Second Annual Cans for Comments!

I was listening to the radio the other day when the news came on. Two stories caught my attention. The first, was that the "Honeybee Killer" was shot and killed during a botched robbery in a strip mall Johnny and I had just been at not even two weeks ago. (I know!!!)

The second was a little more somber: The Salvation Army reports that donations this year are down 13% from previous years' figures. At first I thought "well, yeah that's because everybody uses debit cards and doesn't have change for the little red buckets." But then I realized that couldn't be the reason for a 13% drop. Debit cards have been around for years and it hadn't affected donations this badly before.

It made me stop and think how devastating it must be for many families this time of year. To not only be struggling to pay the normal bills and costs of life, but to add the stress of presents, a tree, decorations, a big Christmas dinner, and other holiday expenses that add up.

To hear that even the charities trying to help these families are struggling made me want to chip in! I emailed Laura to see if she'd be up for another serious ass-kicking friendly competition of Cans for Comments this year. Her response? "Hells yeah!"

So here's where you come in!

Each comment left on this post between today and Monday, December 20th will equal a can of food donated to a local Chicagoland food pantry.

Leave a comment for yourself, your mom, your dog. Tell me what your favorite color is, what you want for Christmas this year, or what your middle name is. Just leave comments so I can beat the pants off Laura donate tons to charity this year!

And if you'd like to join in too, just let us know! We'll add you to the list!

Cans for Comments 2010 Hosts
Hey What's for Dinner Mom?

Holiday Baking Giveaway

The folks at Betty Crocker, Glad, and Safeway stores have teamed up with My Blog Spark for a "Bake your Holidays Merry" giveaway. They're hoping to revive the holiday tradition of baking and giving cookies.


The package includes:

- a 3-pack of Glad reusable containers
- a package of Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
- a $25 Safeway card (also valid at Dominick's, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Vons, and Genuardi's)

I used my sugar cookie package to whip up the thumbprint cookies pictured on the back. I'm going to pack them in a Gladware and send them to my brother for Christmas! I think he might like these a bit more than the sweet potato bread I'm gifting everybody else!


I also have another prize pack to give to a Dinner at Christina's reader! There are three ways to enter (each worth one entry):

- Visit BakeSweetMemories.com and leave a comment telling me which recipe you would like to try. (worth 1 entry, mandatory)

- Tweet the giveaway, mentioning @DinneratXtinas (worth 1 entry, leave an additional comment)

- Share a "first" with Friday Firsts this Friday. (worth 1 entry, leave an additional comment)

Giveaway will end Sunday, Dec. 19th. Winner will be announced Monday, Dec. 20th.

This prize pack and the one to be rewarded were received compliments of MyBlogSpark, Gladware, Betty Crocker, and Safeway stores. Any opinions of the products are my own.

You may be in Christina's kitchen if...

(a la Jeff Foxworthy's "You might be a redneck if...")

...when working with squash little bits of guts end up on her shiny, black cabinet doors.

...when baking, some of her drawer handles become covered with batter smudges.

...her stovetop has little crunchies under the burner.

...to the left of her sink is in a constant state of disarray.

...her cereal selection would make a six year old jealous.

...this guy's always at her feet because he knows she's going to drop something.

...the recycle bin is always overflowing because she's too lazy busy to empty it.

...she forgets about rising dough in the warm microwave on a Wednesday.

...she somehow manages to forget about rising dough in a warm microwave on Thursday, too.

Life with a Food Blogger

Before I moved in with Johnny he was a bachelor for eight comfortable years.

Three of those years he didn't even have a kitchen, because he'd torn it out for remodeling. His food prep area consisted of a microwave in a spare bedroom. Needless to say, he ate take out a lot.

Much has changed since then.

He used to have all white dishes.

He used to have a small bag of flour he kept in a ziploc bag. It was his only baking-related ingredient on hand.

He used to have maybe 10 utensils, tops.

This drawer used to be full of candy.

This cabinet used to be empty. Not one thing was in it. (Hi Poe!!)

This closet used to be empty, too. (Such a shame, really...)

How has your life changed since becoming a food blogger?

Friday Firsts - Carbonara

Happy Friday everybody! Please click the image above if you need more information on Friday Firsts!

It's scary how close we're zooming towards Christmas! I swear I've been to the post office pretty much every day this week between shipping Amazon orders, Etsy apron orders, and Christmas presents.

My first for this week is Carbonara! Not only was this the first time I ever made carbonara, it was also the first time I'd ever eaten it too! Definitely a keeper!! I'm only sad that I didn't try it sooner.

Now it's your turn to tell me about your first! To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

<a href="http://www.dinneratchristinas.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://glc.dinneratchristinas.com/i/fridayfirsts.png" alt="Friday Firsts / DinnerAtChristinas.com" style="width: 220px; height: 220px; border: none"/></a>

10 Pounds of Angus Burgers

I won Christo's caption contest a few weeks ago from Marx Foods.

Justin was kind enough to let me wait until after Thanksgiving for their delivery. I needed to clear some freezer space.

A fully insulated, well-packed box landed on my doorstep. Inside were 20 beautifully crafted burgers. 18 of them went into the freezer, 2 of them were defrosted for dinner that night.

I cooked them medium rare in a pre-heated dry skillet over medium high heat with just a sprinkling of salt and pepper.

The last minute or two I put on a slice of cheddar to melt.

"Amazing" doesn't do these burgers justice.

Johnny verified with me three separate times that he was just eating meat sprinkled with salt and pepper. He could not get over how much flavor was packed in these, he was convinced I had marinated them or something.

Thanks again Christo and Justin!

S'Mores Brownies

You're going to hate me.

Actually, let me rephrase that.

You're going to love me, your thighs are going to hate me.

1 box your favorite brownie mix
1/2 bag mini marshmallows
6-8 graham crackers
1 bar your favorite chocolate

Bake the brownies according the package instructions, removing from oven just before done. Layer with the marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate bar (I used 70% cocoa). Place back in the warm oven until the chocolate and marshmallows soften a bit.

For extra sinfulness, slice and serve warm. (Random factoid: knowing that I'd be making these, I bought the low-fat graham crackers. As if that somehow made it better.)

As expected, these are obnoxiously sweet. My teeth were hurting. But it is oh so good.

I think it'd make an excellent potluck contribution. It'd also be great for a bake sale or cake walk. As easy as brownies, but a lot more special and unique!

A huge thank you to Mary at Giving up on Perfect, who linked these up to Friday Firsts!