Spring Cleaning with Starbucks and the Walmart Bakery #DeliciousPairings

"Spring cleaning" actually takes place about once every three months at our house.  With a family of 11, I'm sure you can imagine how fast the clutter piles up!  It's definitely not a job that can completed in one day---it actually requires a bit of planning.

Sometimes, when I'm faced with a not-so-fun task, I have to psych myself up for it by creating a welcoming atmosphere.  A hot drink in a pretty cup and a yummy treat on a vintage plate usually helps set a relaxing tone and gets me in the mood to make my home a little more homey.

Starbucks has a great line of coffees out, specially blended to compliment many of the flavors found in our favorite coffee-time treats.  I found the Starbucks Medium Breakfast Blend in my Walmart's bakery section.  Check out your local Walmart to choose a tasty blend.

The Starbucks Medium Breakfast Blend features notes that compliment the tastes of nuts, apples, blueberries and lemon.

Tonight, I paired this blend with the Apple Turnovers from the Walmart Bakery. I needed a sweet treat while perusing this Spring Cleaning Checklist that Melanie at Only a Breath designed.

Visiting a Starbucks shop is a real treat for my husband and I, and one that doesn't happen as often as we'd like.  That's why we're thrilled that we can find Starbucks brand coffees and hot chocolate mixes at Walmart.  We can enjoy a quality hot drink on a budget that works well for us.

We both tried the coffee and treat together and thought they complimented one another well.  Before sampling the apple turnover, we tried the coffee---a flavor we'd never had before.  We liked the smooth texture and thought it was not as bitter as lighter blends we've tried.

When enjoying them together, we found that the taste of the coffee was different as the complimentary notes were enhanced by the flavor of the apples.  It was a very nice pairing.

Planning for spring cleaning is sure to go much more smoothly with a yummy treat to enjoy!

For more information visit: 
Starbucks on Twitter and Facebook
Walmart on Twitter and Facebook

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I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™.  All opinions are honest and are my own. #cbias #SocialFabric

Delicious Pairings with Starbucks and Walmart

Yesterday, I invited a few family members to a little book party I put together.  I had the opportunity to sample Starbucks' Willow Blonde Blend coffee, and Walmart's Lemon Sliced Loaf Cake, and wanted to see what the others thought about them.

My husband and I both frequent our town's Starbucks retail store and he regularly drinks Starbucks brand coffee at home.  He prefers flavored coffees like carmel and vanilla. I was curious what he'd think of the Willow Blonde Blend, as it features complimentary notes of citrus flavor.  I wondered if he, as well as my other guests, would be able to pick up on them with the addition of the Lemon Sliced Loaf Cake---a citrus-flavored treat.

Before the party, I shopped for the coffee at Walmart.  They have a special display in the bakery section featuring certain coffees that are meant to compliment the flavors found in some of Walmart's baked items.  I didn't have a hard time finding the display, but it was up a little high.  I think I would have preferred it at eye-level since there are several things to read on it.  I knew where to find the cake as I'd seen it before when shopping, but never would have thought to pair it with the coffee.  It was three aisles over from this display so the intended pairing wasn't obvious.

Jamie brews a great pot of coffee!

When it was time for me to try the coffee and cake, I was surprised by the bold flavor of the coffee.  I assumed, as did my guests later on, that a "blonde" blend would be lighter in flavor.  Instead, it was surprisingly rich.  We were not at all disappointed by the quality of the coffee.  One of my guests later commented on the lack of bitter aftertaste that she was used to in other coffees she'd tried.  Starbucks proved, once again, to be our favorite brand.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed by the lemon cake.  The lemon flavor in the cake was barely detectable, which made it difficult to pick out the citrus notes in the coffee.  The cake had more of a buttery flavor and was fairly dry---even though it looked moist in the package.

My guests were also not able to detect the citrus notes in the coffee.  We all agreed the cake changed it's taste, making it lighter and sweeter.  We found ourselves wishing we had something with a stronger lemon flavor to try out.  Since we knew the citrus flavors were there in the coffee, we were curious to experience them!  

After our taste-testing experiment, we took turns sharing book reviews.  Mom talked about a story of a princess that she's enjoying and I received applause for finishing Little Women.

We all really enjoyed our time together, sharing good books and treats.  Maybe we'll pick another #DeliciousPairings combination a couple months from now and do it again!

For more information visit: 
Starbucks on Twitter and Facebook
Walmart on Twitter and Facebook

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™.  All opinions are honest and are my own. #cbias #SocialFabric

Linking with:
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Teach Me Tuesday @ Growing Home
Titus 2sdays @ The Time Warp Wife  
Tabletop Tuesday @ A Stroll Through Life
Courtship Connection
Whole Hearted Home Wednesday
Wise Woman Linkup @ A Wise Woman Builds Her Home  
Inspire Me Wednesday @ Mama Buzz
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