May @OrangeGladBox Review + Girl Meets S'mookie

Momma Told Me: You don't need dessert.

What is the purpose of dessert? Its the commencement of a meal, the end of a day, the last flirt with flavor before falling asleep. Dessert should not be mandatory, but earned. Sugar is not meant to be consumed for the simple sake of sweet, but the enhancement of flavors it creates when paired with indulgent notes such as vanilla bean, cocoa, and even rum. If you wander into the kitchen cabinets a quarter past ten o'clock and unwrap the first foil encased snack cake you come across you are not doing dessert justice my friends!

Sweets have long been regarded as a delicacy, a reward; confectioners have dedicated lives towards perfecting textures and flavor blends. They pair flaky with sweet and sticky, or bitter with melty and crunchy. I believe no sweet treat should ever be the same. And Orange Glad believes the same, my friend. They exist solely to curate the very best independent and handcrafted sweetness in a monthly box of U.S. made goodies. You may recall my first encounter with this sweet subscription service last October when I faced down the giant krispie.

I've been invited back, by the company, to try the following three months of specially dessert gift curated boxes in hopes I will share my opinions once more with you, my readers. You might be surprised but no one had to twist my arm in that agreement, I was on board faster than you can spell s-u-g-a-r r-u-s-h! So a beautiful square parcel landed on my doorstep in the middle of 95F Southern California Summer heat, and  was immediately concerned for the certain chocolate contained within. I was happy to find that Orange Glad has smartly stayed away from highly meltable confections, and, instead, opted to pack two award winning Baking Bettys cookies on ice. The jumbo S'more Cookie (or Smorkie as I affectionately call it) was soft and chewy, and packed with gooey marshmallow bits and chocolate chunks. It didn't last long.

One of my favorite things about the Orange Glad subscription boxes is the variety of types of sweets included. I am always certain to try at least one, if not multiple, new treat I'd never considered or even heard of. There were two such delights in the May 2014 box, the first being the playfully cinnamon sugar coated Italian Butterhorns. Not only have I been so inspired to consume these hand -rolled Italian butter cookies, I promptly went online to research recipes and learn how to make my own. (Expect a recipe post soon.)

Continuing my unintentional trip around the globe were the 'hand griddled' authentic Welsh Cakes in Cranberry Orange. These boasted that they were best served warm, and most reminded me of a sweet breakfast biscuit. As it turned out they were much more dense, and sweet, than I'd envisioned; more like a condensed muffin. These European cakes had fresh cranberry bits and a very vibrant orange zest flavor that was quite powerful throughout.

Ironically, what grabbed me the most about this collection of sweets were just how many of them were locally sourced and made. Fine Sconehenge Baking Company, which provided a Gluten-Free Ultimate Brownie is actually based out of a city that neighbors mine, and the Welsh Cakes are made in the town adjacent to my Aunt! While the product packaging was a little underwhelming, on the vendor's parts, Orange Glad always provides a complete ingredients list, and storage or care (shelf life) guidelines. Customers who find a new favorite brand or product are encouraged to log onto the website where they can buy directly from vendors and interact with the companies. My only criticism? I wish Orange Glad would bring back the colorful and fun boxes- it's always nice to see that orange box show up once a month!

What Daughter Says: If you're not experiencing new sweets, then you're not doing dessert right.

Tween Eyewear Fashion Meets Practicality + Online Shopping Tips Giveaway

Momma Told Me: It's how you see the world, not what you see it through.

It's finally happened, the young woman that prances around wearing 'fashion' frames, sans lenses, because she thinks it's cool to be like her role models has finagled her way into a pair or permanent frames. And, like every life-long glasses wearer knows, the four-eyed-look just isn't as cool when you don't have the option to take the frames off. And, especially when you are locked into wearing the same 'style' day in and out until your prescription changes, or you hit the lottery. Yes, Sabrina (11) was so completely tickled to learn her eyesight 'barely' qualified for a reading and distance prescription. Little did she know, but I did, that she would quickly be over her single frame choice in just a few days.

Sabrina, bless her little glittery heart, chose the exact same frame her mother has worn the past several years. It was a feat in itself that the frame was still in active production, unfortunately, as modern children can be a little misunderstanding, some teasing promptly commenced when her classmates picked up the similarities. Luckily 'Aunt' Jenna knew the perfect answer to the financial roadblock of owning more than one pair of glasses- shopping for prescription glasses online. For years I have trusted various online retailers to provide me with a wide range of trendy frame styles and affordable prices. In fact, I even have a 'wardrobe' of frames on standby. Having more than one pair of glasses when it comes to youth, however, is just plain practical. Kids lose, damage, and forget their frames constantly. Being able to replace a pair of glasses in less than $40, and with a quick turnaround is a must for any modern parent.

