GIVEAWAY-licious $25.00 Gift Certificate to FOODZIE CLOSED

And the winner is chosen by True Random Number Generator

Min: 1
Max: 211
Result:
55 = HOLLY! Holly chose foods from DolceNonna as her winning picks!

Foodzie is the most amazing site for foodies; the place where you'll find the most fantabulous food and beverages made by small food companies!

Foodzie is an online marketplace where you can discover and buy food directly from small passionate food producers and growers. They are helping change the way people eat by helping the small food producers across the country find customers and grow their businesses!



Foodzie believes that instead of a small number of large food companies there should be a large number of small food companies (yay for that!).

They are obsessed with good food and passionate about connecting those that like to eat it with the people who make it!


WHAT YOU GET:

One lucky winner will receive a $25.00 GIFT CERTIFICATE to use in any shops on Foodzie!

(I received one, too, and still can't decide where to spend it!)




HOW TO WIN:

Visit Foodzie and take a look around - then pop back here and leave a comment with your contact info!

For additional entries:

(5) Twitter this post
(5) Blog about this contest; linking to this post
(5) Follow my blog

Let me know if you have done these things so I can give you additional entries. This contest is open to everyone.

DRAWING:

MIDNIGHT on Sunday, February 28! Good luck!! CLOSED

Small Things = Big Difference or the bitter truth about your Valentine's Day chocolate

I don't want to be a stick in the mud

(although what is wrong with being a stick in the mud anyway other than the fact you are getting .. well .. muddy..)

and ruin your Valentine's Day chocolate binge .... but ....

much of the world's cocoa (chocolate's main ingredient) is grown in developing nations by very poor farmers.

70% of the world’s cocoa production is grown in West Africa employing more than half the country. Most of the world’s cocoa production includes child slave labor and starvation level wages for farmers.

U.S. chocolate manufacturers have deflected responsibility for the conditions on cocoa plantations, citing lack of ownership of the plantations although 4/5 of the chocolate candy market is controlled by three major American firms — Hershey's, M&M/Mars and Nestle.

Now, I know you need your chocolate fix now and then. I need mine, too and I have to admit I have not always been so mindful of the brand I was buying (I am now), but one small thing we can do that would make a big difference is to choose chocolate with meaningful eco-labels.

This can help make a real difference in the lives of the people who grow cocoa and this can also benefit the environment.

Organic certification means that:

• Farmers emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality

• Crops are grown without using synthetic fertilizer or the most persistent pesticides

• Crops are produced without genetic engineering or ionizing radiation

Fair trade certified means that:

• Farmers and workers receive a fair price for their product

• Trade is done directly between farmer-owned cooperatives and buyers

• Crops are grown using soil and water conservation measures that restrict the use of agrochemicals

There are alot of fair trade chocolate choices these days and they can be found at your local grocery store. We can stop buying what the major candy companies provide us on the backs of impoverished farmers, children forced into slave labor and the environment.

It may cost a bit more, but good chocolate really is a luxury, was never intended to be a daily treat, and can be one pleasure you do not have to feel the least bit guilty about.

(the dark kind is even good for us)

Whining Wednesday or another snowpocalypse and breakfast for dinner

I'm living the dream, folks.

It is 8:30 a.m.

I am snowed in (sort of).

I am listening to Shawn Colvin and my hubby's audible intestinal noises - he used to try to cover it up with a fake cough ... not anymore

... we may be losing some of the magic ...

(I have to whisper-type this because he is starting to complain about me blogging about him)

Actually, it could be my tummy rumbling- hard to tell when we lie this close.

(more whisper typing) - looks like hubby is headed downstairs to make us all breakfast ... he must have forgotten we only have breakfast for dinner now ...

We started breakfast for dinner with a couple trips to the IHOP when we were renovating (term used loosely here) our kitchen a few years ago.

(yes, IHOP for dinner ... I know this is making you jealous, but we can't all be living the dream folks)

I have tried to recreate this experience at home. Many dinners have been trashed after my version of the Rooty Tooty Fresh & Fruity failed to reach the standards set by the International House.

Apparently, it just doesn't taste right unless it's being served by a toothless woman with a tattoo of Dale, Jr. on her forearm and a dirty apron.

(actually I take that all back, I, too, see my apron as an essential culinary tool, much like a cast iron skillet, and rarely wash it, lest it lose some of its 'flavor' and based on family history and lack of dental insurance should be toothless in 6.7 years)

(more whisper-typing) Sounds like hubby is starting the coffee. He is making alot of noise down there now. The man just can't relax and enjoy a snowday.

(sigh)

Seems like I have to get up and lend a hand.

Hard to whine with a snowpocalypse and something that tastes kind of like a Rooty Tooty in my future - it's all good.

Hope you are all living the dream today, too.
1. Wonderful tea cozy from KnitStorm
2. Amazing Beakfast in Bed print by Mutrux
3. Paint your own eggs by GooseGreaseUndone
4. Adorable felt short stack by LittlePicklepotamus
5. The perfect muffin unbleached tshirt by NottyPouch

Time Out Tuesday or some stuff to check out while the kids trash the house and you sip your double mocha and convince yourself they are napping

I think Riot Siren's cupcake skirts "put on your party skirt and roll in the dirt" are sssooo adorable!



I am obsessed with Osusowake (means sharing in Japanese) - the little cake slice planters that make sharing your favorite cuttings so easy peasy.



Olive is in love with Lucy Snowe's urban art for nature lovers and in particular this little snapshot.



Your kids don't need a clubhouse - you do, especially something as awesome as this Happy Loves Rosie Caravan!





Kella made my 2009 blog posts into a book for me at Blurb for my birthday last week- make books, not war!



I heart Haddock (do you?) mug from Black Ink.



I am head over heels for this little smiling frog! Is this not the cutest little frog you have ever seen - like, if I didn't have George I would totally kiss this little guy and am almost certain he would turn into Daniel Day-Lewis or Paul Newman or someone equally fabulous.



Beautiful little brooches from Caroline Dulko.



The amazing installation art "Chemical Balance" by Jean Shin created from thousands of prescription bottles recycled from nursing homes.





If you are going to be in Brooklyn and love insect art as much as I do Entomologia is a must-see ... am wondering if there will be any stinkbug art ...



Bits of brutality smothered in a rich, creamy marshamallow sauce - the adorable world of Cuddly Rigor Mortis artist (and Jersey girl) Kristin Tercek.




And, yes, she has a locket!