The holidays are great for remembering traditions from your childhood.  As Christmas was approaching quickly, I heard a few of the Ginny’s Team members chatting about making gingerbread houses when they were little.  I thought it would be fun to take a nostalgic stroll back to elementary school and make gingerbread houses using milk cartons, frosting, graham crackers and lots of candy.  Check out some of the pictures from our trip down memory lane…

 

Do you remember decorating gingerbread houses as a kid?  Do you decorate gingerbread houses with your kids or grandkids? Share your story on our Facebook page, Facebook.com/GinnysBrand.

 

Merry Christmas!

 

 

This week, we hosted the 2nd Annual Ginny’s Pie-apalooza. We had quite the variety this year, as there were four different bakers all competing for prizes.  It was a great time and we had a lot people stop by to taste test and vote for their favorite to win.  Even though we were only trying a small piece of each pie, it was very filling – I even skipped lunch!

The first place pie, an Apple Streusel Pie, was baked by Christine, our Campaign Manager.  She also made a traditional Apple Pie and the recipe of the month, Pumpkin Pecan Pie!

Apple Struesel Pie, Christine P.

Apple Pie:

3-4 large Granny Smith Apples, peeled and sliced

1 large HoneCrisp Apple, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 cup milk

3 tablespoons butter, diced

Streusel topping

1 unbaked pie shell

 

Streusel:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 pound (one stick) butter, diced

Heat oven to 365 degrees Fahrenheit.  Stir together 1/2 cup sugar, flour, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl.  Add apples; toss; splash with milk; toss again.  Spoon into pastry lined pie dish. Dot with butter pieces.  Sprinkle Streusel topping cover apples to cover them completely.  Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juice is bubbly. Serve warm.

 

 

Two pies tied for second place! Christy, our Art Director, made an Peanut Butter Oreo pie and Bev, Merchandising, made a Carmel Pecan Pie with a Touch of Chocolate.  Bev also made a Maple Pumpkin Pie with a walnut crumb topping.

Peanut Butter Oreo Pie

Adapted from AllRecipes.com (makes two pies)

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 1/2 cups peanut  butter

1 cup milk

1 (16 ounce) package frozen whipped topping, thawed

2 (9 inch) prepared Oreo chocolate crusts

1 cup Oreo cookies, chopped

Beat together cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar.  Mix in peanut butter and milk.  Beat until smooth.  Fold in whipped topping and 3/4 cup Oreo cookies.  Spoon into two 9 inch Oreo chocolate pie crusts; sprinkle remaining Oreo pieces on top; cover, and freeze until firm.

 

 

Caramel Pecan Pie with a Touch of Chocolate

Adapted from AllRecipes.com

1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

36 individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup milk

3/4 cup white sugar

3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup pecan halves

1 milk chocolate candy bar, shaved

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a saucepan over low heat, combine caramels, butter and milk. Cook, stirring frequently, until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside.  In a large bow, combine sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt. Gradually mix in the melted caramel mixture and half of chocolate shavings.  Stir in pecans. Pour filling into unbaked pie crust.  Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.  Top with remaining chocolate shavings.  Allow to cool until filling is firm.

 

We would love to see picutres of your favorite pies.  Share them on our Facebook page, Facebook.com/GinnysBrand, and check back later for more recipes from the 2nd Annual Ginny’s Pie-apalooza

Whether it be favorite treats or costumes, everyone has memories from their childhood Halloweens.  I thought I would wrap up Halloween 2011 by sharing a little bit about some memories from members of the Ginny’s Team.

“My sisters, cousins and I would go trick-or-treating out in my grandparents’ neighborhood every year. It was mainly houses but there was one apartment complex.  In an attempt to drain the entire neighborhood of all the candy, we would hit up the apartment building too.  One year there was this creepy man who opened the door holding a roll of ones.  He handed us each a dollar and said, “This is better than candy, isn’t it?” Looking back now we all wonder what he was doing with the cash, but as a little kid we just hit the jackpot.  We went back year after year looking for him, but never found him again…” – Lindsy, Graphic Designer

When Christy, Art Director, was a little girl, she dressed up as a big black spider.  Each of her eight legs was wearing one of her doll’s shoes.  She loved going to the lodge at the beach with her friends for their annual Halloween party but wasn’t a fan of her school nurse handing out apples and toothbrushes. J

“One year I made a “hungry ghost” costume. It was basically a sheet with holes for the arms, big drawn-on eyes with little eye cut-outs so I could see, and a BIG cut-out for a mouth with a pillowcase sewn inside. When I went trick-or-treating, I asked people to “feed me” by putting candy directly in the mouth! It was great—the only problem was I didn’t bring a spare bag for the candy, so it weighed down the costume!” – Brigitte, Copywriter

Our Campaign Manager, Christine, remembers her mom throwing great Halloween parties.  She would peel grapes for a bowl of “eyeballs” and make a batch of cold, wet spaghetti noodles for “worms” to go alongside the rest of Halloween goodies.

