Building Community: A Soup Night Book #Giveaway

I think it was the summer of 2011 when Maggie Stuckey first contacted us to talk about our annual Soup Night tradition. She'd just hatched the idea to develop the proposal for a book, after thinking she'd try to do a magazine piece on the subject of building community through soup events.

We referred her to blog posts we've written about the experience of hosting Soup Night, including:

The Power of Soup - February, 2010
Soup Night: Why Size Doesn't Really Matter - March, 2010
Seventy Five Degrees and a Chance of Soup - April, 2010
Soup. Soup. Soup. - January, 2011
Blue Flower Soup and Lessons on Friendship - March, 2011

Fast forward to November of 2011, when we received another email, indicating that she'd been successful.

"...today I am THRILLED to report that I have just signed a contract with Storey Publishing of Massachusetts to publish the book." she wrote. "My plan for the book is to feature Soup Night events all across the country that, like yours, were created as a way to bring people together. With stories about the events and the people, and recipes from all. If you're willing, I'd very much like to talk with you both, to collect more details and impressions."

Excited that she was interested in featuring us, we referred her to a selection of Soup Night attendees, including local food blogger Rebecca Gagnon of Cakewalk, Nate and Nicole of On My Table Blog, and friends Jen and Bryan Peters.

After a series of phone conversations and emails in which we provided her with more of the finer details of our Soup Night project, we didn't hear from Maggie again until January of 2013, when she gave us an update on the book and asked us for our impressions of the imagery that could be paired with our story. 

The suggestion of an illustration of soup mugs stacked to the point of toppling was one that really resonated with us. After all, it's one of the common sights after an evening of soup with friends - both before the evening begins -- and afterwards -- when the sight of used mugs stacked in the kitchen stands as a reminder of a shared food experience between friends, both old and new.

We're pleased to report that the final product, a book entitled "Soup Night: Recipes for creating community around a pot of soup" was published this past fall. And it's really gorgeous.

The book features, not only our adventures in opening our home to friends, family and community connections, but also the stories of a slew of others who've done the same. Packed with recipes for heart-warming soups (including our recipes for Blue Flower Soup and Tuna Chowder), the book is a delicious testament to the power of food to bring people together in ways that nearly nothing else can.

And because we feel strongly that that's a message we want to share, we've worked out an arrangement with Storey Publishing to give away two "Soup Night" books to lucky readers.

For your chance to win your very own copy of the book, please read the instructions below. Be sure to leave a comment for each entry (and leave your email address if you don't have it listed on your blog/contact info). Please note that this contest is limited to readers in the United States & Canada. Contest ends 2/1/14 at NOON (CST).

Mandatory entry (must be completed or no other entries will count):

• Tell us what YOUR favorite winter soup is -- and why.

Extra entries – please leave a comment for each additional entry, letting us know you completed it

• Give us a "like" on Facebook!
• Follow @Burp_blog on Twitter
• Use the following text to tweet about this giveaway (please leave a link to your tweet in the comments for credit): Win a copy of "Soup Night" @Burp_blog: Ends 2/1/14 #giveaway

NOTE: 

The winner will be chosen randomly and announced on Facebook on or before February 3, 2014. The two (2) winners will be emailed separately to arrange for mailing of the books.

Full Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by Storey Publishing, who provided us with the books for our giveaway. However, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.

©BURP!

Seafood with Pesto from Maria Liberati and a Festa Italiana #Giveaway

Milwaukee is known as the City of Festivals for good reason.  In addition to the world's largest music festival, Summerfest, Milwaukee is also privileged to be the host of some of the world's best ethnic festivals.

One of the tastiest just happens to be Festa Italiana, coming up on July 19-21 (stay tuned below for a chance to win tickets).  Among its other claims to fame, Festa happens to be largest Italian event of its kind in America today.

Last year, I wrote a guide to "eating your way through Festa."  This year, I had the opportunity to interview Maria Liberati, former international supermodel, blogger, cookbook author and food and travel writer for The Mortan Report. 

Interestingly, during the height of her modeling career while jet-setting around Europe, Liberati rediscovered the simplicity of Italian food while spending time at her family's vineyard in the mountains of central Italy. She began to experience the real tastes of food that she knew from her childhood. And she created an entirely new career based around her love of Italian food.

Today, Libearti is considered one of the foremost experts in Italian cuisine, culinary travel, wine and culture and has been referred to on occasion as the "Italian Martha Stewart."

I was curious to find out more about Liberati's cooking philosophy, as well as her impressions of Milwaukee and Festa Italiana. Here's what she told me.

She was also kind enough to leave me with a deliciously simple recipe for a great summer appetizer. In turn, I'm sharing that with you.

In addition, if you happen to be around for Festa Italiana in Milwaukee this year, be sure you read to the bottom of the post and enter to win a pair of tickets to the festival (a $26 value).

