Showing posts with label stationery giveaway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stationery giveaway. Show all posts

Friday, April 10, 2009

Don't Forget!!! The Virtual Open House Extravaganza + a Giveaway!


You are ALL invited! In honor of Art and Aioli's ONE year anniversary, I am hosting a VIRTUAL Open House night with food, wine, art and great company!

I would love for you to participate! Bring an appetizer, beverage, or dessert to share. Or send me some artwork to hang on the wall. I will need your food and art submissions by 6am April 13th.

Please send entries to missNnick [at] gmail [dot] com. Include "A and A Open House" in the subject line. Make sure your photos are at least 150 x 150 pixels (square). You will need to include your name, blog name and URL, the name of your entry (dish), the permalink to your entry, and a link back to Art and Aioli!
(Note: There are TWO "N"s in the email address)

Don't forget the giveaway too!
2 Individuals (drawn at random) will each

In order to be eligible for the drawing to win the invitations, you must pop on over to my Stationery Blog at Miss 'N Nick and leave a comment there. You can reach the proper post here: http://missnnick.com/blog/2009/03/spring-celebratory-giveaway.html

Tell a blog buddy!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

You're Invited!!! A Virtual Open House Extravaganza + a Giveaway!


You are ALL invited! In honor of Art and Aioli's ONE year anniversary, I am hosting a belated blogoversary bash! As a culinary art studio, it will be an Open House night with food, wine, art and great company I hope! Stop by any time on Tuesday April 14th to check it out.

But I would love for you to participate as well! Bring an appetizer, beverage, or dessert to share. Or send me some artwork to hang on the wall. It must be tasteful and suitable for audiences of all ages. I will need your food and art submissions by April 8th to make sure I have time to hang it and set it all out on the buffet table. I do want to make a nice presentation for the very first Art and Aioli Open House night.

Please send entries to missNnick [at] gmail [dot] com. Include "A and A Open House" in the subject line. Make sure your photos are at least 150 x 150 pixels (square). You will need to include your name, blog name and URL, the name of your entry (dish), the permalink to your entry, and a link back to Art and Aioli!

In addition to a wonderful party spread, I am going to do a new giveaway!



But here is the catch! While I would love for you to leave a comment on this post and gladly welcome any thoughts, in order to be eligible for the drawing to win the invitations, you must pop on over to my Stationery Blog at Miss 'N Nick and leave a comment there telling me why you prefer traditional invitations in the mail as opposed to Evites or emails etc... You must leave the comment by midnight on April 10th in order to be in the drawing. You can reach the proper post here: http://missnnick.com/blog/2009/03/spring-celebratory-giveaway.html

I am so excited. I just know we'll have a great turn out. Don't forget the deadline is April 8th for recipe entries and April 10th for contest entries. Tell a blog buddy!

*NOTE: The Cupcake invitations are NOT available for this offer. As one of our most popular designs, we are back ordered on this piece for about a month and I do not want to offer something that will not be available right away. Also note that if you need more than 2 boxes (20 invitations) , the two winners will also have the option of purchasing more of the same invitations or matching note cards at a 10% discount in conjunction with this giveaway extravaganza.

__________________________
________________________________________

Hungry right now? Try some of this!


Chinese Chicken in Lettuce Leaves
adapted from The Sterling Performance Cookbook

3 Tbls. oil (I use vegetable but add a small splash of chili and sesame oil as well for some heat)
1 1/3 cups finely chopped chicken breast
1 cup seeded and finely chopped red bell pepper
1/2 Tbls. sugar
1/2 Tbls. salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
2 1/2 Tbls. minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 Tbls. soy sauce
3 Tbls. water
1 Tbls. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 large scallion, sliced
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
cilantro for garnish

Heat the oil in a skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add the chicken, green or red pepper, sugar, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly until the peppers turn a deeper color and the chicken is cooked, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the ginger, soy sauce, water, and lemon juice to the chicken mixture, stirring well. Cook for 1 more minute. Remove the chicken from the heat. Sprinkle with the scallion and walnuts and garnish with cilantro. Set aside and keep warm.

