You Win Some, You Lose Some

I've been getting a lot of recipes from Pinterest lately, which usually trace back to a recipe on a blog. Here's the thing with blog recipes - you don't always know if it is going to be good. While it may look amazing in the beautiful pictures posted on the blog (sorry, you don't get beautiful pictures on my blog), it doesn't always taste amazing. I try to sift through some of the comments on the blog post for any hints as to whether the recipe is good or not, but most people post things along the lines of "this looks amazing!" or "I can't wait to make this!" Those comments don't help me out very much. I've learned that sometimes you just have to take a chance and test the recipe out, not knowing how it's going to turn out.

I realize there's always a chance a recipe isn't good, regardless of the source, but I am more trusting when using a cookbook because I know the recipe has probably been tested multiple times. It has also been published.

Last week I saw a beautiful homemade pumpkin spice latte (PSL) picture pinned on Pinterest. Sure enough, the recipe was linked to a blog. I decided to take a chance and try it out. It wasn't very good and wasn't even close to tasting like a Starbucks' PSL.

 But I did try to take some pretty pictures...

I know, it's not the prettiest picture, but I tried. I should have piled the whipped cream higher. 

Later on the week, I decided to try a recipe a friend has posted on her blog. She had found the recipe online, tweaked it a little and had good things to say about it. I made it not once, but twice last week because it was so good. It doesn't taste exactly like Starbucks, but it's still delicious. Here's the recipe...

Pumpkin Spice Latte

makes 1-2 servings (more like 2)

Ingredients:

2 cups milk

4 tablespoons canned pumpkin (recipe calls for 2, but it needs more)

1-2 tablespoons sugar or sugar substitute (I put 3 Splenda)

2 tablespoons vanilla extract (not a mistake)

3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup strong brewed coffee or 1-2 shots of espresso

In a saucepan combine milk, pumpkin, and sugar on medium heat and stir until steaming. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and pumpkin spice. Transfer to blender and process until foamy (15-20 seconds).

Pour into 2 large mugs and top with whipped cream. Sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, or nutmeg. 

PS- I will try to give you my honest opinion on recipes I post. Some of the stuff doesn't always turn out great, and I will tell you that! No reason for you to make something that isn't good.