"I can't have a blueberry for a daughter..."

Oh good ole' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Classic, right? 

While we all know that you can't ACTUALLY turn into a blueberry by eating the delicious little fruits, I'm pretty sure my daughters are trying their hardest this week! Blueberry season is here!

As the end of summer winds down and I try to squeeze all the fun in that I can, I find myself trying to do so in the kitchen. I've let them both help out over the last couple of days and have more of a say as to what's cooking.

After a late wake up this morning, I asked them what they'd like to have for breakfast and the consensus was pancakes! I didn't want to make any ole' every day pancakes though. I wanted something special.

Remembering we'd picked up a quart of blueberries from the store this week, I knew just what kind of special pancakes we were going to whip up and exactly what was going on top.

So today, I'd love to share with your our recipe for Blueberry Sour Cream Pancakes with Fresh Blueberry Sauce. (Don't let the sour cream part scare you. It makes for quite the divine pancake!)

As with any of our recipes, they may sound fancy pants, but I promise, they're easy enough for any kind of cook! 

Blueberry Sour Cream Pancakes with Fresh Blueberry Sauce

Kitchen Needs:

2 mixing bowls

Fork or whisk

Small saucepan

Raclette, turned on and preheating at high

Fresh Blueberry Sauce:

Shopping List- 

 1 cup of blueberries

1/4 cup of sugar

2 Tbls. of water

2 teas. of cornstarch

1 teas. of lemon

In a bowl, combine lemon juice and cornstarch and set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine berries, water and sugar and bring to a boil. 

Add lemon juice mixture, stir well and let boil for another couple of minutes.

Take off heat and set aside while you make the pancakes.

Blueberry Sour Cream Pancakes:

Shopping List- 

1 cup of blueberries 

1 cup milk

3/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

To begin, in a bowl, combine all your dry ingredients and mix well to break up any clumps.

In another bowl, combine your wet ingredients well.

Once well combined, pour your dry ingredient mixture into your wet ingredients and gently stir together until it comes together. Don't get crazy here. Over mixing will make for not as yummy pancakes. Be gentle and make sure all the flour is broken up and wet. 

Once that's done, toss the berries in and again, gently mix well until they're evenly distributed.

"Wait! Is that it?"

 Um...yes. What were you expecting? To have to milk a cow or find Madagascar vanilla beans from a specialty store? I told you this one was easy! 

Now it's time to make some pancakes!

Using an ice cream scoop, pour a scoopful onto the griddle side of your preheated raclette. If you don't have a raclette, well, you need to get one. While you wait for it to get to you, you can use a skillet or non stick pan.

Once you start seeing small bubbles on top of the pancake, it's time to flip. 

This recipe will yield 12 fluffy, berry filled pockets of delight, err, I mean pancakes. 

If you wanted to go all crazy like, you could top these bad boys with a drizzle of white chocolate! Go big or go home right?

Happy Eating!

We want you to join us!

Our business is growing and we want you to grow alongside of us!

We are looking to build our Velata team across the country. We have a dedicated team who support, encourage and give you every tool you need to be successful in this business. Top notch training, a Facebook page dedicated to our team of consultants and a line of products with a guarantee to be the best you can offer to your customers. If you are ready to be a founding Velata consultant and be the first to put these great products in your friends and family's hands, let's talk! Fall is coming and people will be shopping for Christmas. Why not let them shop with you?

WHAT’S IN THE STARTER KIT?

Everything you need to launch your new business—for just $99:

• Sweet and savory treats to sample and share
• Skillful kitchen systems for party demonstrations
• Catalogs, order forms, and business materials like invitations and marketing brochure

HAT CAN I EARN?

A new lifestyle. Choose your hours, be your own boss, and enliven your world with amazing products

• Commissions up to 30% (when you qualify for monthly sales award)
• Lucrative bonuses and awards
• All-expenses-paid trips to destinations like Hawaii, the Bahamas, Greece, or New York City

HOW DOES VELATA HELP ME SUCCEED?

We’ll support you each step of the way:

• Personal Website FREE for 3 months ($10/month after that)
• FREE online Workstation to run your business
• No inventory to manage
• Live phone support
• World-class training
• One on One personalized support and training
• A dedicated Facebook page with the purpose of answering your questions, sharing ideas and so much more

If you love to cook, if you love to entertain, if you love to eat, this is the perfect business for you. :) 

Finally, men, this business isn't just for the ladies. You can be just as successful as you share your foodie love with those around you. It's an opportunity unlike any other direct sales business out there and one built for you to succeed!

Won't you join us?

I'd love for information or to talk with you more

I want to join Velata!

I'm not interested in joining now, but I'd love a catalog!

Do you Raclette?

Do I what? 

Do you Raclette?

What's a Raclette?

Well, let me tell you...

