Giveaways: Black Friday!

We hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving celebration with your family and friends! Of course, we wanted to have a couple of GIVEAWAYS in honor of Black Friday!



First up is this beautiful set of note cards. You will receive 8 photo note cards with envelopes. These cards will not only inspire your own creativity in the kitchen but will be lovely  for correspondence. They could even be framed for your kitchen. The photography and cards are made by Heather.



The second giveaway is this wonderful cookbook! It boasts over 600 recipes. My favorite feature of this book (which truly has a recipe for just about everything!) is the notes at the end of many of the recipes telling you what can be prepared in advance and what to do with leftovers (how long to keep them, how to store them, etc.).  I tried the Potato Pancakes (Latkes) and everyone loved them!



POTATO LATKES
4 lg potatoes, peeled and cut in lg. chunks
2 lg. white onions, peeled and halved
2 lg. eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 c. matzo meal or bread crumbs
2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
3/4 c. peanut or vegetable oil for frying

Using the medium shredding disk of a food processor or the large holes of a box grater, grate a few chunks of potato. Next grate half an onion onto the potato - the onion juice helps keep the potato from turning brown. Continue alternating until all of the potatoes and onions are grated. Transfer half of this mixture to a clean dish towel, roll it up, and holding the towel over the sink, wring out as much liquid as you can. Place in a bowl and repeat with the remaining potato-onion mixture. Add the eggs, matzo meal (or bread crumbs), salt, and pepper. Mix well.

In a large cast-iron or nonstick saute pan, heat about 1/8 in. of oil over medium-high heat. You can test a small one to check seasoning if desired.

To form the latkes, scoop up about 1/2 c. of the potato mixture with your hands and pat it loosely into a thick patty, letting any liquid fall back into the bowl. Slip the latke into the hot oil and flatten the center slightly with your fingertips. Fill the pan but do not crowd it. Fry the latkes until the undersides are golden brown, about 10 minutes (mine took less). Turn them over and cook for another 8-10 minutes. If the latkes begin to darken too quickly, before the centers are cooked, lower the heat. To prevent excess oil absorption, flip each latke only once, Add more oil to the pan only between batches and be sure to allow the oil to heat up before adding more latkes. As the mixture sits, liquid will collect in the bottom of the bowl. Squeeze the pancakes between your hands to remove excess liquid before placing in the hot frying pan. When done, transfer the latkes to clean paper towels or a brown paper bag to drain. Serve immediately.

Okay, so the nitty gritty. Here's HOW TO ENTER:
- Leave a comment (one per person, please!) telling us something you are thankful for this year.
- Make sure we have a way to contact you.
- We will draw for the note cards first and then the cookbook - you are automatically entered into both drawings.

EXTRA ENTRIES:
You may gain up to 4 extra entries for each of the additional things you complete (just leave us a comment letting us know):
- Subscribe to the blog.
- Blog or facebook about the giveaway.
- Follow us on twitter.

That's it! We will leave the giveaway open through Tuesday, December 1 and the winners will be announced by Thursday, December 3. If for some reason, we do not hear back from either of the winners within 48 hours, we will draw another name. Have fun!