my very first giveaway!
TIMES UP: THANKS FOR ALL WHO ENTERED! I HAD SO MUCH FUN READING YOUR COMMENTS AND LEARNING THAT I’M NOT ALONE IN MY MESSINESS OR DISLIKE OF CLEANUP! IT SEEMS NONE OF US ENJOY THAT PART OF COOKING! I WILL BE CHOOSING A WINNER SHORTLY USING RANDOM.ORG AND ANNOUNCE THE WINNER TOMORROW SATURDAY AUGUST 2,2008.
So I’ve been blogging for over a year and while I have entered a lot of contests and giveaways, I have not yet hosted one of my own. I am never sure that I have enough readers to make it successful. How sad would it be if I had a giveaway that nobody entered! I also could never think of something to give away. I didn’t just want to give away something for the sake of giving it away. I want to give away something that reflects me in some way and something that gives me joy. I just never found an item that I thought did both of these things. But today, that has all changed because I finally got up the nerve to participate in this:
It’s no secret that I have an obsession with cookbooks nor is it a secret that I love to cook. Last week I was at my favorite bookstore and came across this cookbook
The beauty of this book is not limited to the picture on the cover. It extends to the pictures and the recipes inside. Here take a look:
photos from Jeanne Kelley Kitchen
And folks, these pictures are not of fake or “prettied up” food – they are of the food itself cooked by Jeanne and then eaten by the small crew assembled to produce the photos included in this book. There is rumbling in my tummy every time I look at this book.
I had the pleasure of meeting the author, Jeanne Kelley, last week at a book signing and cooking demonstration. She is so delightful, down to earth, kind and inviting. I realized that she has mastered what I am just now trying to do – eat locally grown food while at the same time creating simple yet flavorful dishes – and because of that I decided it was the perfect thing to give away here on my little space in the world.
This week, I will be giving away ONE signed copy of Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes. To enter, you just need to leave your answer to this question in a comment on this post.
What do you love (or hate) the most about cooking?
Is it a feeling you get, a certain recipe you enjoy, memories it creates or brings to mind? Or is cooking just a chore? I wanna know – because I’m nosy like that ;P
Contest is open to U.S. and Canada residents only. One comment per person. Duplicate entries will be erased. Winner does not need to have a blog, just a valid email address so that I can contact you. Contest is open until 5pm (pacific) Friday August 1, 2008. A winner will be chosen at random and announced on Saturday August 2.
I love cooking: I love fixing something good to feed my family. It’s a creative outlet for me too.
This cookbook looks awesome! Thanks for such a great giveaway.
I love cooking foods that are simple and delicious. But more so, I love that my son at 3 has an incredible palate for all types of food!
I just love being inspired by fresh ingredients and creating something delicious to feed my family and friends. Clean-up….well, I don’t love that so much!
I love the way my husband will pig out and go back for seconds when I have cooked a great meal.I love the way it makes me feel to have my friends over and to see how they react to my food. Fun!
I used to hate cooking. I finally figured out that if this is something I must do, almost every day, for the rest of my LIFE…I’d better learn to like it. I started really working at creating healthy, fun food. And now I love to cook. It’s become therapeutic, and the end results? Well, I get to eat them. What’s better than that???
themommyspot(at)gmail(dot)com
I love being able to try new foods and experiment with new flavors. I hate cleaning up afterwords though. I guess that is the price for being creative in the kitchen!
I hate trying a new recipe and worrying if my husband and kids will like it!
I also hate the CLEAN-UP!
I like to cook when I am not rushed or tired. I especially love to please my family. I would love this cookbook to experiment with for my cooking blog! Thanks a lot.
pianananna@gmail.com
I love to cook!!! I was so excited to see a giveaway for a cookbook. If I win, my husband will probably say “Another cookbook?”!! Honestly I love the satisfaction of making something my family likes and enjoys. That is so much better than any Hallmark moment!
I love cooking, I love trying new foods and new recipes. My family are all big adventurers when it comes to eating, so it’s a pleasure to cook for them.
