Cuisine Diva

Try Giant Ice Balls for Your Cocktails

Cuisine Diva Reviews Ice Sphere Molds

Are you looking for a cool way to jazz up your cocktails? How about adding a giant, round ice-cube to your favorite frosty beverage? Infernal Innovations was kind enough to send me a set of 2 of their round ice sphere molds to try and review for the Cuisine Diva blog. 

Each mold makes a huge, 2.5" round ice-cube. It's a neat way to cool down your beverage without watering it down. Large ice spheres, like these, take longer to melt down than regular ice cubes. You can get creative with the ice sphere molds and use fruit punch or your favorite fruit juice instead of plain water. Place the resulting fruit infused ice cubes in your punch bowl for a bit of fun.

The ice sphere molds are easy to use. You simply fill them with water to the fill line, snap on the lid and place in your freezer for 4 to 6 hours. To unmold the ice spheres, run them under warm tap water, peel off the cap of the mold then squeeze the sides of the mold to release the giant ice ball.

 

 

Find Infernal Innovations Online

• Website: InfernalInnovations.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/InfernalInnovations
• Twitter: twitter.com/infernalinno
• Google+: plus.google.com/+Infernalinnovationsstore
• Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/infernalinno

 

 

YouTube video:

 

Infernal Innovations Ice Sphere Molds

• Distinctive ice molds are sleek and stylish and are a 100% sure crowd pleaser
• Each ice sphere is the EQUIVALENT OF 5+ STANDARD ICE CUBES so to you can stop running to the freezer end enjoy your party
• ULTRA SLOW MELTING premium 2.5" ice spheres are sure to outlast your drink
• Quickly cools ANY BEVERAGE like juice, iced tea & lemonade so throw a few ice balls into a pitcher on HOT SUMMER DAYS!
• Ice balls have less surface area than cubes and won't dilute your expensive Scotch or Bourbon

FEATURES
• Neatly stackable so they won't tip-you can find room for them in any freezer
• BPA free and dishwasher safe for quick & easy care
• Quality materials consist of a durable plastic base & Infernal Orange silicone top, specially designed with grooves to catch excess water & prevent leaks
• Clearly indicated FILL-LINE takes the guesswork out of how much water to pour
• INFERNAL flame logo freezes into every sphere to certify authenticity

Infernal Innovations' Ice Sphere Molds Create Each Ice Ball Individually To Produce Better Results Consistenly So You Can Sit Back, Relax & Enjoy!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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It's Mini-Cupcake Time!

What the Heck is Yacon Syrup?

Above: yacon tubers look a bit like sweet potatoes. 

Have you heard of yacon syrup? Yacon syrup comes from the tuberous root of the yacon plant, Latin name Smallanthus sonchifolius. The plants are indigenous to the Andes Mountains from Columbia to Argentina. According to the Yacon Syrup Health Benefit website, "Yacon is considered one of the most preferred natural sweetener because it contains about 50% FOS or Fructooligosacharides, which do not in any way increase blood glucose levels." This fact makes the sweetener safe for diabetics to use. 

Life & Food Inc. was kind enough to send me an 8 ounce bottle of their yacon syrup to try out and review for the Cuisine Diva blog. The syrup is a thick, brown liquid which reminds me of black strap molasses. In fact, the syrup is so much like molasses that I wasn't sure I liked it at first. It is an extremely sweet and extremely thick syrup. But after a bit of experimenting I ended up making a blueberry pancake syrup with it.

I placed a small sauce pan on low heat and stirred in about 1/3 cup of yacon syrup, 1/3 cup of agave syrup, 1/4 cup water and 1/2 cup of blueberries. I let the blueberry syrup simmer for around 20 minutes then turned off the heat and left the syrup cool to room temperature. The resulting blueberry syrup makes a terrific pancake syrup substitute - I use it on pancakes, waffles and French toast. Leftover syrup can be placed in a container and stored in your refrigerator.

So if you are looking for a low-calorie, low sugar sweetener give yacon syrup a try.

You can read my review of Life & Foods Garcinia Cambogia weight-loss capsules on the Beauty Diva blog..

