Sweet Treats Week/Review #3

When you think of marshmallows,  I bet you think of the average white puffed marshmallow.  I bet you don't think of Banana Pudding Marshmallows or Pumpkin Pie Marshmallows!  Well I didn't either,  until I found this site called 240Sweet .   240 sweet began when two partners: Alexa Lemley and Samantha Aulick made marshmallows to give to their catering costumers.  They took off from there,  and now offer over 70 flavors!

240Sweet cuts and packages each puff by hand.  They use a WWII era purple 60 quart mixer to whip all the ingredients up together.  They do not use any artificial flavorings or colors.  I received a package from 240Sweet,   that was filled with three of their scrumptious Gourmet Marshmallows.  The first thing I thought of was to eat each one plain. 

Then,  I got to  thinking some more,  and got a little creative.   I thought what a great idea it would be to use these marshmallows in Rice Crispy.  Treats.  I thought it would be great if I replaced the ordinary little marshmallows in my  Hot Cocoa,  for 240Sweet Marshmallows.  I am sure the 240Sweet  Artisan Marshmallows could be using in place of regular Marshmallows in Lott's of Delicious recipes.  Eat them straight from the bag or try them toasted. 


The first flavor I will tell you about is their Turtle Flavor,  which can be found under the "Capped" section.  The first thing I noticed is Mini Chocolate Chips and Pecans  scattered all over the top of the Marshmallows.   The Marshmallow is actually a Caramel Puff that is super puffy and soft.  Each puff is handmade with a small batch of caramel that is swirled through the puff,  and then capped off with Dark Chocolate Chips,  and Pecan bits.  Each bag came with three pieces of "Turtle" Marshmallows that are marked with an expiration date on each bag to ensure that your Marshmallows are fresh.  This flavor looked like the perfect flavor to use in a nice mug of Hot Cocoa so that's exactly what I did.  It gave the Hot Cocoa a nice little twist and added to the flavor of the cocoa making it anything but ordinary!

The next flavor I decided to try  was the  Roasted Pineapple 240Sweet Gourmet Marshmallow.    It was the most plain looking out of the three,  but sounded so good.  I think this flavor would be great to use in a "Pina -Colada Pie",  that my mom is famous for.   ...Well not famous,  but in our family anyways!   I ate a piece plain and thought it really gave the marshmallow an added little flair to it.  It was no where near overly sweet,  and left me wanting another bite!

The last flavor that I will tell you about is the Banana Pudding Marshmallow. Each Banana Pudding flavored Marshmallows includes a  Banana Puff topped with Vanilla Wafers pieces on top.  Let me first say that "I LOVE Banana Pudding!"  So when I saw this flavor in my box I could only imagine how it tastes!  The Banana Pudding Marshmallow tastes allot like Banana but the wafers add a little something extra to it.  These are pretty sweet,  so I was only able to eat one of them. 

For some great ideas to incorporate 230Sweet into recipes,  visit their Recipe Section.   To learn more about their Marshmallows and Flavors visit them on their Website or Facebook Fan Page.

*Disclaimer-  240Sweet sent me some products to possibly review.  In no way did this influence my opinion of their products.  All of my opinions are one hundred percent honest and true*

Gourmet Orchards **Closed**

Gourmet Orchards is a fabulous site that sells quality gourmet gifts online.  They offer a variety of different types of nuts and fresh Arizona Citrus fruit,  that makes  wonderful gifts or treats for yourself.  Gourmet Orchards selects the finest ingredients available and then roast them in small batches,   to make one of the most freshest and high quality products available.  They hand select and pack each Arizona Citrus fruit,   to provide the freshest online Citrus that you can buy.  Gourmet Orchards guarantees that your order will ship within 3 business days of ordering your product(s).

Gourmet Orchards was kind enough to let me select some of their products to review.  I LOVE nuts so it was a hard decision for me to choose just three,  as they have so many different types of nuts that look delicious!  They offer 5 different types of nuts including: Peanuts,  Pistachios,  Walnuts,  Almonds and Cashews.  I ended up choosing :  Chocolate Toffee Peanuts,  Dark Chocolate Almonds,  and Honey Roasted Peanuts.  Each of their bags of nuts weigh one pound and come in a clear package with a label on it.  They were packaged in tan crinkled paper and fit perfectly in the small cardboard box. 

Their Honey Roasted Peanuts looked like the average roasted peanut but sure didn't taste average!  Gourmet Orchards slow roasts their peanuts in their special honey glaze leaving them with a perfect taste.  They are very reasonably priced at $3.99 for one pound of Gourmet Honey Roasted Peanuts.  They make a perfect addition to  snack trays for parties and get togethers or would even taste great used in recipes!  The honey glaze is what really makes these roasted peanuts.

My favorite was the Dark Chocolate Almonds!  You will especially like them if you are a fan of Dark Chocolate and Almonds.  Gourmet Orchards coats the Candied Almonds in the most finest Dark Chocolate  available.  The Dark Chocolate coating was very soft and almost melted in my mouth.  These Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds come in a one pound bag and cost $7.99.  Pair them with another bag or two of Gourmet Orchard Nuts and you have a perfect gift for someone.  

Last but not least i tried their Chocolate Toffee Peanuts.  I chose to review them because the thought of peanuts covered in Toffee with Chocolate sounded out of this world!  The texture of the Chocolate Toffee Peanuts was totally different than the other two that i reviewed.   The Chocolate Toffee Peanuts had an unexpected crunch to them.  One bite of these and you will definitely taste the toffee that is hiding underneath the Chocolate. If you are a fan of Toffee and Peanuts then these are definitely for you!      

My kids had a fun time playing with the nuts...yes they played with them!  They made funny faces out of their nuts and when they were done they got to eat their creations.  Luckily my children do not have any allergies to nuts!     

 

GIVEAWAY:

Win: One lucky winner will receive a $10 Gift Card to use at Gourmet Orchards.

Rules:

*You must leave a comment for each entry.

*You must leave your email address in each entry so i can contact you in the event that you are a winner.

* Giveaway will end on 2/28.  Winner will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to respond to winning email or a new winner will be chosen in your place.

*All winners will be chosen via a True Random Number Generator.

Mandatory Entry(2 entries):

~Follow me on GFC(located on my rt. side bar)

Optional Entries:

~Blog about this Giveaway and leave me the link in your entry.(+3)

~Visit Gourmet Orchards and then comment letting me know which one of their items  you would like to try.(+2 ).

~Join me on my Facebook Page.(+ 1 )

~"like" gourmet Orchards on Facebook.(+1)

~Follow me on Twitter.(+1)

~Follow Gourmet Orchards on Twitter.(+1)

~Tweet about this giveaway with a link to my giveaway.(This can be done once daily)(+1)

~Enter any of my other Giveaways and let me know which giveaway you entered.(+1)

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE THAT ENTERS!!!

*Disclaimer- Gourmet Orchards kindly sent me three products to possibly review and sponsored my giveaway.  In no way did this alter my opinion of their products.  All of my opinions are one hundred percent honest and true.*