Righteous Bros. Cold Brew GIVEAWAY!

Thanks for joining us today, after the cold brew coffee tutorial, for this great opportunity for you to win your very own cold brew by Righteous Bros. Coffee Roasters!

[photo source]

Righteous Bros. Coffee Roasters are based in Houston, Texas. They roast their own beans and make one mean batch of cold brew coffee. Lucky for you all, today you have a chance to win 2 free bottles of their amazing cold brew coffee concentrate!

"We visualize coffee through the lens of the letter "C". Conversation, Craft, and Culinary. Each facet represents the heart of the human spirit and is at the core of who we are as a company." - Righteous Bros Coffee Roasters

If you'd like a chance to win 2 free bottles of Righteous Bros. Coffee cold brew, all you have to do is leave a comment below about your favorite type of coffee! [*note: this giveaway is for US mailing addresses only*]

Rules for the Giveaway are as follows:

-One comment per person, please [duplicate comments will be deleted]

-The giveaway will close 12:00 AM  3:00 PM, Friday August 15, 2014 [Pacific time]

-The winner will be announced Saturday, August 16 at 7:00 AM.

-Be sure to link back to your blog/email so I can contact you if you win!

*I have not been paid to promote Righteous Bros. Coffee Roasters. All opinions are my own.

CoffeeSock GIVEAWAY!

You guys! The day is here - the first of two amazingly-awesome-coffee-themed giveaways! Thanks for joining in yesterday for the cold brew tutorial, and welcome back for the first giveaway!

Today you have the lucky chance of winning your very own CoffeeSock! I've been using mine since I got it and love it! CoffeeSock is a family owned and operated business, based in Austin, Texas. They make reusable filters out of organically grown, untreated cotton in all sorts of sizes for various machine types. Be sure to check out their website for more details, pictures, and reviews!

If you'd like a chance to win a free, reusable CoffeeSock of your choice, all you have to do is leave a comment below about your favorite type of coffee! And be sure to check back  on Wednesday for your chance to win 2 free bottles of cold brew concentrate!

Rules for the Giveaway are as follows:

-One comment per person, please [duplicate comments will be deleted]

-The giveaway will close 12:00 AM  3:00 PM, Friday August 15, 2014 [Pacific time]

-The winner will be announced Saturday, August 16 at 7:00 AM.

-Be sure to include or link back to your blog/email so I can contact you if you win!

*I have not been paid to promote CoffeeSock. All opinions are my own.
This post has been linked to ContestHeat

Easy Cold Brew Cardamom Coffee + 2 GIVEAWAYS!

You guys are in for a treat. I have 2 very special giveaway items this week! And both of them are coffee-related. What could be better than that!? CoffeeSock and Righteous Bros. Coffee both are generously giving away items just for you guys! Check back tomorrow for your chance to win a CoffeSock, and Wednesday to win 2 bottles of some Righteous Bros. cold brew! 

So, are you on the cold brew coffee wagon yet? If you're not, hop on, because this stuff is delicious and couldn't be easier to make! Not to mention, it's way more fun to drink an ice cold coffee drink in the dead of summer than a steamy hot cup of coffee, especially when you're waking up sweating from the summer heat.

If you're not familiar with cold brew coffee, here's the deal: It is less acidic than its hot brewed counterpart, and even tastes less bitter than your traditional cup of hot joe. Why, you ask? Well, because the coffee bean isn't actually being "cooked," it doesn't release as much acid, which can result in a bitter-tasting brew. By cold brewing, you're essentially just letting the water take on the flavor of the beans. When left to steep for 12-24 hours, what's left is concentrated, delicious coffee!

Ok, let's get caffeinated!

I use approximately 4-5 tablespoons of coffee per 1 cup of water. If you don't like cardamom, just leave it out [or use cinnamon!]. For my french press, I add 1.5 tablespoons of cardamom, approx 3/4 cup medium ground coffee [good quality], and 3.5 cups of water.

Pour the water over the grounds and cardamom.

Stir it up!

Ah. Just look at the frothy, coffee goodness!

Let steep for 12 - 24 hours. I usually make a batch in the evening and let it just sit out overnight, with the lid on, of course.