Find Life & Food Online

• Website: www.lifefoodpro.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/lifefoodpro

Yacon Syrup Product Details

• 100% pure Yacon syrup has shown to assist in weight management, increase fiber intake and promotes good bowel function.
• Other benefits include: Lowers blood sugar. Prevents and controls hyperglycemia (over activity). Restores renal activity. Is a powerful Antioxidant.
• High in prebiotics and probiotics, this syrup contains up to 50% of FOS (fructooligosacharides). It has been found that consumption of FOS does not increase blood glucose, and helps boost your bodies metabolism.
• Naturally grown and sourced from the fields in Peru. Organic certified by our manufacturing specialists.
• 100% pure raw organic syrup formula with no added preservatives. Bottled and tested in a FDA certified GMP facility in the USA.

Life & Food 100% Pure Raw All Natural Yacon Syrup

Our Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) Syrup is sourced from naturally grown organic Yacon fields in the country of Peru. We use the HIGHEST quality Yacon plant to make a premium pure syrup formula.
Yacon syrup has shown to remains low in calories and low on the glycemic index scale. This is due to the fact that the sugar contains high levels of oligofructose (inulin), a form of sugar that is not metabolized readily by the human body. For this reason, Yacon is ideal for diabetics and acts as a great alternative to conventional low calorie sweeteners.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Cuisine Diva Likes New Bamboo Cutting Boards

I've wanted to get a new bamboo cutting board to add to my kitchen gear. Premium Bamboo was kind enough to send me their bamboo cutting board set to test out and review for the Cuisine Diva blog.

Premium Bamboo sent me a pack of 3 cutting boards: small, medium and large:

• small 8" x 6"
• medium 11" x 8.5"
• large 13" x 9.5"

I had an old, wood cutting board that's seen better days so I was pretty stoked when this set of 3 cutting boards showed up in the mail. Like regular wood boards, your should regularly apply mineral oil to the bamboo cutting boards to extend their life and prevent them from drying out.

The bamboo boards also make great serving platters. Arrange a selection of cheese and crackers on the larger board and make it the start attraction at your next dinner party.  

Find Premium Bamboo Online

• Website: http://buypremiumbamboo.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PremiumBamboo

 

Premium Bamboo Cutting Boards Product Description

A Thick and Stylish Cutting Board Set Guaranteed To Stay With You Forever

Premium Bamboo set out to design and manufacture a thick and stylish cutting board set that will solve all the issues customers have with cheap and unusable cutting boards. You will not be disappointed with this cutting board set.

What Sets Premium Bamboo Extra Thick Cutting Board Apart From The Rest?
- This thick bamboo cutting board is eco-friendly and biodegradable
- Very light yet extremely durable thanks to bamboo's natural benefits
- Extra thick and large cutting boards great for cutting vegetable, fruit, and meat
- Strong and thick cutting boards which will not dull your knifes
- Less porous, there are fewer spaces for the bacteria to get trapped unlike regular wooden cutting boards
- Cleans easily, just wash by hand with soap and water, and let them air dry
- Cutting boards has rounded corners and edges which looks great and makes for easy safe carrying
- Stores easily anywhere in your kitchen due to their great size
- FSC and FDA Approved
- Antimicrobial

What You Get
This 3-Piece Set Premium Bamboo Cutting Board Includes 3 Sizes:
- Large: 13" x 9.5"
- Medium: 11" x 8.5"
- Small: 8" x 6"

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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5 Chic Florida Bars on Captiva and Sanibel Island

Above: Captiva Island, Florida

Captiva Island is an excellent place to spend time with family and friends. There's plenty of opportunities to swim, jet ski, go shelling or just relax in the sun. When the day is ending, visitors to South Florida may want to settle in for a spectacular Gulf of Mexico sunset with some snacks and a cool adult beverage. The surrounding area does have several restaurant options that fall into the beach chic category with American-style food and drinks. Plus, the interior design of these bars sets them apart.