For Sabrina, picking out a frame she liked wasn't hard, it was one of the featured frames; the #F030 Plastic Women's frame sells for less than $40 on the Firmoo website, and can easily be fitted with clear (fashion), prescriptions, or prescription UV lenses. Some people have a hard time judging frame sizing for their face and prescription when shopping online. Sabrina's PD, 56, is a bit on the lower range, and many frame sellers will often discourage larger frames; this company is happy to assist in the best selection for your PD. Firmoo offers a general guideline range for Pupillary Distance, and frame sizing; however, it is the buyer's choice as to whether the frames will be right for them or not. If you're unsure about sizing and spacing, refer to the measurements on the inside arm of your current glasses for the best match.

While most think of ordering prescription glasses online, you can actually choose from a variety of tints, UV protection, and even fashion lenses. I spotted colored UV tinting and even rhinestone lens accents among some of the more premium treatments. You can really customize your look on a tight budget, and enjoy speedy, free, shipping with basic scratch resistant lenses included. Bifocals, and light polycarbonate lenses are available for a nominal up-charge.

Sabrina's new Firmoo glasses arrived in about 5 days, with free US Shipping on orders over $39, and free International Shipping on orders over $55. The sparkly new glasses arrived nestled within a matching Pink cleaning cloth, inside a complimentary case. They were beautiful and exactly what we'd envisioned from the many customer and stock photos online.  A truly perfect fit for the bubbly, and very girly, but slightly nerdy, 11-year-old Sabrina.  It's been over a decade since I've paid 'sticker price' for  prescription glasses, and I see absolutely no reason to stop saving 80%+ through shopping online at fine retailers such as Firmoo!

What Daughter Says: Don't force yourself into a style corner with boring frames. Enjoy multiple pairs of prescription glasses for the price of one, when you shop glasses online.

Five Momma Told Me readers will win a $30 online gift code for Firmoo.com!

2014 Summer Beauty Essentials And Skincare Tips

This is a Fashionista Events Opportunity. I received a BIC Soleil Glow Sample in hopes I might share my honest thoughts.

Momma Told Me: Skincare has no season.

Living in Southern California you might assume that it's all palm trees and sunbathing, year-round, and you'd be correct. I'd be lying if I said that we truly experience seasons, or if I attempted to downplay the number of bikini-clad patrons lining our local beaches on any given month of the year. While that may sound like paradise to some, it's certainly not the ideal situation for my skin. Much like Winter presents the promise of it's own skincare challenges (dry cracked elbows and heels, the complete and utter lack of motivation to shave at all,) Summer can be just as threatening. Let's face it, I'm pale even when I'm tan, and that sort of fair skin needs extra TLC to get it through any season.

If Summer's not quite ready to show it's skimpy skirt wearing legs, where you are- great; that just means you have a little extra time to get Summer ready with my 2014 Summer Beauty Essentials. At the top of my list is a good suncare product (or multiples if you prefer SPF foundation like me.) Finding a mess free suntan lotion that can easily be applied from head to toe is a must once those rays start peeking through the clouds. Exfoliating with a good scrub or skincare mask will also help prep those skinny stems for beach weather offering a smooth shave when paired with an effortless razor such as BIC Soleil Glow, and a pampering after-shave treatment such as Bath & Body Works Hawaii Passionfruit Body Butter. If you're not quite ready to bare too much skin, then play with Summer colors and treat yourself to a simple flash mani/pedi, ombre style with alternating hues of the same color. And, for those inevitably sticky afternoons, stash a package of cooling wipes in your purse or glove compartment to cool off between Summer socializing.

For me, Summer skincare starts with my legs; the area of my body that seems most often exposed to UV rays and harsh elements. Because I shave year-round, I need a razor that is reliably smooth and relatively simple to navigate the curves of my stems with as few 'incidents' as possible. After all, nobody wants to show off those Summer legs covered in nicks and Band-Aids, right? For years I've been a Soleil junkie. Made by BIC, the Soleil range of women's disposable razors are colorful, which happens to be the perfect match for my personality, and intuitive. The line is constantly growing, with the newest addition, the Soleil Glow, boasting a new comfort shield for shaving safety, and 3 individually flexible blades for comfort. As a lifelong Soleil user, I was most enchanted, however, by the addition of a new pivoting head, which really brings a new experience to disposable skincare.

Of course not all Summer Beauty Essentials are found in the skincare aisle. One major player on your personal skin radiance team should be water, and lots of it. You should consume 64oz of filtered water daily, and more during dry and warmer months when dehydration is more prevalent. Not only will this help keep you more active and your skin (your body's largest organ) functioning at it's healthiest, but it will help your body bounce back from any unfortunate skincare mishaps like missed sunscreen application. Remember, Summer beauty and skincare starts before Summer and continues throughout!

