Month: November 2009

One more time…I won’t ask again! The voting ends tomorrow at noon!

Posted on by laurielufkin

I entered the Pillsbury Monthly Recipe contest and the theme this month was appetizers.  My recipe Tuscan Splendor Spinach Braid was chosen out of hundreds of recipes as one of the top ten finalists vying for $2500.00.  Plus, you can copy the recipe–it is simple and delicious!

Would you please vote for my recipe tonight or tomorrow.  You can vote once every 24 hours so either tonight or tomorrow before noon is your last opportunity to help me.  I could win $2500.00 for me and Lily!  You do have to register to vote on the Pillsbury site but you do not have to select to receive emails from them.  It only takes about two minutes to sign up.

Please help me….$2500.00 will buy a lot of ingredients if I win!

Here is the link to vote: https://generalmills.promo.eprize.com/bakeoff/?WT.ac=HP_Left_Feature_Picture_MonthlyChallenge

*if for some reason the link does not work, go to http://www.pillsbury.com and click on the lower left corner of the page, the Monthly Challenge

Here is the recipe and a (lousy scanned) photo:

And here’s how to make it-so simple and delicious with only a few ingredients:

INGREDIENTS
1        can (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations® refrigerated
seamless dough sheet
1/3    cup refrigerated black olive tapénade (from 7 oz container)
1        box (9 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed to drain
1/2    cup crumbled goat (chèvre) cheese
3/4    cup julienne cut sun dried tomatoes in oil, well drained
1        egg
1        teaspoon water

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Unroll dough. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press into 12×9-inch rectangle.

2. Spread tapénade in 3-inch wide strip lengthwise down the center of dough leaving 1-inch edge on both ends. Layer spinach evenly over the tapénade. Top with cheese then layer with tomatoes.

3. With scissors or sharp knife, make diagonal cuts 1 inch apart on long sides of dough rectangle to within 1/2 inch of filling. Alternately cross strips diagonally over filling. Turn ends of braid up and press to seal. In small bowl, beat egg with water. Brush over top of braid.

4. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. To serve, cut into slices.

Thank you all for your support and votes!

Just a peek at the prizes…………

Posted on by laurielufkin

Just a little sneak peek at the prizes for the 1st Annual Good Morning Gloucester Holiday Cookie Contest.

This is NOT a complete list and the items will be gathered into baskets for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners, and then a basket for the child/family entry:

a fabulous goodmorninggloucester beer stein

a bottle of vodka & rum from Ryan & Wood ( you must be 21 or older to accept this part of the prize)

6 cookbooks personally selected by me

baking/candy making items

adorable little note cards and mini journals

3 Books about the building of the Schooner Lannon, one for each basket

1 music CD from Captain Stan and Daisy Nell

a cruise for two gift certificate from Essex River Cruises,

tee shirts from Essex Marina and Click Marketing Tools (me)

cookbooks from Chronicle (from Michelle Curreri)  & Rockport publishing

lots of baking supplies and festive holiday decorating stuff

AND MORE IS STILL COMING IN!

family/youth basket that contains the following so far.  Most of this basket was assembled by one of the judges, Jannine Fisk because she is a nice person!:

Cookie press

1 book about the building of the Schooner Lannon

2 Cookie cutters: Christmas tree, candy cane, gingerbread boy (Wilton comfort grip)

Brown sugar

Flour

Unsweetened cocoa powder

Baking powder

Mint baking chips

Milk chocolate chips

Toffee chips

Two small hardbound cookie cookbooks

Foil baking cups, sweetened condensed milk

Small deck of Kids Magic Trick cards

Gift certificates for a family meal/activity on Cape Ann-from Sharon Lowe

Please come on down on Thursday to Brown’s Mall and enter!  Remember, your entry fee of $5.00 and two non perishable food items goes directly to The Open Door!

SAVE YOUR BACK!

Posted on by Frankie Gentile Jr.

So with snow on the way at anytime, a great way too save your back and keep your toes toasty warm, is to get someone else to plow your lot or driveway. There is a great service right here in your backyard. A plow will come to our home or business ( depending on lot size of business ) and plow each and every time it snows. For a set price of $480.00 ( with the coupon below ) you can be plowed on every snowfall. Unlimited snow plowing – what a concept. It is pretty similar to an all you can eat buffet, but with snow. The company sits right here in Gloucester MA and is called Precision Snowplowing. Yes – this is the same company owned by Tony Carrao called Precision Roofing! Tony has snow plow services during the winter as an extension to his roofing company. I have spent some time with Tony over the last few years, and have seen the quality work and customer services that he delivers. So why break your back this winter – Give Tony a call and let Precision Snowplowing handle all your plowing this winter. Don’t forget, this would be a great gift for a family member or friend.

 

 

CLICK TO SAVE YOUR BACK

 

 

What PRESENT is all about!

