• "Crack" Popcorn - Review: Copperwood Tavern

    brunch review: copperwood tavern;

    January 31, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    So this is my first review post, and you might be wondering why I’m taking my food blog down this route.  The short answer is that I love some of the restaurants in the VA/DC area, and I simply wanted to record some of those places for my own personal easy reference when a friend comes in town or if I feel like T and I have been stuck in a rut restaurant-wise.  If I continue to do this in the future, I will definitely need to take more photos though! The longer answer is that I was somewhat inspired…

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  • Grilled Cinnamon Pineapple @ bestwithchocolate.com

    grilled cinnamon pineapple;

    January 31, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    I got you the perfect summer-time grillin’ recipe!  Funny enough, it’s not summer, and there’s a fair bit of snow on the ground–but it reminds me of summertime.  That’s close, right?  And I would definitely suggest whippin’ this out for those summertime BBQs when it comes to it.  A nice semi-healthy dessert that’s easy to prep and grill up as the end to a barbecue. Easy as pie too, here’s another one to add to your list of 5-or-fewer ingredients list.  All you need is a pineapple, some brown sugar, melted butter and cinnamon.  Let the pineapple do most of…

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  • Pudding Sprinkle Cookies @ bestwithchocolate.com

    pudding sprinkle cookies;

    January 25, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    If your first thought is that these look a lot like my previous cake batter chocolate chip cookies, you would be right!  The differences are subtle, but they are different.  For one, the cake batter chocolate chip cookies are quite a bit more like chocolate chip cookies than these, which I would compare more to extra vanilla-y sugar cookies.  However, they definitely do look quite similar, especially with the sprinkles throughout the cookie dough.  Give both recipes a whirl, and let me know how they compare!  (Yes, I am telling you to eat more cookies.)   I’d definitely throw this recipe in…

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  • Loaded Baked Potato Rounds @ bestwithchocolate.com

    loaded baked potato rounds;

    January 23, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    I have a little story for you all.  A young girl graduated college and moved in with one of her friends.  Moved to a new state, and in the evenings when they didn’t feel like cooking some nights….they would eat baked potato rounds! Really it’s just a means to get cheese and bacon to our mouths.   We were having a snowed-in game night last night with some friends that live within walking distance of our place (to trudge through the snow), and I whipped out this ol’ recipe to relive the past.  And it’s always amazing.  Though because of the snow, I…

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  • Cream Cheese Vegetable Dip @ bestwithchocolate.com

    cream cheese vegetable dip;

    January 23, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    Here’s a great party recipe!  The best part is that the veggies can be swapped out with whatever you have lying in the fridge.  I ended up using celery and carrots, though I’m sure you could add in peppers, jalapenos, broccoli, spinach…anything you want!  And the other ingredients take a number at 4.  Amazing isn’t it? You of course can chop all of these vegetables by hand, but I highly recommend and food processor or chopper.  I love this 1.5 c food chopper and it makes short work of vegetables!  It’s cheap, safe, and reliable, and easy to clean and pack up.  Especially…

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  • Cake Mix Coffee Cake @ bestwithchocolate.com

    cake mix coffee cake;

    January 20, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    So I was supposed to have volleyball tonight.  But lucky for you all, instead you get another recipe because it’s snowing and surprisingly dangerous for the less than 2″ of snow on the ground.  But it’s that wet, slippery kind.  I turned around before even going a mile to one of the major roads, and I passed at least 6 cars pulled over on the side of the road, and two in an accident right outside the complex.  Jeez.  And I don’t have an all-wheel drive vehicle, I have a sedan, but I also grew up in the Northeast and feel…

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  • Crispy Baked Fries @ bestwithchocolate.com

    crispy baked fries;

    January 20, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    Here’s the twin to my previously posted recipe, jalapeno cheddar stuffed burgers, though they’d go great with honey mustard pretzel chicken tenders, or a chicken pesto burger.  So many possibilities! But I will say these fries are a wonderful side.  They’re not particularly work-intensive, but give you some fries in your own home.  I will be the first to admit that these are not a replacement for those triple-fried grease bombs that are your normal delicious french fries, but they’re a nice alternative with a tasty spice rub that you can make in your own home. You of course could mix up the spice…

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  • Jalapeno Cheddar Stuffed Burgers @ bestwithchocolate.com

    jalapeno cheddar stuffed burgers;

    January 19, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    This recipe worked out great because I had pretty much everything in my fridge.  It actually worked out great, one of those clean-out-the-fridge recipes!  In general, though, I wouldn’t really call it that.  This recipe is adapted from Holly’s Jalapeno Cheddar Burgers recipe on Spend with Pennies.  Definitely tasty, though I had a few twists to the original. Firstly, I ended up using vegetable cream cheese.  Now you only need regular cream cheese, but I think you could spruce this recipe up, or change out the center for something different!  A chive cream cheese with some roasted garlic would make a great stuffer, or you could…

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  • Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken @ bestwithchocolate.com

    honey mustard pretzel chicken tenders;

    January 7, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    Here’s a perfect family-pleaser recipe!  I call it that because it’s a familiar and tasty option, spiced up with a little gourmet twist, but not with ridiculous ingredients.  Chicken tenders, done the normal way, except instead of breadcrumbs, crushed pretzels for extra crunch, and throw in some honey mustard in the eggwash.  That’s really all there is! I like this recipe because you get a little extra crunch for a touch of extra work.  I don’t know if anyone else has this problem but I hate “crushing” things.  Everyone makes it sound so easy–just crush the pretzels, like it’s that…

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  • french dip sandwich @ bestwithchocolate.com

    french dip sandwiches;

    January 6, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    So I’m feeling under the weather right now, and after a crazy New Year’s Eve, I’m ready for some easy-peasy slow cooker recipes.  So I turned to this slowcooker french dip sandwich recipe from the magical slow cooker!  I adapted ever so slightly, using what I had on hand–lipton french onion soup mix. Now you’ll notice that even while I mention salt and pepper in the ingredient list, I don’t actually mention in the instructions to use salt.  This is just a personal preference.  I like how easy the french onion soup mix makes this recipe, but I do think it’s got…

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  • Chocolate Tart @ bestwithchocolate.com

    countdown to new year’s: chocolate tart;

    January 3, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    So for this tart, because it was New Year’s Eve, I cracked out the cute confetti sprinkles!  I think it ended up pretty cute.  One of the best things about this recipe is that you can top it with anything.  The original recipe, adapted from Ella’s Home Cooking Adventure No-bake Strawberry Chocolate Tart recipe, uses strawberries and chopped nuts. I’ve used caramel pieces as topping before, but you could use sprinkles, or any kind of fruit, candied orange peels, chocolate, maraschino cherries, cookie crumbles, crushed nuts…all sorts of goodness.  I used raspberries on this one because I wanted something a little different…

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  • mimosa bar @ bestwithchocolate.com

    countdown to new year’s: mimosa bar;

    January 1, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    The mimosa bar for our New Year’s Eve Countdown Bash came out super cute!  I decided that four was the perfect number: four fruits, four juices, four champagnes! Champagne Now we decided to use Andre as the champagne.  It’s not classy, but if you’re going to mix with super sweet juices and mix the champagne, no need for the good stuff.  We did reserve a bottle of “good stuff” for the actual midnight toast though! For champagne varietals, we had: (1) Brut, (2) Extra Dry, (3) Spumante, and (4) Blush.  We also had some sparkling cider which is a perfect non-alcoholic varietal!…

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