Snacking In The Parks: S'mores Churro

Another "Fantasmic!"-inspired snack is this delicious s'mores churro! You can only get it at the churro cart near the Hungry Bear in Critter Country. It is a delicious graham cracker churro with a chocolate and marshmallow dipping sauce! This is a winner and something I cannot wait to get again!

S'mores Cookies Recipe

With Father's Day quickly approaching, it was time to celebrate spending time with dad and cooking with him! One of my fondest memories of my dad is our yearly camping trips complete with tents and big campfires to make s'mores. So, what better way to celebrate than by making amazing s'mores cookies! 

While shopping at Smart & Final, I noticed their First Street, First Percent program. When you buy  First Street products, Smart & Final will contribute the first percent of their net profits to their Smart & Final Charitable Organization supporting local community nonprofit organizations. 

One of the things that I noticed while shopping at Smart & Final is their new First Percent program. When you buy First Street items, Smart & Final will contribute the first percent of net profits to their Smart & Final Charitable Foundation supporting local community nonprofit organizations. 

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 cup First Street granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup First Street brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 cup First Street butter, softened
• 2 First Street eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups First Street flour
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 tsp First Street baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup graham cracker cereal
• 1 cup mini marshmallows
• 1 cup chocolate chips

INSTRUCTIONS

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
2. in a large bowl combine the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat until creamy and light in color
3. add the eggs in one at a time, then the vanilla and then scrape down the sides of the bowl
4. in a small bowl whisk together the four, unsweetened cocoa, baking powder and salt
5. slowly add in the flour mixture until well combined
6. stir in the marshmallows, chocolate chips and graham cracker cereal
7. line a baking sheet with parchment paper
8. scoop 1/4 cup of the mixture and form a ball
9. place on the baking sheet and gently press down so the bottom is a bit flat spacing the cookies 3 inches apart
10. bake for 15-18 minutes or until set
11. remove and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely

Fresh out of the oven! Don't they look amazing? 

Time to plate them up! 

Serve with your favorite glass or milk and enjoy! 

 

Thank you to First Street and Smart & Final for inspiring me and sponsoring me to make this recipe! Happy Father's Day to all of you dad's out there! 

To learn more about Smart & Final and their First Street products, visit and LIKE their Facebook page:

Smart & Final

*Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Smart & Final*

Food Review: 'The Simpons' Springfield U.S.A. Area Opens at Universal Studios Hollywood!

Time to check out Springfield U.S.A., brought to life at Universal Studios Hollywood! This is The Simpsons food court! Let's see how good the food is and if it's worth your visit!

The food court area is well themed with many of the restaurants all connected indoors with the vast majority of the seating upstairs in the air-conditioning! Well done and well though out Universal!

Our first stop is the famous lad with the donuts! That's right Lard Lad Donuts!

Lard Lad Donuts offers their famous massive donuts but also these larger than regular sized donuts with all sorts of various toppings! Seen here are the Cap'n Crunch, the Fruit Loops, maple bacon and the s'more donuts! They sell four donuts for less than $12! The best one was the s'mores donut!

For lunch I stopped at Krusty Burger!

This is going to be the busiest of all the major restaurants but the line moves quickly! Duff is on tap!

I got the Sideshow Bob foot long chili dog! A 100% beef hot dog topped with chili and cheese and served with fries and cole slaw! It was really good!

I washed down the hot dog with an ice cold Duff in a souvenir plastic cup! The beer is really good. This is the regular Duff and it reminded me of a Blue Moon.

My friend went to Cletus' Chicken Shack!

Check out the awesome chicken and waffle sandwich served with slaw and fries! Some maple syrup on top of the waffle and the mayo is even mixed with some maple syrup!

And yes there is a Moe's!

Barney and I were sad that we were out of beer! Oh and yes the Love Machine behind us works!

Across from Moe's is the Duff Brewery!

You can get Duff in Regular Duff, Duff Lite or Duff Dry! I have to come back to try the other two!

Next to the Brewery is Luigi's and Phineas Q. Butterfat's Ice Cream Parlor!

This is the Mr. Teeny's Banana Delight! Bananas with banana foster sauce with soft serve vanilla and whipped cream! Amazing dessert creation!

