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Contest: MUG Root Beer Giveaway

Posted by Jenny Lewis Categories: Dinner, Features, Site Announcements, Holiday Cooking, Summer Cooking, Condiments, Soda, Barbecuing, Grilling

MUG root beer fathers day giveaway
We’re less than a week out from Father’s day, and I can smell the charcoal already. While some may head out to a nice steakhouse for a special dinner for Dad, tons of us will be gathered around a grill doing it ourselves. My friends at Mug Root Beer want to help make all of this summer’s BBQs a culinary triumph for you.

From today until Sunday at 8:00 PM Eastern, comment on this entry about your most memorable “Dad” moment. Did your dad show up to the aforementioned steakhouse in a Hawaiian shirt and flip flops? Maybe your friend’s dad stepped in to save the day when a road trip went bad, or your uncle’s BBQ went up in a blaze of meat glory. I want to hear about it! I’ll be choosing five of the most memorable BBQ stories that you all share and the winners will each receive a prize pack, containing the fantastic recipe for MUG Root Beer Southern Specialty Brew-B-Q sauce (and the sauce is awesome - I was given a copy of the recipe and made some last night) and all of the ingredients to boot, in an insulated MUG bag with a MUG apron.

Lay’em on me guys - I want to hear your Dad stories!


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Quick Palmiers Recipe

Posted by Jenny Lewis Categories: Dessert, Quick Meals, Recipes, Sugar, France, Baking

palmiers

File these under “Super Easy, Still Impressive” - palmiers (light, sweet puff pastry cookies) are criminally cinchy to make and an impressive and tasty way to end a meal on a high (and not too heavy) note. I love to eat these with chocolate sauce or whipped cream, and every once in a while I get a little crazy and add some cinnamon to the sugar.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 sheet of puff pastry

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 425.

Sprinkle half of the sugar on a cutting board. Unfold the puff pastry and press it down into the sugar. Sprinkle the other half of the sugar on top of the puff pastry and spread it around with your fingers, brushing off the sugar that doesn’t stick to the pastry.

Fold the sides of the puff pastry in to the center. Fold the pastry again so there are four layers. Using a sharp knife, cut the pastry across the short side into 1 inch slices. For the best results cut straight down, not back-and-forth like with bread or steak.

The very best baking results will be achieved using a silicone baking mat like a Silpat, but parchment paper will work in a pinch. To bake, take the sliced pieces and place them cut side down on the baking sheet. Unfold them slightly and twist the edges down, so that the cookies make a V (this part is not the easiest thing to explain, I know - basically you’ll have one end standing up on the cut side, and it will be the point on the V that’s formed with the two ends lying flat on the the non-cut side). Bake until the tops are slightly golden (about 7 minutes) and remove from the oven. Flip them over and put back in the oven another 4 or 5 minutes or so - until the tops and sides are nicely browed and the sugar has caramelized. Remove and let cool, then eat!


Recipe: Chicken Souvlaki Salad with Dressing

Posted by Jenny Lewis Categories: Dinner, Lunch, Quick Meals, Recipes, Summer Cooking, Poultry, Salad, Vegetables, Mediterranean

Chicken Souvlaki salad recipe

At home one night with plenty of nicely marinated chicken but no pita to be found, I had an epiphany - if souvlaki is basically an undressed Greek salad with chicken on a pita, why couldn’t I eat it as a DRESSED Greek salad with chicken without a pita? And thus my new summer standby meal was born - the chicken souvlaki salad. This recipe will feed two very well and leave four wanting more (I suggest getting some baklava for dessert).

Vinaigrette Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 5 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Salad Ingredients:

  • 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 head of Romaine lettuce or 2 hearts of Romaine
  • 2 tomatoes, diced
  • 1 small red onion, diced
  • 1 large cucumber, peeled and de-seeded
  • 2 Tablespoons crumbled Feta cheese

Preparation:
Mix the marinade. Reserve half to dress the salad, and combine the other half in a zipper bag with the chicken. Marinate the chicken for 4 to 24 hours.

Grill (or saute) the marinated chicken breasts. Slice thinly. Prepare the salad vegetables. Top with the chicken and cheese, then the reserved vinaigrette. If you’re feeling really saucy, you can use tzaziki as a dressing instead of the reserved half of the vinaigrette. Or you could just use both.


Recipe: Summer Berry Muffins

Posted by Jenny Lewis Categories: Breakfast, Dessert, Comfort Food, Recipes, Baking

bbrb-muffins

It’s time for fresh berries! One of my favorite ever weekend breakfasts (okay, most weekend breakfasts are my favorite) is a nice warm blueberry muffin. Or a few. And yes, there are plenty of mixes and bakeries around who will hook my breakfast up right for just a little bit of time and money, but I’m still firmly of the belief that everything tastes better when it comes from my personal oven.