Sapore di Mare al Pesto (Seafood with Pesto) 

By Maria Liberati

¼ cup diced shallots

3 ripe plum tomatoes, peeled and diced

1 tbsps extra virgin olive oil

1 lb of sea scallops, diced

½ lb small shrimp diced

dash of pepperoncino (hot red pepper)

Pesto Sauce

1 cup fresh basil leaves, remove stems

1 clove garlic crushed

½ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese freshly grated

1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup pignoli nuts

Wash basil leaves thoroughly and pat dry.

Put all the ingredients into a food processor and blend for 5-10 seconds or until smooth. Add more parmigiano-reggiano cheese to taste. Pesto sauce can be stored in the refrigerator

In a large skillet, sauté the shallots and tomatoes in oil for 3 minutes. Add diced scallops and shrimp and mix thoroughly; sauté for 3 minutes. Pour the pesto sauce over the seafood, toss, and sauté for another 5 minutes. Serve warm or cold over radicchio leaves.

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In celebration of Festa Italiana, we'll be giving away pairs of tickets to two (2) lucky readers!

For your chance to win, head over to OnMilwaukee.com and check out my interview with Maria Liberati. Then come back and leave us a message telling us what most surprised you about the interview.

Giveaway ends on Sunday, July 14, 2013 at 11:59 p.m.  Tickets will be mailed to the winners on July 15th, or as soon as we have accurate mailing information for the chosen winners.

Winners will be chosen at random and notified by email, so please leave your email addy with your comment if it's not included with your Blogger profile. Entries from the U.S. only, please (and please only enter if you know that you can make it to Festa Italiana in Milwaukee on July 19-21).

Full Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by Festa Italiana, who provided us with the product for our giveaway. However, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.

©BURP!

From Milwaukee with Love: Mother's Day Cookie Giveaway

One of the things we love best about blogging are the great people we meet along the way.

Lately, we've been meeting some pretty awesome local artisans whose food products deserve some serious attention.  Our latest find is Patricia O'Brien & Company, a decorated sugar cookie company located right here  in Milwaukee.

And if you love classic sugar cookies, you'll want to keep reading.

Patricia O'Brien is a great example of someone we've made acquaintance with recently, who has used her skills in the kitchen to create an artisan food business.

Patricia had been a home baker for years before starting a cookie decorating business.

"I saw an article in an obscure magazine several years ago which described how to ice a cookie with royal icing, and after it dries, how to paint on that surface with food coloring," she told me. "I love to paint--on canvas, wood, and just about anything--so the thought of painting cookies was very exciting to me. I experimented with several different types of pigment and found a combination of brush and paint that produced the desired effect. Many of my cookies are decorated with a combination of techniques, and just about all of the assortments have some painted cookies."

Spurred on by a friend, Patricia agreed to test out her product at a cookie sale at her friend's home.

She brought over nearly 1000 Christmas cookies, and displayed them on platters on her friend's dining room table. Each platter contained cookies of a different design.

"My friend had purchased large white pizza boxes and, as the guests went around the table, they picked out the cookies they wanted and placed them in the pizza box, then paid for them at a check out table," she recalls. "We sold all 1000 cookies in 45 minutes. My friend turned to me and said 'Now do you believe me that you should sell these cookies?'"

Patricia sent us a box of her cookies to try out for ourselves. The box was beautifully tied with a cheerful bow, and each pair of cookies was carefully packed in their own paper bag, and cushioned with bubble wrap.

And the cookies themselves? They're just what you'd expect -- crisp, buttery, and only slightly sweet, with the firm frosting I remember from my grandmother's holiday cookies.  Best of all, the cookies are decorated with care using attractive painting techniques and 3-D frosting details.

Patricia O'Brien & Company was founded in 2006. Patricia bakes cookies full time, sharing a commercial kitchen with Karen Smith, The Cake Lady, a notable wedding cake business in the area. She uses an old family recipe for her cookies that contains only butter, sugar, flour, and eggs. Her icing is made from meringue powder and powdered sugar.

"I can still remember the red plastic cookie cutters my mother used with us when we were children and the  tin shapes I used with my children," Patricia tells me. "I have a snow globe cookie cutter that has become a signature cookie, and there is one in most of my assortments. I have painted these for my sons with campus scenes when they went away to college and with seasonal landscapes for the holidays – that is the cookie that is probably the one most people remark about."

Patricia makes her cookies in hundreds of shapes, customizing them for any number of occasions -- from baptisms, to birthdays, to gifts for tennis, golf, and basketball lovers. Head over to her web site and check her out!

Even better, Patricia O'Brien is offering one lucky reader a box of Mother's Day themed cookies -- shipped right to your door in time for Mother's Day!

Just take a look on Patricia's web site and link back to one of your favorite designs (we're partial to the Sock Monkeys!). You have until NOON on Saturday, April 27, 2013 when we'll randomly choose a winner. If you are chosen, you will be notified by email, so please leave your email addy with your comment if it's not included with your Blogger profile. Entries from the U.S. only, please.