After your brew has steeped for a solid 12 hours (at least), slowly begin to push your plunger down until it reaches the bottom. If you press too quickly, some of the grounds will sneakily escape into your brew. If you don't have a French press, just pour your mixture through a coffee filter (or better yet, CoffeeSock!).

Once filtered, pour your cold brew into a bottle/jar and keep in the refrigerator for up to 4-7 days. When you're ready for a nice coffee drink, put a few ice cubes in a glass and add some of your cold brew with a splash of milk and homemade cinnamon syrup, if you so choose. 

Bottoms up!

And huge thanks to Ryan, for volunteering as the official taste tester for my many food adventures. He's a keeper.

DIY Cinnamon Sweetener / Simple Syrup

Lately, I've been all about cold beverages. It's probably because of the LA heat, but besides my morning cup of hot joe, I can't bring myself to drink hot coffee in the afternoon anymore. What's happening to me?! Fear not. I found a way to work in my daily coffee intake by whipping up some fun iced coffee beverages. Infused simple syrups! This cinnamon one has been my recent fave (I'll have to share the cardamom one later!), and it's positively delightful in a cup of cold brew iced coffee with milk.

Here's how I made it:

Ingredients:
1.5 cups water
1.5 cups sugar
5 cinnamon sticks
You can increase amounts to make more, just use equal parts sugar and water and up the spice.

Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Once it reaches a boil, add the cinnamon sticks and let steep for about 5 or 10 minutes.

The water should look a bit brown like the cinnamon has infused.

Remove the cinnamon sticks from the water and add the sugar. Stir until all the sugar is dissolved.

Bottle it up!

Enjoy in iced coffees, hot coffees, hot chocolate, or even a fancy schmancy cocktail! It will keep well in the refrigerator for at least 2 weeks.

I have been loving this stuff with cold brew coffee...so good! It's delicious all year round - but espeically during the holidays when things start cooling down (my favorite time of year!). This will warm up any drink! One day, I may even create a Shutterfly recipe book to keep track of all the creations I've tried.

Stay tuned! I'll be sharing a fun cold brew coffee tutorial next week, which includes 2 awesome giveaways! 

Don't miss out - August 11!

Swedish vanilla buns

So almost immediately after I posted about the top three fika treats I was excited to eat in Sweden, I started flipping through some Swedish cookbooks so I could make some fika treats of my own. I used IKEA's Fika cookbook again, and decided on these delicious little guys - vanilla buns.

Sidenote: I love kneading dough. Seriously one of my all-time favorite things. And look! I actually have counter space to knead at our new apartment!

These buns are really simple. A basic sweet dough with a vanilla filling that you put in right before the second rise. There's not so much filling that it squirts out like a jelly donut, but just enough so there is another level of flavor. When they come out of the oven I did a quick brush with melted butter and a dip in sugar.

They were pretty darn good. I ate them for breakfast 3 days in a row, and I don't regret it.

Hope you're having a grand weekend!

Toffee Cookies

This is how I started my Saturday morning: 

It was wonderful. I got to sip coffee all morning long while having a ball browsing my cookbook stash. I decided to try these toffee cookies from IKEA's Fika cookbook (which is awesome, for the record). I've only made a few recipes from it so far, but each one has been a winner. 

They turned out wonderfully! My favorite kind of cookies - chewy, not overly sweet, and perfect dunked in a cup of coffee. We brought them to a party and Ryan has already asked me to make some more for just us...and I think I just might.

Here is the book itself - really fun pictures for each recipe. I really like how they have most of the classic Swedish fika treats in it - reminds me of the motherland. I really want to try the vanilla hearts, they were one of my absolute favorite treats when I studied there. They will definitely be one of my next baking projects!

Hope you enjoyed your weekend!

Scandinavian Christmas: Day 9

Day 9! Today you are all in for a treat, my best friend Jessica is sharing today! Jessica is actually the one who introduced me to the art of sewing! Not only can this girl sew, knit, bake, and cook, but she has even been known to do a metal art project or two! She is seriously talented and I'm so glad that we're friends. And I'm counting down the days until I can see her in real life again (only 5 more days!!). I'm thrilled she is participating this year and I know you'll enjoy her adorable, crafty tutorial!

