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November 24, 2012 By Autumn Rose Reo Leave a Comment

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Celebrate Summer Some Way with Ice Cream Sodas!

June 20, 2012 By Autumn Rose Reo Leave a Comment

Today was the FIRST DAY of SUMMER. Can you believe it? And best of all, did you know today was also Ice Cream Soda Day? And there’s nothing more summer than the thought of popsicles, ice cream and even better, an ice cream soda to begin the summer the right way.

Since I’m a huge fan of anything with a little fizz and bubbles – like ginger ale, San Pellegrigio and champagne, it’s no doubt that when I ran across zero calorie Sparkling Ice, I was more than just a little excited. It was like my need to drink more water, not gain weight and not taste like artificial sweeteners all came together into one. Remember back in the day when they had Clearly Canadian? It reminds me of those good ole days (minus the glass bottle I’m thankful it’s not made of since I have two children!)

Anyhow, when my kiddo found my inventory of “mom’s drinks,” he certainly asked to taste one, especially since they come in bright colors that match their flavors. (Sparkling Ice’s collection includes delicious flavors including Coconut Pineapple, Lemon Lime, Kiwi Strawberry, Lemonade, Orange Mango, Pomegranate Berry, Pink Grapefruit, and Black Raspberry.) We’ll once he tasted them, he was on board the Sparkling Ice train, so we started to experiment.

For my four-year old, he helped to pour the Sparkling Ice to make popsicles. Mom made a margarita with the strawberry kiwi flavor. For the family, we decided to make Ice Cream Sodas with the remaining Sparkling Ice. You can try the recipe below for the Ice Cream Soda or there are several Sparking Ice recipes for cocktails online.

Sparkling ICE Cream Soda Recipe

Ingredients

· Any flavor of Sparkling ICE

· 1/4 cup milk

· 1 cup vanilla ice cream (or 1 large scoop)

· Can whipped cream (optional)

Directions

· Pour the milk into one tall 16-ounce glass.

· Add in ice cream and enough Sparkling Ice to fill almost to top of glass.

· Top with whipped cream if desired.

· Serve with a long spoon and a big straw.

What a great way to kick-off a great summer and to do it together as a family.

***Disclaimer: I was provided Sparkling Ice for purposes of this review, but the opinions expressed here are all my own.

Cake-off Faceoff: Kroger’s Bringing Hope to the Table

June 8, 2012 By Autumn Rose Reo Leave a Comment

Everybody likes the idea of a cake competition – until of course you are the decorator and you have about as much talent as the size of one of those icing tip thingies. But all is fun and games when you are doing something good to help others. Last week Kroger hosted the sixth Annual “Bringing Hope to the Table” Cake-off with local media personalities (including yours truly!) The invited media personalities were paired with a Kroger pastry chef, supplies and one hour to compete against other outlets for the “Ace of Cakes” title and a $1,000 donation in their name to the North Texas Food Bank and Tarrant Area Food Bank.

While I love watching my Food Network and all my experience eating cakes and cupcakes, I didn’t have much to work off of except the provided theme: “hope,” “family,” and “happiness.” And being matched up against some of the best reporters in DFW like Melissa Newton, Arnold Wayne Jones, CW33s EyeopenerTeam, Dallas Observer’s drinks and eats diva and others wasn’t so easy either, but a little bit of love, courage and the opportunity to raise awareness for a very worthwhile campaign were enough to get me through the competition for my fourth time.

Kroger’s Cake Off Kicks Off the Bringing Hope to the Table Campaign. You can help now until June 9 to fight hunger.

Interested to see who won? Take a look at some of these cakes and let me know if you agree in the judges’ decision!

Want to be a part of the fun? Then buy up those yellow tags! The “Bringing Hope to the Table” gives shoppers the opportunity to help raise money for the North Texas Food Bank and Tarrant Area Food Bank and their programs that support local food-insecure families, seniors and children. From now until June 9, 2012 customers can purchase a variety of tagged products and a percentage of the sale will benefit the food banks. This year, the “Bringing Hope to the Table” campaign is expected to raise more than $125,000 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. So do your part and buy your groceries at Kroger while you make a difference in DFW.

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