Coffee Facts Game, Girl Time, and a GIVEAWAY!

June 25, 2014 | Posted by Chelsey

Game time with friends = the best. I LOVE playing games. If you’re ever around me and want to play some board or card game… I will join you. I don’t get to play enough games in my life. You know what the perfect girls night is in my mind? Friends, good drinks, yummy food, and a game. That is fun.

If you’re curious about what my favorite games are…

– Scattergories: I’ve been playing this since I was little.

– President Card Game: this is a favorite of mine when we go camping.

– Bananagrams: it’s a super quick paced word game. I love it.

– Annnnnd, Catchphrase: super fast paced and intense. So great.

This week I invited a few of my girlfriends over for a mini-party to play games and drink some coffee. For this party I thought it would be neat to create a Coffee Facts Game for us to play (since we were already eating this yummy Pumpkin Biscotti and drinking Starbucks Discoveries Iced Café Favorites™). I found some pretty cool coffee facts for this game, and it was fun! I guess this game could be called a conversation starter instead of a game. Either way, it’s fun to do with your friends and I officially know everything about coffee. Hee. I made this game into a free printable you can download! The game is simple to play. Just print, cut out the cards, and toss into a jar. If you want, you can also print out my game label to put on the jar. (You can download the game by right click + saving each of these images: game facts 1, game facts 2, game facts 3, game facts back, and game facts labels).

A couple of my favorite facts from the game…

– It’s believed that the Americano coffee drink came from World War II when the American GI’s would dilute their espresso with warm water, since the espresso was so strong.

– Four out of five Americans start their day with coffee.

– The smell of coffee is the most recognizable smell in America (the first is burning wood).

Ok. For this mini party I also gave my guests some gifts as a thank you for coming. Three coupons for free Starbucks Discoveries Iced Café Favorites™ drinks, beautiful glassware from Anthropologie to drink their iced coffee in, and a wooden pin made by me. Because I wish ALL of you could have been at this gathering, I am hosting a giveaway.

GIVEAWAY: One fabulous person will win a $50 Anthropologie gift card (maybe to buy your own glassware, or whatever), 3 Starbucks Discoveries Iced Café Favorites™ coupons so you can taste all three coffee flavors (Caramel Macchiato, Vanilla Latte, and Caffee Mocha), and a cute wooden pin from me.

It’s so simple to enter. Just use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter multiple times. Enjoy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
– Chelsey

This post is sponsored by Starbucks Coffee Company. All opinions are my own. The coffee facts were sourced from http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Women%27s_Petition_against_Coffee & http://www.weirdfacts.com/Food-Facts/coffee-facts.html. Giveaway information: No purchase necessary to participate or win. Void where prohibited by law. Open to legal US residents eighteen (18) years of age or order, except employees and the families of Bellalimento.com (“Sponsor”) or any company or agency responsible for the sweepstakes or any prize provided (“Sweepstakes Participants”). Enter by posting comment on the Site (and entering in the Rafflecopter widget) from June 25th to July 9th 2014. A winner will be selected at random from all eligible entries. The prize ($50 Anthropologie gift card, 3 coupons for Starbucks Discoveries Iced Café Favorites™, and a wooden pin). One entry per person, per email address. All determinations by Sponsor are final. Winners will be notified by email and must respond within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. No cash substitutions for prizes and prizes are non-refundable and non-transferable except at sole discretion of Sponsor who reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value. Entrant’s name and entry may be used for promotional purposes without additional compensation unless prohibited by law. Winners release Sweepstakes Participants from all claims and damages associated with the Sweepstakes and use of the prize. Subject to all federal, state and local laws. Winner is responsible for any taxes on prize.

