Jolene's Recipe Journal

Disclaimer- I was given a bottle of Nielsen-Massey's Tahitian Vanilla Bean Paste to test.  All opinions are honest and my own.  Eclairs are my absolute favorite sweet treat.  Beautiful choux dough, delicious pastry cream, and decadent chocolate on top.   Sure, they take a little effort to put together, but it's absolutely worth it in the end.  When Nielsen-Massey offered me the opportunity to try their new Tahitian Vanilla Bean Paste, I immediately thought of eclairs. I found a recipe for a mini version on the Nielsen-Massey website . It's very well laid out and easy to follow.  Instead of the vanilla bean and the vanilla extract it calls for, I used 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of the Tahitian Vanilla Bean Paste instead. Let me just tell you, the pastry cream almost didn't make it into the eclairs at all.  Between the amazing smell and the lovely flavor, I could have eaten the whole bowl with a spoon!  That wouldn't have made for su...

  Today is the last day of Brunch Week, and what an awesome week it's been!  I'm wrapping things up with a cocktail, because I sure could use one (or two)!  I surveyed our supply of alcohol, and right now we are overrun with vodka.  We had a great crop of blackberries last year, and I stockpiled some of them in the freezer, so I pulled them out to defrost. This post is sponsored in conjunction with #BrunchWeek. I received product samples from sponsor companies to aid in the creation of the #Brunchweek recipes. All opinions are mine alone.   A traditional vodka crush uses simple syrup, but why not kick it up a level by using a flavored one?  I went back and forth between Torani peach or mango, but in the end, peach won out.  I'm thinking the mango will be great with the blueberries I also have stashed in the freezer.    This is a pretty simple cocktail.  You just place some berries in the bottom of your glass, add the syrup and muddl...

  Browsing through my Gram's recipe box for inspiration for #BrunchWeek and there was a card for blondies.   I've eaten plenty of blondies in my time, but have never made them myself. These were interesting to me because it starts with melting butter with brown sugar.  This post is sponsored in conjunction with #BrunchWeek. I received product samples from sponsor companies to aid in the creation of the #Brunchweek recipes. All opinions are mine alone.   I replaced the vanilla called for in that recipe with Torani Salted Caramel syrup. They were absolutely delicious, but then I decided to take it into "over the top" territory. I layered the blondies, real whipped heavy cream and chopped Rolo candies into some beautiful Joy Jolt Carre martini glasses.   I'm a huge fan of individually portioned desserts, especially for brunch or other family functions. Salted Caramel Blondie Trifle Print With Image Without Image Author: Jolene's Recipe Journal Ingre...

This post is sponsored in conjunction with #BrunchWeek. I received product samples from sponsor companies to aid in the creation of the Brunchweek recipes. All opinions are mine alone. I hope you are enjoying Brunch Week as much as I am! When my supply of Dixie Crystals light brown sugar arrived, I started a list of possible things to bake.  We are big fans of bacon coated with brown sugar and baked, and I wanted to capture that flavor and combine it with a favorite dessert of ours, palmiers or elephant ears.  All you need is a box of puff pastry from the freezer section, light brown sugar, and cooked bacon.   Defrost the puff according the package directions.  Gently roll it out so that it's longer than it is wide. Top it with the light brown sugar, then sprinkle on some chopped bacon. Roll the ends in from the short sides, keeping it as tight as possible, and meeting in the middle. Place the roll on a cookie sheet, and then repeat with the other piece o...

This post is sponsored in conjunction with #BrunchWeek. I received product samples from sponsor companies to aid in the creation of the #Brunchweek recipes. All opinions are mine alone. I'm so excited to be participating in #BrunchWeek 2019 hosted by Love and Confections and A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures ! This is the 7th year of #BrunchWeek and we have 35 bloggers from around the country sharing over 140 of their best Brunch recipes. We have so many delicious recipes for you to enjoy throughout the week including cocktails, appetizers, casseroles, cinnamon rolls, breakfast pizzas, coffee cakes, plenty of desserts, and more! When choosing my dishes for this week, I tried to think about typical things we love to eat when we have brunch. Eggs was the first thing that came to mind.  I've only recently started eating eggs in their true form (ie not in cake), and one of my favorite ways to have them is scrambled with cheese.   Cabot sent us an absolutely amazing vari...