©BURP!
Full Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by Patricia O'Brien & Company, who provided us with product samples, as well as the box of Mother's Day Cookies for the giveaway. However, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.

Beer Bacon Brittle and a Delicious Giveaway

We met Sarah Marx Feldner, owner of Treat Bake Shop, over a year ago. It was before her delicious candied spiced pecans were featured in "Martha Stewart Living" magazine... or named among the "10 locally made products every cream city household should have on hand" by M Magazine.  In fact, when we met her, she was nonchalantly doing a tasting at our local food coop.

Even though we're the type of people who would ordinarily make our own spiced pecans, we had to admit that Sarah's recipe was pretty amazing.

Crispy, sugary, spicy... they're everything you'd want and more.

In fact, we kept finding ourselves picking up a jar here and there -- for that impromptu cheese plate at the holidays, to add to our next batch of brownies... Honestly, we bought at least a jar or two just for snacking.

As our esteem for her product grew, we got more and more excited about the prospect of show-casing it on the blog. But how?  We wanted to create something fun and tasty that really show-cased the great flavor of the pecans...

So, we started thinking about some of our favorite ingredients. What's more classic than the combination of beer and nuts?  And isn't it true that bacon makes everything better?

We made up a batch of this brittle, and it completely blew us away. It also won over the hearts of the readers over at Go Bold with Butter, our latest freelancing project.

This brittle brings together the flavors of game day staples like beer, spiced pecans, and bacon into a crunchy, salty-sweet snack that your guests will find as delicious as it is addictive.

Quite frankly, melted butter and sugar never tasted so good.

Beer Bacon Brittle

Of course, it's not really fair to talk about Sarah and her awesome pecans without offering you a chance to try them out for yourself.  So, get your commenting fingers ready.

Leave a comment telling us how you would use a jar of Treat Spiced Pecans. You have until NOON on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 when we'll randomly choose three (3) of you to receive a jar for your very own. Winners will be notified by email, so please leave your email addy with your comment if it's not included with your Blogger profile. Entries from the U.S. only, please.

Make bacon beer brittle... or simply eat them out of hand. Whatever you decide to do, it will be fabulous.

©BURP!
Full Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by Treat Bake Shop, who provided us with the product to us free of charge. However, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.

Nominate Your Friends to Get Coal for Christmas!

When you were a kid, what was the threat your parents used to get you to behave?

Was it coal in your stocking?

Coal gets a bad rap around the holidays.  And maybe it's for good reason. It's dirty and black, and not very appetizing in comparison to all those holiday sweets.

But, cleverly enough, the makers of Kingsford Charcoal have turned the classic punishment into a pretty cool promotion for their product.  And, while we don't ordinarily make it a habit to get into the frey of hocking products here at Burp!, we thought this was pretty clever.

In an effort to show how awesome coal really is, they've taken the classic punishment and turned it into a great reward – by giving the nicest person in social media – who happens to hail from Waukesha, Wisconsin – the gift of coal.

Kingsford went through great pains to analyze more than 100 billion tweets to identify the person they're calling "the Nicest Person in Social Media".

Turns out someone who lives not far from Milwaukee -- IT professional, and wine blogger Clifford Brown -- was the lucky guy. Santa made a stop at Clifford’s house early this year to present him with a year’s supply of Kingsford charcoal, a grill and grilling tools.  Check it out:

How did they determine just how nice Clifford was?
Well, engineers from Sysomos (a social media analytics company) wrote a unique script to analyze who tweeted “please,” “thank you,” and “thanks” the most often during the past year. Clifford’s “nice score” was off the charts for 2012: he tweeted using the words “please,” “thanks” and “thank you” for a total of 1,574 times this year! He’s also an avid griller – he tweeted 93 times this year about grilling (using the words “grilling,” “grilled” or “grill”).

Do you know someone who's as nice as Clifford?  Or even nicer?
Coal for those on the nice list doesn’t stop with Clifford this holiday season, as Kingsford and Sysomos are asking America who they think are the nicest people in social media.

All you have to do is Tweet @Kingsford with #benicegetcoal to put you or another do-gooder (don’t forget their twitter handle!) on Santa’s nice list between now and December 31, 2012. You or your nominee could win a year’s supply of Kingsford® charcoal and a kettle grill.

Tweets must be posted between today and December 31, 2012. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to U.S. residents 18+. Void where prohibited. Odds of winning depend on number of Tweets submitted. You can read the rest of the rules here. Winners will be notified through a direct message on twitter.

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OH!  And that's not all.  Winter grilling fans should be sure to stay tuned to eatatburp.com ... Our site will be undergoing a pretty awesome redesign for 2013, and we'll be partnering with Kingsford Charcoal to celebrate... *wink*

©BURP! Where Food Happens

For the Procrastinators: Taste of Home Halloween 2012

   So, who's ready for Halloween??   I'll be honest, I'm asking the question with a bit of trepidation, since I'm not sure that we are anywhere close to being prepared.

Much as I enjoy it, Halloween is one holiday that never fails to catch me off guard.

