Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Giveaway!

I'm giving away a $10 gift card to Walmart to one lucky person!

(The actual gift card I purchased has flowers on it, which is a lot prettier than the one pictured here!)

I thought a Walmart gift card would be appealing to everyone, and not only can it be used to buy food or cookware, but it can be used to fuel any appetite (even an appetite for reading).

Now, here's how you can enter:
  • One entry can be gained by leaving a comment on this post about some food-related memory.
  • Two more entries can be gained by following this blog (either becoming a new follower or letting me know you are already a follower).
  • Three more entries can be gained by sharing a recipe with all of us in your comment!

Some additional rules:

  • You must have a U.S. address.
  • You must leave your e-mail address in your comment.

Entries will be accepted through Friday, May 7. A winner will be drawn on Saturday, May 8. Best of luck to you all!

24 comments:

Ariel Wilson said...

Yay! I love giftcards :)

I think my favorite food memory would have to be when I baked a peanut butter chocolate pie for a youth group bake sale, with a recipe I got off of the internet. Cameron's old boss came and loved it so much, she asked me for the recipe to use in her tea room! I was so surprised :) But it was exciting!

I am already a follower :)

E-mail: pinkdaddysgirl [at] msn [dot] com

Renee (BlacknGoldGirlsBookSpot) said...

Hmmm my favorite food memory would have to be walking with my grandma every Sunday around town and before we went home, we stopped at the local bakery for a thumbprint cookie. She's been gone for about 18 years now but that's something that I will always remember. I still go to that bakery and get my thumbprint cookies!

Speaking of cookies my recipe is for No Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

2 c. brown sugar (lightly packed)
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. smooth peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 c. oatmeal

Cook brown sugar, butter, and milk for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in 1/2 c. peanut butter, vanilla extract and oatmeal. drop on cookie sheet lined with wax paper OR greased. refrigerate till set.

I'm an old follower too! :-)
Thank you for the great giveaway, will post on my blog!

XOXO~ Renee
steelergirl83(at)gmail(dot)com

Amber Holcomb said...

Wow! Thank you, Ariel and Renee, for your great comments! :)

Ariel--That's a fun memory! What did she say when you said you got the recipe off of the Internet? ;) That's fun when you can pull off a recipe and have it taste really good! Thanks for your 3 entries!

Renee--What a sweet memory! Some of my favorite food memories are the one I made with my grandma. She is the one who really taught me how to bake, and I love the times we made cinnamon rolls together from scratch. Now that it's summer, I hope we can do some more baking together again. :) And that recipe sounds delicious! Yum... Thanks for your 6 entries! And thanks for posting about this giveaway on your blog!!!

~Amber

Mami2jcn said...

My favorite food memory was making funnel cake in 8th grade home economics class. I was in a group with a boy I had a crush on and I giggled the entire time we made the funnel cake and ate it. Fun times.

mami2jcn at gmail dot com

Amber Holcomb said...

Mami2jcn,

That's a cute memory! Isn't it funny how we act around our crushes? :) Thanks for sharing! And thanks for your entry!

~Amber

Lori (sugarandgrits) said...

What a great idea, Amber! *Renee pointed me in your direction*

One of my favorite memories concerning food has to do with Thanksgiving. Up until I was around 10-12 yrs. old, I would spend the night w/my Grandma the night before Thanksgiving, so I could wake up at her house and "help" her with Thanksgiving dinner. :) All I really did was "help" her sift flour and crush Ritz crackers (now I don't even remember what they were for??). Then, I got to sit and watch the parades w/my Granddaddy. Fun times! I miss those days.


This is one of mine and hubby's fave recipes. We kinda adjusted it to our own tastes. It's great when you're having friends over to watch a ballgame, NASCAR, etc.


