Oh how I love a giveaway! Remember the spiced jam post from last week? Well, the very sweet Carla Kissel has offered to give away a mixed case of 6 jars of her fantabulous spiced jam! SWEET! They make great hostess gifts, or delicious to snarf down yourself. Leave your entries by Friday, September 4th at noon central time. I will choose the winner by random later that afternoon.

Here are some ways to enter…pick all, or just one:

• Visit Kissel’s website, and check out the 6 flavors. Leave a comment below with the flavor that looks the tastiest to you…

• For an extra entry, twitter about it, and come back to leave another comment to let me know that you did…{you can do this up to 5 times total}

• For another entry, write about it in your blog…and come back here to comment…

• Subscribe to nonpareil…and let me know in a comment…

• Head on over to Kissel’s and order some jams from their online shop, and you will get 5 extra entries…again, leave comments so I can keep track…

Any questions, contact me! {This contest is only open to my U.S. readers…sorry to all you lovely readers around the world…}

Our daughter tried out for the super-deluxe traveling lacrosse team last weekend. Haven’t heard if she made it, or not {keep your fingers crossed for her}. The tryouts took us to Northbrook, a suburb north of Chicago….

Soooo…we had time to spare while our daughter was trying out, and thought we’d head to Whole Foods. While we were there, we grazed through all of the samples {piggies!!}…and were were lucky enough to meet Carla Kissel, owner of Kissel’s Spiced Jam, who was giving samples of her apricot rosemary jam. She was so enthusiastic and friendly, and popped open another jar for us to try {the second time, we tried blueberry lavender}. They were both so delicious. Seriously. Knock-your-socks-off-good.

I just had to share this fabulous little business with you!

And, from now through December 31, Kissel’s gives $1 per jar sold online to Invisible Children, Inc., “a non-profit organization whose purpose is to raise global awareness of atrocities being committed against the children of Northern Uganda, and to help the people of that region rebuild their educational and economic infrastructure.”

Yummy jam, and a good cause. win-win!

I was so excited to learn about Amelia Oil a few weeks ago! The business is a Canadian mother-daughter duo who import olive oil from a little Italian town called Amelia. The oil is wonderful, and just like I remember in Italy {my order arrived just last week, and I’ve been savoring it!}. They use only fair trade practices, and sell oil from farmers whom they know personally. The oil is reasonably priced too…for a premium olive oil. I hope you will try it…you can learn more by visiting their site, or their blog!

Do you have a favorite vacation-food that you can’t get where you live? Since I’m asking, you’d better add California fish tacos to my list!

I thought I’d act as a guinea pig {pig being the more appropriate word here} and test out the goodies from Whimsy and Spice…out of the kindness of my heart. Really. I did it for you, my dear readers. I have to report that I absolutely loved everything that I ordered. The spices were all really unique, and added to the deliciousness of the cookies! The homemade caramel marshmallows were my favorite {snarfed them down quickly, and had a really hard time sharing}. In addition to the marshmallows, I ordered the Coconut Five Spice White Chocolate Cookies, and the Chocolate Chili Cashew Biscotti. Yum!

Here’s how it works: you sign up for their mailing list {it’s a safe one, no worries}. When a new party is planned, the folks at Clandestino let you know what’s on the multi-course menu, and the general area of the city where it will be held. A few days before the event, you are told the location! It’s byob, really casual and has fabulous food. Artists and musicians are featured at each event too {all local indie minded folks}.

Here’s why I love it: First, the food is amazing. Just amazing. I love that the dishes are made with seasonal, locally raised and grown food. I love the eclectic mix of people that attend…and I love supporting a young, talented chef. {the photos above were taken at an event that we hosted. It was amazing.}

Click here to learn more about the process on the Clandestino site. If you aren’t in Chicago, there might be something similar in your neck of the woods Kill the Restaurant has some info about it too.

This post isn’t about the cute and girly. It has nothing to do with accessorizing or finding the most adorable things. Nope. This one, people, is about my hubby’s newest business. It’s totally shameless self-promotion.

Chicago Brick Oven is the brainchild of my husband, and our neighbors Bill and Carm. The three of them love to cook {we have the best block parties ever}. A couple of years ago they decided that they wanted to buy wood fired ovens. When they did research, they found almost all of the ovens were manufactured overseas. So, they decided to design and manufacture residential ovens here in the states! Crazy, I know…but let me tell you how yummy the food {especially pizza!!} is when it’s cooked in the oven {I have eaten more pizza in the last year than I care to admit}.

Check out their new website…and pass the word on to your fellow foodie friends!

Labels: food

I love love love Herb and Ginger teas. They are another one of my favorite gifts to give…perfect to have on hand for the hostess-with-the-mostess. The teas are delicious, and the packaging is adorable (do they have the cutest logo ever?!). It’s almost the time of year to cozy up with a good book and a hot cup of tea (though theirs tastes great iced too).

Labels: food, tea

I’m a food snob. That’s right. I’ll admit it. So, I’m not sure what prompted me to order cupcakes from Bangerang Bake Shop on Etsy of all places. Maybe it was the near-pornographic pictures of each bite of cake and frosting! I love the little cakes packaged in re-useable glass jars. Baked in a fully licensed bake shop (here in Illinois!), without preservatives, and using the best ingredients…these cupcakes are absolutely scrumptious!

Labels: food