“Halloween was always my favorite holiday (after Christmas).  I had a really awesome witch costume that my mom had made for me, so it was much nicer than the store bought ones at the time.  She made me an orange wig with yarn sewn to a shower cap.  I always loved to run in the cool, dark evenings until my face got all prickly, and hurl myself behind bushes to get out of view.  (That was when we really did do tricks – but they were mild ones!)” – Ginny, President

Jacqui, Merchandising, liked going to an old schoolhouse near her house that had a costume party, contest and haunted house in the basement.

“I always remember at the end of the night my brother and I would come home and dump our candy into a pile on the floor and separate it out by types of candy. Then we would trade each other for our favorites.  My mom was a teacher so we always had to give her some to take to school. We’d give her the kinds we didn’t like. We had plastic pumpkins as our trick or treat containers, and we had to put them on top of the fridge where my mom could keep dibs on them, or else we’d eat it all right away!” – Kristen, Merchandising

We all hope you had a great Halloween. Be sure to share some memories you made this year on our Facebook page! Facebook.com/GinnysBrand

In August, Brigitte (one of our copywriters) won round three of the Ginny’s Team Baking Battles with these awesome Snickers Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Snickers Chocolate Chip Cookies   

Ingredients
•    2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•    1 teaspoon baking soda
•    1/2 teaspoon baking powder
•    1 teaspoon salt
•    2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
•    1 cup granulated sugar
•    1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
•    2 large eggs
•    1 teaspoon vanilla
•    about 1/2 bag dark chocolate chips (approx. 5-6 oz)
•    about 1 bag mini Snickers (approx 10-12 oz)
•  about 2 tablespoons flour
Preparation
Preheat oven to 325°F.
In a bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl with an electric mixer cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla then eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and beat in flour mixture.
Unwrap and chop Snickers bars (I cut each one in thirds both ways, but you could just chop them in half both ways). Toss pieces in a bowl with a small amount of flour—just enough to lightly coat them so they don’t stick together.
Stir chocolate chips and Snickers into dough and drop rounded tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake cookies in batches in middle of oven 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden. Cool cookies on baking sheets on racks until firm. Cookies keep in airtight containers 5 days.

Adapted from:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Chunk-Caramel-Cookies-11395#ixzz1UdU6QTvW

Today is our parent company’s Founder’s Day where we celebrate our core values and our history. As part of the celebration, we decided to share Brigitte’s delicious cookies with some of our Colony Brands family.

 

 

We love football and are so excited that the 2011-2012 NFL season has started. Twelve members of the Ginny’s team predicted the NFL’s week one winners.

Atlanta Falcons over Chicago Bears (7 votes to 5 votes)
Houston Texans over Indianapolis Colts (7-5)
Kansas City Chiefs over Buffalo Bills (10-2)
Cleveland Browns over Cincinnati Bengals(9-3)
Pittsburgh Steelers over Baltimore Ravens(8-4)
Tied Philadelphia Eagles and St. Louis Rams (6-6)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers over Detroit Lions(7-5)
Tennessee Titans over Jacksonville Jaguars(9-3)
San Diego Chargers over Minnesota Vikings (7-5)
Carolina Panthers over Arizona Cardinals(8-4)
NY Giants over Washington Redskins(10-2)
San Francisco 49er’s over Seattle Seahawks (7-5)
NY Jets over Dallas Cowboys (8-4)
New England Patriots over Miami Dolphins(11-1)
Denver Broncos over Oakland Raiders (10-2)

Have a great football Sunday!

This week was round two of the Ginny’s Team Baking Battles.  There were four bakers; Kristen, Bev, Heidi and Brigitte.  They were all required to make a pan of bars and incorporate their favorite summer drink.

Kristen enjoys a refreshing Pina Colada on a hot day. She made Pina Colada Dessert Squares with a coconut almond crust and topped with dollop of whipped cream.

Bev loves raspberry lemonade.  She altered her mom’s lemon bar recipe and made raspberry filled lemon bars topped with sweetened lemon zest and fresh raspberries.

Heidi likes a good strawberry banana smoothie anytime of year.  She made strawberry banana bars with a cream cheese frosting.

Finally, one of Brigitte’s favorite summer drinks is strawberry lemonade.  She made Strawberry Lemonade Bars with lemon peel curls as a garnish.

 

All four bakers did an awesome job and everything was so delicious. Some of the judge’s comments were:

-”Very simple and pretty.”

-”Tastes light and refreshing.”

- “Clean and pops off of plate.”

- “Definitely tasted like a drink in a bar.”

 

Drum roll please…

The winner of Ginny’s Team Baking Battles, Round Two – Bars is ….

 

 

 

Brigitte and her Strawberry Lemonade Bars. Congratulations, Brigitte!

Next week, bakers are bringing their sweet tooth.  They must incorporate their favorite candy or candy bar into a cookie!

The Ginny’s Team hosted the first ever Ginny’s Team Baking Battles on Thursday, July 21.  Three bakers, Brigitte, Tammy and Jacqui, were all required to make a cake incorporating their favorite frozen summer treat.

