Time for an installment of Weekend Things:
1. Redbook Magazine featured my Homemade White Chocolate and Butterscotch Sunflower Seed Butter (GF).
Thanks for the wonderful feature, Redbook, and I wish I could give you a jar or five. I have more nut and seed butters on hand than I’d like to admit.
2. Bethenny Frankel pinned my Lofthouse Soft Sugar Sprinkles Cookies. This had me more than a little giddy.
She also pinned my Vegan Cookie Dough, one of my most popular recipes every year since 2009.
3. What’s Your Superhero Name?
I’m Captain Marshmallow and my daughter is Mega Marshmallow. Pretty fitting for us, actually.
4. Mashable included me (#61) on their list of 75 Tasty Instagram Accounts Every Foodie Should Follow. I’m delighted to be among such wonderful company, including many fellow foodie friends. Thanks, Mashable!
My instagram account is averiesunshine and if I had more time, I’d be on IG all the time. I love it, it’s such a great way to connect and share real life and real-time stuff, despite being a total timesuck. All of a sudden 20 minutes go by and I’ve been sucked down the rabbit hole of scrolling and clicking, and I love it.
7. A great post comparing butter, oil, shortening, and margarine in cakes.
For me, butter does not equal a better cake. In baked goods I want to stay soft, springy, and moist, I almost always opt for oil, and tend to use oil rather than butter in cakes, muffins, quickbreads, and breads. I loathe dry cake and will gladly give up buttery flavor (which will likely be masked anyway) for the softness and moistness I get with oil (canola or coconut are my oils of choice).
5. Photodoto included me (#13) in their list of 100 Incredibly Tasty Instragram Accounts for Foodies to Follow. Thanks for the nod, Photodoto!
6. This cake stand is only $16.99 What a deal. Another reason I should go into World Market more. Then again, maybe not. It’s cheap and dangerous.
Have you seen my props? I don’t need more. But I want more.
8. These 5 Premium Bourbon Madagascar Vanilla Beans
are ridiculously cheap. They’re Beanilla brand beans on Amazon and you get 5 beans for $5.96
If you were to buy beans in the grocery store, they’re usually $5 bucks or more, each. And they’re dried out and hard, wheres Beanilla beans are always soft, squishy, and fresh. Tip – vanilla beans should be supple, a bit oily and juicy, not dried up like a piece of beef jerky.
9. They’re the beans I use to make Homemade Vanilla Extract
If you start this right away, homemade vanilla will be ready to give as holiday gifts.
10. I recently gave an interview to my friend Heidi at Foodie Crush. I talked about my blog, my book, what inspires me, and other factoids.
She also made Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies that make me want to reach through the screen.
What are your Weekend Things?
If you’ve made anything, done, seen, or bought anything fabulous recently, feel free to link it up in the comments.
Are you an Instragrammer? Super hero name? Fan of vanilla? Baking with butter vs. oil – what to use, when, why?
Have a great weekend!
The celebrities are just loving your recipes aren’t they (Bethenny and Tori)! It is weird to think even celebrities pin. That is awesome.
Emeril Lagasse pinned one last week, too. I posted about that on my FB. It’s so weird, YES!! :)
Major Raspberry does no sound very bad ass : )
My weekend things…I ran my last race of the year today and have some brown bananas to be bread tomorrow!
congrats on the last race and enjoy the banana bread!
I love your and your daughter’s superhero names! Mine would be Captain Mocha. Totally ironic, seeing as I’m just now starting to drink coffee! And congratulations on all of your recognitions this week — that’s a big deal!!
Great share on the vanilla beans! I’ve got some homemade extract going with those very beans and then 2 more bottles with the grade B beans I bought from Beanilla. I’m curious to see which taste better. I also have a 4th bottle using the grade B beans and rum, because why not try it, right? And, I still have at least 10 more beans in the cabinet!
Congrats on all the features and pins and likes and share and interviews. I’m not surprised by your popularity at all!
