Sunday Fun Day Giveaway: Winner Announced!

Happy Sunday! How was your weekend? Any fun culinary adventures taken? It's been a busy weekend for me so my apologies for a late posting. I can't believe we've done a Sunday Fun Day Giveaway for 3 full months straight! It was something I started on my birthday - May 1, 2011 and there have been 12+ readers who have won some great food inspired goodies. This week I'm taking a little breather so I can line up some more giveaways to share. But let's not forget I have a winner to announce! Last week the lovely folks of Back to the Roots sponsored the giveaway for a Grow at home Mushroom Garden. A lucky reader will receive a Mushroom Garden they can grow at home, which will yield 2 harvests! A special thanks to Back to teh Roots for sponsoring and I look forward to the possibility of visiting their urban mushroom farm later this year when I'm in their San Francisco neighborhood. Here's a big Congratulations to the winner of this past week's giveaway! Please shoot me an email at itsjoelen@gmail.com to claim your prize...

Back to the Roots
 
Winner: Comment #32!

Be sure to come back next Sunday, August 7, 2011, for another Sunday Fun Day Giveaway!

Foodbuzz 24x24: Mediterranean Kabob Party!

The summer is prime grilling season and rather than throwing the usual cookout with burgers, brats and hot dogs, we decided to host a summer cookout with a bit of ethnic flair. Some of our foodie friends joined us for some grilling fun at our Mediterranean Kabob Party! We prepared some Mediterranean inspired dishes and for fun, we had a Mediterranean kabob bar for our guests to be creative with.

To make our event even more special, FoodBuzz is featuring our Mediterranean Kabob Party for their July 24x24 Food Event. The FoodBuzz's 24x24 Food Event showcases food blog posts from 24 Foodbuzz Featured Publisher bloggers of 24 unique meals occurring around the globe during a 24-hour period. I was thrilled to be featured this month!

 

We originally wanted to host our Mediterranean Kabob Party outdoors, but due to the intense heat and humidity, not to mention the heavy rain down pour the night before, we decided it would be best to have the party indoors with air conditioning. So despite the change in venue, everyone was much more comfortable. 

For our table setting, I came across this idea on other blogs and websites where round, individual menus were printed for each guest. They fit perfectly inside the plates and chargers, so not to clutter up the table. We had stacks of freshly baked pita bread (plain and whole wheat) I picked up from the Middle Eastern bakery a couple blocks from our house and placed them on both ends of the table. To add some color and freshness, I also had platters of green grapes and strawberries for guests to snack on before, during and after our meal.

Before the guests arrived, we fired up out grill outside while I set up the kabob bar. There was an assortment of various ingredients for guests to create their custom kabobs. We had honey marinated lamb, curry yogurt marinated lamb, marinated chicken, marinated portobella mushrooms, white button mushrooms, bell peppers, red sweet onions, garlic cloves, grape tomatoes and fresh oregano and rosemary, straight out of the pot....

Everyone had a lot of fun making different kabobs. They were all so colorful and fragrant from the use of fresh meats, vegetables and herbs. They even looked good before they cooked and while on the grill... we couldn't wait to dig in!

While the kabobs were grilling outside (a special thanks to our dear friend Howard and my husband Louis for manning the grill out in the blazing heat), the rest of our guests hung out in our living room and enjoyed the appetizers I made. I had a nice spread of Sun Dried Tomato Hummus, Baba Ganoush, pita bread, crudités, an Olive, Dates & Greek Feta Cheese Platter, and a Pomegranate Lime Cooler.

Finally, the kabobs were ready and it was time to eat! At first glance, we thought that maybe we made too many kabobs for our party of 10, seeing the large platter of kabobs that seemed to be stacked up pretty high. Interestingly enough, we ate a whole platter full with the exception of 3 kabobs. I guess we were hungry! Here's the rest of the menu that we prepared and the rest of our guests enjoyed...

