WordVixen.com

Is the lovely and charming Shannon at From Cribs To Car Keys. If you shoot an email to wordvixen [at] gmail [dot] com with your mailing addy, I’ll ship the books out tomorrow.

Congratulations, and I hope you like them!

It’s curious how these things come about. I was complaining to a friend that I never win anything, and she suggested that I follow PB Loco on Twitter as they have a lot of contests. So I took a look at their gourmet peanut butter website and was impressed by the incredible number of flavors they had.

One flavor in particular stuck in my mind, and as I was making oatmeal cookies one night, the thought popped into my head that wouldn’t the mocha peanut butter make good oatmeal cookies? Just days later I was offered a jar of the flavor of my choice in exchange for a review. Guess which flavor I chose?

Of course I chose the European Cafe Mocha- though I was sorely tempted to choose the Asian Curry Spice (I’m such a glutton for curry!) or the Jungle Banana. But I take my reviews seriously, and so I decided that if I was going to do this, I was going to do it right. So I’m going to tell you EXACTLY what I thought of all the ways I tried my peanut butter.

1. Naked- No, I wasn’t naked (I think). I couldn’t resist popping the lid off the jar as soon as I got it into my freshly washed little hands. I peeled off the a-little-too-well-adhered-safety-seal and got a bit of peanut butter on my finger. So, of course, I licked it off. To be honest, I can’t quite describe the taste. It was very peanut-y on the front of my tongue, but the back of my tongue had that sort of warm, dry taste and feeling that you get with some instant coffees. It wasn’t bad, just a little disconcerting.

A few minutes after licking, thoughts of the Jungle Banana began pervading my mind, and I haven’t been able to shake them yet.

2. Pretzels- I honestly didn’t think that the whole flavor combo was particularly good here either. It may have just been the pretzels themselves since I realized later that they were the “buttery” sort, and I didn’t have any other pretzels on hand to try it with. I loved the consistency for dipping though, and I think their regular creamy or the dark chocolate flavor would have been awesome.

3. Ice Cream- Now this I liked. Coffee ice cream is good, peanut butter ice cream is good, and chocolate ice cream is good, so how could they not work together? I also liked how the PB Loco peanut butter only sort of hardened when chilled; it was the perfect consistency for desserty foods, and the chilling reduced that weird warm taste (I can’t describe it any other way) that I think comes from the coffee.

4. Cookies- Dude, if for no other reason than these cookies, you HAVE to get the European Cafe Mocha peanut butter! Seriously. I posted the recipe here for my Peanut Butter Mocha Oatmeal Cookies. The flavors are pretty subtle in the cookies, but they’re there, and they make the cookie so much richer than my original recipe. I screwed up on the sugar and had to make a double batch, which turned out to be a very good thing. I took a dozen or so to work, and they were gone within the hour (that was with me sneakily offering them to select people rather than setting them out for a free for all). I took another dozen and a half or so over to my friends’ house, and all but two were gone when I left (and I only had one!).

They’re so chewy, and soft, yet slightly crispy at the edges and… Oh man, just try it. They’re good.

My husband is the one who discovered the PB Loco Crisper-Fluffer-Nutter- pb mocha oatmeal cookies spread with marshmallow creme. And my friends? Prefer them with whipped cream.

4. Fluffer-Mocha-Nutter- Now this was rockin! If you like Fluffer-Nutters (marshmallow creme and peanut butter sandwiches), you’ll love the European Cafe Mocha as the peanut butter. Again, the coffee and chocolate flavors are subtle, but you taste the loss of them if you switch to plain afterwards.

5. Plain Old PB Sandwich- I hate jelly, so I couldn’t try that. I did like the mocha pb for a regular peanut butter sandwich, but there was a weird, slight coffee aftertaste on this one.

6. Peanut Butter Mocha Pickle Sandwich- OK, I know it’s weird, but I like peanut butter and pickle sandwiches, so I HAD to try it. And you know what? It’s good! The mocha flavor makes the pb a little sweeter than the normal store brands, but the consistency was great, and spread really well. And, surprisingly, the coffee did NOT clash with the pickle!

7. On Apples- Actually, I thought the combination here wasn’t too great. Other flavors would probably work, but the coffee and the sweet apple taste just didn’t mesh.

8. On Banana- Now THIS was good. I chilled the pb first, and sort of sliced it, and put the slices on slices of banana. That was really, really good.

9. In A Banana Milkshake- Out of this freaking world! Vanilla ice cream, a splash of milk, a quarter cup of PB Loco’s European Cafe Mocha peanut butter, and a bit of chocolate sauce. Whirr it up, and you can die happy. If you’re not into baking, this would be the other really good reason to get a jar.

10. In Bran Muffins- Yes, and no. The mocha pb gives the muffins a really good flavor, and they do turn out moist and chewy. However, you have to remember to sift all the powdered stuff because it doesn’t dissolve right in the thicker batter. I got a nasty lump of baking powder.

11. The Peanut Butter Mocha Mocha- Out of curiosity, I made a pseudo iced mocha with a nice big dollop of PB Loco peanut butter. The taste was really good (really good), but I had trouble getting past the smell. Too much pb, not enough coffee.

12. On Celery- I looooove peanut butter on celery. And I loooove PB Loco peanut butter on celery. You would think that the coffee and chocolate in the pb would be disconcerting with the celery, but it’s not. It does overpower it a bit, but not by much, and the texture is just awesome.

So, my verdict? Awesome for baking, awesome for mixing, but if you’re just eating it plain? Try a different flavor. I’m going for the Jungle Banana next (can’t wait to try the PB Banana Oatmeal cookies!), and maybe the Asian Curry Spice. Or maybe the cookie dough? Of course, dark chocolate is always a winner…

There’s just enough left for one more milkshake…

I have three well-worn, purchased used by the sister of the co-worker who gave them to me (in other words- they’ve made the rounds!) books by Nora Roberts.

The Key Trilogy is a modern fantasy tale that’s located in the Pennsylvania mountains (I forget which ones). The Irish portion of the books is in the presence of very real Celtic gods, not all of whom are good or even disinterested.

I loved these books, but they’re not the sort of books that I would re-read, and so I’m sharing the love.

I will warn you, however, that as with all (or at least most) of Nora Robert’s books, sex is highly prevalent. She writes sex well (though the words “plunder” and “take” come up waaaaaay too often), but it is there, and not behind closed doors. If this bothers you, feel free to wait for some of the other give-aways.

And for those who don’t know and haven’t guessed, these books are romance. There’s an element of mystery, a strong element of fantasy, an element of adventure, but these ARE romance.

Da Rules:
Simply drop a comment on this post stating that you’re entering. No links are required, but always appreciated. Also, you have to be willing to give me a mailing address that accepts packages. It doesn’t have to be your mailing address, but it does have to be a real one, and I’ll need it by midnight Eastern time on Friday, or you’ll have to wait an extra week for shipment. (don’t worry, I’ll include my email on the announcement)

Winners of previous give-aways are still welcome to enter! And, I’m willing to ship world-wide.

Entries are cut off Thursday night at midnight Eastern, and I’ll draw and announce the winner on Friday.