Hello! My name is Jessica, and I am so pleased to be doing a guest post on The Pickled Herring! I love the Scandinavian Christmas series that Kathryn does, and am honored to be a part of it this year!

A little bit about myself: I am Kathryn's BFF!! We have been pals since our time in the womb! Our mothers are friends, and we have been besties since birth. We were even called Siamese twins by one of our grade school teachers. My family celebrates our Swedish heritage every Christmas by having a Smorgasbord at Christmastime. We bust out the herring, rice pudding, and korv. We even have one of the girls dress up as Lucia and serve cookies.

Kathryn is coming home to Michigan for Christmas (yay!!!) and we love to fika. So I decided to make Christmas Cozys! I'm so excited for her to see my new house and my new baby, and to catch up over a cozy cup of coffee! I have actually been working on one of those felt embroidered stockings, kind of like this, and it inspired me to add a little pizzazz with sequins.

Here's what you need: green, red and white felt, green, red and white floss, sequins, seed beads, a little bit of stuffing, and a button. (Ignore the velcro in this picture - I ended up not using it!)

So what I did first was make a template. Use a piece of paper for this. 

Once you have the template made, cut out 2 of those guys from the green felt. 

 Next, you are going to make the Scandinavian heart. To do this, you take a square and add a semicircle to one side. Then cut out a white one, and a red one of these. Then cut the square part into thirds.

Then you basically weave the strips of felt to make a cute little heart!

Embroider the heart onto one of the green felt pieces, adding some stuffing beneath the heart to give it some dimension. Then add some sequins by tacking them on with seed beads. 

Next, place the other green felt piece behind the one you've just embroidered, and use a running stitch and the white floss, embroider around the edges. After you've done this, you can clean up the edges by cutting away the excess (I suppose you could avoid this step by making sure the green pieces are exactly the same size, but I'm no perfectionist). 

Then all you have to do is add a cute little button and cut a buttonhole!

And here is your Christmas Cozy! Now, just make sure you have 2 for when your best friend comes home for Christmas!!

Oh, and here's my Christmas baby!

Thank you, Jessica!!! I can't wait to fika it up with you in just a few short days! Come back tomorrow to hear from another good friend, Kate!

Fika + Crafting

Happy almost weekend, people!!

As you can see in the background of my fika, I've been a little crafting crazy lately! I'm really trying to up my craft inventory for the upcoming fairs...they'll be here before I know it! 

One of the projects I've been working on are these "Kissing Dala" magnet sets. I'll have to share the packaged version later. I've made them in varying colors as well - my favorite is the navy and gold.

Besides the Dala magnets, I've been making a few other versions of magnets and more ribbon headbands. My crafting partner and I recently bought a Yudu screen printing machine and we're stoked to get some new merch out there! We just have to figure out how to use it...it's pretty intense. Ha.

In other exciting news, the Scandinavian Christmas series is just around the corner! I would love for you to participate - please e-mail me if you'd like to submit a post of a favorite Scandinavian Christmas tradition, craft, or recipe. 

That's all for now! 

Fika Friday

Friday!!!

 

 

 

Yes, the weekend has arrived! It has been one heck of a week and I'm quite overjoyed that today marks the start of the weekend, woot!

 

I've begun the crafting craziness for the upcoming Christmas fairs and it's been a blast. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but some of the new things I'm making this year are pretty darn cute. And....I'm finally going to be putting things in my Etsy shop! What?! It's true! So stay tuned!

 

Enjoy your weekend! :)

Fika Friday

FRIDAY!!!!

 

 

 

Another throwback fika week, folks! This pic taken back on our honeymoon over two years ago, my how time flies! We had a grand ol' time in St. John, sipping coffee, going to the beach, and exploring the local eateries. Good times.

 

Can you guys believe that it's already September?! I am so excited for the Fall but also can't believe that summer flew by so quickly. I'm ready for pumpkin bread and spiced cider. And definitely ready for colder temperatures...it's been in the 100s here all week, bleh!