Chili-Cheese Dip (Homemade)

1 lb. of ground beef
1 - 16oz. block of Mild (or Hot) Velveeta cheese
1 - 16oz. can of Bush's Chili Beans
1 - 14.5oz. can of Mild Rotel Diced tomatoes (w/chilies)
1/2 pkg of Taco Bell taco powder
1/2 pkg of McCormick's Mild chili powder
salt & pepper to add taste

Brown your ground beef; drain
While beef is browning - combine cheese, beans, and tomatoes in a saucepan on low heat (otherwise the cheese will start to stick to the bottom of the pan)
Once your beef is done and drained, wait until your cheese is about melted then add the beef. Stir it in really good, then add the taco & chili powders, and stir good again.

That's it! Dig in! Oh...I've discovered that Tostitos new Hint of Jalapeno chips go really well with this dip...or you can use the plain Tortilla chips. They now have the Dipping ones, but I haven't tried them yet.


I'm a new follower, and I'm off to post your giveaway in my sidebar. :)

{{hugs}}

Amber Holcomb said...

Lori,

Those are great memories! I am really close to my grandparents, and my grandma and I refer to their house as my "second home" (with my parents' house being my "first home" and Corban University being my "third home"). :) I always love holidays with my family! And hmmmm...flour and Ritz crackers...maybe for stuffing?

Thank you for sharing your recipe! And thanks for your 6 entries!

Also, a big thank you for posting about my giveaway on your blogs! I should have thought to add extra entries for that... ;) But I added your blogs to my "Great Blogs!" list at the bottom of the page!

Thanks again!

~Amber

lindsayw said...

My favorite food memory is probably making fudge and Christmas cookies with my family every year! Decorating the cookies and sneaking bits of cookie dough. :D

I'm an old follower. :)

Michelle said...

Hello, Amber. I'm here via a link on Renee's blog. Your blog looks great! I plan to read more in a few minutes.

My favorite food memory deals with my grandmother's macaroni salad. When I was growing up, Mamaw's macaroni salad was one of my favorite things. About fifteen years ago, my mom started trying to make it, and she had it almost right. So the next time, my mom put a little bit of mustard in it. Now, I absolutely hate mustard, but when I tasted the macaroni salad, I told my mom she had it exactly right. My mom then told me she'd put mustard in it. Later, I asked Mamaw if she put mustard in her macaroni salad. She NEVER admitted to me that she did.

I'm going to become a follower in just a moment.

And here's a recipe:

Quick Taco Quesadillas:


what you need
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg. (16.35 oz.) TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Soft Taco Dinner
1-1/4 cups KRAFT Mexican Style Shredded Cheese


PREHEAT oven to 425°F. Cook meat with Taco Seasoning Mix as directed on package.

HEAT Tortillas as directed on package. Spoon meat mixture onto bottom halves of tortillas; top with cheese and Salsa. Fold tortillas in half; place on baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.

BAKE 8 to 10 min. or until heated through.

Amber Holcomb said...

Lindsay,

I love Christmas fudge, too! Christmas is a great time for making great memories. :) Thanks for your 3 entries!

Miss you!

~Amber

Amber Holcomb said...

Michelle,

Thanks for visiting my blog, and I'm glad you like it! That's a fun story about the macaroni salad--I'm not a big fan of mustard myself, but I must admit I've never given it much of a chance! ;)

Thanks for the recipe, and thanks for your 6 entries!!! I hope you can visit again soon (and congrats on being follower # 10!). :)

~Amber

Emma Michaels said...

Wonderful blog! I just found it and love it. Please enter me, I am a follower.

My memory: My grandfather passed away when I was only ten but he left me with many wonderful memories. One of my favorites was his Sunday morning shirts. Every day of the week he would wear strict business clothes, only on Sundays he would wear pink. Every Sunday morning on cue I would wake up to my grandpa in his pink shirt making us all an amazing breakfast with pancakes, eggs, beacon and sausage. Or in my case waffles instead of pancakes. By the time it was lunch, the pink shirt would be changed because it would already be covered in flour and any number of other cooking ingredients that simply didn't make it into the recipes, luckily he always kept spares.

