Baby Cakes Donut Maker

Baby Cakes Donut Maker

Too many rain days in a row and I find myself shopping impulsively.  This little donut maker is just so darn cute I had to have it.

 Every thing about this set is small and cute.

Along with the appliance there is a little fork to remove the donuts, a tiny sugar shaker 3" tall.   An 8" x 10" cooling rack and a ten page instruction and recipe booklet.  
Lets be clear now.  This is NOT a donut fryer.  You will be making cake donuts.
Personally I prefer cake donuts over fried for obvious reasons.  Less fat and calories.

There are four donut recipes.   Sour Cream, Chocolate, Buttermilk spice and Maple Glazed Applesauce.
There are Several topping suggestions including recipes for frosting and glazes.

 You bake six donuts at a time.  Each batch takes about five minutes.  I set my timer for four and a half minutes and the donuts came out right.  Pictured is the yield from one batch.

I decided to start out simple and made the chocolate donuts and topped them with a vanilla glaze and colored sprinkles.  

I would recommend this little donut maker.  It does exactly what I expected it to do.  It was easy to operate and clean.  It seems pretty sturdy.  The family liked the donuts although the men here commented that they tasted like cake.  Duh!   They are NOT fried donuts.

update: The Baby Cakes Donut Maker is still going strong.  The family just gobbles up every batch I make and it's remarkable how easy it is to whip up some batter, cook the donuts and clean every thing up in record time.  I highly recommend this cute little appliance to any one that is considering it.

Green Smoke

Green Smoke

After reading many great reviews for Green Smoke,  I decided to give them a try.  This is the starter kit I ordered.   Once again I used a coupon code for savings.  This time the code was DAD.  A father's day promotion.  My kit came with a red bow on the box.  It was like getting a gift in the mail.   

Green Smoke is definitely a good quality product.  The large battery has a very long life.  I can "smoke" it for about two days without a recharge.   Compared to to Blu Cig batteries that only last a couple of hours.  Like the Blu Cigs these are a two part design meaning a fresh atomizer is built into every cartridge.  Well worth the extra money.  I also ordered a little cigarette case in black.  It's a nice little case that fits well in my bag but the inserts don't allow room for an assembled cigarette.  I found this to be very strange.  I removed the insert and now have room for an assembled cigarette, an extra battery and a few carts.  

I like the Green Smoke quite a bit.  But I also like my Blu Cigs.  I don't think I will choose one over the other.  I will continue to use both.    

If you read my Blu Cig blog you will see that Blu is now on the back burner.  I have made Green Smoke my electronic cigarette of choice.   They have recently come out with a new cart called Flavormax.  It is true to it's name.  One flavormax cartridge and a fully charged long battery lasts all day long.  I love it.  As a matter of fact I'm so taken by Green Smoke that I am thinking of becoming an affiliate. 

You can buy Green Smoke for yourself right here

Blu Cigs

Blu Cigs   I ordered a starter kit of these after reading many favorable reviews.   I paid less than what they are listed at because I found a coupon code.  I won't give a code here because codes change and expire.  Anyone who is interested can just google for a coupon code and find one that works.  I have learned that there is a coupon code out there for just about everything for sale on line.  Don't buy anything with out searching for a coupon code.

Blu Cig customer service is awesome.  My order was easy to place.  I got an email confirmation and tracking number immediately.   My package arrived sooner than expected which was a very pleasant surprise.

I ordered the black pack.  It came in a nice box with a magnetic closure.  The directions were very clear.   The batteries had a slight charge right out of the box so that I was able to try my Blu Cigs right away.
The first thing I noticed is that they are much smaller than the Fifty-One TRIOS.  I like that.
Blu Cigs are a two piece design.   The atomizer is built into the disposable cartridge which is good because you get a fresh atomizer with every one you replace.  Another advantage.   Because the batteries are so small they do require more frequent charging.   The starter kit comes with two batteries and this is almost a necessity.   I love the cigarette pack that comes with this kit.  It functions much like a hard pack of cigarettes. It has places to hold five cartridges, an assembled cigarette and a place to screw in a spare battery.  The pack acts as a portable charger that charges the spare battery up to six times on a single charge of the pack.  Blu Cig offers some flavor options.   I ordered classic tobacco flavor and some java jolts.   The java jolt reminds me of smelling fresh coffee beans being ground.  I like it a lot.  No it does not taste like you are drinking a cup of coffee.   The tip lights up an electric blue color and my batteries are black so there is no mistaking this for a real cigarette.  I took it to the movies and happily smoked and the stranger sitting beside me didn't even glance my way.  I like the Blu Cigs quite a bit.  My only complaint is that the batteries seem to be a little finicky.  Sometimes they don't seem to want to hold a charge and will run out very quickly.  Other times they seem to run for a long time.  I did have a cartridge that seemed to be defective.   I understand they will replace any carts that I report defective.  I just have to call customer service which I have not done yet.  They have an active facebook page with lots of fans and a very responsive Blu Cig rep that is quick to address all concerns.  I ordered a third battery in white and some more cartridges from Blu Cig as I intend to continue with this brand.  I'm anxious to try the vanilla cartridges.