 

I started working on some crafty prototypes for the Lucia fair last night [starting earlier...lesson learned from last year's fair] and am excited about making new stuff this year. We're going to do two Lucia fairs, a month a part, so I need lots of inventory ready to go! I want to make more Lucia-themed items this year...any ideas?? I'm doing more ornaments than last year...trying out some new styles so we'll see how those look. Stay tuned!

 

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!



Fika Friday

It's my favorite day - FRIDAY!!

 

I realize I've been a tad delinquent in posting these days. But I'm back! Life has been busy lately, but in a good way. My crafting buddy, Beth, and I just signed up to do the SWEA Christmas Fair again this December here in Los Angeles (Lucia festival!) and so begins the crafting! We're also thinking about doing another Christmas fair this year...2 in one season?! Are we crazy?! Yes. We definitely are a tad crazy, the good kind of crazy though.

 

 

 

 

This week, I made this homemade BBQ sauce and it turned out pretty fantastic. I did substitute the Worcestershire sauce for tamari but that was it. I also made these blueberry muffins for our to go breakfasts for the week. Also quite delicious. Other than the usual tom foolery, not too much has been happening here. Roller derby is still going great, and I finally picked out my name: Eleanor Throwsevelt, number 1933 (her first year as first lady). I'm loving skating so much!

 

 

So, for the Fika Friday. I didn't have an official fika this week [gasp!] so I decided to do a throwback fika from when Ryan and I were in Japan.

 

Fika Rundown:

 

Where: Tochigi, Japan

Who: Myself and Ryan

What: Japanese coffee and cake

Best part: Japanese cafes are the cutest. It's all in the details and this fika was no exception. Darling decor and delicious, cutesy treats!

 

That's all for now, folks! Happy Labor Day weekend!! :)



Fika Friday

It's my favorite day! Fika Friday! My favorite fika this last week was when Ryan and I went over to the city of Orange. We woke up early (for a weekend day), so we definitely needed a little mid-morning fika. Because it was pretty hot out, we decided to go fancy with our coffee drinks and get a couple of frappacinos! Yum!

 

 

 

I got a mocha one and Ryan tried the caramel crunch one - both were delicious!

 



 

Look at that cute little mug:

 



 

 

Ah yes, and we split this delightful cheese danish.

 



Happy weekend!!!!

 

Fika rundown:

What: Frappacinos + cheese danish

Who: Me + Ryan

Where: Orange, CA - while doing some serious antiquing

Favorite part: It was all pretty darn great

 

 



Fika Friday

It is FRIDAY people! Let's celebrate!

 

Pour yourself an extra cup of coffee and relish in the start of the weekend.

 

 

Fika Rundown:

 

What: Hawaiian coffee and a cupcake

Who: Myself

Where: On the patio

Best part: Reminiscing about our Hawaiian vacation over a cup of Hawaiian coffee!

 

 

I'm so excited for the weekend! Ryan and I are heading back to the town of Orange tomorrow to check out more antique stores. We're on the hunt for a rocking chair. And who knows what other treasures we may find!

 

Happy Friday!

Fika Friday

 

FINALLY FRIDAY! This is felt like the longest week ever. I'm so glad the weekend is just about here.

 

I defintely need a lot of fika to get me through this week. I made some brownie bites for fika. I desparately needed the chocolate. I've been really enjoying baking these lately, so quick and easy. I just use a box brownie mix and then bake in my mini muffin tins for 15 - 17 mins. Tada - brownie bites!

 



 

My Fika Rundown:

 

What: Brownie bites with black coffee (as usual)

Where: at home

Who: With myself

Favorite part: THE CHOCOLATE

Five dollar fun

After a little trip to IKEA this past weekend, I re-ignited my childhood love of fuse beads. I loved these things as a kid...and know I know why: they're awesome.

What's not to love? Tiny plastic beads on a spiked board, then ironed together?! Fun designs are bound to be born:

This is my fuse bead rendition of Fika:

It's easy for me to get caught up in only making crafts that I will use or that are "cool". But there's something just delightful about creating something you won't use (at least I won't...), just for crafting's sake. Just to create something. Sometimes I forget that creativity doesn't always have to produce something practical, or even cute. It's fun just to create.

I'm so glad I bought the fuse beads at IKEA on a whim, they didn't disappoint. 

Happy Tuesday!