Mucky Duck
This is a pub that was once a residence, and before that, it was a hotel. Men's Journal considers it one of the Best Hidden Beach Bars in America, and it offers a breathtaking view of the sunset. Since the restaurant is located right on the beach, it's possible to arrive by boat and enjoy some food and drinks after a day on the water.

The atmosphere and the interior design is pub-style and its a family friendly environment for lunch or dinner, and even includes a kid's menu. The Mucky Duck is the perfect place for a cold beer that is so necessary on a hot Florida day. There are also a selection of wines and signature beach drinks to suit just about any dry mouth.

The Lazy Flamingo
This bright pink restaurant is designed with Florida tastes in mind and has locations in Pine Island, Sanibel and Fort Myers. The bar menu is limitedto beer and wine, but it flows freely during both afternoon and evening happy hours. The food features a variety of wings. Don't miss the Dead Parrot wings if a very hot and spicy dish is needed to go with a cold bottle of beer. There are also burgers, sandwich platters, oysters, clams and coconut shrimp.

The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed. There is indoor and outdoor seating and the kid meals come with a pink frisbee, and the original location inCaptiva is right across the street from the beach, which is nice for walking off food and drink, and it's a great place to toss a frisbee.

Above: Doc Ford's Rum Bar & Grille

Doc Ford's Rum Bar & Grille
As the name suggests, the restaurant is designed around good seafood and rum drinks. There is a Caribbean flair to the food and drink as well, which makes it the perfect place to end a day spent playing in the sun and emerald-colored water. The menu is extensive and goes well beyond the usual fried fish sandwiches that often populate beach restaurants. Doc's menu includes conch chowder, a cuban sandwich, raw and steamed oysters, fish tacos and banana leaf snapper. Don't miss trying the Drunken Parrot Carrot Cake because it's spiked with a generous portion ofGosslings Rum.

The rum drink menu is also extensive and features many drinks visitors are familiar with including Rum Runners, daiquiris and Mojitos, There are Doc's location's in Captiva, Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach.

Traders
This is a more upscale establishment and the interior design speaks to more of a bistro style restaurant with an impressive wine bar, and a comfortable interior design. The food menu is small and can be seen here, but everything is local and brought in fresh daily and prepared with an American flair. Specialities include crab cakes with roasted corn salsa, Florida style gumbo, steaks, chops and an assortment of local seafood.

The wine menu is a page all on its own, and it features selections by the glass or bottle. There is also a nice choice of champagnes and sparkling wines. Beer is available in bottles or on draught. There is a daily happy hour, and locals frequent this restaurant, so it's well worth a visit.

The Mad Hatter
This is the place to go for a romantic dinner on the Gulf. It features a late night bar where couples can dance the night away after an excellent dinner of blue crab cakes, black truffle sea scallops and homemade cheesecake. Children are welcome here, but they do need to be old enough to sit in a chair.

The sunsets are amazing and should be enjoyed with a cold beer or a favorite cocktail in the cozy dining room. It's the number one choice for special evenings, so don't be fooled by the ordinary looking restaurant design. The wine list is large and the staff knows what foods to pair it with.

Captiva Island the surrounding Lee County area is an excellent vacation spot. There are many things that simply can't be beat and after a day of playing, it's nice to relax with good food and drink with people who are glad to have visitors and locals stop by and enjoy themselves.

About the author: 

Tammie S. is a Florida native who enjoys a day in the sun and a good beach bar. She's a shameless fan of the Gulf of Mexico and goes as often as she can. Tammie writes fiction and non-fiction books and articles and loves to travel. 

It's Mini-Cupcake Time!

Cuisine Diva Reviews Grazia's Silicone Mini-Muffin Pan

I've been testing Grazia's silicone mini-muffin pan for the Cuisine Diva blog. I reviewed their full-size muffin pan a couple of months ago and was happy to hear Grazia was sending me one of their mini-muffin pans.

I have an old, metal mini-muffin pan that I've used in the past. It's a pain in the butt to clean up after using - it has 24 mini compartments that have to be cleaned. I always use non-stick cooking spray to coat the bottom and sides of the muffin pan but I still end up with a bit of batter stuck on the bottom.