Sun Dried Tomato Hummus
with Pita Bread, Cucumber Slices & Baby Carrots

Baba Ganoush
with Pita Bread, Cucumber Slices & Baby Carrots

Olive, Dates & Greek Feta Cheese Platter

Tabbouleh Salad

Fattoush
(Lebanese "Crumbled Bread" salad)

Dilled Rice Pilaf
(unpictured)

Assorted Kabobs, Chicken Kabobs & Lamb Kabobs
with Tzatziki Sauce

Grilled Fruit 

with Greek Yogurt, Honey & Nuts

Cherry Tarragon Sorbet

Pomegranate Cocktails/Mocktails
A variety of wines

So the next time you plan on hosting a cook out and are ready to fire up your grill, try switching things up from the usual burgers and hot dogs. An ethnic spin is always a lot of fun and full of new flavors! Stay tuned all this week for recipes from our Mediterranean Kabob Party!

Full Disclosure: As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program,
I received a stipend from FoodBuzz for hosting this event.

Strawberry Nutella Swirl Ice Cream

July is National Ice Cream month and I've been working my ice cream maker quite a bit. With so many flavors to choose from, I decided to take inspiration from what I had lurking in my fridge and pantry. Strawberries are one of my favorite fruits of all time and I especially enjoy dipping them in a little Nutella, a chocolate hazelnut spread. I had both of these ingredients on hand and that's when it dawned on me that I could try combining them into an ice cream! That's when this Strawberry Nutella Swirl Ice Cream was born. It's delicious proof that two great flavors are even better when combined with ice cream....

Cheddar Ranch Cheese Ball

The summer heat brings out the snacker in me. I'm definitely a snacker where I like to eat small meals and portions throughout the day. And if I were to choose my ultimate favorite snack, it would be cheese and crackers hands down. Often times I'll reach for a wedge of various cheeses to enjoy but every now and then, I enjoying making cheese balls. The latest one I made was this Cheddar Ranch Cheese Ball. Cheddar and blue cheese are mixed with cream cheese and seasoned with ranch dressing before being rolled in almond slices. It's creamy, crunchy and bursting with flavor!

Brazilian Coconut Cookies

What I miss these days is baking. I'm so looking forward to baking fresh loaves of bread, cookies, cakes, etc once the weather cools a bit. But I recently got to the point where I couldn't hold off anymore and turned the knob to preheat my oven. I had cookies on the brain and wanted to try my hand at baking these Brazilian Coconut Cookies after enjoying some Brazilian cuisine not too long ago. These cookies are light, subtly sweet and one that will have coconut lovers wanting more. Who knew that 6 common ingredients could give you a sweet taste of South America?

Pork with Vinegar & Bay Leaves

Sometimes you just want dinner to be as simple as possible. For me, 'simple as possible' means little to no preparation, quick to put together and the use of average pantry ingredients. With a pork roast, you can do some pretty wonderful thing to make a simple dish. I'm still amazed how little preparation is involved with making this Pork with Vinegar & Bay Leaves. Juicy, flavorful and ridiculously easy, your guests will taste the love and labored effort you put into making this meal... even though a slow cooker did all the work for you!

Sunday Fun Day Giveaway: Back to the Roots Mushrooms & Last Week's Winner!

Happy Sunday! Hope you enjoyed your weekend and you're in comfortable in your corner of the world. A pretty intense heat wave has been spreading across the country over the past week and I'm pretty much read for fall. Well, not really but some cooler weather would be nice! I know once the temps do cool down, I'll definitely appreciate it much more. Before I get onto this week's fun giveaway, I have a winner to announce! Last week the lovely folks of Rizzuto's Pizza sponsored the giveaway for a Rizzuto's Pizza Party. A lucky reader will receive a 4 pack of Rizzuto's pizza crust of their choice, complete with sauce and a pizza cutter. A special thanks to Rizzto's for sponsoring and I look forward to having another Pizza Party using their crusts again soon. Here's a big Congratulations to the winner of this past week's giveaway! Please shoot me an email at itsjoelen@gmail.com to claim your prize...

Rizzuto's Pizza Party!
 

Winner: Comment #7!