Every year, determined to prepare the best Halloween bash ever,I vow to start planning ahead. After all, I only need to... decorate the house, carve the jack-o-lanterns, send out invitations for a great big Halloween bash, and prepare all sorts of innovative tricks and treats.

And then, mid-October rolls around, and I realize that time has slipped away.The truth is, we never seem to get around to planning that over-the-top Halloween bash -- though we love taking inspiration from all the great ideas out there on the web and in print.

And I'm guessing there are a few more of you out there who feel a lot like we do.

Fortunately, we are confident that there's still time (even at this late date) to whip out a pretty awesome Halloween gathering, complete with ghoulish grub and boo-rific beverages.  And we can even offer up a bit of help.

It just so happens that Taste of Home magazine (which is based right here in Greendale, WI) sent me TWO copies of their 2012 Ultimate Halloween edition, a publication filled with brand new Halloween themed recipes, parties, decor, and crafts.  And I mean it when I say “full”.  There are over 140 pages of fun inspiration to get you into the spirit of the season and make this the best Halloween ever!

Best of all -- none of these ideas go bad, so you can even use them NEXT YEAR! 

The issue includes:

• Fantastic party ideas - fun ideas to please adults and kids alike
• Ghoulish Grub - Creepy food, spirited drinks and sweet treats fit for the season
• Boo-rrific Beverages Festive drinks
• Ghostly Getups - including easy costumes for youngsters, teens, adults, and even the family dog!
• House Haunters - simple decor ideas, craft projects and more. 

This special edition of Taste of Home magazine sells for $9.99 on the news stands but you can win one here for free!  

You've got until midnight on Saturday, October 20th to head over to

our Facebook page, and leave a comment on our giveaway post, telling us what your favorite Halloween tradition is.

We'll send a copy of the magazine out post-haste to one, randomly selected reader!

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Everyone's a Little Italian: Interview with Rossella Rago and #Giveaway

 Milwaukee is known as the City of Festivals for good reason.  In addition to the world's largest music festival, Summerfest, Milwaukee is also privileged to be the host of some of the world's best ethnic festivals.

One of the tastiest just happens to be Festa Italiana, coming up on July 19-22 (stay tuned below for a chance to win tickets).

Celebrating its 35th anniversary, Festa Italiana is the largest Italian event of its kind in America today. The festival, which started in 1976  for the purpose of reuniting an Italian community torn apart by urban renewal projects, was the first ethnic festival in Milwaukee.

In addition to great cultural exhibits, peppy Italian music, and plenty of delicious Italian food, this year's Festa will feature a great line-up of demonstrations by some of Milwaukee's best chefs, and a few celebrities, including TV chef and cookbook author, Nick Stellino.

Making her first ever appearance at Festa Italiana in Milwaukee, celebrity chef Rossella Rago, host of “Cooking with Nonna” will showcase her culinary skills Saturday, July 21 at 6:45 p.m. and Sunday, July 22 at 4:15 p.m.

Inspired by her love of food, her passion for entertaining, as well as her appreciation for her family and the Italian community, Rossella launched the “Cooking with Nonna” show in 2009. The online cooking show features recipes passed down throughout the generations that are simple to make, delicious and rich in their history.

In anticipation of her appearance, I thought it would be fun to ask her a few questions about her career and love for cooking.

This is your first time at Festa Italiana. What are you most looking forward to?

Yes this is my very first time at the Festa Italiana in Milwaukee. I heard so much about it, especially from Chef Nick Stellino, who has been there several times. When I met him at the Festa Italiana in Seattle last year he  also strongly suggested that I must attend. So now I’m really looking forward to coming to Milwaukee and meeting all the Italian-Americans and the lovers of Italy.

Have you been to Milwaukee before?

This is my very first trip to Milwaukee and Wisconsin. I can’t wait to visit and meet all my fans from this lovely city.

What are you most excited to do or see while you are here?

I’m sure there is great Italian food in Milwaukee but I hear there are some great breweries and steak houses! Would love to visit some of those world famous breweries.  Then of course I know you have a beautiful lake which is very scenic and relaxing!  I will be in town for two days… I think I will be very busy!

Tell me a bit about your relationship to food as you were growing up.  What part did food play in your family life?

As I was growing up I was constantly exposed to food as my maternal Nonna lived in our home and she was always cooking. As a child my role was that of the taster but as I got older I was given more mundane assignments: washing and cleaning! Food has always been a very focal point in my family and my life. The many family gatherings at holidays provided plenty of opportunities to be exposed to all the traditional foods that we prepared for each holiday. But not only at holidays, every day the most important decision that my Nonna and my mother would face was: What to cook at dinner at night!

From whom did you learn to cook?

Absolutely my primary teacher I have to say it was my Nonna. When I started college I moved in with her in Brooklyn, NY and every day we would cook together a meal just for the two of us.

Did you ever attend culinary school?

I attended an intensive program at the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York and I plan to attend several more programs these and at other institutions as well.

