My Favorite Things For The Week Ending July 14th

Sweet Potato Ice Cream

This week I indulged in some of my favorite things...sweets.  I'll admit I'm addicted and I will never turn down a cupcake.  This week it's a sweet filled favorite things. First is Jimmy Jamm Sweet Potato Pie.  I have passed by this place many times.  Since I'm always on a diet I never go in.  I always say the next time I'm in the neighborhood I will drop by.  Well, that next time was on Wednesday.  I went in there with my mom while we waited for the kids to get out of camp.  We were greeted as soon as we walked in with a friendly smile and a hello.  The gentlemen behind the counter offered us a sample of the sweet potato ice cream.  Since it was 90 degrees outside we couldn't pass that up.  It was creamy, smooth and full of flavor.  I decided to try a slice of pie with the cream cheese frosting.  It didn't disappoint. It was very good. Jimmy Jamm has sweet potato cakes, cookies and bread.  Stop by Jimmy Jamm Sweet Potato Pies at 1844 W 95th, Chicago. (773) 779-9105 Hours are Mon-Sat 10am-7pm. Check out Jimmy Jamm on Facebook.

Cookie Crazy Oreo Cheesecake

Next is Eli's Cheesecake Cookie Crazy Oreo Cheesecake. I went to the Taste of Chicago with my mom and kids on Thursday. I go to the Taste every year. Recently with the changes made to the Taste I haven't been too happy with it, but the bright spot to me every year is Eli's. I always end my day at the Taste of Chicago with a slice of Eli's Cheesecake. This year I tried the Oreo. It was thick, rich and just out of this world delicious. You can't go wrong when you put Oreos and cheesecake together.

Jewel cupcakes

Lastly, is the red velvet cupcakes from Jewel.  Yes Jewel the grocery store.  With all the cupcake shops around Chicago we sometimes forget that the grocery store can have excellent products made right under their roof.  I always get the kids' birthday cakes from Jewel.  They taste great and are reasonably priced.  Every Friday at Jewel is cupcake Friday.  You can get 3 cupcakes for $1.99.  You usually pay at least $3 a piece at some cupcake shops. They have several flavors, but my favorite is the red velvet.  The cake is moist, but doesn't fall apart. The icing is really the most important thing to me for a great cupcake.  This icing is just the right amount of sweet and not too sticky. Check them out at your neighborhood Jewel.

Review of the Day: Thomas Rosenthal Professional Cookware Review

For the past couple of months we have been saving stickers from our local grocery store Jewel to get some cookware. I had my eye on the dutch oven since the very beginning. You get one sticker for every $10 you spend. With the weekly grocery shopping we do and stickers from my dad we got 100. That's what you need to get the dutch oven. I was so excited to pick it up from the store. I must have been one of the first people to get mine because the cashier didn't know exactly what to do. She rang up the dutch oven and it came to sixty dollars. It's supposed to be only 1 cent after you redeem the stickers. So, after she got some help I was able to buy my dutch oven for one penny.

Brought it home and the first thing I cooked was an Indian stew. I like the fact that the Thomas dutch oven is really light. I was expecting the pot to be heavy. The handles didn't get hot while it was on the stove. And it's very easy to clean. None of the stew stuck to the pot because of the Teflon coating. The lid fits on tight and I didn't notice that the handle on the lid got too hot, but I still used an oven mitt to pick it up.

The next thing I plan to cook is my favorite chili. Recipe is located below. I really like the Thomas Rosenthal dutch oven. I plan to get one of the frying pans next. I only need 25 more stickers. http://www.jewelosco.com/

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000000521785