So back to the hot temperatures lately, I wonder what avid gardeners are experiencing with their outdoor gardens. I hope their crops are holding up, given the season! I, for one, do not have a green thumb. I wish I did though! However, I did have some luck with indoor gardens in the past. I have an Aerogarden which has given me some nice fresh herbs to use. That was a year or so ago since I used it but I may get back to it again at some point. Now growing herbs seems pretty common... but have you ever tried growing your own mushrooms?! I recently did - oyster mushrooms, to be exact - and it was so easy and fun to watch! This was made possible by a pretty awesome company, Back to the Roots Mushrooms.

Back to the Roots was founded by Alejandro Velez & Nikhil Arora during their last semester at UC Berkeley in 2009. Two months away from graduation, and heading into the corporate world of investment banking & consulting, they came across the idea during a class lecture of being able to potentially grow gourmet mushrooms entirely on recycled coffee grounds. Inspired by the idea of turning waste into wages & fresh, local food, they experimented in Alex's fraternity kitchen, ultimately growing one test bucket of tasty oyster mushrooms on recycled coffee grounds. With that one bucket, some initial interest from Whole Foods & Chez Panisse and a $5,000 grant from the UC Berkeley Chancellor for social innovation, they decided to forget the corporate route, and instead, become full-time urban mushroom farmers! 

Inspired by the idea of producing local, fresh food from what was an urban waste stream, Back to the Roots has since grown to create the Grow-Your-Own Mushroom Garden which lets anyone, across the country, grow their own gourmet mushrooms at home as well!

Who knew you could grow mushrooms at home and so quickly too? The Back to the Roots grow-at-home mushroom kit lets you grow up to 1 1/2 lbs of gourmet, tasty oyster mushrooms in as little as 10 days...right from the box! Some features to note:

• Grow up to 1 1/2 lbs per crop (pearl oyster mushrooms)
• Grow multiple crops (at least 2, though some have got up to 4!)
• Grow your first crop in as little as 10 days!
• Just 3 Easy Steps - Open, Mist, and Harvest (spray mister included).
• Grow mushrooms indoors - just set on a kitchen window sill and mist twice a day.
• The soil inside is 100% recycled coffee grounds - safe & sustainable

My friends at Back to Roots have generously offered to sponsor this week's giveaway and a lucky ready will get a mushroom kit to start growing their mushrooms! This is one giveaway that I'm excited about because it's a sustainable food item that's also eco-concious as well... definitely a win-win concept to be proud of.

Some guidelines:

- Giveaway is only for those who live in the United States - my apologies to my non-United States readers!

- You must check back in a week when winners are announced and email me to claim your prize if you win.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment answering: 

What's your favorite dish involving mushrooms?

Deadline: Saturday, July 30, 2011 at 12 midnight CST.

One winner will be randomly chosen by Random.Org's Interger Generator based on the number of your comment and will be announced on Sunday, July 31, 2011, within next week's Sunday Fun Day Giveaway. Good luck!

Full Disclosure: The giveaways are sponsored by the same company that provided me with the food related product to review. Products I review and offer as a giveaway are ones I personally recommend and would use/enjoy myself and opinions reflected are mine alone.

Crab Tostadas with Strawberry & Mango Salsa

If there's one thing I'm most bummed about this summer, it's that I missed out on our local strawberry season. Normally I go strawberry picking each year at the fields located on the border of Wisconsin and Illinois. This year, the season's crop started late and ended pretty quickly. During that time, my schedule didn't allow me a chance to go and visit... or the weather just wasn't ideal for picking. So I ended up taking advantage of the strawberries on sale at the grocery stores. It definitely wasn't the experience I wanted for strawberries but eh, what can you do? So when I was asked to attend a special strawberry event downtown, I was thrilled! I'll be sharing more about that event soon, but in the meantime, I had to share my favorite dish of the night - Crab Tostadas with Strawberry & Mango Salsa. The sweetness of a lump crabmeat salad paired perfectly with strawberry mango salsa atop a crispy corn tostada. It's colorful, refreshing and perfect to enjoy summertime strawberries!

