Some Black Friday Specials

I do not have affiliate agreements with any of these vendors – I just like the products. 

  • Buying coffee gift cards to help feed folks – you can see yesterdays post on how Joe Coffee Provincetown is using its gift card campaign to raise money for the local Soup Kitchen in Provincetown (SKIP) here: November 27, 2020
  • Plant Apothecary.com is running its Black Friday sale and including free shipping for orders over $25. They are one of my fav body washes and I purchase the Wakey Wakey and Get it On pretty regularly. But also love Start Happy one.

These I also have affiliate agreements with – so for transparency, I am noting that:

  • Some of you know I am a fan of @PlexusWorldwide and use the #slim and #collagencomplex powders daily. Well, they have a preferred customer discount of 20% through Monday; https://plexusworldwide.com/MentorSF/home use the code# GIVE2U .

 

Giving Back in Provincetown at Joe Coffee Provincetown

Hey Everyone,  I hope you are recovering from however you choose to celebrate on Thursday. I know some of you have jumped on the Black Friday bandwagon. Like, may of you, this year more than ever I will be shopping more online. But while I will still use some of the “big-box stores” I also am making an effort to use local and small businesses when I can.

Several recommendations I have I will list below as well.

Drinking Coffee For Good at Joe Coffee Provincetown

Hanging out at a coffee shop is usually part of my morning ritual when I travel, as Paul usually sleeps in. It gets me out of bed and catching up with local pals or out walking. Not to mention they often serve as part of my mobile office on more than one occasion. Now – it is no secret that a part of my heart is always in Provincetown and I have posted about my trips back a number of times. Well,  my old college pal, Glenn, and two friends of his took over ownership of Joe’s Coffee in February of 2019. They even managed to make it into my last summer’s TikToks about the new app they had rolled out while I was working on the COVID19 response instead of vacationing this year.

@frank_mentorsfOne of the of the few gifts of #COVID19 is app & web based ordering. #coffee #coffeeshop #notalkingbeforecoffee #fypシ #provincetown #notalk

♬ original sound – Frank

 

Joe Coffee is running my favorite type of promotion this season. For every purchase you make, they are giving back money to Provincetown’s Soup Kitchen. SKIP as it is known in town prepares upwards of 150 hot lunches a day from Nov – April each year and with so many people not working as much leading into the winter  – supporting these programs is more important than ever.

Joe Coffee is running two winter promotions; 

Gift Cards for you and others

For all gift cards purchased between Nov 28  and Sunday, Dec. 13- they will donate money to SKIP. the more the value, the more they donate.

    • gift card value: $25 – $49;  joe donates $2 to SKIP
    • gift card value: $50 – $99;  joe donates $5 to SKIP
    • gift card value: $100 plus;  joe donates $10 to SKIP

To order your gift cards (which can be sent via email to the recipient if you want to send as a gift) use this GIFT CARD Link:   https://www.toasttab.com/joe-coffee-cafe/giftcards

SKIP Guest Cuppa’

You can also purchase a SKIP GUEST CUP OF COFFEE  either online from anywhere across the USA or In-Cafe at the register. Each of these sold, will be added to the 150 FREE COFFEE COUPONS  they already plan to include in the SKIP GUEST lunch bags on the day that Joe Coffee sponsors lunches. These coupons come in handy when someone wants a reason to hit the coffeeshop and money is tight. Sure – will it save the world? No. But can help someone have some reason to get out (masks and all) without worrying does that money need to be spent elsewhere.

You can buy a SKIP coffee donation here: https://www.toasttab.com/joe-coffee-cafe/v3

For more information on Joe Coffee you can visit them online at https://www.joecoffeeptown.com/ or check out its Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/joecoffeeptown and Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/joecoffeeptown/

For more on SKIP visit them online at https://www.skipfood.org or visit the SKIP’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soupkitcheninprovincetown/

Note – This post has no paid affiliate links I earn nothing from sharing this post.

Keto Chocolate Chunk Biscotti

I am a huge biscotti fan and I have hate paying the price for them in the store when they are super each to make. I do a bunch of flavors, but one of my “go to’s” is a recipe for mini M&M Chocolate Marble Biscotti that I found some time back. But with friends and family members eating more Keto or gluten-free I have started to play around with recipes and this one got a remake this week.

So I went from this version with all the sugar and flour:

To a new version that uses almond four, sugar substituted ingredients:

 

With a few minor tweaks, I was able to get it working to rave reviews. But first, you have to have the ingredients. So I used these alternative brands (I don’t have a relationship or affiliate with any of them) but they are all easily available at both Safeway and Luckys grocery stores. in my test batches, I found I liked the chocolate bars chopped up better than using the Lily’s chips.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup of margarine softened (You could use butter but it will affect the softness of the biscuit – but add more flavor)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar substitute – I used the Monkfruit version
  • Two large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 2 -3/4 cups Almond Flour ( with up to an additional 1/4 cup if needed on the side)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder (you may find you can use less)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda (you may find you can use less)
  • 1 -3/4 cups sugar-free chips or chocolate bars chopped up
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder*
  • 1 cup slivered almonds (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons instant coffee granules (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon Almond Extract (optional)

To make:

Preheat over to 325°F.

Cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper ( if your sheet are large you can do two bars at once but they will spread some)

Note- this batter is soft enough to do by hand or hand mixer if you do not want to use a stand mixer

Steps:

  1. In a large bowl, cream margarine and sugar substitute until light and fluffy;
  2. Mix in eggs and vanilla.
  3. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda;
  4. blend into creamed mixture. Note: The dough will be much softer than the traditional version.
  5. you may want to add in some extra almond flour here if needed.
  6. Stir in 1 1/4 cups of chocolate pieces, mix well
  7. Layout plastic wrap on your counter and scoop out the dough and shape into a ball with your damp hands.
  8. Divide dough ball in half. Put one half back in the bowl, and leave one on the counter.
  9. Add the cocoa powder and coffee granules to one half of the dough in the bowl. Work together until the dough and powders are mixed. The cocoa powder will make the dough stiffer as well.

Making the marbled look

  1. On the plastic-covered counter ( you can also use almond flour on the counter if you prefer not to use plastic). Gently knead the  “white” dough and shape it into a wide log. Put aside.
  2. Do the same with the “chocolate” dough and gently knead into a similar shape
  3. Place the two logs together, one on top of the other, and knead them three times together to form a marbled effect.
  4. Divide the dough into two pieces again  and roll out as two similar shaped logs about 2 inches wide

Baking:

  • Place each log on a cookie sheet, (leave room around the log as they will spread in baking).
  • Bake for 20-25 minutes ( Almond flour burns faster than regular flour – so keep a close eye on it. In my oven 20 min was perfect)
  • Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 15 to 20 minutes
  • Carefully remove from the pan to a cutting board (They will be soft! )
  • Using a serrated knife, slice logs into 1/2 inch slices (it may yield anywhere from 12 to 15 slices per log depending on how you cut them)
  • Rearrange them back on the cookie sheet cut sides down.
  • Bake an additional 10 minutes, Turning the over halfway through is optional
  • Turn the oven off and let them sit in the oven for another 5-10 min
  • Then remove from the pan and let them cool on a rack. store tightly covered

Other tips

  • Wrap each log in plastic and place in the refrigerator fo 15 min – 30 min before baking to chill helps to slow the spread when baking.
  • You can freeze the logs until ready to bake in the future, just let thaw 10 -15 min before baking.
  • Adding the coffee granules is optional. If I don’t have any, I don’t use them. Don’t use ground coffee.. it will be too bitter