Brigitte loves a really good vanilla ice cream in the summer and strawberries year round. She made a three cakes with pureed strawberries in the batter and layered them with vanilla ice cream and frosted with a butter cream frosting.

 

Tammy’s favorite treat is a Reece’s Peanut Butter Cup, especially frozen in the summer.  She made a Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cheesecake with a chocolate cake base.

 

Jacqui has a sweet tooth, so she naturally loves Dulce de Leche Ice Cream.  She made a Dulce de Leche Cheesecake served on a plate drizzled with caramel.

 

All three cakes were absolutely delicious and all three bakers were so creative. The judges made comments like:

-”Delicious! I love simple things – and this was simply delicious.”

-”It looked really professional.”

-”Smooth, creamy taste.”

 

Drum roll please…

The winner of Ginny’s Team Baking Battles, Round One – Cakes is ….

 

 

 

Tammy and her Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cheesecake with a chocolate cake base.

 

Check back next week for the cake recipes from this week’s contest and to see next week’s bakers incorporate their favorite summer drink into a bar.

Now that summer is in full swing, I find myself lathering on sunscreen to protect myself from harmful rays.  But sometimes I wonder; “Is all of this hassle really worth it?” “What is truly recommended?”  After some research, I thought I would share what I learned with you!

UVA/UVB rays and the UV Index:

We all hear the terms UVA, UVB and UV index when we watch the weather on television, but I never knew what exactly they meant.  As it turns out there are two types of rays from the sun, ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultra violet B (UVB). UVA rays are known for aging and penetrating skin; affecting the immune system and keeping it from protecting you from the growth of skin cancer.  UVB rays burn the skin.  Both types of rays are measured using the UV index.  A higher number on the index predicts a higher chance of damage from the sun.

The effects of sun:

-In the past 31 years the number of people with skin cancer is greater than the number of people with all other cancers combined.

-Over the course of their lifetime, one in five Americans will develop skin cancer.

-About 40-50 percent of Americans that live to be 65 will have some type of skin cancer at some point.

Protecting your skin:

Did you know that even on a cloudy day, you can still be exposed to up to 80 percent of the sun’s rays?  This would explain how I have gotten sunburned on a cloudy day.  Doctors recommend using water-resistant sunscreens that protect from both UVA and UVB rays and have a SPF (sun protection factor) 30 or more.

Sunscreen should be applied to all areas exposed to the sun about 15 to 30 minutes before enjoying the sun and apply again every two hours.  But, if you are sweating a lot or swimming, sunscreen can stop working after 40 minutes so re-apply accordingly.

Here’s a fun fact – The food and drug administration (FDA) requires that sunscreen stays at its initial strength for at least three years. This means that you don’t have to start with a fresh bottle every season unless it’s expired. But, if applying the recommended amount (about one ounce per application to all exposed areas) one bottle of sunscreen shouldn’t last too long!

I hope you’re enjoying your summer with a family and friends.

Have a Great Week!

 

Sources:

http://www.skincancer.org/Skin-Cancer-Facts/

http://www.aad.org/media-resources/stats-and-facts/prevention-and-care/sunscreens

http://www.epa.gov/sunwise/uvandhealth.html

 

 

Making the decision to have a child is momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.  ~Elizabeth Stone

I thought today would be a perfect time to honor some of the Ginny’s team moms. They work so hard to create a beautiful Ginny’s catalog, but being a mother is always their first priority.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ginny – Jackson (22), Bryan (20), Geoffrey (16)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christy – Tyler (7), Hannah (4)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heidi – Keagen (11), Morgan (7)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jody – Makenzie (16)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brigitte – Stepdaughter, Juniper (6)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Julia – Leah (15 months)

 

 

 

 

Christine – Natasha (9), Elijah (7), Isabella (2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teresa – Grace (12), Erin (8)

And finally, we would like to say Happy Mother’s Day to some of our own mothers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heidi’s mom, Shirley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mom, Sharon (Love You, Mom!)

Happy Mother’s Day to everyone, I hope you all enjoy this beautiful day!

After watching Rachael Ray’s Grilled Cheese segment on Good Morning America, I decided to make a list of Ginny’s team favorite grilled cheese combinations. My favorites are turkey, honey mustard and mayonnaise or just cheese and bacon.  Other team favorites are listed below. Enjoy!

Ginny

Seeded rye bread with Caraway Muenster cheese

Marbled rye bread with Colby and American cheeses

*dipped in brown ball-park mustard

Julia

French bread with Colby-Jack and Provolone cheeses

Chesney

Add jalapenos to any grilled cheese

Christy

Mozzarella and Sharp Cheddar cheeses topped with tomatoes and onions

Brigitte

Tomatoes and fresh basil

Tortillas instead of bread with salsa, avocado, and fresh cilantro

Kristen

Add turkey and avocado

Christine

Add smoked ham and tomato slices

Bethany

Add Parmesan cheese and oregano to the bread crust with Pepper-jack cheese, tomato and spinach