In our Scentsy Family of brands, we have a line called Velata. Velata (translates 'to be veiled') is a kitchen system and food product line meant to draw family and friends back to the table again. It began with the highest quality Belgian chocolate and Scentsy style fondue warmers that keep the chocolate in melted perfection, to cheese perfect for dipping just about anything into it!

Our latest product, the Raclette, has taken off by storm and I'm here, to introduce it to you!

First, let's define Raclette: Raclette is the Swiss tradition of heating cheese until it reaches melted goodness and then scraping it onto a favorite dish, typically potatoes, onions or pickles. Straight from wheel to plate.

The idea of the Raclette dates all the way back to the 12th century.

As time as gone on, more modern versions have popped up all over the world allowing people to come together to enjoy the meal preparation (and devouring there of) around the table. It has combined a grill style tabletop griddle or hot plate with small pans underneath meant to melt the cheese to then be gloriously poured on top of a favorite dish. This of course when using a open coal fire isn't as practical. :)

The idea of the raclette is to create a more sociable eating experience. Sometimes even lasting several hours as people gather to talk, eat and drink. In fact, in French and European markets, you may find pre-sliced  cheese, small vegetables and meats ready specifically for Raclette use. Some restaurants even provide these setups for dinner parties.

Well, it's time to bring the Raclette to America and we're going to do it Velata style.

Introducing, the Velata Raclette:

 

Now, you are probably ooing and awing (as well you should) but still, would like to hear some first hand experiences when it comes to this fancy pants grill.

We received our Raclette on Friday and I was over the moon excited to get it out of the box and on my table. Dinner time in our house usually looks like this:

Me: "Honey, can you please get the girls, I'm trying to cook dinner."

Me: "Girls, I need you not to play in the kitchen while I cook."

Me: "Girls, no, you can't help, that pot is too far back and you can't reach."

Me: "Honey, please come occupy the girls so I can finish up dinner!"

Them: "When will dinner be ready?????????" (x100)

Keep in mind we have a very small kitchen and while I'd love to let my girls help, it's just not safely feasible.

And then we get into the whole chat of how I didn't put this on her plate or did put that on her plate and she doesn't like it. Or maybe why I made hers like this but made his like that. All of this and in 15 minutes, we've argued about what they need to eat before they leave the table, it's scarfed down and they're all gone again with mom left to pick up the mess.

It has all changed.

With the raclette, I can do the meal prep (which is just slicing or chopping) while everyone is at work or school and when they come in have the raclette ready to go. I place the dishes of goodies around the table, hand each person a set of tongs and a tray and we begin to cook dinner...together.

Each of them gets to design their own meal based on what we have set out which means no more short order cooking mommy. We're all choosing what we'd like and how we'd like it cooked. We're sitting around the same table laughing and talking about our days while it sizzles away. When one of them is still hungry, they just pick what they'd like and pop in on the grill or in the tray instead of mom or dad leaving the table to fill the plates with seconds. My girls also love the idea that they're the ones doing the cooking. At 9 and 5, they're not quite ready to be stove top cooking yet, but this affords them the basic skills that and make them feel like they are big stuff! In fact, my littlest said last night, "Look mom! I'm a real live cooker!" She was beaming!

Oh, and the strangest thing has happened. Instead of dinner being a dine and dash event, we're all staying until the last person is done, spending more time talking and when we're all fully satisfied, THEY HELP ME CLEAN IT UP! (insert angelic voices here!)

Mind you, clean up means rinsing our cheese trays out with a little soap and hot water and washing the grill down in the same way. Clean up is crazy easy!

 Doesn't matter if we had pancakes, eggs and bacon or a full fajita spread.That's it! 

Another plus we're finding is that because of the non-stick grilling surface, we don't have to cook with any additional oils or fats. Even my pans have to have a little when I use the stove.  This provides us with an avenue for cleaner, healthier eating. We've also tried cooking bacon for a splatter test and we're happy to see that it cooked up to crispy perfection without splatter or popping.

There is truly a word of possibility when it comes to this kitchen gadget. Besides bringing your wild bunch to the table, the Raclette could be used in a small studio or apartment, dorm room, even when camping or Rv'ing. It could be used for a small family or a big party. Any place you have an outlet, you can raclette. Speaking of camping, we've even done S'mores...

At a cost of $140, the Raclette is an affordable kitchen staple that will not only make moms job in the kitchen much easier, but will create a dinner time that is full of memory making.

If you'd like to see other ways we use the Raclette, along with recipes, tips and tricks for all our other Velata products, join us on our Kickin' It In The Kitchen Facebook group! We'd love to have you!

If you'd like to purchase your very own Raclette or any of our other products, you can visit my website at www.amandajohnson.velata.us

So now, I must ask again....

Do you Raclette?