Spicy BBQ Chicken Tostadas

Please tell me I'm not the only one. Every so often, I'll look in my pantry to find an over abundance of a random ingredient... and I'll have no idea how it happened. Maybe a grocery store sale I took advantage of? Perhaps my mother in law brought some to share and left them? Or even the rare chance my husband went grocery shopping and picked them up? This time, the ingredient in question was corn tortillas. I had way too many packages and needed a way to use them. Thankfully, I have a nice list of Tex-Mex and Mexican inspired recipes that I could serve up and/or use with corn tortillas. The most recent dish I made were these Spicy BBQ Chicken Tostadas. Shredded sweet and spicy bbq chicken makes a delicious filling to top crispy corn tostadas along with our favorite garnishes...

Salmon & Spinach Pesto Pasta

Many may associate summertime with foods like ice cream, berries, bbq ribs and the like. For me, I'd like to add salmon to the list. Prime salmon season usually starts in May and continues through September. My favorite salmon? Copper River Salmon, hands down! My friends in Alaska have generously been sharing the season's bounty and I recently received some Sockeye Salmon to play with. One of the things I made with the salmon was this Salmon & Spinach Pesto Pasta. The creamy spinach pesto sauce compliments the fresh salmon ever so delicately and makes for a colorful and flavorful pasta dish.

Walnut Cake

Sometimes I think I may have been Italian in my former life. Next to Asian cuisine, I have such a love affair with Italian cuisine. Everything from the way they take such pride and care for the foods they grow and produce, the simple preparation to allow the natural flavors shine and even the way they enjoy eating to savor every single bite... the Italians have such passion for food. I suppose you could say the same for other cuisines but there's just something about Italian cuisine that I truly love. Just as Julia Child is to introducing French cuisine to Americans, Marcella Hazan does the same with Italian cuisine. I've loved all of the recipes I've tried from Marcella's cookbook, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, including this one for Walnut Cake. Toasted walnuts make all the difference in this delicious cake, which goes perfect with a cup of tea...

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

With summer weather, comes laziness. Well, at least that's what it does to me. Having a lazy day in the kitchen is perfectly acceptable, especially when a great meal comes out of it! Such is the case when I just didn't feel like making a traditional Chicken Enchilada meal. I wasn't in the mood to stand there filling and rolling up enchiladas and besides, I wanted to try something a bit different. That's when the idea of preparing it as a casserole came about. This Chicken Enchilada Casserole is so easy to make. The layers of seasoned chicken, strips of corn tortillas, and a creamy sauce with tomatoes, corn and black beans make this Chicken Enchilada Casserole a hearty and comforting spin on traditional enchiladas...

Sunday Fun Day Giveaway: Rizzuto's Pizza Party & Last Week's Winners!

Happy Sunday! Hope you enjoyed your weekend and it was full of some tasty summer eats. We've been enjoying spending time with family and friends along with tying together food. Besides, food is a great way to bring people together, right? But more on that later! Last week I featured the wonderful products of Flatout Breads. Their flatbreads, wraps and crisps are not only delicious with the assortment of flavors they offer, but good for you too! A special thanks to Flatout for sponsoring last week's giveaway. Here's a big Congratulations to the winner of this past week's giveaway! Please shoot me an email at itsjoelen@gmail.com to claim your prize...

FlatOut Bread
 
Winner: Comment #22!

So I previously mentioned how food is a great way to bring people together. It's one of the reasons why I love entertaining so much. A popular food most everyone likes is pizza, right? And because of that love of pizza, it's a popular food to serve at parties. I've even had my share of hosting pizza parties with friends and family! Well, the lovely folks of Rizzuto Foods Inc. must have stumbled on my love of pizza and parties. They recently contacted me to try some of their parbaked pizza crusts. Now I'm a big fan of making my own pizza dough from scratch but I can certainly appreciate saving time in the kitchen if it doesn't sacrifice quality and flavor. But Rizzuto Foods know all about quality and flavor...

Rizzuto's parbaked pizza crusts are crafted in the Northwest using traditional baking methods and no chemical leavening. We start with quality ingredients including flour, milled from wheat grown on the Northern plains, pure mountain water and fresh yeast. These ingredients lay the foundation for premium baked goods. Using a traditional process of shaping the crusts to size, by either "cold" pressing or handcrafting, we then allow for abundant fermentation or "proof" time to naturally impart flavor and texture. Quality ingredients coupled with old world baking traditions are what create a parbaked pizza crust that keeps your customers coming back for more pizza.