Here is a pancake recipe:
Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon white sugar
* 1 1/4 cups milk
* 1 egg
* 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Sincerely,
Emma Michaels
SincerelyEmmaM@yahoo.com

P.S.- You may want to send an e-mail to All Things Urban Fantasy and have her post your contest on her Win a Wednesday. It is really popular and could probably help you get more followers. Here is her link, she posts the win a Wednesday every weeks so it should be easy enough to find if you look at the older posts: http://allthingsurbanfantasy.blogspot.com/
I posted my contest on it a while back and had over 100 entries.

Amber Holcomb said...

Emma,

Thank you so much! Your kind words mean a lot to me. I'm glad you were able to find my blog!

That is such a sweet memory! Grandparents are wonderful, aren't they? And who doesn't love a nice, big breakfast on Sundays? :)

Thanks for sharing! And thanks for your suggestion and for your 6 entries!

~Amber

Carrie at In the Hammock Blog said...

Oooh, awesome contest!! I found you through Renee's blog :)

My favorite food memory is a group of friends getting together at my apt to cook dinner-we had no idea what we were doing and kept having to go next door and ask my neighbor for more tools and utensils!

inthehammockblog (at) gmail (dot) com

Amber Holcomb said...

Carrie,

Welcome to my blog! That's a fun memory--you must have very patient neighbors! ;) Did the dinner turn out alright?

Thanks for your entry!

~Amber

Anonymous said...

Hey Amber!
I think my fav food memory is making sugar cookies with my grandmother. She would never want us to eat any of the dough becuase she though we would get salmonella, but we would always steal bites when she wasn't looking, and we never got sick!

becuase I know you don't cook alot, my recipe is microwaveable. :)

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
Most dangerous cake recipe in the world

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug
Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous)

Love you Amber! ~Adrienne G.

Amber Holcomb said...

Adrienne!

So good to see you here! :) I think I have a similar story, although my grandma would still let me have some of the chocolate chip cookie dough--just not too much, so I didn't get sick with those raw eggs in there. ;) Grandparents are so sweet, aren't they?

Thanks for thinking of me with your easy recipe! Maybe this is something I can actually do... ;) Sounds yummy!

Thanks for your 4 entries!

Hope to see you soon!

~Amber

Kristi said...

When I was a little girl my grandpa told me I could order anything on the menu. I asked "anything grandpa...anything...really?". He repeated "anything" so I ordered lobster. You can imagine his look of surprise. :)

Kristi said...

I am a new follower.

Amber Holcomb said...

Kristi,

How cute! :) That must have been so fun for you. Although, I have to ask: did you like it? It must have been something different for a little girl! I don't even know if I've ever tried lobster yet! ;)

Thanks for your 3 entries!

~Amber

lindsayw said...

Congratulations on all your new followers, Amber! Oh boy, I really want to try that mug cake Adrienne posted. I'm writing that one down!!

Amber Holcomb said...

Thanks, Lindsay! It is so much fun to have all these great new people visiting my blog. :) Thanks for your encouragement!

And doesn't that recipe sound good? ;) Delicioso!

~Amber

Tammy S. said...

I just became a follower. My food related memory: My family used to go trick-or-treating at my great-grandmother's house. She would have homemade cookies and popcorn balls wrapped in aluminum foil. It was the best!
Corn casserole
2 small bags or 1 big bad yellow rice(cook according to package directions)
2 cans cream of celery
2 cans mexicorn
2 cups shredded chedder cheese
Mix all ing. 2gether and spread cheese on top. Bake 45 min. at 425. (cooking time may vary according to type of dish used.

Amber Holcomb said...

Tammy,

That sounds like a great memory! Homemade treats for trick-or-treating...yum! :)

Thanks for sharing a recipe! And thanks for your 6 entries!

~Amber