This is the Brain Freezin' D'oh-Nut Sundae! You get a split pink sprinkled donut with vanilla or chocolate soft serve and a choice of topping I went with the strawberry sauce! So good on a warm summer day!

Lots of great food options here! Hope to be back soon to try more food items!

Hope you enjoyed this look at some of the food offerings at Springfield U.S.A. at Universal Studios Hollywood!

Restaurant Review: Brunch at Saddle Ranch Chop House in Orange

My friend Cheri and I headed out on our Sunday brunch adventure to check out Saddle Ranch Chop House in Orange! They serve brunch everyday from opening until 3pm so not just on Sundays!

Warm buttermilk biscuits and fresh jalapeno corn bread muffins are brought out! Both are pretty amazing! Such great flavors and there is nothing like fresh biscuits and muffins out of the oven.

And every single day before 3pm for $9.99 more and with a purchase of a meal you can get bottomless mimosas and bloody mary's! There are five different bloody mary's to try and seven mimosas to try. You can mix and match they will keep bringing them out to you! Above is the Texas BBQ bloody mary with a hint of bbq sauce and tequila! It has just the right amount of kick and really tasty! The mimosa is the strawberry blonde with strawberry nectar, champagne and orange juice! And yes, it is as delicious as it sounds!  

We both had the chicken 'n biscuits! A huge battered deep-fried chicken breast, eggs, served on a warm buttermilk biscuit, covered in a creamy bacon gravy, topped with green onions and served with a side of hash browns. This is one big meal! Everything here is rich and heavy! You will not leave hungry! All the flavors combine perfectly and that bacon gravy brings it all together! A fantastic dish and I will get this one again soon!

They management brought us out a Roast Your Own S'mores Platter. We had no idea where we would find room for this but we gave it our best shot!

Our waiter took the platter out to one of their outdoor campfire pits and we sat down to make s'mores! So here it is at 1130am on a Sunday and we are getting ready to make s'mores! How cool is that?

There is my first delicious s'mores of the morning! So good and so messy!

To end our meal, the girls at the bar made us each a gummy bear shot! Wow! Awesome service, awesome food and some awesome extras on the house! Cheri and I had a great time and will be back!

Saddle Ranch Chop House in Orange

20 City Blvd. West
Orange, CA 92868
(657) 221-3136
Monday-Friday: 11am-2am
Saturday & Sunday: 9am-2am

Popcorn S’mores Recipe!

 

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup butter or 1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
10 cups freshly popped popcorn (cooled)
1 (10 1/2 ounce) package mini marshmallows
2 cups Teddy Grahams honey graham snacks (not crumbs) or 2 cups crumbled graham crackers (not crumbs)
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1 Combine the brown sugar, butter and corn syrup in a medium saucepan.
 

2 Cook on high for 5 minutes.
 

3 Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the baking soda.
 

4 Thoroughly combine the popcorn and marshmallows in a large metal bowl. (Do NOT use a plastic bowl).
 

5 Drizzle the sugar mixture over the popcorn to coat it.
 

6 Gently stir in the graham crackers and chocolate chips, incorporating them evenly throughout the mixture.
 

7 Let the mixture set until cool enough to handle, then, using buttered plastic sandwich bags on your hands, form the mixture into golf-ball-size balls.
 

8 Store in airtight container.
 

 9 NOTE: Do NOT use air-popped popcorn. It will melt when combined with the hot sugar mixture.

Source: http://www.food.com/recipe/popcorn-s-mores-189252

S'mores Pizza Recipe!

 

Makes 6 to 8 servings

 

Ingredients:

1 (16 1/2 ounce) package pillsbury refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
2 cups chocolate chips
2 cups graham crackers, broken in 1 inch pieces
2 cups miniature marshmallows
chocolate syrup, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1 Spread the softened cookie dough into a lightly greased pizza pan, flattening it to the edges.
 

2 Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes until it begins to brown SLIGHTLY.
 

3 Remove the cookie from the oven and sprinkle the top with with the chocolate chips, graham crackers and marshmallows.
 

4 Return the cookie to the oven for 5-8 minutes until crust is brown and chips and marshmallows are melted.
 

5 Allow to cool slightly before serving.
 

6 Garnish with chocolate syrup, if desired.

Source: http://www.food.com/recipe/smores-pizza-247422