So when Rizzuto sent me a box of their original and garlic herb parbaked pizza crusts to try out, I gave them a shot. I will say that the pizza crusts did come in handy a few times because there were nights I didn't have much time to play in the kitchen and needed dinner on the table quickly! It was super easy for me to just use up a hodge podge of ingredients I had on hand to whip up a pizza. In fact, here's a little bit more information on the lovely pizza kits I received:

Each Rizzuto's Pizza Starter Kit comes with multiple crusts of your choice, plus individual packets of Papa Joe's Secret Pizza Sauce. Just add your own favorite toppings to complete the ultimate pie! Don't have room in your freezer? No problem! Our hearty crusts and sauce are packaged to last up to one month without refrigeration, and up to six months with refrigeration. Our crusts come "partially baked", so now you can have hot, delicious,home-baked pizza in under ten minutes...

Now when I make my own crusts, I often like to add additional flavors such as garlic, fresh herbs, cheese, etc. Not to mention, we like to vary the types of pizza crusts too - everything from thin, pan, thick, and of course, deep dish. I was pleasantly surprised to know that Rizzuto's  had all their bases covered. They offer 8 different types of crusts...

Handcrafted - Handcrafted pizza crusts are truly a handmade masterpiece. We start with a focaccia style dough which is the oldest most universal form of pizza dough. This crust was designed to emulate the process and results of the original pizzerias.

Thin Crust - Hands down, the best thin pizza crust available. 1/4" (6mm) in thickness. We start with a very rich formula and fresh yeast, then press it to form, dock and bake directly. Tender with a smooth, melting finish.

Thick Garlic & Butter pizza crusts are created by using a rich formulation that includes a hint of garlic flavor and an infusion of butter flavored shortening flakes.
Thin Garlic & Butter pizza crusts are created by using a rich formulation that includes a hint of garlic flavor and an infusion of butter flavored shortening flakes. 3/8" (9mm) in thickness, this crust finishes with a crispy bottom.

Multi-Grain - Multi Grain crusts provide a fresh approach for today’s consumer. We use a seven grain blend flavored with chopped garlic and basil to create a pizza crust that proves you don’t have to give up taste and texture to provide a healthy alternative. A favorite for those creating innovative dinners.

Whole Grain - Our Whole Grain crusts are very similar to our Extra Thick crusts with the added benefit of whole grain, . Light and flavorful with an added hint of garlic. Another healthy alternative that provides a good source of fiber.

Gluten Free - Our Gluten free pizza crusts are so popular that many customers prefer them over those products made with wheat flour. We have carefully formulated this product to provide a great alternative to those requiring or choosing a gluten free diet.
Deep Dish - Our most popular single-serve pizza crust. Everyone can create their own pizza with these individual sized crusts.

We really enjoyed Rizzuto's pizza crusts, especially the Thin Garlic & Herb pizza crusts. We loved how thin and crispy the crust came out and really complimented our toppings of cheese, sausage and mushroom. We've also enjoyed the Thin Crusts for some pepperoni pizzas we also made. After taste-testing these 2 kinds of crusts, we plan on having another pizza party real soon using these crusts. They make it easy and friends will certainly enjoy topping the crusts however they want. Thanks to the folks at Rizzuto's, they are sponsoring this week's Sunday Fun Day Giveaway so one lucky reader will receive a complimentary pizza kit of their choice to throw a pizza party too!

Some guidelines:

- Giveaway is only for those who live in the United States - my apologies to my non-United States readers!

- You must check back in a week when winners are announced and email me to claim your prize if you win.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment answering: 

What's your favorite pizza topping(s)?

Deadline: Saturday, July 23, 2011 at 12 midnight CST.

One winner will be randomly chosen by Random.Org's Interger Generator based on the number of your comment and will be announced on Sunday, July 24, 2011, within next week's Sunday Fun Day Giveaway. Good luck!

Full Disclosure: The giveaways are sponsored by the same company that provided me with the food related product to review. Products I review and offer as a giveaway are ones I personally recommend and would use/enjoy myself and opinions reflected are mine alone.