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Summer Fun Sweepstakes
Summer is fun, especially when filled with your favorite foods, travels, and activities. It’s when you find excuses to be outside and make up reasons to go places. It means jaunts to the park, quick trips to the store, days at the beach, and visits with friends. With all that scooting around, we would like to help you cruise across town in style. That’s why we’re giving away a new Vespa S 50 4V.
Announcing the Real Challenge for Real Bakers Photo Contest Winners
Your votes are in and the results have been calculated.
Congratulations to Michaela! Her Saturday morning bread baking story and photo was selected as the winner of an incredible 48-piece collection from Nordic Ware®, including Spring-themed Bundt™ pans, cookware sets, and other accessories.
And congratulations to our other contest winners who will also be receiving some quality bakeware from Nordic Ware®. Susan’s mouthwatering Pink Buttercream Cupcakes got her a 2nd Prize placement and 28-piece bakeware package, and Kara’s Real Oreo Cupcakes posted a close finish, awarding her the 3rd place 14-piece package.
Thank you to everyone who participated in this contest and to Nordic Ware® for providing bakeware that’s on every discerning baker’s wishlist. It was fun to read your stories and share them with others.
1st Place: Baking Bread on a Saturday Morning
What's your favorite thing to bake and share your favorite baking story:
Ever since I can remember, my mother baked bread every Saturday morning. I continue that tradition now that I am a mother myself. There is nothing more basic and delicious than butter melting on thick slices of homemade bread. My family still uses the same sourdough starter that has been passed down to four generations. After a morning spent baking bread, I feel like I accomplished something important. Nourishment for the body, yes, but even more for my soul.
— Michaela from California
2nd Place: Pink Buttercream Cupcakes
What’s your favorite thing to bake and share your favorite baking story:
Big, little, or in between, cakes, especially buttery yellow cakes, are my favorite to bake. It cuddles so nicely with any flavor from chocolate to berries. I will share a funny baking story, but it wasn’t so fun at the time! My dear, and always efficient husband, tried to carry 3 wrapped trays of the pink cupcakes that I had promised for a local benefit, all in one trip. And trip he did. I did salvage one tray, but the rest were “cupcake cobbler”. We managed to save the dipped berries from the tops, and I hear they sold like hot cakes. I consoled myself with sweet buttery remains! Next time, I’m going with cookies, and hopefully I will have some nice new bake ware to donate too.
— Susan from Florida
3rd Place: Real Oreo Cupcakes!
What’s your favorite thing to bake and share your favorite baking story:
The smells and tastes of baking something delicious are only part of the story. That’s why I love baking. It begins when I find the perfect recipe and begin shopping for only premium ingredients, like real Challenge butter. When I spend the time to bake the best, I want to make sure it tastes the best. That’s the secret of any great baking story!
— Kara from California
Time to Vote: Pick Your Favorite Baking Story
Thanks to everyone who entered the Real Challenge for Real Bakers Photo Contest. It’s been a lot of fun reading about the kitchen exploits of our customers, the true bakers.
Now it’s time to vote for your favorite.
We have narrowed down the list of entries to five outstanding finalists, but we need your help to determine who should win the quality bakeware prize packages from Nordic Ware®. You may vote once per day until May 17th by going to http://www.challengedairy.com/sweepstakes and selecting your favorite entry.The Real Challenge for Real Bakers Photo Contest
Springtime represents a season of new life and excitement, and there’s no better way to celebrate than by introducing new recipes and flavors to your traditional Easter meal. But this year while you’re baking up memories for your family and friends, snap a few pictures or find an old favorite to enter into the Real Challenge for Real Bakers Photo Contest. You could win some fantastic Nordic Ware® items for your kitchen.
Quality cookware is an excellent complement to quality ingredients. Our friends at Nordic Ware have been the leaders in cookware for over 60 years, and we’re excited to give away $2,500 in Nordic Ware prizes in our Real Challenge for Real Bakers Photo Contest. Enter Now
Preparing for Easter: Buns, Breakfast, or Brunch
Greet your Easter sunrise with some moist morning morsels guaranteed to draw people out of bed.
Cranberry and Apricot Hot Cross Buns
Update these traditional Easter buns with sweet dried cranberries, apricots, and raisins instead of the typical candied fruit peels.
Greek Spinach and Feta Baked Eggs
This crust-less “spanakopita” spin-off creates colorful swirls of green spinach and sliced Kalamata olives in a cheesy fluff of baked eggs.
For those who prefer to sleep in:
“Taste of the West” Sweepstakes Winners
Congratulations to Brittany L. from Ferndale, WA, winner of the 7-day/6-night Grand Prize trip to the incredible Mountain Sky Guest Ranch in Montana's Paradise Valley.