Who taught you most along the way?

Certainly my Nonna has been my main culinary mentor along the way but also my mother Angela and my aunts in Italy have been very influential on my culinary training. My mother is an artist and applies her artistic skills at cooking as well. She is very creative in her cooking.  My aunts in Italy are also excellent cooks and since I spent many summers there on vacation, I was exposed to many traditional dishes from Puglia using the freshest ingredients you could imagine.

How did you come up with the idea for Cooking with Nonna?

The idea came on the fly one Sunday afternoon after a long meal in Nonna’s basement. At the time I was in college and my dad asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up. I said: I want to do a cooking show. After a few back and forth, the idea of Cooking with Nonna was born. The rest is history.

Where do you get the inspiration for your recipes?

At the very beginning most of the recipes that we worked with were recipes from my Nonna’s collection which she learned from her own mother.  As we continued to grow, the recipes were inspired by the other Nonne that came on my show. They all love to share their recipes and memories with everyone.

When you are at home, what do you like to eat?

When I'm home I try and eat healthy and clean so I keep lots of Organic chicken breast around and colorful vegetables.  Of course, I'd be lying if I said that having Nonna live downstairs from me didn't greatly impact what I eat every day.  I can't tell you how many times a day she'll call me and say "Come downstairs and eat, I made Parmigiana!"

What is your favorite place in Italy? Why?

I have spent many summers in a small fishing village in Puglia called Mola di Bari. It is now like a second home to me. I love going these and meet my family and friends and take the opportunity to visit many of the picturesque villages in the area: Alberobello, Polignano, Ostuni and many more.

What’s the funniest thing that has ever happened to you in the kitchen?

The funniest thing that ever happened to me in the kitchen was probably when I first attempted cooking. I was 4, and I decided I was going to make a cake.  I thought you made cake by putting whatever you found into a baking pan and putting it in the oven (not necessarily a hot one) and it would magically turn into one of my Nonna's deserts.  Needless to say the "soup" that came out of the oven wasn't anything anyone wanted to try. No matter what a cute little girl I was. Needless to say I've gotten better since then.

What would you say to someone who's totally intimidated by cooking?

Cooking is not difficult but for sure requires passion. If you can find the passion, then following a recipe, step by step, is a technicality. So, look for the passion first.

Name anyone (alive or deceased) that you would like to cook for and what you would serve them.

I would have loved to have been able to cook for Marilyn Monroe.  One of my mother's good friends, Lina Pepitone, who has recently  passed away, was her cook for the last six years of her life. Apparently Marilyn really loved Italian food, especially Stuffed Peppers.  She looked like a person who genuinely enjoyed food.  I imagine us cooking up some Stuffed Peppers together and gossiping about all her husbands.  I think we'd have a decadent Nutella dessert too. Probably my Mousse. It never fails!

What is the best compliment someone could give to you?

That they love the food so much and they just can't stop eating!  

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For a light summer recipe, try this recipe, which showcases the true colors and flavors of summer.

Rigatoni alla Caprese
by Rosella Rago

1 lb Rigatoni pasta
1 lb Fresh Tomatoes, diced
1 lb Fresh mozzarella, diced
4 Cloves garlic
3 Leaves Fresh basil
4 Tbs olive oil
Salt, black pepper and Peperoncino

In a large pan, sauté the garlic until it turns golden. Add some hot pepper as desired and add the tomatoes. After a few minutes, cut the basil leaves in half and add to the pan and cook for 15 minutes. Boil the pasta to an Al Dente consistency and pour into the pan. Toss the pasta for 2 minutes. Add ¾ of the mozzarella and plate. Garnish with the remainder of the mozzarella and add a sprinkle of fresh black pepper as desired.

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In celebration of Festa Italiana, we'll be giving away pairs of tickets to two (2) lucky readers!

For your chance to win, head on over to the Festa Italiana web site, check out the amazing list of foods that will be served, and come back and let us know which ones you most look forward to trying!

Giveaway ends on Saturday, July 14th.  Tickets will be mailed to the winners during the week of July 16th.

Winners will be chosen at random and notified by email, so please leave your email addy with your comment if it's not included with your Blogger profile. Entries from the U.S. only, please (and please only enter if you know that you can make it to Festa Italiana in Milwaukee on July 19 - 22).

Full Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by Festa Italiana, who provided us with the product for our giveaway. However, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.

©BURP! Where Food Happens

5th Burp-Day Giveaway Winners and One Final #Giveaway

 It's tough to believe that our Burp-Day month has passed by already!  We've had a great time writing about some of our favorite local businesses and some of the lessons we've learned in our last five years of blogging.

Thanks to all of you who participated in the giveaways all month long!  We're pleased to announce the official winners.