I love the ooh and aaahs when I’ve made something wonderful. I hate the washing of the dishes and the rare yet painful cuts and burns. I feel like I gave you everybody’s answer. Very generic. Very true.
I love everything about COOKING. I don’t love cleaning up! hahaha
Thanks for the opp to win that gorgeous book!
I love cooking because it gives me a chance to be creative.
I love cooking recipes my Mom used because it is a link to her. My hubby cooks also and it’s a fun way to spend time together. This looks like a great cookbook and one I had my eye on. It would be super to win your bloggy giveaway. Hey, I’m giving away a cookbook at my blog also!
I hate the clean up, but I sure love to cook!!
I hate chopping onions. I’ve gotten to where I just buy them already chopped. I love cookbooks. Thanks for the chance to win.
I like the satisfaction of knowing I’ve made something good for my family… however, the time it takes to get there? sometimes not worth it!
I love the creativity involved in cooking. Recipes are guidelines, not rules, for me, and it’s fun to experiment with different combinations of flavours and textures (especially when you have high-quality ingredients). I also love to feed people, especially people like my family who are willing to eat my experiments.
I have a feeling that everyone is going to say this, but the part I hate is the cleanup.
love they look at it like yuck then suck it down
What I love the most about cooking is that we do it as a family. Everyone really enjoys it, especially my husband. He always cooks Sunday dinner. I love cooking.
I hate deciding what to cook sometimes. The chioces can be overwhelming. I love to create or tweek recipes.
I like the actual act of cooking, what I hate is planning meals…especially taking picky appetites and our budget into consideration. I LOVE cookbooks, and this looks like a very nice one!
i just love creating wonderful food. this looks amazing.
What I love most about cooking is the enjoyment that it gives my family.
I LOVE cooking, but I am a messy cook so I HATE cleaning up my mess!
I love cooking because I love to be able to use local foods (including the things I grow myself) and also because I know what I am feeding my family is truly healthy. I would LOVE to win this title and have added it to my wish list even if I don’t! Thanks!
I love trying new recipes and seeing my husband enjoy my cooking.
Thanks!
I love to make healthy good tasting recipes, and I hate it when my kids gripe about it.
This will be so helpful for me, because I’m about to become a stay at home mom, and I SUCK at cooking!
My favorite thing about cooking is being able to smell the herbs as I add them to the dish. I love herbs!
Thanks for the giveaway!
I love cooking foods that present just as pretty as they are to eat. Those are the recipes my family eats with pleasure.
What a beautiful cookbook!
I love cookbooks! When it comes to menu planning I swear you can never have too many cookbooks. The one thing I hate most is feeling rushed when cooking. That happens easily as I have 3 kids a self employed husband and plethora of animals to tend too. Planning and cooking go hand in hand, anything to reduce feeling pressured and rekindle the love I have for cooking is a good thing for me.
killlashandra at hotmail dot com
I love the success and hate the defeat.
I love cooking if I have made the food before. If it’s something new I hate it becomes I’m so afraid I will mess it up.
I love being able to sit down and feast on the deliciousness before me. I love seeing people eat what I prepare, it give me a sense of accomplishment.
I love cooking when I have lots of time and ingrediants! I hate it when the kids are already cranky and I need to find something fast and I have nothing in the pantry
I love cooking for my family at special occassions. It’s even better for me than going out to dinner although I have to admit that I hate cleaning up after. The more complex and fancy the meal, there are inevitably way more dishes. My parents tell all their friends about the great meals I make for them and that makes me feel really good.
I am not a very good cook (luckily DH is!), so I will tell what I hate: When I think everything is going great and then at the end something happens and it all get screwed up. Like once I made this gorgeous chocolate swirl cheesecake, and then I had to put it in the toaster oven (it’s a nice big one) because DH was using the oven for marsala, and it got sooooo burned. It just broke my heart and I really need to try again but haven’t yet.
the_other_alice_ (at) yahoo.com
I don’t like the messes happen when I cook, but I just love to put everything together on a plate and make our meals look nice.
