Friday, June 19, 2009

Spoil your Dad this Father's Day!
















Spoil your Dad this Father's Day by making him a delicious and elaborate Sunday breakfast. 

We recommend chocolate pecan pancakes, fresh squeezed juice, blueberry muffins, scrambled eggs with brown sugar glazed bacon, and an assortment of fresh fruit. 

See below for some of the recipes. 

Chocolate Pecan Pancakes 
1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 large egg
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped pecans
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
Confectioners' sugar (optional)
Hot fudge sauce (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla; pour over flour mixture, whisking to combine. Fold in chocolate chips and pecans; let batter stand until slightly thickened, 5 to 10 minutes.

2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat until a water droplet sizzles; swirl to coat bottom of pan with oil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Spoon four small mounds (1 heaping tablespoon each) of batter into skillet. Cook until bubbles appear in center, 3 to 4 minutes. With a thin spatula, flip pancakes; continue cooking until set, 3 to 4 minutes more.

3. Transfer to a baking sheet; cover loosely with foil; place in oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining oil and batter in three more batches (adjust heat as necessary to avoid overbrowning).

4. Stack 4 pancakes on each plate, sprinkling each layer with confectioners' sugar, if desired. Serve immediately, drizzled with hot fudge sauce, if desired.

Blueberry Muffins
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for tins
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1 3/4 cups blueberries

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.butter large (3 3/4 inches) or small (2 3/4 inches) muffin tins, and set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg, egg yolks, and vanilla; mix until well combined. Reduce speed to low; alternate adding reserved flour mixture and milk to mixer, beginning and ending with flour. Remove bowl from mixer; gently fold in berries by hand. Divide batter among muffin tins; sprinkle generously with sugar. Bake until light golden, about 45 minutes for large muffins, about 30 minutes for small muffins. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Remove from pan; transfer to wire rack, and let cool completely.

Brown Sugar Glazed Bacon
1 1/4 pounds thickly sliced bacon
1/2 cup dark-brown sugar

Directions
1. Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Lay bacon on the paper, and sprinkle the brown sugar liberally over bacon. Transfer bacon to the oven, and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, and carefully drain the fat into a container. Return the pan to the oven, and bake until bacon is crisp, 6 to 7 minutes more. Transfer bacon immediately to a wire rack, and let sit until cool enough to eat.

Ex-cessories Notification

Ex-cessories.com is going on a honeymoon! 

For the duration of our vacation, Ex-cessories.com will be unable to ship out any items, appraise items, or melt items from June 19th to June 29th. We will be answering all e-mails during this time and will be able to process any payments. We will resume business as usual on June 30th. 

We apologize in advance for any inconveniences.  

Thursday, June 18, 2009

PETA - Not Happy with Obama Swatting a Fly

PETA is not too happy with President Obama for swatting a fly during a television interview. 

PETA stated, "He isn't the Buddha, he's a human being and human beings have a long way to go before they think before they act."

Check out the video of Obama below and let us know what you think of PETA speaking out on this fly swatting issue. 

Father's Day - June 21

Father's Day is almost here! 

Every Dad deserves an extra special show of appreciation and what better way to do that then purchase your Dad an item from Ex-cessories.com. Click here to check out what we have to offer for all of the great Dads out there. 

Our favorite Father's Day pick - Bowling cufflinks for $50. Check back tomorrow for additional Father's Day gift recommendations. 

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Style Opinion Poll

What do you think about Rihanna's hair?

Are you still loving her hairstyle or is it becoming a thing of the past?

Do you think she has gone over board with the look or do you think it is cutting edge cool?

Peacock hair or high fashion?

"Hot damn" or "Hot mess!" 

Let us know what you think under "comments." 

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Jewels Stolen from Lindsay Lohan Photo Shoot

London police are investigating a case of missing jewels. 

The jewelry went missing from an Elle photo shoot featuring Lindsay Lohan. The missing necklace and earrings are worth about $411,316. No arrests have been made and the fashion magazine stated that they have no reason to believe that Lohan was linked to this in any way. 

This unveils a very interesting situation when considering the party involved. Lindsay Lohan is said to be experiencing financial troubles and we all know about her past. Besides the drinking, drugs, eatings disorders, and rehab, Lohan stole a fur coat from another young woman at a night club and returned the item destroyed. 

Do you think that Lindsay Lohan would go this far or be involved with something like this? Could she have gone this low? Post your thoughts under "comments."

Monday, June 15, 2009

Lakers Win the NBA Finals

Last night, in Orlando Florida, the Lakers won the NBA finals. 

We are Magic fans, but we have to give it to the Lakers for an amazing season of hard work and great basketball. Kobe Bryant was named MVP - well deserved. 

Last night was also special for the Lakers coach Jackson with his 10th NBA championship. After the win he sported a yellow hat with the roman numeral X on it - a gift from his kids. 

Record were broken and the night was filled with joy. The Magic may not be NBA champions, but they too had an amazing season and have far surpassed anyone's expectations. We cannot wait for next season and for the new Orlando Magic arena!