Make spicy dipping sauce!

Spicy Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/8 cup or more soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 or more tsp. chili oil
1-2 tsp. hot chinese mustard
1-2 tsp. chili garlic sauce
A few scallions

Stir all the above ingredients together in a bowl until well blended.

To serve plase 2 or 3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture on a lettuce leaf, roll up; and place on serving dish. Pass the sauce separately.

Listen! If you are a fan of the lettuce wraps at P.F. Chang's, then you will like these. They are just as good. If not (dare I say???)... Better!

Tips: Cut the chicken pieces as small as you can. It is the hardest part of this dish. To make it easier to cut, freeze the chicken a little while or let frozen chicken thaw out partway.



Hey, did you know we are now on Facebook? Join the group. It's a lot of fun and a wonderful forum of ideas.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

And the WINNER is...

Don't you just love this gorgeous hand painted bowl and serving pieces? I got it as a wedding gift and am afraid to use it for food because it could ruin it. Also... I think it was purchased at an art gallery so I am not sure how safe it would be. I have served fresh bread in it from time to time but that is it. Usually it sits in the kitchen looking pretty. A piece of art as it truly is.

What????

Oh.... You don't care about the bowl? You want me to announce the winner? Okay okay. I will. But first a big THANK YOU to all who commented and continue to visit my site.

It looks as if I will be serving up some personalized wine and cupcake stationery to.....

Congratulations Carla! I am so happy to get your cards out to you. I will be contacting you with the email you provided in order to get your address and find out what you would like me to print on the cards. If you don't receive an email or if you want to contact me, you can do so at missnnick@gmail.com.

I wish I could personalize cards for everyone. But as a sort of consolation prize I am offering up the below recipe to all the participants and all who frequent my blog.

I have been meaning to share this recipe with you since Christmas. Aside from the fact that I haven't had time, I didn't get any great photos. I made them on Christmas Eve and there was just so much to do. The photo above is a shot of the process. I never did get a shot of the finished cookie. Not only have I wanted to share the cookies with you because they are so good but my recipe is on the saddest piece of crumpled, faded, old and jam stained paper you can imagine. It feels slightly like fine fine sand paper from the traces of flour left on it. Having typed out nicely will be a treat for me.

These Jam Crescents are my mother's all time favorite cookie. I make them nearly every year but for some reason usually only at Christmas. I don't know why. They are so good and with a cup of coffee in the morning... Well that is the perfect breakfast! Okay so it's not the most nutritious breakfast but it is damn tasty and just the amount I want in the morning. It is like a little baby pie.

Here is my recipe for JAM CRESCENTS:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
8 ounces of cream cheese (cold) (this is what makes it sooooooo good)
1 cup of butter (2 sticks of cold butter)
2 Tbls. sour cream

Jam or Preserves of your choice (I prefer preserves)

In a large bow mix the flour, sugar and salt until blended. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives cut the cream cheese and butter into the dry ingredients as you would for pie crust. Do this until the consitency is something like cornmeal. Stir in the sour cream until the dough comes together and you can make a ball. (I tend to use my hands toward the end to get it nice and moist. Do not overwork it though.) When you have a ball of dough, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Preheat your oven to 325°.

Divide the dough into quarters keeping the unused portions in the refrigerator and covered in plastic. Roll out the dough and using a 3" round cookie cutter or a glass, cut out circles of dough. Place 1 teaspoon of preserves or jam in the center of each circle. (Be sure not to put too much as it will seep out when baking... I am classic at this mistake). Moisten the edge of the dough by dipping your finger in a small bowl of water. Fold one edge over to create the crescent shape and seal it by pressing down the edges with a fork. Prick the top with the fork.

Bake 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Popular preserve flavors for these cookies in my family are apricot and boysenberry or raspberry. I prefer the latter two. Also note that I tried jelly one time and I don't know what it was but it seemed to melt or dissolve. and REALLY seep all over the place. Somehow the jam or preserves are thicker and hold up better to heat.