  The two wine and cheese gift sets from the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board go to: 

• Sarah - who was really curious about the rhubarb cheese pie at  DairyDaysofSummer.com and
• SarahJ | Curious Cuisiniere who has fallen in love with Wisconsin Apple Cheddar

• Winners of the Scrumptious Pantry gift baskets containing TWO bottles of Cranberry Catsup (one smoky, one earthy) and TWO jars of heirloom pickles (Beaver Dam Peppers and Pickled Beets):
• Abigail/Mamatouille who is "such a pickle girl and would love a taste of those pickled red beets"
• Domestic Diva who thinks "the beaver dam pepper sounds great." 
• And Mindless.Ali who said that "The eggplant spread looks amazing sauce!"

• Jen of Juanita's Cucina was winner of the Becky's Blissful Bakery caramels

• Ariel was the winner of the Bittercube Bitters

• Devil's Food Advocate was the winner of the Cybros Bread assortment
• Carolsue was the winner of the Howling Wolf Barbeque sauce and rub.
• Alysha from She's on the Run was the winner of the Indulgence Chocolate.

Best of all, Jamie Leigh Martin won the Grand Prize assortment of Wisconsin Cheeses from the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.

We had so much fun with the giveaways that we're going to do one last round for those of you who may have missed out on the first seven.

In celebration of our 5th Burp-Day, the first FIVE (5) people to comment on this post will each receive a great little cheese cooler bag -- also from the Wisconsin Milk Marketing board.

Winners will be chosen at random and notified by email, so please leave your email addy with your comment if it's not included with your Blogger profile. Entries from the U.S. only, please.

Full Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, who provided us with the product for our giveaway. However, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Indulge Your Readers: Indulgence Chocolate #Giveaway

  If a blogger writes a blog post in the forest, and no one is around to read it, does it make a sound?

Don't laugh. It's a serious question. And it brings me to my final words of advice on blogging: Remember that you are never alone. Acknowledge your readers. Gratify them. Give them what they want (within reason). And make them feel special.

Because they are special. They've gotten you where you are -- wherever that might be. They've read your words, re-created your recipes, and shared your news (both good and bad). They've become friends, mentors, and your best critics.

So, yeah. We've been blogging for five years. And we still don't have all the answers. But, one thing we know for sure is that our readers are the ones that deserve the credit for everything that we are, and that we've become.

THANK YOU.
From the bottom of our bacon-eating, rosemary-loving, chocolate-obsessed hearts. And please enter the giveaway at the bottom of this page. Because it's seriously some of the best chocolate on earth. And it's our thank you gift to you. For just being you.

Inspired by the fine European chocolatiers she encountered during a college backpacking trip, Julie Waterman founded Indulgence Chocolatiers in 2007 with the goal of introducing fine artisan chocolate to the Milwaukee area's burgeoning culinary scene. Indulgence started out small, producing delectable truffles for weddings and events. Their imaginative chocolates, made from blended bean Belgian chocolate, are embellished with classic flavors like coconut, hazelnut and mint, as well as globally inspired combinations like coconut habanero, Parmesan crisp and Thai peanut butter.

And yes -- every one of her flavors is ... Just. That. Good.  Just look at the newly released S'Mores gift pack pictured below. How can you resist?

We're super excited to announce that Indulgence Chocolatiers will be opening its first chocolate boutique in Shorewood's new Ravenna building at 4525 N. Oakland Ave. With construction already underway, the delicious boutique is scheduled to open sometime in late summer. In addition to offering beautiful, locally handcrafted chocolates in unique flavor combinations, Waterman plans to feature monthly tasting and pairing classes at the boutique, making it a destination for Milwaukee chocolate enthusiasts.

In the meantime, you can order Indulgence products ONLINE, pick them up from a variety of retailers and restaurants in the Milwaukee area, or try your hand at winning a gift set by following the instructions at the end of this post.

No matter how you decide to procure your chocolate, it will be well worth it.
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We'd like to give you the opportunity to try out a couple of Indulgence chocolate products for yourself. This is the final of seven 5th Burp!-Day giveaways taking place on the blog during the month of June.

One lucky reader will win a sampling of chocolate from Indulgence Chocolatiers.

To enter, head on over to the Indulgence Chocolatiers web site, taking a look at their offerings, and tell us what you would like to try most. For a bonus entry, head over to the Indulgence Facebook page and give them a big fat LIKE.  Be sure to leave us a comment letting us know you did just that.

This is a short one! You'll have until NOON TOMORROW (June 30, 2012) to enter.  Winners will be chosen at random and notified by email, so please leave your email addy with your comment if it's not included with your Blogger profile. Entries from the U.S. only, please.

As an added bonus, since June is Dairy Month, all entrants will ALSO be entered to win a grand prize assortment of hand-selected Wisconsin cheeses.

Full Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by Indulgence Chocolatiers, who provided us with the product for our giveaway. However, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.

 ©BURP! Where Food Happens

Dare to Be Different: Howling Wolf Barbeque #Giveaway

Culture teaches us to blend in. In school we're taught to sit still, speak when spoken to, and mind our manners. We abide by moral codes, dress codes, and codes of conduct. When we venture outside of the norm, we reap the consequences of rebellion.