Sad to say the Blu Cig turned out to be another disappointment.  I love the taste,  I love the size and the recharge pack is pretty cool.  The downside.   The batteries are just too unreliable.  I kept finding myself leaving the house with three fully charged batteries and ending up out with three dead batteries with no rhyme nor reason what happened.  Some days at home I could vape for hours.  Other times the battery would be dead in five minutes.   So for now the Blu Cigs are on the shelf.   I hear they are coming up with a new battery management system.  I will give it a try but until then I will abandon Blu Cig.

The Fifty-One TRIO

The Fifty-One TRIO  is the first electronic cigarette I bought.  I found that it is the one most readily available at any store that sells cartons of cigarettes.  I paid about $60.   What I got was a rechargeable battery, a battery charger that plugs into any household outlet, an atomizer and 5 cartridges.

The battery is what would be the white tube part of a regular cigarette.  Many electronic cigarette smokers refer to "regular" cigarettes as analog cigarettes.  These are the kind you light that puts smoke in your lungs and the lungs of those around you and require a lighter and an ashtray.

The cartridge is the part that looks like the filter of an analog cigarette.  It contains liquid nicotine and some other ingredients that anyone can google and read more about.   This is the disposable part that you can buy packs of. Each one supposedly lasts for a couple of cigarettes.   I found them to be much less.  I think anyone new to electronic smoking will blow through the initial 5 carts real fast and be inclined to give up.  My advice.  Hang in there.  There is a learning curve.  "Vaping"  is different that regular smoking.  I find a gentle slow draw produces more vapor and satisfaction and also makes the batteries and carts last longer.   It's something I'm still working on and I feel will come more naturally as I make a conscious effort to do.

The atomizer is the third part of the Fifty-One TRIO.  This is the part that vaporizes the contents of the cart. It should last quite a while.  I broke mine after two weeks because I was too rough changing my carts.  I have ordered a set of three that is currently on back order.  One reason why I would not recommend the Fifty-One TRIO.   It was a good introduction to electronic smoking because it's readily available but that's about the only advantage.   I used to smoke full flavor tobacco and I started with 11 mg carts for my electronic cigarettes.  This is equivalent to light cigarettes and I am pretty satisfied with them.
Well with my Fifty-One TRIO unusable and my atomizer on back order I decided to search on line for other options.  The world of electronic cigarettes is vast.  There are many sites with reviews and youtube videos to explore.    I ordered a starter kit of  Blu Cigs .   While I waited for them to arrive I decided to try an analog cigarette.   OMG!   I can't believe how disgusting it was to me.  Just a few weeks ago I was smoking a pack  a day.  Wow!   It seemed so dirty and harsh and hurtful.

update:  The Fifty-One TRIO turned out to be pretty much a piece of junk.  Carts constantly leaked.  And the atomizer fell apart.   It was a good cheap introduction to vaping that was available locally.  Not a complete waste of time or money but I have moved on to greener pastures so to speak.  See my blog entry for Green Smoke.

I am going to quit smoking

One morning this winter I woke up and realized that more and more I was waking up short of breath and always tired.    I reluctantly made an appointment with my doctor.   I really really really hate appointments and being poked and prodded at.   I must have been feeling pretty bad to subject myself to this.   Anyway,  turns out I had pneumonia.  hmmm...  I thought pneumonia involved coughing and cold symptoms.   So a week of antibiotics later I was feeling fine again.    Then a few months later the whole situation was repeated.   My lungs were saying enough is enough.  Stop killing us!  

Twenty some years earlier I had gone to a hypnotist and quit smoking completely for the duration of my second pregnancy.   This time I would quit for good.    $500 later after two appointments with a hypnotist that kept insisting I was smoking because I didn't like myself.  I was smoking more than ever.    I smoke because I like it and enjoy it and I'm not ashamed of it.   If I could easily buy and install new lungs and smoke for another thirty years I would.

Patches:   I went to Sam's Club and bought some Nicoderm CQ.    At first it was great.  I completely stopped smoking.  It was about 54 dollars for a three week supply.    At the beginning of week three I found myself smoking again.   Only about three or four cigarettes a day but not a good sign.  I could see myself becoming one of those people who wear a patch chew the gum and still smoke.   ugh!   Clearly patches were not going to be the answer.

I realized what I was missing was the physical act of smoking.  Could electronic cigarettes be the answer?

I went to a local smoke store and bought a starter kit of The Trio Fifty One.  It cost me about $60.   I loved it.    This was my answer.  I can buy cartridges with all levels of nicotine from zero to full strength.  There's no smoke going into my lungs.  There's no dirty ashes or ash trays.  No second hand smoke.   Awesome!

I will be reviewing electronic cigarettes for the next few days.