The silicone min-muffin pan comes to the rescue! The 24-compartment pan is light-weight and a breeze to clean up. The muffins literally pop out of the pan - just let the muffins cool off a bit after taking them out of the oven - then turn the pan over and let them fall out onto a large serving platter. 

The only downside of using a silicone muffin pan? Silicone bakeware is a bit floppy. You need to place the pan on a metal baking sheet before you fill it with batter for stability. But because the pan is so flexible and light-weight, you can fold it in half and shove it in a kitchen cabinet when not in use. 

Another plus? Silicone pans don't rust! Some of my older, metal bakeware looks like it's time to retire. I plan on adding more silicone bakeware to my kitchen gadget collection in the future. Silicone bread pans? Silicone cake pans? Silicone pie pans? Hook me up!

Above: blueberry muffins made in the Grazia silicone mini-muffin pan.

Silicone Muffin Pan Product Description

Grazia® Silicone 24 Cup MINI Muffin Pan is a non-stick food grade silicone muffin cupcake baking pan that is extremely easy to clean, safe to use in the oven, microwave, dishwasher, or freezer. It is heat resistant for up to 450°F.

--FDA Approved
--High Quality Construction
--Manufactured in Socially Compliant Facility

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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Why Should I Use a Turmeric Supplement?

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

Do you take supplements as part of a daily health regime? Have you ever tried curcumin supplements? Curcuma longa is the Latin name for Turmeric, a plant that's related to ginger. The rhizome of the plants are harvested to make the culinary spice turmeric.

Turmeric is also available in capsule form and is thought to have a variety of health benefits. It is supposed to be an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and beneficial to your heart and liver. I take turmeric to help reduce the pain associated with my osteoarthritis. I am 50 years old and do a bit of running and cycling. My doctor says just about everyone will wind up with osteoarthritis as they age - fantastic!

Cooking with Turmeric

Besides taking turmeric capsules, I also have a jar of the spice in my pantry. Turmeric is one of the ingredients I use when making curry dishes. Turmeric is often used with ginger, cinnamon, coriander and cumin for a variety of culinary creations.

Nutraviva's Turmeric Curcumin C3 Complex comes in a 120 capsule bottle, which equals a 30 day supply. The Premium Natural Turmeric Supplement is available on Amazon from Nutraviva. 

Product Description

Turmeric is considered and been used for centuries as an antioxidant and anti-flammatory supplement, for people wanting a natural arthritis treatment for joint pain relief, and even as a liver detox supplement and cardiovascular/cholesterol treatment.

Turmeric has been used for 1000 of years for its incredible health benefits, and in particular it's the bioactive elements known as curcuminoids, the main three being curcumin, bisdemethoxyl-curcumin and demethoxyl-curcumin and have been clinically tested and widely used.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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Cuisine Diva Reviews Kitchen Gurus Food Scale

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

I am a bit of a food nut. I love trying out new recipes and testing the latest and greatest kitchen equipment. I just had a chance to try Kitchen Guru's glass top digital food scale. The scale is available in 3 colors: black, red and silver and can be bought from Kitchen Gurus on Amazon.

A kitchen scale is a really great tool to have on hand, especially if you do a lot of baking or are trying to stick to certain portion sizes for dieting purposes. Professional bakers often use weight measurements for accurate recipe creation. You can view a video on Weight vs Volume Measurement on the Joy of Baking website. Professional bakers recommend weighing both your liquid and dry ingredients for the best, most accurate results.

 

How to Use a Kitchen Scale

I use a large stainless steel bowl when measuring out the dry ingredients in a recipe I'm making. I place the bowl on the kitchen scale, turn it on and let it set itself to zero. You can then start measuring out and weighing each of your dry ingredients. The Kitchen Gurus food scale can measure dry ingredients in either pounds or kilograms and liquid ingredients in either ounces or grams.

I find this scale really helpful as every so often I find recipes online from a UK website. In fact, most of the world uses metric measurements, vs imperial measurements that are used in the United States. So unless you are using a USA or Australian cookbook, you are going to have to follow the metric system of cooking measurements. 