These muffins are an adaptation of a recipe from the Butter Queen Paula Deen - when I went to buy blueberries this week, there were some raspberries that I just couldn’t resist. I added a streusel topping recipe found on the Chowhound message board for a little bit of extra sweetness and crunch. And before you ask, I did not eat muffins straight off of my counter - there IS a plate under there. It’s just clear. I swear.

 

Click to continue reading Recipe: Summer Berry Muffins

Read More | Food Network

Gear Live Turns 5, gets to wear big boy pants!

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Announcements, Cell Phones, Features, Handhelds

Gear Live

Whoa! Gear Live is now five years old—can you believe that? I sure can’t. It seems like it was just yesterday that I started up this little blog, to share my thoughts on consumer electronics in my spare time, and eventually getting a friend to help me post some news. Before we knew it, this become my full-time gig, and we were adding writers, and sections, left and right. Today, Gear Live has over 20,000 articles spread across our various sections, headed up by some of the best writers in the blogging game. We’ve got video shows, giveaways, and a social network that we are building as well. Regardless of how many things we’ve got going on from the past, we will always have some neat tricks up our collective sleeves in the future.

So how are we celebrating? Well, how about if we gave you presents? Since it’s our fifth birthday, we decided we would give away five Mophie Juice Pack Airs. After all, people are all over the if our numbers are correct (they are,) and what better way to celebrate than by doubling the battery life of your iPhone 3G or 3G S?

How do you enter? Simple. Just leave a reply in our ‘Gear Live Turns 5’ forum thread, letting us know what your favorite Gear Live story of all time happens to be. It can be a text update, or one of our videos. Just leave a link and tell us why you liked it. Once you’ve done that, head on over to Twitter and tweet the following:

“@gearlive Turns 5, and I just entered to win a Mophie Juice Pack Air! http://bit.ly/mophie-air” (Click here to tweet this now)

We will choose five random entries as our winners, and they’ll receive the Mophie Juice Pack Air for their troubles. Why should you want one? Check out our Mophie Juice Pack Air review. Now to start comparing kindergarten programs…


Contest: Zune HD giveaway! (Final Round!)

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Announcements, Features, Handhelds, Hot Deals, Internet, Microsoft, Portable Audio / Video

Platinum Zune HD giveaway

The Zune HD is real, and we are going to be giving one away to one of our readers. You want in? All you need to to do enter to win the is help us win the I’m a Blogger Get me Out of Here contest. If we win, we will be bringing you content straight from the set of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here. Seriously, I had to taste some of the most vile flavors I’ve ever put in my mouth, and you’ll probably get a few laughs out of it.

Here’s how to enter to win:

  1. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) - make the subject line “Vote for Andru Edwards” and hit send.
  2. If you don’t have one already, sign up for a Gear Live account
  3. If you don’t have one already, sign up for a Twitter account
  4. Add the Gear Live Twitter account to your follow list
  5. On Twitter, post the following tweet about our contest:

    “I just entered to win a Zune HD from @gearlive! http://bit.ly/zune-hd” (Click here to tweet this now)

  6. Once that is done, leave a comment in this forum thread with a direct link back to your Tweet, or a screen capture showing you voted. Be sure you are signed in to your Gear Live account before you leave the response.

Im a blogger get me out of here

BONUS ENTRIES: Want more chances to win? Share the link to our contests on the following sites, and leave us a comment linking to those as well:

  • Post a screen capture in the forum thread showing that you voted
  • Facebook: Shared Link
  • Del.icio.us bookmark
  • FriendFeed: Use Post a Link
  • Your blog: Have a site? Link to our contest on it!

Remember: The bonus entries are just that - bonus. In order to be eligible to win, you must complete the core Twitter requirements.

As we (hopefully) make it through each round, you get another chance to Vote all over again, giving you even more chances to win. The contest starts today, and is open to US residents only. You have until 11:00 PM PST on June 11th to enter your votes. We will then announce our winner, chosen randomly out of all valid entrants and bonus points, on June 12th. The winner will be sent a Zune HD right after the product launches. Remember, you have three chances to enter a vote!


Contest: Want to go to the 2010 NBA All-Star Game?

