Pop Chips Giveaway
I know, you’re probably wondering what Pop Chips have to do with a baking blog. And well, they don’t really. But this is my blog and I can do what I want and I like promoting brands that I buy regularly. (OXO, that means you too. Tweet me. I love you.)
So…when I tweeted to @popchips about not receiving a bag in my swag bag from a conference a few months ago, they sent me a box of all of their flavors (cheddar and sea salt & vinegar are my favorite flavors) and asked if I wanted to share the love with my readers. And share I am! One of you will receive not just one bag of each flavor, but a one month supply of these yummy chips! Seriously, you don’t know how lucky you are.
To enter the giveaway, “like” Pop Chips on Facebook and/or follow @popchips on twitter then leave me a comment with your Facebook or Twitter name letting me know you did this.
Giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday, November 7, 2011. One winner will be selected at random shortly thereafter and contacted by email. Please note this contest is only open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.
***Comments are closed.***
Holiday Cookbooks Giveaway
As I mentioned in my last post, the very generous folks at The Harvard Common Press sent me four cookbooks (Chocolate Chip Cookies, Christmas Cookies, Cupcakes, and Holiday Candy & Confections), all part of the Bakers Field Guide series.
All of the recipes are easy to follow, have pictures, and sound delicious! If the Half Chocolate Chip and Half Chocolate with White Chip Cookies are any indication, I’m in for a real treat with the next recipe I try! For your chance to win a set of these fabulous cookies, leave a comment telling me what your favorite holiday (Halloween, Thanksgiving, or winter holiday) treat is. Stale Peeps in the shape of ghosts is a perfectly acceptable answer.
Also, to those of you celebrating–Shana Tova! May you have a happy, healthy, and sweet new year!
Giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, October 2, 2011. One winner will be selected at random shortly thereafter and contacted by email. Please note this contest is only open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.
***Giveaway is now closed.***
Giveaway: Trudeau Baking Products
Last month, I was asked by the folks at Trudeau if I was interested in reviewing some of their baking products. They sent me a huge box filled with lots of fun stuff, and I was anxious to try it all out!
The package included:
- egg separater
- pot clip
- silicone spatula
- silicone whisk
- silicone cupcake cups
- silicone pinch grips (for lifting hot plates)
- silicone brush
- silicone pinch bowls
- mixing bowls
Initially, I thought my favorite product was the flexible pinch bowls because the pinchable material makes it easy to get everything out of the bowl without creating a mess, but then I fell in love with the set of mixing bowls too. Not only do the mixing bowls have a grip on the bottom so they don’t slide across the counter, they are microwave AND dishwasher safe. And they have a pouring spout. I know, how more perfect can they be?
And because I loved the products so much, I asked Trudeau if they would give away a prize pack on my blog, so here’s your chance to win all of the products mentioned above. Just leave a comment telling me which product you are most excited to use and why, and you will be entered to win.
Giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, August 21, 2011. One winner will be selected at random shortly thereafter and contacted by email. Please note this contest is only open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.
***Giveaway is now closed.***
Trudeau sent me these products in exchange for this review.
Asian Pear Tart and a Giveaway
Print This Recipe
The folks at Crave! at Work offered to send me a 10 pound bag of fruit to share with my coworkers and use for their recipe challenge, and I obviously couldn’t say no. When the bag arrived (filled with a few different kinds of pears, mini bananas, and chestnuts), everyone at the office kept saying how cute the mini bananas were, and one colleague couldn’t wait to swipe the chestnuts to roast at home. For some reason, I gravitated toward pears, a fruit I have never baked with nor liked. Call me crazy.
I was super excited when I found this recipe for an Asian Pear Tart in the LA Times, but found myself extremely disappointed when the end result was a very soggy tart. I tweeted to someone at the LA Times test kitchen and she said she will try the recipe and get back to me because she was curious about the method involved. Has anyone tried the recipe?
So, I ended up finding this “healthier” Asian pear tart recipe, and while it looks pretty, the dough was incredibly difficult to work with. I couldn’t get it to roll out and the amount of dough would never have even rolled to a 10 inch circle, so I ended up doubling the recipe and pressing it into a tart pan. I did however taste the pears, and what do you know–I actually like Asian pears, go figure!
While this recipe won’t win any ribbons, there is a prize for one of you! Crave! at Work is giving away a 10 pound bag of fruit to one of Nosh’s LA area readers. Just leave a comment below telling me your favorite dessert made with fruit and you will be entered in the giveaway to have fruit delivered to your office!
Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday, January 5, 2011. One winner will be selected at random shortly thereafter and contacted by email. Please note this contest is only open to Los Angeles area residents.
Ingredients
1 large ripe but firm pear, peeled and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon plus 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, divided, plus additional for dusting
2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter
2 tablespoons walnut oil, or canola oil
1-2 tablespoons cold water
Preparation
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Toss pear slices, 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl.
Whisk 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour and the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or a fork until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle oil over the mixture and stir with a fork until evenly combined. Add 1 tablespoon water and stir until the dough just stays together when pressed with a fork; add up to 1 additional tablespoon of water if the dough seems too dry.
Line a work surface with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, generously dust with flour and turn the dough out onto it. Form the dough into a small patty, dust the top with flour and roll into a rustic 10-inch circle, adding more flour if necessary to prevent sticking. Transfer the crust to a baking sheet with parchment paper or baking mat in place.
Lay the pear slices in decorative, overlapping circles on top of the crust, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge. Spoon any remaining pear juice over the slices. Pick up the edges of the crust using a spatula and fold over the pears. The crust will not meet in the center.
Bake the tart until lightly browned and bubbling, about 40 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Recipe from Eating Well.
My Favorite Kitchen Things, Part 2 (GelPro mat)
I know I said I was going to talk about mixing bowls in the next part of this series, but I lied. Instead, I’m going to tell you about my love affair with my GelPro kitchen floor mat. My mom bought one for my parents’ house years ago at Bed, Bath and Beyond, and let me tell you, after baking while standing on my mom’s GelPro mat, the foam mat I bought at Target for my kitchen doesn’t even compare.
Since I’m often at my parents’ house for holidays, much of my time there is spent standing in the kitchen, and the GelPro mat is a necessity. When my parents remodeled their kitchen (double convection oven! island! huge deep sink! additional sink!), they chose stone floors which are definitely not the most comfortable floor to stand on for hours at a time. And to make matters worse, I recently developed sciatica (which I can tell you, is incredibly painful, second only to my post-tonsillectomy pain three years ago) which is aggravated by standing on hard surfaces for long periods of time. When I stand on the GelPro mat, my back and legs are happy!
So, when GelPro offered me a mat (I chose the striated style in khaki) for my own apartment, I was incredibly excited–I have 1970s ceramic tile floors which are not only ugly, but horrid to stand on. Plus, I was on my third foam mat (they get grubby and can’t be wiped clean) and was ready to do anything to avoid another doctor visit and potential MRI.
Now I can’t imagine not having the GelPro mat in my kitchen. In fact, I’m now totally spoiled and wish I had one in front of my stove too. (So what if I have a tiny galley kitchen?) In the meantime, I’m surviving by moving the mat to whichever side of the kitchen I’m currently working in. Sure beats back pain.
Wish you had a GelPro mat too? Here’s your change to win one! Because the folks at GelPro are so nice, they are giving away any 20″ x 36″ GelPro mat to one Nosh With Me reader! To enter, leave a comment telling me how you first discovered my blog, and what, if anything, you’ve made from it.
Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, June 13, 2010. One winner will be selected at random shortly thereafter and contacted by email. Please note this contest is only open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.
***Contest is now closed.***