66 Comments

Tags: coffee, game, jar, party, printable, starbucks

Categories: diy, Free Printables and Downloads

Pumpkin Biscotti with Coffee Glaze Recipe (and free gift tag printable)

June 16, 2014 | Posted by Chelsey

Biscotti is so delicious. It’s pretty much the perfect goody to partner with coffee. Right? For some reason I’ve never made this yummy treat. I have no idea why since it’s SO easy to make. No joke. The really great thing about biscotti is it’s supposed to be hard. Biscotti originates from Italy and means “twice baked”, and that’s exactly what you do with these cookies. You bake them twice. These cookies can also keep in the fridge for about a week, which makes them awesome gifts. Make them a day or two ahead of time before an upcoming party and package these cookies up as gifts for your guests. Just in case this sounds like something you’d like to do I made some “You’re so sweet!” gift tags (click here to download). To make your own, follow my recipe below.

Pumpkin Biscotti with Starbucks Discoveries Iced Café Favorites™ – Vanilla Latte Coffee Glaze Recipe

Recipe adapted from this Kitchn recipe.

2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg
2 eggs
1/2 cup pumpkin purée
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
coffee glaze (recipe below)

Directions for biscotti:

– Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

– In a pan over medium heat, toast the pumpkin seeds until they are lightly browned and fragrant.

– Mix the dry ingredients together (flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, ginger, and nutmeg). In a mixer blend the eggs, pumpkin purée, and vanilla. Slowly blend the dry ingredients into the blender with the wet ingredients. Blend until combined.

– Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put the dough onto the baking sheet and form the dough into a rectangle shape (about 1 inch thick). This dough is SUPER sticky and will stick to your hands. Put it in the oven and bake for about 30 – 35 minutes, or until the top is a light golden brown. When it’s done let it cool on a rack for about 10 minutes.

– Use a bread knife to slice the log into 1/2 inch thick pieces. Place the biscotti pieces back onto the parchment paper covered baking sheet (cut side facing down). Bake for an additional 10 – 15 minutes, or until the biscotti is firm.

Starbucks Discoveries Iced Café Favorites™ – Vanilla Latte Glaze ingredients:

1 cup of powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons of Starbucks Discoveries Iced Café Favorites™ – Vanilla Latte
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract

– Put the powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the Starbucks Discoveries Iced Café Favorites™ – Vanilla Latte, and vanilla extract to the sugar and mix together. The consistency should be barely runny. If it’s too wet, add a little more sugar. If it’s too dry, add a bit more coffee.

– Drizzle the glaze over the sides of the cooled biscotti. Let the glaze harden then prep your biscotti to give as a gift, or store in a container.

To download the gift tag printable, click here then right-click + save.

Did you notice the recipe above doesn’t use any oil or butter? Enjoy this yummy goodness.

– Chelsey

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Starbucks Coffee Company. All opinions are my own.

1 Comment

Tags: dessert, gift tag, printable

Categories: food, Sweets

Another shooting.

June 11, 2014 | Posted by Chelsey

Yesterday there was another school shooting. This time it was in Oregon. My heart is so broken for the family that lost their son for absolutely no reason.

I prefer to stay away from anything political on my blog (since I really don’t know enough to say anything about it), but I feel like something needs to change. Whether it’s gun control or a better system for anyone in need of care mental illness. Something needs to happen. I want my kid to be safe when I send her to school. I hate that these shootings are becoming the norm.

Please keep anyone that’s been hurt in any of these shootings in your thoughts, and let’s start a change. We need a change.

– Chelsey

1 Comment

Tags: oregon, portland

Categories: announcement

Our Growing Baby Chicks

June 5, 2014 | Posted by Chelsey

It’s been over a month since our chick eggs have hatched. Our little chicks have grown from sweet little puffs to super awkward preteens. After these little birds hatched out of their eggs, I decided I wanted to take weekly photos of them. I’ve done this for the first 4 weeks and it’s amazing to see how much chicks grow in just the first month. Just check out the photos below. Just in case I have a chicken nerd reading, here are the breeds I think I have here (all mixes): The two yellow babes are Serama/Bantam Frizzle Cochin mix, a couple are Ameraucana/Leghorn Mix, and the last two are Maran mixes. I’m unsure which eggs the four big ones are (since it was hard to tell as they were hatching). I guess we will find out as they lay eggs.