When you blog, it's good to be different -- or, rather, to differentiate yourself.  The world really only needs one Pioneer Woman (and mimicking her style isn't going to win you a book deal or a television show). And, as lovely as Smitten Kitchen is, no one would be very smitten if every blog was just another version of the same.


So, here are a few words of advice that every blogger should follow.

1. Buck the trends. They're only trends, after all. And they, too, shall pass.
2. Find a niche where you feel comfortable today -- and where you're likely to continue to be comfortable tomorrow -- and make your home there.
3. Find your writing voice -- it's one of the most valuable gifts you can give to yourself.
4. Be yourself -- and totally yourself. Let people get to know the real you.
5. Be weird. Be unique. Be random. Go wild. Because you never know who might love the person you otherwise hide.

You won't be surprised when we say that we love companies that follow this advice in the way that they do business... entrepreneurs who approach things just a little bit differently, and who aren't afraid to do exactly what they love... and do it well.

Howling Wolf Sauces, based in Theresa, Wisconsin, was started by Ken Wolfe, a classically trained chef who always had a passion for sauces. Wolfe started in the industry, running a cafe in Wyoming which was known for its outstanding ribs and barbeque. He moved to Wisconsin to focus full-time on marketing his sauces. The sauces, which were featured in Jane & Michael Stern’s 2005 edition of Roadfood, are available at a wide range of local stores including (but not limited to) Metcalfe's Sentry, Sendik's Food Market (Wauwatosa), Tower Chicken, and Woodman's Market.

We love the Howling Wolf line of gourmet BBQ sauces -- not only because they're made locally -- but because they are created in small batches using the finest ingredients available. None of them contain high fructose corn syrup. They don't use irradiated spices. And their products are both extremely flavorful and very versatile.

For example, the Cranberry Orange BBQ can be used as a glaze for Asian sweet and sour, and the original sauce can be mixed with yogurt to take on a unique Middle Eastern flavor. In addition to sauces, the company also makes a collection of spice rubs, of which The Land and Sea Rub is the most popular. It was created to enhance the buttery flavors in fish, but it's equally delicious on pork, chicken, and even steaks. 

Try it on a baked potato! Popcorn! Vegetables!  Use your imagination and surprise yourself.
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We'd like to give you the opportunity to try out a couple of Howling Wolf products for yourself. This is the sixth of seven 5th Burp!-Day giveaways taking place on the blog during the month of June.

One lucky reader will win an 18 oz bottle of Howling Wolf original barbeque sauce, along with a packet of Land & Sea Rub.

To enter, leave us a comment below telling us what you'll do with your barbeque sauce or Land & Sea rub if you win it. For a bonus entry, head over to the Howling Wolf Facebook page and give them a big fat LIKE.  Be sure to leave us a comment letting us know you did just that.

You'll have until NOON on June 30, 2012 to enter.  Winners will be chosen at random and notified by email, so please leave your email addy with your comment if it's not included with your Blogger profile. Entries from the U.S. only, please.

As an added bonus, since June is Dairy Month, all entrants will ALSO be entered to win a grand prize assortment of hand-selected Wisconsin cheeses.

Full Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by Howling Wolf, who provided us with the product for our giveaway. However, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.


©BURP! Where Food Happens

Give Yourself Time to Sprout: Cybros Bread #Giveaway

  Patience is a virtue. Especially if you're a new food blogger.

The moment you hit PUBLISH on that first post, the waiting game begins.  You wonder if anyone is reading. You check the stats on your blog obsessively. You pump your content out on Facebook and Twitter and Stumbleupon. And you wait.... and... silence.

Like a seed sprouting in a garden, building an audience takes time. Most bloggers don't become overnight sensations. In fact, many bloggers (ourselves included) have been blogging for years without hitting pay dirt.

And that's OK. Because good things take time. And great things are worth waiting for.

It's a little bit like baking bread.  And even moreso like baking bread with sprouted grains.

These days, sprouted grains are all the rage. Known for their superior nutritional content and advanced digestibility, you'll see them in products on shelves, not only at health food stores, but also large corporate retailers. If you didn't know better, you'd think sprouted grains were something new.

But, a Milwaukee-area wholesale bakery called Cybros - The Sprouted Bakehouse has been specializing in breads made with good-for-you sprouted grain since 1969. In fact, it's the only sprouted grain bakery in the Midwest. 

We had the opportunity to visit Cybros this year and chat with the owners, Jenny and James Marino.  They walked us through the sprouted grain process and, in the meantime, taught us a lot about the role of patience.

Flour, by nature, is a dry, flavorless substance. Most healthy breads made from regular flour require significant amounts of fat, sugar and salt in order to make them palatable. But, not sprouted grain products.

During the sprouting process, the complex carbohydrates in grains break down into simple sugars, and the proteins break down into amino acids; both are easier for the body to process. Sprouting neutralizes phytic acid – a substance present in grains – that inhibits absorption of nutrients. In addition, the sprouted grains have the advantage of being higher in protein and fiber, and lower in both carbohydrates and calories.