“When I was contacted by email I certainly didn’t think the words ‘You are a winner’ meant the Grand Prize! My boyfriend even joked, ‘Maybe it’s a lifetime supply of butter,’ which would have been awesome too considering the amount we go through.”
Also, congratulations to our first prize winner, Megan S. from Austin, TX who will be receiving a fantastic kitchen package from OXO and Spice Islands.
Recipes to Wrap Up 2009
2009 is rapidly coming to an end and 2010 is approaching! We hope that everyone has had a great year, and is looking forward to the new year ahead.
Things over here at Challenge have been busy, but really exciting for all of us. Working with bloggers to churn out all of these amazing recipes has been a great experience. Not to mention it’s making us feel constantly hungry!
We greatly appreciate the efforts that everyone has put into this, so here is the latest consolidation of recipes that you can dive into with your cooking skills.
This will be our last post of 2009, but don’t worry because we’ll be back with the remaining recipes in 2010!
Chipotle Chili Cheese Crostini (Appetizer)
Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp (Appetizer)
Cheesy Stuffed Mushrooms (Appetizer)
Buttery Tortilla Chips (Appetizer)
Asparagus with Dill Butter and Dill Biscuits (Side Dish)
Roasted Rainbow Carrots with Miso Butter (Side Dish)
Glazed Oven Roasted Carrots (Side Dish)
Lemony Butter Roasted Potatoes (Side Dish)
Roasted Romano Garlic Cauliflower (Side Dish)
Oven Hash and Potato Blossoms (Side Dish)
Brussels Sprouts with Brown Butter (Side Dish)
Roast Chicken with Truffle Butter (Entrée)
Chipotle Herb Crusted Sea Bass (Entrée)
Lobster Risotto (Entrée)
Chicken Green Chile (Entrée)
Texas Sheet Cake (Dessert)
Soft Holiday Eggnog Cookies (Dessert)
Mexican Chocolate Yuletide Log (Dessert)
Butter Cookies (Dessert)
More Butter Cookies! (Dessert)
Divine Chocolate Cake (Dessert)
Happy Holidays to everyone!
It's Time For More Recipes
As you all know, a number of bloggers continue to be busy creating some super tasty recipes for us. So in an effort to consolidate all of these, here are some more dishes for you to try out!
Eggnog French Toast (Breakfast)
Potato Soup (Side Dish)
Chipotle Chile Hamburger Potato Skillet (Entree)
Healthy-Style Chili (Cincinnati Style) (Entree)
Grilled Wahoo and Orange Butter (Entree)
Cheesesteak Empanadas (Entree)
Creamy Apple Cranberry Crisp (Dessert)
Butter Cookies (Dessert)
Cold Oven Pound Cake (Dessert)
Mixed Berry Cobbler (Dessert)
Happy Eating!
Enjoy 20% Off From OXO
Happy Holidays from OXO. Enjoy 20% off from now through December 31st. And if your order is more than $25, you'll get free shipping as well!
The Cinnamon That Tastes More Like Cinnamon
When we started the sweepstakes, we were seeking a partner that would be a natural fit with Challenge butter, and who better than Spice Islands! With such an extensive collection of spices, we knew they would have everything you’d need for your cooking and baking needs.
Spice Islands travels the world to find the best sources – no matter how remote. So that means their spices are the highest quality available and only the best goes into their bottles, that way your creations taste as flavorful as possible.
With even more holidays coming up around the corner, we know that cinnamon is a common ingredient used in your fall and winter treats!
But did you know that not all cinnamon is the same? That’s why Spice Islands travels all the way to the Mekong Delta to harvest its cassia cinnamon. Some cinnamon has a mild woody flavor. That’s understandable, considering it’s actually tree bark. But still, who wants to bite into a woody snickerdoodle? Not us! The flavor of cinnamon can vary greatly depending on the kind of tree it comes from, where it’s grown and how it’s processed. Spice Islands gets their Saigon cinnamon from a type of cassia tree that grows in the mountains of Vietnam. It’s not as common and harder to get, but it’s worth it because it’s the highest grade of cinnamon on earth. Spice Islands cinnamon has a higher volatile oil content, which means it’s more potent. It has a rich, slightly sweet, warm flavor that we know you will enjoy!
Next time you’re at the store, look for the beautiful reddish brown cinnamon in the Spice Islands bottle. It’s cinnamon that tastes more like cinnamon. So give your desserts something special.
And don’t forget to try their recipe of the week for Grandma’s Ginger Cookies!
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