Isn’t that neat? Is my nerd showing? We still aren’t 100% sure which ones are roosters, but I have a strong feeling that the dark black chicken and brown chicken are boys. Which means they will have to go. I don’t think we will really know for sure until they start crowing or their comb (the red on their heads) grows like crazy. Ha! It’s really been a fun adventure for me and the kiddo.

I think I will continue with taking the chick photos, but maybe every 2 weeks instead.

– Chelsey

6 Comments

Tags: chicken, chicks, growing up

Categories: paper mama farm

Banana Ice Cream Recipe: 3 Ways

June 3, 2014 | Posted by Chelsey

I have heard about people making banana ice cream, but I’ve never actually tried it until now. I mean… I will admit that I do not like the taste of bananas… at all, but I have a kid that eats them everyday. So I decided to give this ice cream experiment a try. It turned out awesome. Even though I don’t like the taste of bananas, this was good! I ate some and my daughter devoured it like it was real ice cream. My husband loved it too.

If you have some overripe bananas, this ice cream trick is for you. Below I’ve shared the 3 different recipes I tried. It’s so simple. The best thing about this recipe is my daughter thinks she is actually eating ice cream! Ha! This mom wins!

Cocoa Cinnamon Banana “Ice Cream”

Ingredients:

2 bananas, cut into coins and freeze (separated and not touching) on a plate in the freezer for 2 hours

1 teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon

optional: a pinch of sea salt

Peanut Butter Banana “Ice Cream”

Ingredients:

2 bananas, cut into coins and freeze (separated and not touching) on a plate in the freezer for 2 hours

3 tablespoons of peanut butter

optional: a pinch of sea salt

Strawberry Banana “Ice Cream”

Ingredients:

2 bananas, cut into coins and freeze (separated and not touching) on a plate in the freezer for 2 hours

8 – 10 frozen strawberries

optional: 1 tablespoon of honey (use this if your strawberries are tart)

Directions for all the recipes:

– Place all the ingredients in a food processor. Blend until all the bananas and ingredients are blended and smooth like soft serve.

Note: you really do need a food processor for this recipe. You can use a blender, but it just won’t come out with that smooth ice cream texture.

– Place each Banana ice cream into a separate container and freezer for about 2 hours.

Seriously give this a try. My kiddo lived the strawberry best, while my husband preferred the peanut butter. I’m always a cocoa girl… So that was my favorite (especially with the little hint of cinnamon). If you try this, let me know. So good.

– Chelsey

P.S. I’ve seen these recipes all over the web, but I loved the combos I found on The Kitchn.

7 Comments

Tags: banana, chocolate, ice cream, kid snack, no refined sugars, peanut, recipe, snack, strawberry

Categories: food, Sweets

What’s up with me these days?

June 2, 2014 | Posted by Chelsey

What’s up with me these days? Just moving along with life and working….

– My kiddo has finished preschool for now and we are just about to start our summer.

– The baby chicks we raised from eggs are turning 5 weeks old today and tomorrow. 90% sure we have at least 3 roosters out of the bunch, which means they have to go… no roosters in the city. I’ve been taking weekly photos of those babies since they hatched. It’s crazy to see how fast they’ve grown. I will be sharing those photos soon. They are so neat.

– I ALWAYS have fun projects going on over at the HP Blog.

– Thinking about what to make or get form the husband for Father’s day… maybe a repeat of last year’s gift? See below:

– I completely forgot about this recipe… until my Friend Mal reminded me about how tasty it was. Chocolate Caramel Crack-ers. They are addictive.

– I’m also working on a project with Home Depot (so exciting), so I hope to be sharing that soon. It involves a super neat door and a lot of paint and wood.

– I’m giving away another Polaroid camera over herrreee.

– I just finished watching the last episode of Game of Thrones for this week… OMG. That show is crazy and I can’t stop watching it. So great. Do you watch?

That’s about it over here! Are you ready for summer?

– Chelsey

Craft Time with Friends, a Yummy Coffee Milkshake Recipe, and a GIVEAWAY!