I have you to thank for the vanilla beans!! Your rum vanilla sounds great (well okay they all do!) I have a jar that’s been brewing for 14 months now! I haven’t even used the vanilla. Now it’s like a previous resource…lol
Thanks for the congrats on all my features…I hadn’t done one of these posts in about a month and was sort of ‘saving them’ as a draft for the past month and then was like wow I hope this doesn’t come off the wrong way – because it was a ‘collection’ I had been collecting for like a month.
I am CRACKING up. I’m Mega Pineapple, soon to be Mega Waffle. Both quite fitting for me too! (Kevin is The Powerful Waffle lol)
So many features for you recently Averie! Everyone is spreading the word about your incredible recipes. I don’t blame Redbook for featuring your sunflower seed butter. I’m nearly salivating just looking at that photo again. I was actually in TJs last night and about to pick up roasted sunflower seeds to make my own butter at home. But then reached for our beloved honey roasted peanuts instead. Next time, I swear!
You cannot go wrong with honey roasted homemade PB. It’s beyond good (as you know!). Making SFSB is more of a commitment than making PB…takes a lot longer and it’s a little more finnicky. For quick and easy, PB is the way to go.
Thanks for the congrats on all my features…I hadn’t done one of these posts in about a month and was sort of ‘saving them’ on this as a draft for the last month and then was like wow I hope this doesn’t come off the wrong way – because it was a ‘collection’ I had been collecting for like a month.
I love you as Mega Pineapple. That’s awesome! Kevin as Powerful Waffle…LOL :)
Oh I’m ordering those vanilla beans, thanks for sharing. Congrats on the Redbook feature and Bethenny pin, so exciting!
Glad you’re going to pick up the beans. Cannot beat that deal!
love that prop stand. You are so busy! I am surprised you have time to give us so many great recipes.
Well this is my #1 priority! Everything else is just add-on’s :)
I’m Mega Marshmallow as well. Quite fitting, indeed :) Hahaha! Congrats on the feature and I want to make your flourless pb cookies right now!!
These are such fun post, Averie!! You always accomplish so much in only a couple weeks! I mean wow, all the features are incredible! CONGRATS!!
Thanks, Tieghan!
Wow! Good job! The comparison of butter vs oil vs shortening is helpful. Thanks!
I love things like that too!
I would have been more than a little giddy about the Bethenny Frankel repin as well! One time Heather Dubrow retweeted my blog and I thought I was going to explode from excitement! I couldn’t even get near my computer screen…haha.
Congrats on all of the well-deserved attention!
Aww, thanks for the compliments! And a friend of mine knows Heather fairly well and says she’s a totally normal, cool lady – which makes me dig her even more :) Very cool about the RT!
That super hero thing is super cute! Love Instagram too, buy no one ever likes my pics. And though there are some exceptions, I definitely agree that oil is better than butter in cake. Have a good weekend.
Congrats on all the features and I enjoyed reading your interview!! I remember your early blogging days and still appreciate those recipes. I want to scroll through your archives for salad dressing ideas for the bag of power greens I bought yesterday. Last night was the neighborhood Halloween party–the men on the block definitely had the funniest and most creative costumes. My husband started taking bass guitar lessons this past summer so we have some jamming to do this weekend.
Gosh my archives even scare me :) The photography quality and the over-sharing about the most trivial things that I got like a new bodywash or something. Ahh, well, it was all 100% real :) That’s so cool that you and your hubby are able to play guitar together now! I bet the costumes were great at your party, too!
I am Detective Raspberry. I like it! As for my weekend things, I’m getting new headshots. Yayza!
Good luck with the new headshots!
WOW! What a month you’ve had Averie, and it’s well-deserved! I’m salivating over that cookie butter too! Have a great weekend. :)
Thanks, Ashley! That’s sweet of you to say :)
all I can say is Averie, you are one VERY cool gal! :) have a good weekend.
Well thank you! That’s an awesome compliment – thanks!