Cybros uses house-sprouted red wheat berries as a processed flour substitute. Because they're made from whole-wheat kernels, sprouted grain breads are an excellent source of whole grains. The process, along with the fact that Cybros bread contains no unrefined sugars, fats or preservatives, gives the product a natural advantage over breads made with traditionally milled flour.

An even bigger difference is apparent when it comes to flavor. Unlike their traditional whole grain counterparts, Cybros sprouted grain breads are surprisingly soft, with a flavor that is both earthy and nutty. And, unlike their West Coast competitors, Cybros packages and sells its products fresh, rather than frozen.

"The biggest challenge in using freshly ground sprouted grains to make our products comes in forecasting orders," Marino says. "We don't have the luxury of opening bags of flour when orders are surprisingly high. The die is cast days in advance when we determine how much grain to set."

In other words, patience is a virtue.
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You've been pretty patient yourself, reading all the way to the end of this post.  But, we're happy to say that there's a pretty nice pay-off. It just so happens that this is the fifth of five... make that seven 5th Burp!-Day giveaways taking place on the blog during the month of June. So come back often, and come hungry!

This time, ONE lucky reader will win an assortment of Cybros bread products, along with 2 Cybros t-shirts and matching water bottles.

To enter, just leave us a comment telling us whether you've ever tried Cybros breads before.  For bonus entries, give @healthybakery a follow on Twitter or a LIKE on their Facebook page.  Be sure to leave us a comment letting us know you did just that.

You'll have until NOON on June 30, 2012 to enter.  Winners will be chosen at random and notified by email, so please leave your email addy with your comment if it's not included with your Blogger profile. Entries from the U.S. only, please.

As an added bonus, since June is Dairy Month, all entrants will ALSO be entered to win a grand prize assortment of hand-selected Wisconsin cheeses.

Full Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by Cybros - The Sprouted Bakehouse. They provided us with the product for our giveaway. However, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Follow Your Passion: Becky's Blissful Bakery #Giveaway

 Blogging can be a chore. Food blogging, in particular.


Your average blogger sits down, thinks of a topic, and pumps out content.  It's simple. Straightforward. Food bloggers can't really do that. We've got to think about what we'd like to make, find (or create) a recipe to make it, make it, take pictures of it, eat it (sometimes by this point it's cold), think about whether or not it was good (despite the fact that it was cold), and then write about it.


It's a process. And there's an even deeper element to it. It's one thing to simply have writer's block.  It's a different matter to be entirely uninspired in the kitchen, but have a blog sitting there waiting for content.


If you've ever wondered why so many food blogs are short-lived, the time commitment is likely to be a the top of the list as a reason. But, there's another element that helps an awful lot. And that's Passion.
It's not rocket science. When you love something, you're more inclined to work hard at it. It's not difficult to reason that you're also likely to become better at it over time if you put some elbow grease into the process.  


So, if you're going to blog, blog about something that's gotten under your skin that you simply can't let go. Blog about things you talk about so much with your friends that sometimes they roll their eyes when they see you coming. Blog about what makes you happy.


We love supporting businesses that exhibit that same kind of passion. And Becky's Blissful Bakery is one of them.


Rebecca Scarberry's business started as a hobby. She sold a few organic caramels on the side, but wasn't anywhere close to making a living at it. And then, tragedy struck. In the same week that her divorce was finalized, she lost her job as an executive assistant for an architecture firm. And Rebecca needed to find a new source of income. So, rather than sitting home over the holidays feeling sorry for herself, she turned to her kitchen stove and cooked up a caramel business.


These days, Becky's business is thriving. She makes 10 different varieties of all organic caramels, including flavors like beer and pretzel (made with Lakefront beer), espresso dark chocolate, chai tea (made with Rishi chai), and sangria. Even better, she recently signed on to provide her caramels to national food giant, Williams-Sonoma for their fall/winter catalog.  

You can read more about Becky and her business in an article I wrote about her back in April. And you can get a taste of her caramels by checking out the cool giveaway we've got going on below.
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This is the third of five... make that seven 5th Burp!-Day giveaways taking place on the blog all through the month of June. So come back often, and come hungry!

One lucky reader will win a box of Becky's Blissful Bakery's Sangria Caramels.

To enter, simply visit  Becky's Blissful Bakery and tell us which product in her line you'd most like to try. For a bonus entry, stop by her Facebook page and give her a like.  Be sure to leave us a comment letting us know you did just that.

You'll have until NOON on June 30, 2012 to enter.  Winners will be chosen at random and notified by email, so please leave your email addy with your comment if it's not included with your Blogger profile. Entries from the U.S. only, please.

As an added bonus, since June is Dairy Month, all entrants will ALSO be entered to win a grand prize assortment of hand-selected Wisconsin cheeses.


Full Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by Becky's Blissful Bakery, who provided us with the product for our giveaway. However, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.

©BURP! Where Food Happens