What are some of your best Summer Beauty and Skincare tips?

What Daughter Says: Start preparing for warmer weather today with hydration and simple skincare.

Let's Make A Cake: Polka Dot Cake Recipe Tutorial

Momma Told Me: I'll let you lick the spoon.

We've come a long way from boxed mixes, Toto. I still remember standing on my Little Tikes step-stool and peering over the kitchen counter as Momma calmly counted out egg whites into a mixing bowl. Baking Saturdays were especially exciting in my household because they meant the promise of sweet things to come. And, every now and then, Momma would open a box of 'just add water' brownie mix and I'd even get to lick the spatula of gooey chocolately goodness. It was pure heaven, and the only time it got any better was when I had the chance to plop those little drops of liquid color into the batter and turn our boring white cupcakes into tie-dyed perfection.

By now you know that I like to make unique cakes. I don't bake them often, in fact, I bake on average 3 cakes a year for very specific occasions; but when I do, I like to go all out. My friends and family, they think I'm a baking genius- I am far from a Cake Boss folks. I do, however, spend a year planning these cakes and even doing test runs in my small condo kitchen. Not everything comes out 'picture perfect,' so please, don't be intimidated by anything you see on this site.

This year I got the brilliant idea to do a 'Polka Dot Cake,' after seeing a viral post on Pinterest from a blog that specialized in baked goods. With a little further research I found that this style of cake isn't really delved into on too many websites. The concept seemed easy enough, bake cake pops into individual cake layers, so why weren't there more people posting their proud pics on Pinterest? Well, as it turns out, while boxed mixes are included in the process, the recipes can be far from 'boxed.' A little patience and some scientific finagling is required.

You'll want to start with a cake pop pan similar to the Bake Pop Pan, which can be ordered fairly cheap on Amazon. Most people who would ever attempt this type of recipe already have one laying around from the great Cake Pop Fad of the early 2000's. Next you will need boxed cake mix, pudding mixes, sour cream, and a handful of other ingredients (found below.) If you desire to go rogue and use your own cake pop recipe keep in mind that you are double baking the cake pop balls, so a more moist recipe, and a little under baking will yield the best result. You should also expect some 'bake-over,' which is always a nice treat when you're slaving your way through an all day cake event.

It's my suggestion to let all stages of the Polka Dot Cake cool before integrating them with the next. Placing your cake pops in the freezer for a few hours before baking them into the layers of cake will cause them to contract a little and consequently fluff up to bind with the surrounding cake mix while baking later. I've seen others have some success with room temperature cake pop balls, while others have noticed separating. Expect your cake pop balls to want to rise to the top of the batter while your layers bake. Don't worry about this, as you should be able to apply moderate pressure and a flat surface (IE the bottom of another pan) to help even out the top surface of your layers. Remember, you will be frosting these layers so don't worry if the surface is uneven.

If you want different size polka dots when you cut into your cake be sure to stagger the rows of dot layers so they are not all lined up when layered. The polka-dot effect will be most effective in three layer cakes, but can be easily achieved with 3 or less colors in a two-layer cake as well. My biggest tip is to make extra cake-layer batter, as you never quite know how well your batter will rise to cover the cake pop balls. When in doubt, more is always better. For my cake I used a chocolate frosting between layers; keep in mind that your frosting will want to smear the 'polka dot' effect when cutting and be sure to keep your knife clean between slices for the most picturesque effect.

What Daughter Says: Life's too short to bake boring cakes.

Karina Dresses #Frockstar Nation Giveaway Event #11

Momma Told Me the best fashion is fashion YOU feel confident in. No, it's not about duck toe nails, or 8" heels, or even who had the shapeliest corset bound silhouette. That may work for the runway, but let's face it, we're real women, and Karina gets that. That's exactly why they've partnered with 12 amazing fashion-minded bloggers of every age and shape to show you why a Karina dress is truly a dress for every-body. Not only are these dresses easy to care for, and ultra-comfortable, but the core 12 designs are constantly being released with new colors, prints, and event alterations (hello 3/4 sleeves for self-conscious me!) Don't believe me? Be sure to check out my Frockstar™ preview post where Sabrina modeled the playful Nora dress with cap sleeves in Black and White Plaid.

Karina's so sure their every-body dresses will change your life, they're sponsoring a special 6 dress wardrobe giveaway, where one lucky reader of our 12 blogs will win 6 Karina dresses! I know you're dying to see how my fellow fashion bloggers styled their Karina dresses, and how the other bloggers wore the same dresses in the past, so be sure to use the nifty linky at the bottom of this post to follow along and visit all 12 of our blogs. You'll score extra entries daily just for visiting and engaging with the other bloggers, so don't be shy with your comments and shares- let's show these real Karina women some love!

