Follow Your Passion: Becky's Blissful Bakery #Giveaway

 Blogging can be a chore. Food blogging, in particular.


Your average blogger sits down, thinks of a topic, and pumps out content.  It's simple. Straightforward. Food bloggers can't really do that. We've got to think about what we'd like to make, find (or create) a recipe to make it, make it, take pictures of it, eat it (sometimes by this point it's cold), think about whether or not it was good (despite the fact that it was cold), and then write about it.


It's a process. And there's an even deeper element to it. It's one thing to simply have writer's block.  It's a different matter to be entirely uninspired in the kitchen, but have a blog sitting there waiting for content.


If you've ever wondered why so many food blogs are short-lived, the time commitment is likely to be a the top of the list as a reason. But, there's another element that helps an awful lot. And that's Passion.
It's not rocket science. When you love something, you're more inclined to work hard at it. It's not difficult to reason that you're also likely to become better at it over time if you put some elbow grease into the process.  


So, if you're going to blog, blog about something that's gotten under your skin that you simply can't let go. Blog about things you talk about so much with your friends that sometimes they roll their eyes when they see you coming. Blog about what makes you happy.


We love supporting businesses that exhibit that same kind of passion. And Becky's Blissful Bakery is one of them.


Rebecca Scarberry's business started as a hobby. She sold a few organic caramels on the side, but wasn't anywhere close to making a living at it. And then, tragedy struck. In the same week that her divorce was finalized, she lost her job as an executive assistant for an architecture firm. And Rebecca needed to find a new source of income. So, rather than sitting home over the holidays feeling sorry for herself, she turned to her kitchen stove and cooked up a caramel business.


These days, Becky's business is thriving. She makes 10 different varieties of all organic caramels, including flavors like beer and pretzel (made with Lakefront beer), espresso dark chocolate, chai tea (made with Rishi chai), and sangria. Even better, she recently signed on to provide her caramels to national food giant, Williams-Sonoma for their fall/winter catalog.  

You can read more about Becky and her business in an article I wrote about her back in April. And you can get a taste of her caramels by checking out the cool giveaway we've got going on below.
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This is the third of five... make that seven 5th Burp!-Day giveaways taking place on the blog all through the month of June. So come back often, and come hungry!

One lucky reader will win a box of Becky's Blissful Bakery's Sangria Caramels.

To enter, simply visit  Becky's Blissful Bakery and tell us which product in her line you'd most like to try. For a bonus entry, stop by her Facebook page and give her a like.  Be sure to leave us a comment letting us know you did just that.

You'll have until NOON on June 30, 2012 to enter.  Winners will be chosen at random and notified by email, so please leave your email addy with your comment if it's not included with your Blogger profile. Entries from the U.S. only, please.

As an added bonus, since June is Dairy Month, all entrants will ALSO be entered to win a grand prize assortment of hand-selected Wisconsin cheeses.


Full Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by Becky's Blissful Bakery, who provided us with the product for our giveaway. However, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Stout Ice Cream with Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce: Pure Guinness, er, Genius

And here we are. Wearin' the green on one of my favorite days of the year. St. Patrick's Day!

At our house, that means one thing:  wrangling up all the Leprechaun charms we can finagle and whipping up a wee bit o' magic in the kitchen.

The Irish do love a good stiff drink. So, why not toast to the luck ‘o the Irish on this St. Patrick’s Day with a glass of…ice cream?

Yeah, we've been futzing around with ice cream flavors again. And this time we've come up with something truly festive.  This amazing ice cream brings together the darkly wonderful toasted malt flavor of stout beer with a strikingly lovely caramel sauce.

The bitter notes of the beer are balanced nicely with a touch of sugar and the richness of cream, while the caramel sauce brilliantly marries caramel notes with the deliciously complex notes of Irish Whiskey and a wonderfully creamy texture that assists in balancing the bite of the ice cream.

It's a bit like an Irish Car Bomb in ice cream form.

As we speak, our corned beef for tonight's dinner is bubbling gaily in the slow cooker. And we're looking forward to a fine feast in celebration of all things Irish. Even if you won't be joining us for dinner, we'd encourage you to join us in spirit by whipping up a delicious batch of this stellar ice cream.

It's absolutely delicious.  Creamy and rich, with the perfect balance between bitter and sweet. Seriously good stuff...  and that's no Blarney.   We used a local brew - Tyranene Down 'N Dirty Chocolate Oatmeal Stout - for the ice cream.  But, any delicious craft brewed oatmeal stout will do.  And use the best Irish whiskey you can get your hands on for the sauce.  You won't regret it.

Stout Ice Cream
Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce


©BURP! Where Food Happens

Making the Most of the Local Harvest: Bourbon Caramel Peach Cobbler

I'm not usually a person who plans too far ahead.  After all, I like a bit of uncertainty in my life. And, although I can appreciate good planning as much as the next guy, I'm well aware that not every aspect of life can be perfectly orchestrated.

However, there are some areas in life which require me to exercise foresight.

When the dog days of summer have come to an end, and crisp autumnal breezes have blown their last... when the snow sits idly on the ground and the February wind whips through our hair, there's one thing for which I long: FRUIT.

We get spoiled during the summer months when sweet, ripe, locally grown fruit is at the ready just about any time we have a craving.  But, by the time January rolls around in this Wisconsin climate, I'm hard-pressed to find much beyond a few storage apples in the back of my refrigerator and insanely priced packages of frozen berries at my local coop.

So this year, we're preparing for the winter by putting up as much fruit as possible.  So far, we've managed to sock away 5 lbs of strawberries, 6 lbs of raspberries, 10 lbs of sour cherries, and (just this weekend) almost 50 lbs of Door County peaches.  I'm freezing the fruit -- in great part so that I can reduce the amount of added sugar as much as possible. But, I may also try my hand at canning a few jars of apple or pear butter by the time the season ends.

Of course, when there's this much delicious fruit lying around, it's also difficult not to enjoy a bit of it while it's at its peak.  In addition to eating dozens of these lovely peaches out of hand, we also managed to enjoy a few of them in one of our favorite sweet treats.

Rather than make our usual batch of peach ice cream, we decided to go with something warm and comforting -- a peach cobbler.  But, this particular cobbler has a twist. Its peaches are cooked in a caramel sauce that's accented by a bit of Kentucky Bourbon. And the best part is - it can be made in September with the best, fresh peaches of the season.  But, it also turns out great when made in mid-February with fresh frozen peaches -- you know, the ones you stockpiled during the height of the season.

If you're using fresh peaches, you'll want to sprinkle them with a bit of sugar and allow them to sit for about 1/2 hour so that the sugar can draw out their juices.  However, if you're making it with frozen peaches, you may find that the thawed peaches produce enough juice on their own.

 Meanwhile, you mix together a sugar syrup, place it into a cast iron (or other heavy-bottomed) pan, and allow it to caramelize.

To the caramel, you'll add the juices from the peaches, a bit of butter, and a splash of bourbon.  Toss the caramel with the peaches, and top the fruit with a classic crumble mixture (made from butter, flour, brown sugar, another splash of bourbon, some oatmeal, and a pinch of salt) and a few chopped pecans.

 Bake until caramel is bubbly and topping is crisp and browned.  And serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I could begin to tell you all about how delicious this cobbler is -- how the bourbon flavor cuts the sweetness of the caramel and enhances the fruitiness of the peaches.  I could describe the buttery topping -- which is crusty and light and nutty all at the same time.   Or I could just stand by and let you make your own -- which is probably the smart thing to do.


Bourbon Caramel Peach Cobbler


©BURP! Where Food Happens