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Announcements, Features, Microsoft

NBA Take All the Action With You Contest

If you’re an NBA fan, then this Take All the Action With You contest is going to be right up your alley. Even better? We are partnering with about 24 other sites to bring you some exclusive prizes as well. We will go into all the details after the jump, but here it is in a nutshell:

By entering the HP-Microsoft contest, you are entered to win a grand prize that allows you to see Kevin Garnett and the Celtics play a home game in Boston, and an away game in a West Coast city. That’s right, coast-to-coast baby! That includes VIP tickets to the games, airfare, hotel, and some HP gear as well. At the very least, check it out. So, that’s one contest. But the real deal is that we are having our own giveaway with 24 other sites, with the prizes being 2 trips to the 2010 NBA All-Star Game in Dallas, TX, including travel, accomodations, and a ticket to the game. The winners will be accompanied by the site owner. In other words, if someone from Gear Live wins, I’ll be personally going to the NBA All-Star game with them.

Now, there are a bunch of runners-up prizes as well, so jump down for all the details, including how to enter.

Click to continue reading Contest: Want to go to the 2010 NBA All-Star Game?


Top Gear 10 DVD giveaway

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Home Entertainment, Transportation

Top Gear 10 GiveawayFor all you lovers of Top Gear, the fantastic BBC show that goes to the extreme with cars, we are giving away the new Top Gear Season 10 DVD set. If you haven’t seen Top Gear, you should, because it’s insane entertainment. How insane? How about driving through the Kalahari Desert in three 20 year old beaters? Or how about crossing the English Channel in a fleet of amphibious cars? See? Now you’re interested.

As with all our other , you need to be a Gear Live member located in the US. To enter, log in and leave a comment in this thread to something cool on the Internet involving cars. Funny YouTube videos, serious scientific articles, conspiracy theories, or whatever else. We will choose a random winner in a week.

Read More | Top Gear 10 on Amazon

AT&T Pantech Matrix Pro Giveaway

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Announcements, Cell Phones, Features, Handhelds, Hot Deals

We are giving away a , along with a $100 AT&T gift card that you can use to set up service, play your current AT&T bill, or apply towards the purchase of anything at an AT&T Store. This contest is courtesy of , so big ups to them. If you want a closer look at the phone, take a look at our Pantech Matrix Pro gallery.

Here’s how to enter to win:

  1. If you don’t have one already, sign up for a Gear Live account
  2. If you don’t have one already, sign up for a Twitter account
  3. Add the Gear Live Twitter account to your follow list
  4. On Twitter, post a tweet about our contest and link to this page. In the tweet, include the phrase “@gearlive” so we can easily find it.
  5. Once that is done, leave a comment here in this post with a direct link back to your Tweet. Be sure you are signed in to your Gear Live account before you leave the comment.

Here’s an example of an appropriate Twitter entry:
“@gearlive I just entered to win the Pantech Matrix Pro and $100 AT&T gift card! http://bit.ly/O04Rl/” (Click here to tweet this now)

BONUS ENTRIES: Want more chances to win? Share the link to our contests on the following sites, and leave us a comment linking to those as well:

  • Facebook: Shared Link
  • Del.icio.us bookmark
  • FriendFeed: Use Post a Link
  • Your blog: Have a site? Link to our contest on it!

Remember: The bonus entries are just that - bonus. In order to be eligible to win, you must complete the core Twitter requirements.

The contest starts today, and is open to US residents only. May 11th. You have until 11:59 PM PST on May 15th to enter your comments here on this post. We will then announce our winner, chosen randomly out of all valid entrants and bonus points, on May 18th.


Cinco de Mayo Dessert: Mexican Chocolate Icebox cookies

Posted by Jenny Lewis Categories: Dessert, Snacks, Holiday Cooking, Chocolate, Spices, Baking, Festivals, Parties

Mexican chocolate icebox cookies

Cakes are great, pies are good, anything gooey and sweet is fantastic. But cookies? So underrated. Cookies are, in my opinion, the best way to end a party. Put a big plate of cookies out at the end of a party and people will eat them up! I made these Mexican Chocolate Icebox cookies the first time a couple years ago, and they’ve been the sleeper hit in my repertoire.

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 3/4 t ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 t cayenne
  • 1/4 t salt
  • 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
  • 12 T (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 egg

PREPARATION:
Sift together the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, cayenne, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in vanilla extract and egg. Gradually add flour mixture until dough is uniform in color and no unmixed flour remains.

Shape into two 9” logs and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Make sure the wrap is airtight. Freeze overnight. The dough will keep up to six weeks in the freezer.

When ready to use, preheat oven to 375F and bake for 8-10 minutes. Cookies should feel a bit firm at the edges. Store in an airtight container when cool.

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