I love the idea of cooking, sometimes I don’t actually like to do it.
I really hate cleaning up…specifically handwashing my very expensive knives. I don’t know why it drives me so crazy…but if it requires more than just putting something in the dishwasher then I procrastinate doing it. I love trying dishes with new flavors for our family and my husband’s response when he absolutely loves it…it is an added bonus if it is easy to make!
owatz (AT) telus (DOT) net
I love to cook and collect cookbooks too. It is a way to relive stress for me and I love the finished product. I enjoy feeding family and friends.
I hate cooking (I feel completely at loss in the kitchen) but I do love watching my husband teaching my daughter all his “kitchen skills”. I wish I could teach her a few things myself. Maybe trying out recipes from a useful cookbook? We had a great turnout in the garden & I’d love to show her what we could do with our homegrown veggies. Thanks for the giveaway!
Please include me!!!! Great giveaway!
Thanks
gerijones64@hotmail.com
non cooker trying to change!!
What I hate about cooking is the mess it can leave (so i try to clean up as I go)…but I love the satisfaction and happiness I get when my family enjoys a meal I have made!!!
Thank you for this giveaway!!!
The cookbook looks great!
I love cooking because it gives me the chance to be creative and to have a hobby that produces a useful, enjoyable product in the end. Plus it’s never boring, there’s always the chance to do something new and exciting!
i heart making dinner and sitting down with my fam to eat together.
i don’t heart the dishes!
thanks for a fun giveaway!
kristen
ryankristenwilson(at)msn(dot)com
One reason I love cooking is that it’s 95% predictable and 5% unpredictable. You can cook something the same way over and over and it will taste the same and then one day- bam- it’s different and better. Then you spend the next hundred times cooking trying to replicate it.
I always use to love cooking when I didn’t feel like I didn’t need to do it every day! Now it is more of a chore! But I really still love baking! Maybe it is because I have such a sweet tooth!!!!
I love making food for others to enjoy. I hate meal planning.
The thing I detest most about cooking (well, other than food prices right now) is cleaning up afterwards. I’m happy to make a mess if someone else will clean it!
I love to cook, but I hate when I don’t have all the ingredients needed for a particular recipe, and I have to run to the store, or come up with something different! Great giveaway! Thanks for offering it!
~Tanya
the4moyers(at)msn(dot)com
I love cooking and am always looking for new recipes! Thanks for the great giveaway!
I love experimenting and trying new things but really hate the cleanup afterward, no dishasher..all dishes by hand
My favorite thing about cooking is when someone tells me how great it was. That makes it well worth the effort.
I love cooking because I can be creative, I love trying new things and I get a feeling of accomplishment with the meals turns out great and my family loves it
Thank you for the giveaway!
Cooking is my favorite creative outlet. It’s great fun to take many ingredients and come up with something nutritious and delicious to share with family and friends. And you need to do it at least a couple of times a day! Doesn’t get any better than that.
I love cooking for company. That’s when I’m at my best.
What I love most is EATING what I cook (LOL). What I hate most is doing the dishes. LOL!!!
Thanks for a great giveaway.
I adore cookbooks with pictures, and this one looks beautiful!
I love cooking and challenging myself to re-create something I have eaten somewhere else. I DON”T like it when my child won’t eat what I made, or when I am trying to cook more than one thing at once and they don’t finish at the same time, and I don’t like deciding what to make when I’m tired and there’s not a lot of food in the house!
onlycancan at hotmail dot com
What I hate about cooking is running out of ideas! I love new cookbooks for just that reason.
I love going through the progression of scents as I make a dish, and I hate cleaning up. Thank you.
I love the end result of cooking, and I hate cleaning up the mess! Thanks for a great giveaway!
I love cooking! I love seeing the faces when I try making something new and everyone likes it!
Thank you for the wonderful giveaway you are having.
I love cookbooks and am always looking for some new recipes.
