people or good friends 

who have something relative and exciting to share with you?

Well unfortunately, this is not my full time job,

and I can promise I don't look fabulous sitting here in my sweats and ponytail,

BUT I do get to share our someone really great with you 

and she is going to share something relative and super exciting...

 Meet Summer of Sumo's Sweet Stuff, our very first Sip Guru!

She does tons of fun craft tutorials on Tuesdays,

 (This Lace Ruffle Skirt is enough to make me want to board the baby train)

and has a bunch of great bites ideas on Wednesdays to pair with your drinks

 (Seriously, how great does Chocolate Covered Bacon sound?)

And best of all, she shares our love of Diet Coke, so we knew she had to be great!

 We know you'll love her too:

Hello everyone!

I'm Sumo! Well, my real name is Summer, but my husband nicknamed me Sumo when we were dating. (Yes, I still married him!)

I blog over at a little place called Sumo's Sweet Stuff.

It's a blog I started to share my crafting and creating. I also like to host giveaways, feature other bloggers, and maybe share some crazy ramblings about how much I love Diet Coke, or my relationships with Veronica and Lucy (my sewing machine and Silhouette). I started sewing about a year and a half ago, and I haven't looked back since! It's probably my favorite creative past time now, especially since I've got two little girls and a third one on the way!

Every Monday is Market Yourself Monday, where you can link up your latest projects, and visit other blogs to get some inspiration!

I was excited when Kirstin asked me to share a drink recipe over here. There's one frozen dessert drink that I make that my husband is crazy about; if I had been making it before we got married, I might have thought that's why he married me!

Frozen Hot Chocolate.

It might be chilly where you are living right now, but don't brush this drink aside because of that. It just gives you an excuse to snuggle up with your sweetheart while indulging in a fantastic dessert. Maybe while watching your favorite Christmas movie. (Which, in case you are wondering, should be White Christmas).

Here's what you need:

- 6 oz Hershey's chocolate bar (the huge bars are 7 oz. so I usually just use a whole one of those - it can't hurt, right?)

- 2 t hot chocolate mix

- 1 1/2 T sugar

1 1/2 c milk

Start off by melting your chocolate bar. Be careful not to burn it!

Stir in your hot chocolate mix and sugar.

Add 1/2 c milk.

Put it in the blender and add your remaining 1 c of milk.

Blend with 3 c of ice, or however much ice you want!

Top with whipped cream (if you like it, I personally don't, but I know I'm in the minority!). If you save a little of your chocolate bar, you could also shave some of it on top of your whipped cream.

Yum!

Enjoy!