Posted on by Sharon

Present is a seasonal art collective made up of fourteen local men and women offering a bevy of eclectic fine craft. Living, creating and recycling on Cape Ann are common themes reflected in the goods including bags made from reclaimed sweaters and vintage notions. Look for jingle flounder, lovely wreaths, hand-knit hats, pottery, felted flowers, fish prints, handmade leather pocketbooks, and photographs inspired by local people and landscapes.

Delightfully unusual wares also include clever clothing and accessories for children, iron-pressed sandwich keepers made from recycled plastic bags, beautifully handmade knitting needle cases, hand-knit wire jewelry, and itty bitty jewels. Present is a great place to shop for pretty things and one-of-a kind gifts and ornaments.

Present is Amanda Cook, Jane Cunningham, Jessica Demarjian, Elizabeth Grammas, Jill Josephson of Gloucester Oneseas, Pam Lally, Melanie Murray-Brown, Scott & Erin O’Sullivan-Place of Twin Lights Studio, Stephanie Mason Thibodeau, Karen Chapin, Jeanne Romansky, Sharon Lowe and Elizabeth Berthoud.

This year Present will give back to the community by donating a portion of our sales on December 12th to the Gloucester Education Foundation and Cape Ann Animal Aid.

Please visit us at 196B Main Street, Gloucester, November 5 – December 24.

Hours: Monday – Friday 10-5, Saturday 9-5, Sunday 12-5; also open 6-9 on Men’s and Ladies’ Nights

 

The Family Gets Together To Bake Christmas Cookies

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

From 10AM-6:30PM with only a 1/2 hour break for pizza in teh middle of teh day.  I have absolutely no idea how many hundreds of pounds of cookies were produced.  Insane.

The Family Gets Together To Bake Christmas Cookies, originally uploaded by captjoe06.

The Bean and Cousin Amandacakes
Snoop Maddie Mad and Mams
The Bean Bakes
Snoop Mad Bakes

Jamie O’Hara Lugs Lobster Traps Up The Ladder While Ed Collard Spots and David Brooks Places

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

From Jamie O’Hara-

I want to thank everyone who helped out in building the tree on both Friday and Saturday. Friday, well Friday was not a good weather day but as Gregg B. Smith said, it was like hauling the traps at sea. Today was sunny and blowing a gale. Thank you to the nice lady who brought us hot chocolate and donuts. They both hit the spot. A special thank you to Hiltz Disposal and Lonny for their help. We could not have completed the tree today with out the “roll off”. Lonny was great helping out. The Captains who donated the use of their traps, Thank you. Happy Birthday Ed C. David and Daniel, great job. I would go into any project with you guys. Jeff W, well Jeff is the leader and this 10 years of experience is visible in the construction of the tree. Thank you to the Building Center for the use of their truck as well as the donation of top secret materials. For the people of Rockland, thank you for the “battle”, it is much fun. We wish Rockland a very Merry Christmas.

My turn to ask for help–$2500.00 will by a lot of ingredients!

Posted on by laurielufkin

I entered the Pillsbury Monthly Recipe contest and the theme this month was appetizers.  My recipe Tuscan Splendor Spinach Braid was chosen out of hundreds of recipes as one of the top ten finalists vying for $2500.00.

Would you please vote for my recipe every day until December 1st—yes,  three days from now–and I could win $2500.00 for me and Lily!  You do have to register to vote on the Pillsbury site but you do not have to select to receive emails from them.  It only takes about two minutes to sign up to vote and then you can vote daily for the three days.

Please help me….$2500.00 will buy a lot of ingredients if I win!

Here is the link to vote: https://generalmills.promo.eprize.com/bakeoff/?WT.ac=HP_Left_Feature_Picture_MonthlyChallenge

Here is the recipe and a (lousy scanned) photo:

And here’s how to make it-so simple and delicious with only a few ingredients:

INGREDIENTS
1        can (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations® refrigerated
seamless dough sheet
1/3    cup refrigerated black olive tapénade (from 7 oz container)
1        box (9 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed to drain
1/2    cup crumbled goat (chèvre) cheese
3/4    cup julienne cut sun dried tomatoes in oil, well drained
1        egg
1        teaspoon water

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Unroll dough. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press into 12×9-inch rectangle.

2. Spread tapénade in 3-inch wide strip lengthwise down the center of dough leaving 1-inch edge on both ends. Layer spinach evenly over the tapénade. Top with cheese then layer with tomatoes.

3. With scissors or sharp knife, make diagonal cuts 1 inch apart on long sides of dough rectangle to within 1/2 inch of filling. Alternately cross strips diagonally over filling. Turn ends of braid up and press to seal. In small bowl, beat egg with water. Brush over top of braid.

4. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. To serve, cut into slices.

Thank you all for your support and votes!