Progresso Souper You Contest

The nice folks at MyBlogSpark have notified me that the Progresso soup guys are gearing up for their "Souper You" contest.  If you don't know, or don't usually shop for Progresso, they have a huge line of soups now that are extremely low in calorie, but still tasty and will make your tummy feel full and happy.  These are the details:
o This year, the Souper You^® Contest will provide three lucky winners with an ultimate makeover experience in Hollywood; this includes a trip for 2 to Los Angeles, California where the winner will receive a head-to-toe makeover including hair and makeup, guided shopping spree with a $1,000 fashion retailer gift card, $1,000 spending money and 2 tickets to this season´s live finale of NBC´s The Biggest Loser.

o Progresso is asking fans to visit www.SouperYou.com and submit their photo with a brief essay about why they love Progresso soups and why they deserve a makeover, by no later than February 22nd.

o Fans can check back on March 12th for the announcement of the top ten finalists, and to vote for their favorite finalist until March 25th.

o In addition, visit  http://bit.ly.ProgressoCoup to download a printable coupon for $1.25 off the purchase of four (4) cans of Progresso Soup today, and feel free to share with your blog readers so they can take advantage of the savings as well.

If any of you guys enter, let me know. Sure would be cool if someone from our world wins a trip to L.A.!  And, don't miss out on this coupon.  If you haven't already joined the "Coupon Nation,"  head over to Southern Savers to learn how to make coupons really work for you. 

And the winner is...

Last night Neil and I went to Henry's (more on that later) to review the contest entries and to select a winner.  After many chuckles and serious deliberations, we have chosen our good friend Mike -aka- Scratch.  The way he dove-tailed onto Kelley's rapier wit was priceless and could not go unnoticed!  Congrats big fella...your cupcakes are on the way!

Free! Gratis! Complimentary! On the House!

It's contest time kiddos!  Your task is to amuse me and Neil and we will choose a winner based on how entertained we are.  "What can I win?" you may ask.  It's a packed-to-the-gills prize pack courtesy of Betty Crocker and MyBlogSpark.  You'll receive a mix of Betty Crocker's new FunDaMiddles cupcakes, decorative cupcake liners, a decorative oven mitt, cupcake notecards and a muffin tin.  You can go here for a coupon if you'd like to run out and try them right now.

So here's what you have to do.  Tell us what your favorite stuffed food is and why you love it so much.  I mean, anything from a stuffed zucchini to a stuffed crepe.  What makes it so good to you?  How did you discover it?  Anything you deem relevant...and make us laugh!  Submit your responses below in the comments section.  Make sure you tell me who you are and how to contact you (duh!).  We'll take entries until 5:00 on Friday, September 16th.  Good luck my food-lovin' friends!

FunDaMiddles

Today I tried out the Betty Crocker FunDaMiddles that arrived the other day.  They are easy to make; just mix up the batter, add the filling and bake.  The sample they sent me is yellow cake with a creamy vanilla filling.  The cake turned out very nice, light and moist.  I had tasted the filling pre-baking and was kind of doubtful.  It was thick and reminded me of marshmallow fluff, which I am not a fan of.  I know, I know, most people love this gooey gunk, but not this girl.  However, the finished product surprised me.  The filling did in fact become creamy and tasty.  And, The Vivver gave the FunDaMiddles an enthusiastic two-thumbs up!

The package I received from BlogSpark & Betty Crocker

These are the cute decorated cupcakes liners they sent.

Gettin' it all mixed up!

Nicely golden browned.

Finished product

 As I told you a few days ago, all this great stuff was provided to me from the people at BlogSpark and Betty Crocker.  I'll be posting a giveaway soon for you to enter to win this same cool prize pack.  As a recap, it contains a FunDaMiddles mix, decorative cupcake papers, cupcake notecards, a cupcake motif oven mitt AND a non-stick muffin tin!  I appreciate the goodies and the opportunity to try out this new product.  It's sure to be a big hit with kids! 

Thanks again BlogSpark and Betty Crocker!

Blog News

You may remember awhile back that I told you about being chosen as one of the winners of Lexington Medical Center's contest.  They were looking for guest bloggers to feature on their Every Woman blog.  This is the video I submitted.  Apparently they liked it.

Yesterday, all the winners and the folks from LMC met for lunch, got to know each other and to discuss the project.  Wow!  What an incredible, exciting, stimulating luncheon this was!

First, we met at Travinia's in Lexington. I'll post a separate review of lunch for you.


Lexington's idea is to create a community blog for all the women (and men) in our area to share real life stories, experiences and information.  The ladies that I met yesterday are each fascinating people.  Our blogs are all completely different, covering a wide and eclectic array of subjects.  I think having so many points of view will make LMC's blog quite interesting.  As we move toward the debut of the blog, I'll keep you posted.  I'd love for all of you to check it out and check out the blogs of my new friends.  I'll post links as soon as I compile a list of them all.  I'd also like to take this moment to thank you for reading Gastronomy (by a Wanna-be Chef).  This has become an important creative exercise for me and I love interacting with you all on one of my favorite subjects!  Thanks for reading and I hope you'll introduce your friends to the blog as well.  :-)

I won!

About a month ago, my mom called to tell me she'd heard about a blogging contest.  Lexington Medical Center was looking for women to serve as guest bloggers on their "Every Woman" blog.  I found some information on Facebook and then on the hospital's website.  I thought, "hey, I can give this a shot, right?" So, I shot a little video in my kitchen about my blog, which you, my faithful friends, read hungrily ;-)

Well,  the deadline for submissions came and I waited patiently to hear who they had chosen.  Then, I began to notice others who had submitted an entry calling for friends to vote for them on the hospital's website.  So, I thought, "hmmm, I haven't been contacted about needing votes from the public, guess I didn't make the cut."  I was perplexed by this too because I didn't recall reading anything about the winners being chosen by anyone other than the LMC folks. Oh well, I tried.

This past Friday was the day that the hospital was to announce the winners of the contest.  As I sat in a lobby waiting for an appointment, I scrolled through the list on my iPhone.  Wonder if I know any of the winners?  I recognized one or two names, then I got to the last name on the list.  It was mine!  It was misspelled, but it was my name.  How about that?  

So now I await more info from LMC about my new job as a guest blogger.  I can't wait to find out exactly what they need and want from me.  And, I can't wait to meet the other bloggers as well.  I have a feeling that it will be a diverse and eclectic mix of cool women.  For all of you who read me, I appreciate it greatly.  Once I get started on the "Every Woman" assignment, I'll be calling on you to click over there and have a read!