Life

My mom started making the spiced pecans here when I was in high school.  Back then, I didn’t like anything spicy–until I decided these nuts were worth a little mouth pain (make no mistake I was a suuuuuuper wimp).

As the years continued on, these nuts became a staple in the fall and winter in our house (and ultimately in my own house).

When I went to law school, I made several pounds of these nuts every year.  I had to.  I had a roommate the second half of law school who deemed these “YUM.”  Just YUM, in all CAPS.  Since then, these nuts have become a staple gift.  Hostess gifts, Christmas gifts, I-made-you-something-special-for-your-hike-gifts…

So, on behalf of Zach, the Monday giveaway is a jar of YUM.  Great in salads, as a snack, or as an accent to a great cheese and charcuterie plate.

Comment below and a winner will be picked at random on January 31!

Well, it is January, and January is the time for new beginnings.  And here at the Hungry Dater that often means re-evaluating our eating habits to improve on eating and being healthy.

But anyone who knows me (or whose been here a while) knows that I am no longer a dieter.  I dieted for a lot of years.  It ruled my consciousness for a good bit of my adult life.  Then I read Intuitive Eating.  I promise I’ll do a full article on it in the very near future, but for anyone who’s looking to get healthy in the new year without starving themselves, this is the perfect book to read!

Comment below for a chance to win a copy on January 31!

Saturdays on Hungry Dater are generally reserved for party foods and sweets.  And NOTHING is sweeter than these chocolate covered berries.

Shari Fitzpatrick cornered the market on chocolate covered fruit delivery several years ago, and now she has started a new company to continue improving the chocolate delivery market.

It’s a little early for Valentine’s Day, but these would be an amazing finish to any meal (or, let’s face it, any Saturday morning post-happy-hour, in-bed -by-yourself-with-the-dog breakfast!  Oh… Just me???  Shucks.)  😉

The winner of these, can let me know if they’d like them delivered to someone else as a sweet “thinking of you” gift, and the date you’d like them delivered.

Comment below to be chosen to win on January 31!!!

 

So today’s post was recapping the Tahoe Rim Trail segment hike.  If you haven’t read it yet, read it here.

So I figured what better way to celebrate than to make today’s giveaway a bottle of Tahoe Blue Vodka!

I’m allergic to wheat, so I can’t drink many of the vodkas on the shelf today.  And those of you who have been reading a while will likely understand—based on the martini recipes—how tough that is for me.  While Tito’s is a wonderful gluten free option and is offered pretty much everywhere, nothing beats the flavor and smoothness of Tahoe Blue Vodka—which ALSO happens to be Gluten Free.

I’m a huge proponent for Tahoe Blue, but rather than go on and on, I’m going to let the product speak for itself.  Of course, you have to be 21 for this giveaway.  Comment below and one lucky winner will be picked on January 31 to receive a bottle of Tahoe Blue Vodka delivered to them.

Again, I have to remind you that originally the 12 Days of Giveaways was supposed to (and the future annual ones will) take place in December.  Therefore, some of the products are clearly winter- or seasonally-oriented.  And while today’s giveaway is clearly something that is generally a Christmas or Holiday tradition, there is no reason it shouldn’t be cultivated at all other times of the year.

Williams Sonoma is like my Disneyland.  I love it.  And my favorite time there is fall and winter.  Why?  Because of the Hot Chocolate!

Williams Sonoma releases their hot cocoa every year and it is seriously the best hot cocoa I’ve ever tasted.  It’s a bit more labor intensive than some of your powdered versions of cocoa, but I promise it’s more than worth it.

 

Comment below for the chance to win your own canister of WS Cocoa on January 31!  There will still be plenty of winter left to enjoy it.

Yesterday’s giveaway was all about manners, today’s is definitely not.  If anyone can make etiquette seem sexy it’s Madame Chic, but no one makes food sexier than the authors of Intercourses.

