Entertaining – All Things Gourmet

Dreamy Chocolate Cone Treats from Italy.

Looking for a tasty chocolate treat wrapped up in the cutest cone package? Look no further because we have it here for you! I was recently introduced to these delicious little cones not long ago and I have fallen in love with them! Messori, from Italy, makes these chocolate creations. They have many different innovative chocolate treats and today it’s the Messori Cono Snack that we are sharing with you!

What is this Cono Snack and what’s inside it? The Cono Snacks come in three flavors: Hazelnut, Caramel Milk and Choco Parties. Today we have the hazelnut Cono Snack for you to check out. This cone is ALL chocolate, perfect for any chocolate lover!

Once unwrapped, you’ll find a puffed rice on top.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Take your first bite and you’re chewing on some fine Italian hazelnut cream.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Under that hazelnut creamy chocolate you will find some premium dark chocolate.

Cross section of the Messori Hazelnut Cono Snack.

And how does the cone taste? So crunchy and perfect! It’s the perfect Belgian wafer cone to go along with this mix of hazelnut cream and dark chocolate! YUM! There is chocolate literally ALL THE WAY THROUGH the whole entire cone – with the very bottom of the cone being filled with chocolate as well!

The hazelnut cream is very smooth the puffed rice is a great compliment to that flavor. The Belgian cone is perfectly made and has the perfect crunch. Don’t believe me? Go try one for yourself! You will love this chocolate party in a cone! These are great for parties and holiday celebrations! The Messori Cono Snacks are on my list of treats that I approve for my family as it is GMO free, has no artificial coloring or dyes, free of artificial sweeteners and preservatives and more. Check out Messori’s quality information for more about their quality standards.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

If you find yourself snacking on this treat, please do let us know what you think! I, for one, can vouch that these are super dreamy! Nibble, nibble!

And the Winner IS…

Well… the day has finally arrived! It is the official Gourmet International Chili Cookoff Day! Who’s chili will win the top prizes? You’re just going to have to stay here, continue reading, maybe grab yourself a bowl of chili and read on!

The ONLY rule for today’s Chili Cookoff was this: All chefs and chefettes HAD to use Oro Di Parma Chopped Tomatoes. Contestants were given three cans and could use as many of the three cans that their recipe required! Today’s prizes range from gift cards to a t-shirt! Some recipes have your basic ground beef while another recipe has venison! Some chili was spicy and others sweet, some with potatoes and some made with chicken!

We have to say… when we first started this idea of the chili cookoff, we only had maybe 5 or 6 people signing up. We realized the word didn’t get out to everyone and before you know it we had a total of 17 people with chili entries! When I arrived today I got word we were up to 18 total entries! That’s a lot of chili! As you can see from the photos from today, there was enough food to go around and then some! Not only did we have tons of chili to taste test, but we also had some sweet treats to munch on after all the hard taste testing work!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Speaking of desserts, our own Linda had made two apple pies. As you can see from the photos below, they were totally gone by the end of the lunch bunch rush!

BEFORE.

AFTER!

It was really great to see all the employees together hanging out and tasting the chili! It was really fun to listen to everyone talk about which chili was their favorite and give others pointers on which crock pots they should try next! I think we all kept mumbling, “Oh my gosh, there are 18 different pots of chili!” I know I did! I kept saying, “There’s SOOOO much chili!!” Chili for days!

So after much taste testing and hemming and hawing… ballots were cast and we have some winners!

We are proud to announce our winners! Our *First Place winner is Marcos* and our *Second Place winner is Maureen*! Congratulations to you both! They each received gift cards – Marcos a gift card to Ucello’s Restaurant, Maureen a gift card to Craig’s Cruisers! Congratulations to you both! Enjoy! There was a third place winner… that would be Yours Truly, Your Gourmet Nibbler! I got the t-shirt!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We want to say THANK YOU to all our Chefs and Chefettes in the actual making of the chili and also a big THANK YOU to everyone who helped pull this event together! What a fun way to spend a rainy October day at Gourmet International! Some of us may be expanding at the waist line after today’s event, but what a great afternoon to spend with each other! Nibble, Nibble!

Homemade Granola Made with Raw Honey.

