DIY: Pepper and Spice Blends

Back in 2008, I posted about my favorite spice shop

Penzey's

It has every spice and dried herb imaginable,

they are fresh, and they provide several quantity options

so you aren't spending 7 dollars for a spice 

you will only use once

With that said, there are 2 products that I use all the

time so I decided to come up with my own blends 

Mainly because I bought these cute rustic 

salt/pepper shakers at Target

I didn't really need them

I just like them

Sooooooooooo

As I realized that I'm running out of 

cinnamon sugar

&

how much we use it on EVERYTHING

(pancakes, cookies, cupcakes, toast, etc)  

Cinnamon Suga

 I decided that my salt shaker would become 

a cinnamon suga shaker

I mixed about 3/4 cup sugar

with

 3 tablespoons of Penzey's Cinnamon

but

I did not stop there

I was also running out of 

black & red 

which is a blend of black & cayenne pepper

I use this in all my savory dishes 

SOOOOOOOOO

Black n Red Peppa

my pepper shaker became a

black n red peppa shaker

 

I combined black pepper with cayenne pepper

(sorry Penzey's - I like your peppers, but I was out of cayenne

and picked this one up at Target)

Now, I didn't take the time to measure

I believe I will regret this

a little bit of cayenne (red) pepper goes a very long way

very long

so, mix this one at your heat tolerance discretion

if you so dare to try it

So, do you have a favorite spice or pepper that you can't cook without ?

Trader Joe's Pear Tart

Trader Joe's Pear Tart

If you have been following me

for any period of time,

you know how much

 I ♥ Trader Joe's

I believe I've mentioned them

about 8 times through the history

of this blog circa 2008

The most exciting post is when my friends and I

drove 1200 round trip

from Texas to Missouri

just to shop @ Trader Joes 

They are finally in Texas. 

YAY!

Right now, the closest one to me

 is in Ft Worth - about a 40 minute drive

  I try to go at least once a month. 

I have yet to try anything that I haven't liked,

so I'm going to start posting 

some of my favorite things.

Today, we have the Pear Tart. 

While I was shopping in the freezer section,

a Trader Joe's employee pointed this out to me.

She said that she had heard it was amazing,

especially with cinnamon sprinkled on top.

I served it on Saturday night to my girlfriends. 

o

m

g

It was so good

especially

with cinnamon on top 

Flourless Chocolate Cake

I got the recipe from The Amateur Gourmet.

Click here for his recipe.

Bittersweet chocolate, unsalted butter, cocoa, sugar, eggs

I used the 10 inch springform pan that he refers to on his website.

It gives it more of a "tart" or "torte" look.

Do not be fooled by the simplicity of this cake.

It's not a fancy looking cake, but

oMg

It is so good!

It is crunchy on the outside and cheesecakey like on the inside.

Chocolate ooey goodness!

I added cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne pepper to the cocoa to give it a little zing!

&

Dusted it with powdered sugar

Now that I know how to make it, I will make a raspberry sauce to go with it next time!