This book is one of the only books I’ve ever seen devoted entirely to aphrodisiacs.  But even more than that, it’s the only cookbook I’ve seen where each page is a piece of artwork—complete with nude models.  Now, before you get huffy, “nude” is relative.  Each chapter focuses on a different aphrodisiac, complete with its own beautifully artistic photograph of a body covered in or wearing the food featured in that chapter.

Each recipe comes complete with a story of someone else’s experience with the dish.  This cook book is a work of art in so many ways.  It’s fun to read, wonderful to cook from, and creates its own version of kitchen romanticism.  This copy is signed by the author!

Comment below to win the signed copy of this book on January 31.  (And keep an eye out for a Valentine’s giveaway for this again…  You may get a second chance.  🙂

 

***If you JUST. CAN’T. WAIT.  Below is a link where you can purchase your very own copy!

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As a self-proclaimed dating guru(???), I find myself reading a lot on dating.  Lately that has brought me into a semi-obsession with etiquette.  However, etiquette in this day and age is a lost art.  It’s also one most people think of weird rather than proper.

Enter Jennifer Scott.  Jennifer has modernized the discussion of etiquette and poise so that it’s not only applicable to our daily lives, but essential to the modern woman’s dating tools.  Cultivating poise is something Jennifer learned while living with a host family in Paris, and she translates the lessons she learned into a modern instruction manual on the art of etiquette and poise.  She has three books that are fabulous (in addition to her blog, The Daily Connoisseur).

In Polish Your Poise, she actually delves a bit into the world of dating itself.  This book is a must-read for anyone wanting to brush up on their manners and hone their skills of being a well-dressed, wonderfully-approachable, modernly-formal individual with that je ne se quoi that makes poised people so special.

Comment below for your chance to win!  A winner will be chosen on January 31.

 

***If you missed out or you just can’t wait, purchase the book through the link below.

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On Mondays at Hungry Dater, I usually like to focus on “meatless” (meaning mostly veggie or fruit focused but not always totally meatless) meals to start the week off right.

One of my new favorite things to add to both meat-centered and meatless meals are the products from Big Horn Oil Company here in Reno.  These people are passionate about their products, how their made, and the authenticity of their flavors.

You may wonder how a store gets by selling only oils and vinegars.  The answer is: There are so many more opportunities with oil and vinegar than any of us lay-people EVER thought possible!  The flavors and infused scents of these different condiments will have you wanting to try and buy every one of their products and use them all the time (or maybe hoard them like I do…).

So, in order to start your infused oil and vinegar collection, today’s giveaway is for an herb vinegar used for the Turkey brine featured here.  The winner will be totally prepared to make the perfect Turkey next year.  Comment below for your chance to win and January 31!

So, when the 12 Days of Giveaways initially was set for December (before the website so conveniently decided to crash), Sunday night was going to be “family movie night,” and the movie was going to be A Christmas Story.

But now in light of the change in the season (bye Christmas!), a movie night will be much more satisfactory with a great, super-funny, not-only-for-chicks flick.

A friend of mine and I watch this movie together a lot.  It started as our breakup movie.  Nowadays it serves as our breakup, laugh-together, need-a-pick-me-up, reminder-of-impending-summer go-to.

What’s particularly funny about that is my friend (a semi-macho straight guy) is the one who started the tradition.  If nothing else, you’ll get a couple hours of laughs out of it.

Comment below and January 31^st we’ll pick the person who won’t have to think of their next date night movie choice.

Saturdays on The Hungry Dater are usually geared toward party food and sweets.

There are not many things in this world better than chocolate.  And artisan chocolates are truly one of my more favorite foodie indulgences.  Dorinda’s Chocolates is a local artisan chocolatier that creates some of the most amazing chocolaty indulgences.  My favorite:  the dark chocolate caramel with sea salt.  But really, I’ve never had anything I didn’t like there.  Saturdays are a day for sweets and party food, so I’m giving away a box of Dorinda’s.

Comment below and on January 31, one lucky duck with a major sweet tooth will be chosen to seriously savor some of Dorinda’s best chocolaty goodness.

***Image complements of the Dorinda’s Chocolates website.  Visit the website here.