Sunday, December 18, 2005

Giving & Receiving

(Both Feel Good)

photograph picture of lovely leftovers

A few weeks ago I entered a competition on Slashfood. The challenge was do something creative with Thanksgiving leftovers. I used a leftover vegetable side dish of braised chard with pine nuts to make an omelette which I cut into circles and stacked up with toast and Fatted Calf bacon before topping with cheese and bubbling under the grill. The fun part was in trying to create a fancy presentation out of a fairly normal dish. It looks like I succeeded! Slashfood announced that I was one of the winners and promptly sent me a $50 Amazon voucher. Cooking with Amy was at my house the other night where she solemnly declared I didn't have nearly enough cookbooks so I put the voucher to good use and increased my collection to include Michael Recchiuti's Chocolate Obsession and Real Food, because it's about time I got to know Nigel Slater.

Around Christmastime, we all think a lot about giving. This year I decided, that instead of giving physical presents, I would give my friends and family entries into the Menu For Hope draw. It was really fun choosing a potential prize to suit each individual. I just thought I'd share the idea incase there is a friend you having trouble finding a gift for. Maybe for them, a donation to Unicef is the answer.




Thank you for your generosity.


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Giving & Receiving

9:02 AM  

8 Comments:

  • At 18/12/05 12:45, Blogger Mona said…

    You did manage to make that simple omelette sandwich into quite a pleasing picture. Yummy!! And congrats on the win!

     

  • At 18/12/05 13:06, Blogger Farmgirl Susan said…

    That sandwich is awesome and congratulations!

    LOL, I just finished writing up a reminder post about Menu For Hope and told everyone to go see the wonderful way SOMEBODY had given virtual raffle tickets as gifts. I knew as I was reading that it was a British person. . . I should have known it was you (of course I somehow missed the David Lebovitz reference the first time I read them). Reading through all of your wonderful donations literally brought tears to my eyes. I hope they all win, too!

     

  • At 18/12/05 13:10, Blogger Farmgirl Susan said…

    Oh geez. I somehow missed the lamb prize too! THAT definitely would have given it away. Blame it on too much fresh country air or something.

    Thanks for your generosity, Sam, and for putting so much time and effort into this campaign.

     

  • At 18/12/05 16:32, Blogger Dennis Caswell said…

    There's something really very satisfying in uniform shapes stacked up on a plate for me...I don't know why, but that really does look good to me!....
    I really like Nigel Slater. I got his book 'Appetite' for Christmas a couple of years ago..I really like his no-fuss approach to food (that's another way of saying I can handle the recipes, as a cook with no training whatsoever!) There's a recipe for a chocolate cake with roasted nuts that has become my stock recipe for birthday cakes.
    His autobiographical book 'Toast' is fantastic..all about him growing up in 60's suburban England...It's great!

    Dennis (Rock n Roll Kitchen)
    x

     

  • At 18/12/05 17:35, Blogger cookiecrumb said…

    Good goin', Sam!
    I read "Toast" this summer; it was a good read. Wait till you get to the part about parmesan cheese. *snerk*
    You are a lovely being, girlfriend.

     

  • At 18/12/05 23:05, Blogger Cindy said…

    That looks great, no wonder you are one of the winners :)

     

  • At 19/12/05 06:59, Blogger Cate said…

    What a great gift for you to give your family - kudos to you! Stephanie from Dispensing Happiness did a bunch of Nigel Slater recipes awhile back - might be a great primer until your new cookbooks come in...

     

  • At 19/12/05 07:32, Blogger Sam said…

    thank you everyone - i am a bit too busy to leave indivisual comment replies today, but I just wanted you all to know how much I appreciate your feedback.

    sam

     

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