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!



Sips Launch Party: Chocolate Stirring Spoons

Happy Monday! 

Hope your weekends were restful, productive, fun, or whatever you were expecting them to be, and more. (Adam's and mine was a mixture of productive and fun--not a lot of resting involved, but there's always next weekend for that.) Did you get around to trying out the Sam Adam's Winter Variety Pack or the Pumpkin Chai "Martini"? What did you think?

This week we have a few more details to share with you from our Launch Party and a couple of other surprises in store for you.

But today, we thought sharing how to make Chocolate Covered Stirring Spoons might make your Monday a bit more exciting.

We hope we were right...

You might have seen the original idea on pinterest, like I did. (I've found I spend most of my free time browsing these pages...). I thought they would be a great idea for the favors for our Launch Party.

 But, unlike a lot of the ideas I get on pinterest, I actually followed through with these, and I'm so glad I did.

So if you want to do it too, Here's what you need:

Plastic Spoons

Melting Chocolate

Toppings of your choosing

***Kirstin will laugh that I'm writing this on here, but I was super self-conscious about it at the party, so I want to share with you. Don't choose your toppings based on what goes well with chocolate. You'll see I chose to top some spoons with pretzels and peanuts...good in chocolate BUT NOT IN HOT CHOCOLATE OR COFFEE, gross. So learn from my mistakes so you don't get embarrassed come party time.***

Here's how to do it:

First spread out your spoons in a line on top of wax paper (for easy clean-up)

Melt your chocolate according to package directions

Using a spoon, drizzle melted chocolate onto each spoon.

My chocolate probably wasn't as smooth as it should have been, but I just tapped the bottom of each filled spoon as I went, and it smoothed out just fine.

After filling the spoons, top with whatever toppings you chose.

Again, I suggest avoiding peanuts and pretzels.

Let cool until hardened.

Then, if giving away as favors or gifts (wouldn't this be a fun Christmas present idea too?), wrap each in a baggy, and tie closed with a ribbon. You can even tie on a label if you feel like going the extra mile.

And that's it!

 Very low maintenance, and very cute--which is usually what we go for around here!

Fun, huh?

TheAdams-Sam Adams Variety Pack

So one of the things that I love is a good variety pack. Especially winter variety packs. 

They are usually a catch 22 though. I mean they put in these great seasonal beers and at the same time they undoubtedly have a few "throw away" beers.  

You know what I'm talking about, the ones that stay in your fridge almost a full year.

I was at the beer store last weekend getting some beer for the Sips launch party (my addition to the "Recommended by YOU" bar that Trish and Kirst set up). I almost passed right by the Samuel Adams winter variety pack because I knew I didn't like the Cranberry Lambac. 

Imagine my surprise when there was not just one, but two new beers and no Lambac. The Chocolate Bock and the Coffee and Brew Stout.(both which are pretty good)

 

So here's to Samuel Adams for getting it right.

It's like somebody at the company was like, "Hey, what if the variety pack had ALL good beer?" and then they went ahead and got rid of the crap beer. 

Pumpkin Chai Martini (with a twist)

This Pumpkin Chai Martini (with a twist) was our signature cocktail from our Sips Launch Party

this last weekend.

We call it Pumpkin Chai Martini (with a twist) because we ran into a little glitch just before we made it. I just assumed that we had regular vodka already. But, what happened when I went to find it? Citrus vodka only. Uh, oh. 
[enter the twist] 
So, we used spiced rum instead of vodka. 
Please, tell me this happens to you sometimes.

So it's not actually a martini, by definition. But, it's still delicious.
(The recipe was inspired from this website.)

Here's what you'll need:

3 oz Chai Cream Liqueur (we used Voyant)

splash of vanilla extract

1 T spiced rum

2 T pumpkin puree

Approx. 3 oz of milk (we used skim)

whipped cream and cinnamon to garnish.

this makes one serving.

Here's how to do it:

We made 4 servings. So we quadrupled the recipe.

First you pour the chai liqueur into your pitcher or shaker.

(Adam always tells me not to measure liquids in these measuring cups because it's not proper. But I always have and haven't run into huge problems).

  

Add in the vanilla extract, the spiced rum, and the pumpkin puree.

Mix well.

Then, to serve, we put out the pumpkin drink in an ice bucket, the milk in a separate one (so people could add it if they wanted to--we recommended they did), and added whipped cream and cinnamon on the side for anyone to garnish as they go.

We also put out our "presentation drink" so people could see what the finished product should look like.

I think it was a great success and people enjoyed building their own, too!

Do you have any other good pumpkin drinks to share for upcoming holiday parties?

Did you try this? What did you think?

sippy cup: how to make gobble gobble turkey cups

Looking for a kid friendly addition to your Thanksgiving line up? These Gobble Gobble Turkey Cups fit the bill perfectly.

They're super simple to make. And they pair perfectly with sparkling cider (which, let's be honest, is the kid highlight of Thanksgiving).

To make some turkey cups yourself, you'll need:
-clear plastic cups (we found these at Dollar Tree)
-construction paper
-feathers (three per cup)
-google-y eyes (a pair for each cup)
-hot glue

To put together:

First cut brown construction paper football shaped 'feathers.' Just wing it. They don't have to be perfect.

Hot glue an actual feather to the center of each construction paper feather. I had to cut some of my feathers to make them fit.

Hot glue three feathers to the back of each cup- very tail feather-like.

Then make a little 'beak' (a folded triangle of yellow construction paper) and hot glue in place. And hot glue google-y eyes to the front of the cup to complete the look.

That's it! Fill with Sparkling Cider and observe how you instantly become your pint sized guests' BFF.

ps- Funny story. We made the cups and were taking pictures of them. In the middle of the 'photoshoot,' Burke happened to walk by. Without a word, he sauntered himself over to a Turkey Cup, picked it up, and started drinking the sparkling cider. Like I said, kids are just drawn to these babies. :)