Making your own granola is super easy! Not only that, but I would say it’s pretty healthy compared to other store-bought items that are in your cupboard. Granola is handy to have and tastes great on top of yogurt, cereal, oatmeal and more! This recipe that I am going to share with you has been tweaked and modified from the original homemade granola recipe found here. The original recipe was double in size, I cut it down to half and adjusted from there. The beauty of granola and making homemade snacks and treats is that you can modify and adjust to your own liking. And that is what I did for today’s recipe using Breitsamer Rapsflower Blossom Raw Honey from Germany.

When I opened the jar of honey, the texture and the color of the honey were really unique and silky? Sounds weird, but silky is how I would describe the honey! You can see from the jar near the top and towards the bottom of the label how it looks like it spins within itself in the jar. It’s silly, but it’s really pretty! And it has an amazing flavor!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I made this recipe several years ago and I really enjoy it. I LOVE putting the granola on top of ice cream – especially a French Vanilla or Vanilla Bean flavored ice cream. It’s so delicious! You could even add some hot fudge and/or caramel sauce as well!

Homemade Granola Recipe

Ingredients:

3 cups uncooked oats
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup extra fine almond flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup Breitsamer Rapsflower Blossom Raw Honey
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300°F.
Combine oats, shredded coconut, almond flour, spices and salt in a large bowl. Mix well.
In a saucepan, heat raw honey, coconut oil and vanilla until melted and warm.
Pour the liquid mixture over the oat mixture and mix well.
Spread evenly onto a cookie sheet or oven safe casserole dish (like I did). Press the granola down onto cookie sheet or into casserole dish with the back of a spoon. The more you press down on the granola, the more clump like it will become and stick together.
Bake for approximately 40 minutes, mixing and stirring the granola half way through cooking time. (I like my granola a bit toasty with the coconut – so I added a few extra minutes, adjust cooking time to your preference.)
Remove from oven and cool in the pan or casserole dish.
Granola will harden and become more granola like the longer it sits.
Store in an airtight glass container.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

It’s Game Day! What Are YOU Snacking On?

Well, today is the official day! It’s the big showdown between the Michigan State Spartans and the University of Michigan Wolverines! It’s on at 7:30 p.m. EST tonight, a late start for a game! But most likely, many of us in the state of Michigan will be up and wide awake watching the game until the brutal end!

So the question is, what are YOU snacking on today for the game, if you are watching? Or if you don’t watch football, what do you snack on while watching your favorite sport? Okay, maybe you don’t watch sports. What do you snack on?

Normally, I’d be sitting with a bowl of potato chips, my favorite local flavor beer, maybe a spread of cheese and crackers and whatever else I can find in the cupboards or fridge. But today, we are trying something new! Lorenz Snack-World has a whole variety of munchies to choose from: pretzels, chips, nuts and more! Today’s new treat of flavor to try today are Lorenz Curly Peanut Classic and Lorenz NicNac’s snacks.

These are not your traditional snacks, but that’s okay! Who wants to be traditional? The Curly snacks are really neat – they are puffy and made from ground peanuts. It’s far better than your regular traditional choice of cheese curls! And cheese curls these are not! These puffy treats are light, nutty in flavor and will go well with the rest of your snacking treats.

Lorenz Snack-World Curly Peanut Flavored Snacks.

The NicNac’s are not your traditional peanuts! They are crunchy on the outside and crunchy with peanut on the inside! The outer shell does have a flavor profile to it – it is hard to describe, but it’s tasty! Reading from the ingredients off the package, it mentions onion powder and “smoke flavouring”, which is what I am tasting. They are yummy! Different than your regular plain dry roasted peanuts or other nut mix you would normally have on hand when entertaining.

Lorenz Snack-World NicNac’s.

If you are looking for something new to have on hand while entertaining, tailgating or just to snack on, these Lorenz Snack-World products are right up your alley! You will be pleasantly surprised at how addicting they can be! I keep finding myself getting up from the desk and keyboard to grab a handful of both in the kitchen as I type this up! I’ll have to go sit at the ice rink this evening for my oldest son’s hockey practice, I will be brining some of these along with me to share with some of the other hockey parents! Practice goes into the start of tonight’s big football game, but luckily we will only miss the first half hour or so of the game! And… this Gourmet Guru is going to say NIBBLE, NIBBLE and…

GO GREEN!! (Michigan State is *MY* alma mater!)