give-away – Audrey's 74 A blog by Giulia Doyle Tue, 31 Jan 2017 21:28:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.1.16 Blogging Anniversary and a Give Away /2014/01/31/blogging-anniversary-and-a-give-away/ Fri, 31 Jan 2014 11:17:55 +0000 http://www.audrey74.com/?p=2524 Audrey's Blog Anniversary

Wow – already 1 year since I decided to blog in this space exclusively! At the time I wanted to focus on my food photography, to share recipes and goodies with you guys twice a week. I learned a new blogging platform and am now able to showcase my images larger and in a much more professional manner. I’m really happy how things are working out here – I get to share some of the food we made and other things I’m creating for Style Me Pretty Living, Clementine Daily and Classic Play.

In addition, I got to share our travel photos, such as Disney, or Cape Cod and Montreal. I’m creating an online album for myself and my family and I’m happy that all of you have joined the ride. It’s a lot of fun and I hope to continue to share with you here at Audrey’s.

This give-away is now closed. Congratulations Nataliya – your number was chosen by random.org! I will contact the winner by email.

Blog Birthday Give-Away!

To thank you for continuing to stop by this corner of the web I have a little birthday gift bag for you – a chance to win ‘My little Paris Kitchen‘ by Rachel Khoo – a lovey cookbook concentrating on French classics cooked in a tiny Paris kitchen. You’ll also get the Bakerella Cake Pop book – a book full of inspiration on how to create the most amazing cake pops. To top it all off, you’ll also get a package of rainbow cupcake liners, a box of colouful birthday candles, colourful paper straws and a $25 Chapters Indigo Gift Card! How’s that for a nice little box of goodies?

Anyone with a North American mailing address is eligible for this gift pack, except Quebec residents (see why here). This give-away is open until February 10, 2014 at midnight EST.

  1. Please comment below for a chance to enter.
  2. For a second entry, tweet this give-away making sure to mention @GiuliaDoyle
  3. For a third entry mention the give-away on Instagram and make sure to include @giulia_doyle

Winner will be chosen at random and will be notified by email.

Disclaimer: Gift card provided by Chapters Indigo. All other items sponsored by Audrey’s.

 

]]> Red Pepper Jelly, Cheesy Shortbread and a Minted Giveaway /2013/11/18/red-pepper-jelly-cheesy-shortbread-and-a-minted-giveaway/ Mon, 18 Nov 2013 11:00:17 +0000 http://www.audrey74.com/?p=2183 Red Pepper Jelly Audrey'sI’ve been a fan of Minted for many years now. I’ve ordered holiday cards, gift tags and even my sister’s wedding invitations from there. I love their selection created by independent artists, their customer service and the paper quality is amazing. This year they’ve expanded their offering to include ornament cards that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago and then I discovered personalized gift wrap! Again, I posted about it the other week. Minted saw my posts and asked if I wanted to try out their wrapping paper and tags? Of course! Wrapping paper with photos of my kids sounded perfect to add a special touch to our gifts.Red Pepper Jelly Audrey'sI’m still waiting for my paper to arrive – all of this happened rather quickly – but the personalization was really easy and allowed me to crop and adjust my photos to fit the paper design perfectly. I chose two types of paper and  some gift tags. The tags arrived within days and the quality is great! I can’t wait to wrap my gifts in the paper once it arrives.

Win $50.- to spend anyway you want at Minted!

This give-away is now closed – congratulations Laura D on being the lucky winner!

Would you like to have some personalized wrapping paper or maybe some holiday cards? Or do you need some art or stickers? Just comment below by Monday,November 25th and you could win US$ 50.- towards anything you’d like at Minted.

Winner will be chosen at random and will be contacted by email. Open worldwide, except Quebec residents – see why here.

Good luck and now on to the recipes!Red Pepper Jelly Audrey'sWith much of my family living abroad and friends scattered across the country, my holiday planning starts early. This year I decided to create a little something from my kitchen and decided on sweet pepper jelly and a batch of cheesy shortbread to go with it. I love the sweet/sharp taste of the pepper jelly with shortbread and even a piece of sharp cheese – it’s perfect to put out when you have guests over. I’m sure they’ll vanish quickly.

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Red Pepper Jelly from Canadian Family

Serving Size: 6 cups

Ingredients

  • 4 Cups seeded and roughly chopped red peppers (about 4)
  • 5 1/2 Cups granulated sugar
  • 1 Cup white vinegar
  • 1/3 Cups fresh lemon juice
  • 1 pouch liquid pectin

Instructions

  1. Place red peppers in a food processor and purée.
  2. Combine puréed peppers, sugar and vinegar in a large stainless-steel pot. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly to avoid scorching.
  3. Remove pot from heat and cool for 15 minutes. This allows the peppers to cook slowly in the residual heat and prevents them from floating on the surface.
  4. Add lemon juice and pectin, and return pot to stove. Simmer over medium heat for at least 20 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Skim any foam from the surface.