May 30, 2014 | Posted by Chelsey

I love a good craft party. I recently invited my friends over to paint some wood beads and make necklaces. It turned out to be such a lovely day! Crafting with friends is one of my favorite ways to spend a Sunday afternoon. For this party I bought a bunch of wood beads from Collage (a local Portland craft stop), lots of colorful acrylic paint, and bakers twine for the necklace part. I provided a ton of paintbrushes and they went to town.

It was fun! We ate some lunch and had some yummy milkshakes for dessert (just in case you’re curious, I shared the milkshake recipe below). As a thank you to my friends for coming to play, I gave them each a little goody bag. They had three Starbucks Discoveries Iced Café Favorites™ coupons, pretty nail stickers (those things are so awesome), poppy seeds, a pin from my shop, and some caramel from Rose City Sweets.

If you want to make your own coffee milkshake for the warm weather check out the recipes below. In addition to the milkshake, we also made our own whip cream. It’s not really needed, but I recommend trying it out (yum).

Coffee Milkshake Recipe made with Starbucks® Discoveries Iced Café Favorites™

Ingredients:

4 scoops of vanilla ice cream
1/2 cup Starbucks® Discoveries Iced Café Favorites™ – Vanilla Latte
1 punch of salt
Optional: Umbrella Drink Stirrers (free printable here)

Directions for Milkshake:

– Blend ingredients in a blender or stand mixer just until it’s all blended. Don’t blend for too long or the ice cream will melt.

– Optional: it does help to put the milkshake in the freezer for about five minutes before serving.

Coffee Whip Cream made with Starbucks® Discoveries Iced Café Favorites™

Ingredients:

1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup Starbucks® Discoveries Iced Café Favorites™ – Caramel Macchiato
1 1/2 tsp milk powder (this helps stabilize the whip cream)
1 tiny pinch of salt
Optional: chocolate syrup

Directions for whip cream:

– Put all the ingredients in a stand mixer.

– Blend on medium to high speed. Blend until the whip cream has stiff peaks. Your whip cream is done here, or you can keep it in the freezer for a few minutes while you make the milkshake (see next step).

– Optional: place the whip cream in a plastic bag and seal. Put the bag in the freezer for about 10 minutes. When you’re ready for the whip cream, cut the tip off one of the plastic bag corners. Squeeze the coffee whip onto the milkshake and maybe top that off with chocolate syrup!

GIVEAWAY:

Want to win some goodies? Ok! One lucky winner will win 3 complimentary Starbucks Discoveries Iced Café Favorites™ coupons AND (cause you guys went crazy for this prize last time) a Polaroid z2300. Yup. To enter, check out the Rafflecopter entry options below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Craft Time with Friends, a Yummy Coffee Milkshake Recipe // thepapermama.com

Do you do any crafting parties with your buddies?

– Chelsey

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Starbucks Coffee Company. All opinions are my own.

Giveaway Rules: No purchase necessary to participate or win. Void where prohibited by law. Open to legal US residents eighteen (18) years of age or order, except employees and the families of Bellalimento.com (“Sponsor”) or any company or agency responsible for the sweepstakes or any prize provided (“Sweepstakes Participants”). Enter by posting comment on the Site and filling out the Rafflecopter entry form May 30th, 2014 – June 13th, 2014. A winner will be selected at random from all eligible entries. The prize is 3 Starbucks Discoveries coupons and one Polaroid z2300. One entry per person, per email address. All determinations by Sponsor are final. Winners will be notified by email and must respond within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. No cash substitutions for prizes and prizes are non-refundable and non-transferable except at sole discretion of Sponsor who reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value. Entrant’s name and entry may be used for promotional purposes without additional compensation unless prohibited by law. Winners release Sweepstakes Participants from all claims and damages associated with the Sweepstakes and use of the prize. Subject to all federal, state and local laws. Winner is responsible for any taxes on prize.

44 Comments

Tags: coffee, milkshake, sweets

Categories: drinks for every season, food