I love the great feeling that comes from putting so much love into my cooking and seeing how much my family enjoys it! Thanks for the chance to win your great giveaway!
What I hate about cooking is the time it takes! I just don’t have the patience for it so Hubby does all of our cooking. I’m hoping to win this for him.
I love just about everything about cooking. Sometimes chopping up massive amount of vegetables can be a pain, and peeling potatoes is not my favorite. And who really likes cleaning up the mess that goes along with the creative process of cooking? But everything else about it is a blast, especially the eating part.
I love cooking by myself when I ‘m not rushed. I hate cooking when all the kids are crabby and hungry and trying to “help”!
I love cooking (vs. baking) because, you don’t have to measure and can be free to explore all the possibilities.
I enjoy cooking, but with work and kids and laundry, I just wish I had more time to enjoy it.
I love cookbooks! I’ve recently been trying to delve into making my own recipes by combining my favorite parts from different cookbooks. It’s a lot of fun! =)
This cookbook looks like it has some seriously delicious recipes in it.
I love cooking, trying new things. I absolutely abhor cleaning up! hee hee I like making the mess but not what’s left when I’m finished. I’d love to win this book! We used to have Araucana chickens several years ago. Blessings, Shay
The worst is the clean up, luckily my husband usually takes care of that for me without any complaints.
I’ve also linked back to you on my blog here:
http://robynsonlineworld.blogspot.com/2008/07/great-blog-found-from-giveaways.html
I love finding new recipes and baking cookies for people. What do I hate? Easy – cinnamon rolls. Love to eat them. Can’t cook them to save my life.
I love to cook, but I hate cleaning up afterwards!
I love that cooking inspirse my creativity and brings people together around the table!
alainamj (AT) yahoo (DOT) com
My favorite – creating food that family and friends enjoy! Least favorite – cleaning up, definitely. Thanks for the giveaway!
Cooking is therapeutic to me….all that chopping and stirring….much cheaper than a therapist!
lindsey dot hefner at gmail dot com
Oh my, that looks like an amazing cookbook! My favorite thing about cooking is creating new things and entertaining people. The thing I hate, when something burns. gRr.
I hate that I am OBSESSED with following a recipie to a tee! I can’t just dash or pinch. . . I must measure! This book looks great!
I love making and eating food but I hate anything where you have to constantly watch the food to make sure it doesn’t overcook. I just want to stick it in the oven and be done.
I hate the clean up after cooking and handling raw meat…
mybabyappleseed(at)yahoo(dot)ca
I hate doing the dishes. Oh and i also dispise recipes with hard to find ingredients. hpe to win!
I love cooking meals for my family because I know one day they will be memories for my kids. I love the kitchen, its my favourite room in the house and I fondly remember the smells, laughter and conversations I had while growing up.
I also enjoy cooking different ethnic foods and I’m so lucky that my family has an open pallette and love to try everything!
The cover picture on the cookbook is beyond beautiful.
Thanks for a great giveaway
oh that’s easy – i hate cleanup the most
I love cooking with my family it is so much fun!
I love cooking, but I hate the clean up that comes along with it. I wish I could just cook and have someone clean up after me.
What a cool looking cookbook! I don’t mind cooking, but I HATE cleaning up. I find myself avoiding more involved recipes & such because I don’t want to have to clean up afterwards.
I love the satisfaction of hearing hubby say “wow – that was awesome” but then of course, I hate cleaning up!
What I love about cooking is seeing someone’s reaction when they taste it and Love it! Plus, you get free smells while you cook it!
I hate it when something doesn’t turn out right! But then again – it could turn out to be delicious and that is a good thing!
Thank you!
I love doing the shopping for fresh ingredients and maybe seeing something new I would like to try. I love the smell of fresh herbs.
I would LOVE to win the cookbook. I haven’t heard of this one and it looks very interesting.
I like making party platters and dips and hate loading the dishwasher and washing the messy pots by hand!
palmersf(at)bellsouth(dot)net
I love delicious, healthy food! I love creating my own recipes.