Notes

I doubled the recipe and it took about 1 hour and 15 minutes for the jelly to thicken. I almost gave up.

/2013/11/18/red-pepper-jelly-cheesy-shortbread-and-a-minted-giveaway/

Print
Cheesy Shortbread from Martha Stewart

Yield: 45 pieces

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
  • 2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

  1. To the bowl of a food processor, add flour and cayenne pepper; pulse to combine. Add butter, and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.
  2. Add cheese to the food processor; pulse until combined. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
  3. Using a fork, stir in milk and Worcestershire sauce until well combined. Have ready several pieces of parchment paper.
  4. Form mixture into two 1-inch-diameter logs, and wrap in parchment. Transfer the logs to the refrigerator, and chill until very firm, at least 1 hour.
  5. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove logs from refrigerator, and cut each one into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Place the rounds on prepared baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart.
  6. Bake the shortbread until golden, about 12 minutes, rotating baking sheets between shelves halfway through baking.
  7. Transfer shortbread to wire racks to cool. Bake remaining dough.

Notes

Next time I would cut mine thicker and bake them a little longer. They are very delicate and probably would not survive a trip in the mail.

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Red Pepper Jelly Audrey'sMinted generously supplied the wrapping paper and gift tags in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own. I was not paid to write the post.

]]> Raspberry Lemonade Cake and a Give-away /2013/08/05/raspberry-lemonade-cake-and-a-give-away/ Mon, 05 Aug 2013 09:56:53 +0000 http://www.audrey74.com/?p=1480 Raspberry Lemon Cake Audrey's

Give-away sponsored by Pinhole Press

It’s summer road-trip time! We are on our way back today from a small trip to Toronto, where we attended a lovely wedding. We won’t be resting long though, because on Saturday we’re off to Cape Cod to enjoy a week at the ocean. Yipppyyyy!

Not only do I have a perfect road-trip worthy cake for you today, but I also have a great give-away from Pinhole Press ! Even though I spend most of my time on the computer and I use electronic calendars and task lists that are synched to my phone; there are a couple of places where I like paper and pen. One of those are grocery lists and the other are packing lists. Pinhole Press allowed me to create customized notepads. Now, I can have lovely photo memories right there with me when completing all those planning tasks. You can imagine that I love to use some of the photos I take throughout the year and have them in print. These cute note pads are a perfect way for me to keep memories visible every day.Raspberry Lemon Cake Audrey'sIn addition to the notepads I also ordered some wall decals. They are amazing! The quality of print is exceptional and the flexibility of the decals is perfect if you are in a temporary space, want to move things around, or like us, need something in a narrow staircase where frames would come crashing down. Again, a perfect way to keep some of our vacation photos front and centre, reminding us of wonderful times together.

This give away is now closed. Congratulations Jordana! We’ll be in touch.

Would you like to have some personalized notepads? Or some amazing decals? Just comment below by Friday, August 9th and you could win US$ 35.- towards anything you’d like at Pinhole Press.

Winner will be chosen at random and will be contacted by email. Open worldwide, except Quebec residents – see why here.

You can also use the code audreys for 10% off your order until August 31, 2013.

Once you’ve commented below to enter the give-away, you might want to make this cake for your next potluck, BBQ or road trip? This cake explodes in lemony flavours and has the sturdiness to be packed up in some wax paper and transported most anywhere you want a treat. You can make it in a bundt pan as I did, or a loaf pan works as well.

Print
Raspberry Lemonade Cake - adapted from Martha Stewart

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours

Serving Size: 1 bundt cake or 2 loaves

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
  • 3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
  • Zest of 2 lemons, finely grated
  • 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1 cup of raspberries
  • 1 tablespoon of sugar
  • 1-2 cups of icing sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in lowest position. Butter and flour two 4 1/2-by-8-inch (6-cup) loaf pans.
  2. In a small bowl (or liquid measuring cup), combine buttermilk with lemon zest and juice. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
  3. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  4. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in three parts alternately with the buttermilk mixture in two, beginning and ending with flour; beat just until smooth (do not overmix).
  5. Add raspberries to a small saucepan with sugar. Heat until soft. Puree in food processor and push through sieve to remove seeds. Reserve some raspberry juice for glaze.
  6. Divide batter evenly between pans; add raspberry puree and swirl a little with a fork. Smooth tops. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 1 hour and 10 minutes (tent with foil if browning too quickly). Cool 15 minutes in pan. Turn out cakes onto a rack; cool completely before glazing.
  7. Make glaze by combining 2-4 tablespoons of raspberry juice (from puree) with icing sugar until you get the consistency you like. You want it to drip but not be too watery. Add lemon juice if you want.
  8. Set rack with cakes over a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Pour glaze over cakes, letting it run down the sides; let dry, about 30 minutes.
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I expanded on this Martha Stewart recipe.Raspberry Lemon Cake Audrey's

Pinhole Press generously supplied the notepads and wall decals in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own. I was not paid to write the post.

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