review Archives - Page 3 of 12 - Lovin' From the Oven

Chinet® Cut Crystal® Breakfast Party and Giveaway

May 4, 2015 by kim 99 Comments

Having a little ol’ galley kitchen in my townhouse, I worry about having people over and entertaining because I don’t have enough room to spread out or clean up. My sink has to be empty, otherwise the kitchen looks like a tornado went through it. I don’t have a lot of space for dishes to pile up or cups to stack. That’s where Chinet® Cut Crystal® plates and cutlery (and new stemless wine glass) come in to rescue me.

They have a line of disposable tableware that makes clean-up a lot easier for me. I don’t have to wash any dishes when I’m done. All I have to do is toss them in the trash can! They’re sturdy, so they can stand up to the challenge when trying to stuff a plate with as much food as possible. Can you say buffet line?

The plates are also clear with an elegant swirl pattern, so you don’t have to worry about them matching your table/decor/theme. They go with everything!

I opted to host a breakfast party, using the new Chinet® Classic White® Chip & Dip Party Tray as a yogurt-and-berries tray instead. The possibilities are endless, really. You can put melted chocolate in the middle instead, or change the entire getup with cheese and veggies!

For my layout, I put out Greek yogurt, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, whole wheat waffle, mini pancakes, Swedish pancakes, powdered donuts, and chocolate covered donuts. Trader Joe’s made my life a lot easier when preparing for this breakfast get together. Their frozen section is my best friend!

Comfort Cup ® by Chinet® coffee cups are great for the morning, but they also have stemless wine glasses for those evening parties. Yes, wine glasses that you can throw away! Imagine that. They thought about everything to make your life stylish, convenient, and coordinated. With everyone’s busy schedules now and days, it’s difficult to schedule a time to get together. Chinet® Cut Crystal® helps us with that by simplifying serving and clean-up. Make time to get together with your friends and family, it’s worth it! For other decoration inspiration, craft and recipe ideas for your next gathering, visit the Chinet® website here.

To enter for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card and a Chinet® gift pack (approximate retail value of gift pack is $50), leave a comment below letting me know: How would Chinet® Cut Crystal® elevate your next get-together?

Entry Instructions:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older (or nineteen (19) years of age or older in Alabama and Nebraska). Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 2 business days to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 5/4/15 – 6/14/15.

Be sure to visit the Chinet brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

Pizza Hut’s Gluten Free Pizza

February 23, 2015 by kim 122 Comments

I was invited to try Pizza Hut’s® “Gluten-Free Pizza” made with Udi’s® certified gluten-free crust and of course, I said yes. I’ve never said no to pizza (nor will I ever!). I grew up eating Pizza Hut because it’s my parents’ favorite store to order pizza from, so I was familiar with their pizzas already. I was excited to try a new product! Since I had a Pizza Hut only a couple of miles from my place, I decided to order it for carryout. I pulled out my computer, went to pizzahut.com, and started personalizing my pizza. There was only one size gluten-free crust pizza to choose from, a small ten inch. I went with that option and added some chicken and went light on the cheese. You could also opt to go plain cheese, pepperoni, or personalize it however you’d like. Fifteen minutes after I submitted my order, my pizza was ready for pickup.

Sure enough, my pizza was right there waiting for me when I showed up. I love when stores have the food ready when they say it’s going to be. My total was just over $12 because I added an extra topping. The Udi’s Gluten Free Pizza starts at $9.99.

I had no idea what to expect because I’ve never had gluten-free pizza before. The crust was very flat and crispy, which reminded me of bruschetta or a cracker.

The rest of the toppings were great as usual, but it did take me a while to get used to this pizza. I felt like it was more of an appetizer than a meal because of how light it was to eat. I didn’t feel sluggish or overwhelmed after eating a couple of slices. That’s a good feeling.

Pizza Hut partnered with the Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG) to make this “Gluten-Free Pizza” preparation possible. The pepperoni and cheese-only pizzas are the only pizzas certified by the GIG. All of the Pizza Hut team members are trained in order to take specific precautions when making these pizzas.

