“Cooking is like love… It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.” – Harriet Van Horne

I love to cook, and I really love to bake. I was so excited when we moved to this new house a year ago, and I had this great big open kitchen – New appliances, beautiful stone tile floors, a great big island in the middle – with big sliding glass doors and windows, so I have a view. Our old house had the smallest kitchen imaginable, with no windows. So this gets me excited about creating! I bought new cookware, a gorgeous new apron, and fun baking gadgets. Problem is, my kitchen skills are pretty limited, lol. But, I’m learning. And I balance that lack of skill with my enthusiasm and sense of humor. So, follow along with me on my latest baking adventure….

“Many people have eaten my cooking & gone on to lead normal lives.” – Unknown.

For this shopping trip, our goal was to find and purchase Clear American Flavored Beverages from Walmart. I shop at Walmart all the time, but had never heard of these. But, you know I’m always excited to try something new, so we headed to the store to check ’em out. They were super easy to find – If you’d like to try them out too, just look for the big green ‘Flavored Water’ sign in the bottled beverages section. There are some other options – but Clear Americans selection was by far the most impressive display!!

Huge selection of flavors!!

I could not believe how many different flavors there were to choose from!! And, you can get them in different sizes too – 6-packs of bottles to drink by itself, 20-oz bottles that are perfect for recipes, and a 2-liter which would be great for punch or mixes. I really didn’t have a recipe in mind yet, since I was waiting to see what flavors were available. I knew I wanted something chocolate, so when I saw the Wild Cherry flavored Clear American, inspiration struck! Chocolate-Cherry Brownies!! I also got a bottle each of lemon and mandarin orange to use in some Jello desserts, a Berry flavor to jazz up our favorite Triple-Berry Muffins, and Strawberry to mix into my French Vanilla cake when I make Bake Pops later this week!! Stay tuned for the How-To’s on those ideas coming soon.

How to: Chocolate-Cherry Brownie Mini-Bites

As you can see, I got really excited about experimenting with this Clear American Flavored Water – I bought a ton of goodies! I promise to share the other super-simple kinda-homemade recipes later this week. For the Brownie Bites, you’ll need the following:

Ingredients:

• Your favorite Brownie Recipe – I cheated and used a boxed mix. That’s how I roll. But – when mixing your brownies, use the Wild Cherry Clear American Water instead of plain tap water. That’s what gives this recipe it’s pizzazz!
• Maraschino Cherries – one small jar.
• Mini baking cups – there are some adorable holiday choices at Walmart right now!
• Red Frosting – use your favorite recipe, one of the cans of spray frosting, or simply tint a tub of pre-made icing with the Wilton Gel Colors.
• Sugar Crystal Sprinkles, or other decor of your choice.
• Wine – Optional, but highly recommended.

Kinda-Homemade Recipe:

1. Mix up your favorite homemade or boxed brownie mix – but remember to substitute the Wild Cherry Clear American Beverage for the plain water. It’s kind of cool when you pour it in – it’s a carbonated water, so the mix gets really fizzy and bubbly! The kids loved this. Stir it up, and grab your mini-baking pans.
2. Line the baking pans with the super cute baking cups, then fill each one about 2/3 full. {Quick Tip: Use an ice cream scoop to fill them – makes it SO much easier!}
3. Pop ’em in the oven for the appropriate baking time. They’re done when you can poke one with a toothpick and it comes out clean. Now, quickly push a maraschino cherry half into each little brownie bite, and then set on a rack to cool.
4. Once they’re cool, pipe your frosting onto each brownie, and top with sugar crystals or other decor.
5. Arrange on a pretty platter, sit in front of the fire, pour a glass of wine, and eat them all. Happy Holidays!!

“A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.” – Unknown, but my mother says this a lot.

Learn more about these great Clear American Beverages, and find out what other great flavors you can get – www.clearamerican.com. You can also find more fun recipes on their site too!

Have questions, comments, ideas? The amazing folks at Clear American would love to hear from you! Follow them on Facebook and Twitter to stay connected, learn about new promotions, and give your feedback.

See the rest of my shopping trip and baking prep in my Google+ Album!

{Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias, which is a vendor for Cott Beverages Inc., the manufacturer of Clear American® brand beverages. I love this stuff – all photos and opinions are totally my own, and the over-use of exclamation points is 100% honest and heartfelt. Happy Holidays!}