My favorite part of cooking is smelling the aromas and sneaking tastes!
Definitely the thing I hate most about cooking is the cleanup afterwards.
What a cool cookbook! I hate the cleaning up part of cooking.
I love trying new recipes, and the satisfaction I get from feeding my family healthy, fresh, homemade food. I HATE the cleanup.
I really hate having to clean the kitchen after cooking. I seem to make such a mess and use so many gadgets. It is worth it, though, for some good home cooked meals! I’ll just have to try to not be so messy!
I hate the clean up and listening to my almost 5 year old complain about what we are having. Thanks for the great giveaway
I love creating and trying new tastes but hate cleaning up afterwards.
The cleanup after is my least favorite. Though hubby usually is willing to do that if I’ve cooked.
Wow, that is a beautiful book.
Here’s what I hate about cooking: I love to bake, but I don’t do it as much as I’d like to because it’s fattening! If I make a wonderful bread or cookie, I’m going to eat it.
This is a gorgeous book, I have seen it various places; but have not had a chance to purchase it.
My favorite part of cooking would be creating something and being able to enjoy eating it! The part I hate – dishes!
I have always loved to cook, but it’s more fun now that my son (almost 4) can help me in the kitchen — he even loves to help make yeast breads!
Thanks!
Megret
musesofmegret (at) gmail (dot) com
I hate the fact that I can always screw things up!
I hate that I can’t cook. I am trying, but I need a good cookbook to help me.
I love cooking because it brings people together around the table!!!! I love that! What I don’t like is the CLEAN UP! lol I have a WONDERFUL man in my life that loves my cooking and he doesn’t mind doing the clean up after the meal since I do my part at cooking the meal! He does say I get a little messy at times…don’t we all!!! =)
Great Giveaway! I haven’t seen or heard of this cookbook! I’m like you…I have a GREAT addiction with cookbooks! I love them! Something else that is sweet is my dad is ALWAYS buying me cookbooks! I love that!!!! =) He really has a passion for cooking too!
Thanks for the fun giveaway! I hope I gave you enough info on “ME” lol =) I’m nosy too! HE HE
If you get a change stop by my blog and say hi!
musingsfromleftfield@yahoo.com
http://musingsfromleftfield.blogspot.com/
I actually have chickens that lay blue, green and pink eggs There Aracandas. Suppose to be better for you less cholestrol And I grew yellow tomatoes this year got the seeds from Burpee I love to try new recipies and would love this book
Cleaning up!
The cookbook looks great!
Thanks for including me and for being so generous!
KJ- California
kjmt42 [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
What I hate most about cooking is the cleaning up part afterwards. Thanks for the chance. This looks like a wonderful book.
the one thing I hate most about cooking is the chopping and prepping of meats and veggies. i swear i do it quickly just to get it done and over with.
Cookbooks are one of my favorite pasttime reads! I’d LOVE to win!!
The one thing I hate the most about cooking is all the dishes afterwards! LOL
I love the appreciation that my family shows each time I make a wonderful home-cooked meal! I do, however, hate the clean up afterwards.
Thank you for hosting this giveaway
tiffanyannrosson at yahoo dot com
I love: colorful food. I love using red and orange bell peppers in addition to red and green. I will use purple onions over white or yellow any day.
I hate: that there is no truly “blue” food. Blueberries don’t count, and neither do eggs.
The thing I love most about cooking is using my imagination and coming up with new dishes. Thanks for the giveaway!
I luv the satisfied looks on faces after a good meal!
I love how flavors come together to make something unique but tasty! I like to cook. solta(at)hotmaildotcom
i hate that i never seem to have the time to cook but i love finding new interesting recipes
I hate cleaning the pots and pans afterward.
what I hate most about cooking is standing in front of my fridge trying to think of what to make! Hate that.
I love the smell of things cooking – especially onions sauteeing in butter right when I’m starting up a new dish. Yum!