Karina Dresses has a newsletter you will want to get in your inbox. Each weekly newsletter has a winner of a new dress selected from the email subscribers. You have to open the email to see if it is you! In addition to giveaways, The Karina Dresses newsletter also has flash sales with the hottest prints at almost 50% off! To make this newsletter even more desirable to join, if you sign up and confirm your subscription (or are already a subscriber and enter this giveaway) you will be entered into the sweepstakes for $1000 in Karina Dresses! Are you ready to join the Karina Frockstar™ Nation? Subscribe here!

If you are a blogger and you would like to do a review of a Karina Dress, they choose their reviewers from their affiliates! You can sign up to be an affiliate here.

Are you ready for extra entries?
Use @KarinaDresses and #Frockstar to let Karina know your favorite dress from the Frockstar™ bloggers. You can also get 100 entries a day by commenting on each of the bloggers posts from the linky below!

Chipotle-Lime Grilled Corn Recipe (No Grill Required)

This post was created in partnership with America's Farmers. All opinions are my own, though I am in no way aligning myself with any issues in association with the partner. All reader comments in relation to that aspect are free speech and entirely welcome- just remember, there's a recipe here too.

Momma Told Me: If you only knew how much work went into your meal!

Growing up in Southern California, I've often told people where I'm from and been the subject of ridiculous assumptions. Living so close to Los Angeles, and on the coast, I must rub elbows with movie stars and see nothing but palm trees from my kitchen window. While SoCal is glamorous, it is also just as rich in land and soil as the great Redwood forests of the North. In fact, my humble town of Oxnard, CA is listed as the USDA's number one producer of strawberries. Yes, there's even an entire festival (next weekend) dedicated to this abundant local crop, and people travel from outside the state to attend. But my community produces more than berries, Southern California is also a top citrus producer and has high success in the manufacturing of avocados.

No, I don't live on a farm, but to the East and South I can look off my porch and see sprawling fields for miles. These farms an fields not only provide thousands of jobs for the local community, but are almost always family owned, and generational. As humans we've come a long way from an ox pulling a plow and dancing for rain storms; some farming techniques are even now considered controversial- but I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to get you thinking about America's Farmers, and how their hard work and determination impacts you every day. Did you know there are about 90 million acres of corn planted in the U.S. annually? Corn is a staple ingredient in many common household cooking and baking products, as well as one of my favorite vegetables. It' also a highly versatile crop, as scientists have been able to successfully pop corn known to be as old as 1,000 years old!

The edible 'ear' of corn is actually a part of the plant's 'flower,' which certainly changes the way you'll see a field the next time you are winding your way through a corn maze, right? The United States produces about 40% of the world's corn supply, and every May I find myself eagerly awaiting the grocery store bins full of sweet white corn ears. To me there is nothing more indulgent in the Summer than a freshly grilled ear of buttered, salted, corn on the cob. That's why it's surprising I recently learned I can mimic the flavor and cooking technique in my oven without any open flames!

In preparation for 'corn season,' at the local market, I have been collecting some delicious recipes made with corn, and other American crops on a seasonal #AmericasFarmers Recipes Pinterest board. With cotton, corn, soybeans, wheat, and pork among some of America's biggest agriculture crops it's easy to see how the families that tend these farms impact our daily plate. When I spotted corn first hitting the product department on sale last weekend I was sure to grab several ears for a new recipe I wanted to try out; Chipotle-Lime Corn. This six-ingredient recipe was pretty simple, though the prospect of preparing the corn in a new-to-me-manner was a little daunting.

It turned out this Chipotle-Lime Grilled Corn recipe was the perfect answer to a busy weeknight where cooking time is minimal but the desire for fresh from the far flavor is high. I 'grilled' the corn on the cob in the oven at 415F for 20 minutes, turning the cobs on a cookie sheet every 5 or so minutes. To bake in grilled flavor I had first rubbed a stick of butter along the inside of a sheet of foil, then dusted it with garlic salt and pepper. After carefully rolling up the ears they were ready to bake, and emerged perfectly tender from the oven. The rest was elementary!

When making Chipotle-Lime Grilled Corn do not be afraid of the word 'chipotle.' Chipotle power is more of a flavoring, and can be used without adding an over-poweing heat, especially with the lime juice in this recipe accenting the spices so heavily.

As Summer approaches what crop are you looking most forward to cooking with?

What Daughter Says:  Support America's Farmers and buy local produce this Summer.