The Cooking Nook website has a great page on Cooking Measurement Conversions. 

Find Kitchen Gurus Online

Website: becomegurus.com
Facebook: facebook.com/becomegurus
Twitter: @becomegurus

Coupon code: through the end of June, 2014, Kitchen Gurus is offering new customers a $10 discount off the already low Amazon sale price. 

Coupon Code for an additional $10 off Amazon sale price: KITGURUS
Product Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HARZKVU

Product Description: 

Easy to read
Easy to read 2.4" high contrast LCD display.

Accurate
4 high precision sensors provide reliable, accurate measurements every time.

Weight loss and Diabetes Management
Let our scale assist you in tracking your special diet requirements such as calories, carbs, sugars or fat. Measure portion sizes to know what you're really eating.

Bake By Weight
Cook like a pro, and measure ingredients perfectly every time when baking. Make your own nutrition-packed breads and foods

Hassle Free
We have a 100% satisfaction guarantee and stand by our product with a 5 year warranty. We're not perfect and occasionally a product is defective or broken in transit. Those times is why we're here! Just email: [email protected]

Product Specs:
1. Easy to Clean, Durable Tempered Glass Construction (11lb capacity)
2. Measures Grams (g), Ounces (oz), Fluid Ounces (fl oz), Kilograms (kgs)
3. Tare / Zero feature to add additional ingredients or remove container weight.
4. Designed in the USA!
5. Easy to Read, Large 2.4" High Contrast LCD Display
6. Auto-Off Technology
7. 4 High Precision Gauges with 0.1lb resolution
8. 1 Lithium Long Lasting Battery (included)
9. Touch Sensitive Buttons
10. Low Profile Design (15mm thin)
11. Responsive Customer Support
12. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

Non-Stick Pans Are the Bomb

I use my non-stick fry pan almost every day. I cook eggs, grilled cheese, stir-fry and more in the pan. I've been using a regular, no-stick pan I bought from Wal-mart last year, but like most non-stick pans the coating eventually begins to scratch and peel off. It's probably not a good idea to keep using the pan once the coating starts to flake off.

I've seen ceramic non-stick pans advertised on-line and you can find them in stores such as Bed, Bath and Beyond. I wasn't sure if I wanted to pay the price to buy my own ceramic pan, as they are bit more expensive than a regular no-stick pan.

Green Earth Pan by Ozeri

Fortunately, as a freelance writer and blogger, I am contacted by many companies asking me if I would like to receive samples of their product to test and review for my blogs. I recently got a chance to try one of Ozeri's Green Earth Pans. They sent me their 10", textured non-stick pan. The pan is also available in 8" and 12" versions.

I wasn't sure about the honeycomb texture on the bottom of the pan. To me it looked like it would cause everything to stick to the bottom. But I went ahead and made an omelette for the first test of the pan. I was surprised but it worked really well! The omelette cooked evenly and didn't stick at all. I didn't use any butter or oil and the omelette slid right out of the pan.

Ozeri recommends you season your pan before using it, by rubbing no more than 1/2 teaspoon of olive or vegetable oil on the bottom of the pan. They DO NOT recommend using non-stick cooking spray. Clean up is easy using hot soapy water and drying with a soft cloth.

 

Green Earth Pans are Uber-Cool

Ozeri says their Green Earth Pans have an ultra-safe, 100% PTFE and PFOA free ceramic non-stick coating.  PTEE (Poly Tetra Fluoro Ethylene) and PFOA (Per Fluoro Octanoic Acid) are known to release toxic chemicals at high temperatures and are known as a s pollutant to the environment. The green earth pan has a ceramic coating, so even under high temperatures, no harmful toxic fumes will ever be released into the environment. Ozeri's green earth pan is oven safe to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

A friend of mine saw this pan and just about walked out of my apartment with it! He discovered you can order the pans from Home Depot and have them delivered to your local store or directly to your home. You can also purchase the Green Earth Pan, which has a limited lifetime warranty, on Amazon. 

DISCLOSURE: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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