Although Pizza Hut does offer gluten-free ingredients, their entire kitchen is not a gluten-free environment. That means that they cannot assure that every menu item will be completely free of gluten. Still, they’re taking a huge step ahead by offering those Gluten-Free ingredients.

To find a Pizza Hut that offers the gluten-free option for the crust, check out the list of stores here.

Have you ever tried gluten-free pizza? SheKnows is hosting a sweepstakes! Comment below to enter for a chance to win a $100 gift card from Pizza Hut!

Entry Instructions:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 2/23/2015 – 3/16/2015.

Be sure to visit the Pizza Hut’s brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

WW: Bagatelle LA

June 4, 2014 by kim Leave a Comment

Moving back to LA turned me into a giddy child. We previously lived in a small town in NorCal for three years, so I felt that we covered a good chunk of their restaurants. Now, there’s new territory for us to explore since LA is endless!

A couple of weekends ago, my DF and I were invited to Saturday brunch at Bagatelle LA. We’re huge brunch lovers, but I feel like brunch is a bigger thing up north than it is down here. Maybe people just don’t want to get up early on weekends because they were out partying too hard the night before? Who knows. When we went to Bagatelle, it was empty and we were the only ones there at 11AM. That’s okay with me… that just means extra service for us (not that we needed it, the staff was on point).

video taken with a Nokia Lumia Icon

The restaurant was a little hard to find. It was a door on the side of the building that could easily be looked over. When you walk in, however, you’ll wonder how you ever missed it in the first place. It’s trendy, inviting, and upscale.. So LA!

Looking over their menu, I couldn’t decide on what to get because everything looked so appetizing. So, I let them choose for me. After all, who knows the menu best than the people that work there?

We started off with mimosas, which they made sure were constantly filled to the top. I’m not much of an alcohol drinker, but these mimosas were delicious! They were light, perfectly mixed, and didn’t have an overpowering taste of orange juice or champagne.

After that comes the bread and butter. A restaurant isn’t a restaurant without it. My DF even has to Yelp the restaurants that we go to in order to make sure bread and butter is served because that’s how important it is to me. I can eat this and only this for dinner and I’d be happy. The bread was warm and toasty on the outside with a soft inside. The butter was room temperature and spreadable. That’s all I ask for, folks.

Next, we got beef tartare (hand cut filet mignon, quail egg, capers, crispy shallots, petite herbs salad)…

AND tuna tartare (yellow-fin tuna, avocado, soy-citrus vinaigrette, taro chips). If I had to choose between the two, I would choose the beef tartare because you don’t find that on the menu very often. It’s a rare find and they nailed it. The taro chips with the tuna were devoured by my DF, though.

This was the smoked salmon crostini (dill, meyer lemon cream cheese, smoked salmon, cucumber). At this point, I was so full from the tartare that I couldn’t barely finish one of these.

But then they brought truffle scrambled eggs (soft-scrambled hen’s eggs with black truffle trimmings, mixed green salad, croissant) out and my stomach suddenly had room to finish the entire dish. Truffle oil is hit or miss with me. It’s usually too strong to the point where I can’t eat the dish because I can’t get past the smell. This was not the case at all. The truffle oil was light and the eggs were fluffy. Have it served alongside a buttery croissant? Consider me sold.

If you come here to only get one dish, get this one. You won’t regret it!

We finished our meal with Bagatelle waffles (caramelized bananas, whipped cream fraiche, cognac maple glaze). They lined up our dishes perfectly to have waffles for dessert, which I definitely appreciated. You know I’ll always have room for dessert!

If you ever find yourself in LA looking for a good meal with an artsy and rich environment, give Bagatelle LA a try! Executive Chef Robert Liberato will whip up brunch for you, whether you’re looking for something sweet or savory.

Bagatelle LA
755 North La Cienega Blvd,
West Hollywood, CA 90069
310.659.3900
Saturday brunch from 11AM-4PM

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