Monday, August 20, 2012

Austin to Boston Swap, Part Deux!

Last fall, we did a gift swap with our Austin, TX counterparts - the Austin Food Blogger Alliance - and it was so much fun that we’re doing it again! The purpose is to show off some of our favorite local food products, see what Austin has to offer, and make new blogger friends. (Last year, some participants even got to meet their swap partners in person when travel plans coincided!)

How it works:
  • During the designated sign-up period (8/20 to 9/1), bloggers from both cities sign up to participate in the swap. (Boston bloggers, sign up using this form. Austin bloggers, if you're reading this, get more info here. You guys have a separate sign-up process.)
  • Participants are paired up on a first-come, first-served basis (one Boston blogger and one Austin blogger in each pair). If the numbers are uneven, the lagging side will do an additional push after 9/1 to get enough sign-ups so that everyone can hopefully be paired, but please be aware that if you sign up on the later end, you might not get paired if the numbers don't end up matching up. Pairings will be finalized by 9/3.
  • Participants then have until 10/1 to get to know their swap partners via email, phone, smoke signal, etc. - be sure to find out about any dietary restrictions! - and to prepare and ship a box of local goodies.
  • Participants are encouraged to blog about what they sent and what they received.

Eligibility:
  • If you are already included on the blog list on BostonFoodBloggers.com, you are definitely eligible to participate!
  • If you are not yet listed but you have a food blog and live in Massachusetts, please feel free to sign up as well! (If you have already applied to be listed on BostonFoodBloggers.com but don't see your listing yet, it's probably just caught up in my extremely long backlog of site updates.) Any questions, feel free to shoot me an email!
  • Please be aware that due to the nature of this event, you should only sign up if you are 100% sure that you will be able to follow through, out of fairness to your partner and to anyone who wanted to participate but did not get paired.

What to include in the box:
  • The swap limit is $30, so please don’t spend more than that when purchasing items for your box.
  • While it’s encouraged to keep most of the items food-related, some participants last year added in some small local souvenirs or postcards as well.
  • Stay local, whatever that means to you. For some participants here in Boston, it might mean that you’ll only send things from Massachusetts. Others might want to branch out to other parts of New England. It’s up to you!
  • For some inspiration, check out the recaps participants posted last year. Taza chocolates and Fluff appeared quite frequently!
  • Many participants included homemade goods. Be sure to check with your partner about any food allergies or other dietary restrictions.
  • The inclusion of alcohol is not recommended due to the complicated shipping guidelines. If you do include alcohol, you’re on your own figuring out how to do it legally, but one thing is certain: do NOT use USPS.

Other info:
  • You’re likely to spend the least amount of money on shipping if you utilize the USPS’s flat rate boxes but feel free to explore other options as well.
  • Use the hashtag #atxbos to discuss the swap on Twitter. Share shipping tips, ideas for things to send, and any other swap-related thoughts with the community!

More information will be posted as the swap progresses, but this should be enough to start the ball rolling, so sign up now if you’d like to participate! Don’t hesitate to leave a comment on this post or email me if you have any questions.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Giveaway: Tickets to Sake and Burger Night at Tasty Burger

Update: THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. 
CONGRATS TO AMY OF MAC&CHEESE&PEAS!

From Todd Bellomy of BostonSake.com:
Love burgers? Love sake? 
The Japan Society of Boston, Todd Bellomy of BostonSake.com, Kikusui Brewery, and Tasty Burger have put together a casual evening enjoying Japan's classic drink at a true American burger joint. Tasty Burger is known not only for great tasting burgers but also for having one of Boston’s best selections of canned craft beer and superb canned wine. For this event we are going to explore the addition of canned sake to a successful burger menu. We will start the evening with an introduction to sake as a laid-back summer drink by Todd of BostonSake.com, followed by cool conversation, wonderful burgers, and of course, great sake.
The event will take place next Monday, August 13th, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at Tasty Burger, which is near Fenway. (Learn more about the event here.)

Want to win your way in? You're in luck (well, one of you). We've got a pair of tickets to give away to a lucky blogger and guest. You have until noon on Friday, 8/10, to enter, after which I'll choose the winner via a random number generator. Ways to earn entries - #1 is mandatory; #2 and #3 are optional:
  1. Leave a comment on this post. You can write anything related to sake, burgers, or both! Be sure to include the name of your blog. [Mandatory]
  2. Tweet about this giveaway. Please include a link to this blog post and be sure to mention @BostonFoodBlogs. You might also want to mention @BostonSake and @TastyBurgerUSA. For example, "I want to win tickets to Sake and Burger Night at @TastyBurgerUSA from @BostonFoodBlogs and @BostonSake! http://bit.ly/P5MSpj"
  3. Post publicly on Facebook about this giveaway (and leave the link to your post as a comment here so I know you've done it). Please include a link to this blog post.
If you don't win, you can still get a discount. Check out this post on BostonSake.com for information about saving $10 on your ticket to Sake and Burger Night and receiving a six-month complimentary membership to the Japan Society of Boston.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Helen's Kitchen Cooking School Promotion for Boston Food Bloggers

Just want to pass along this message from Helen Rennie, who teaches cooking classes out of her home in Natick. Thought some of you might be interested!


Dear Boston Food Bloggers!

Helen's Kitchen Cooking School would like to invite you to a free hands-on cooking class this August. All classes are held at Helen's house in Natick, MA. The classes offered this month are:
  • Sauce and the City on Thu, Aug 2, 6pm-9pm 
  • Tender at the Bone on Sat, Aug 4, 10am-1pm 
  • One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish on Thu, Aug 9, 6pm-9pm 
  • Orgasmic Vegetables on Thu, Aug 16, 6pm-9pm 
  • Grilling Fish and Vegetables on Sat, Aug 18, 10am-1pm 
  • Knife Skills on Wed, Aug 22, 6pm-9pm  
Class descriptions, availability, and registration

To register, please enter the URL of your blog in the "Notes" field of the registration form, and we'll know not to bill you. Our classes are limited to 8 people so that we can spend enough time with each student to help them master the cooking techniques. Please only sign up if you are committed to coming, and give us as much notice as possible in case you can't make it to class. This offer is limited to 1 class per person and is subject to class availability.

You can find us on Facebook, Google+, Yelp, and Twitter.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Event/Contest: Zagat.com Blog Relaunch Party

The folks over at Google Places have invited us to participate in a contest to win entry to a snazzy relaunch party for Zagat.com's blog! Winners will attend a cocktail party in Catalyst's cozy Fireplace Room on Sunday, January 29th, at 7PM; there will be delicious drinks and tasty treats aplenty. Attendees will also receive a free 60-day subscription to Zagat.com.

There's only room for 15 attendees, so you have to win your way in by doing what you do best - writing about food! Check out the details and official rules here. Housemade charcuterie, curried grilled shrimp, and parmesan truffle fries? Hard to resist.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Boston Food Bloggers Mini Tweetup at Mega Tweetup #3

A tweetup within a tweetup = inception tweetup?

This coming Tuesday, January 24th, from 6pm until 11pm at the Microsoft NERD Center in Cambridge, I'll be hosting a Boston Food Bloggers mini tweetup...can we call it an eetup?...within the epically large 3rd Annual #MegaTweetup.

Over in our little corner, we'll be discussing Boston, food, and blogging. And nerding out about social media.

Tickets are available for $8 over here, but I also have three free tickets to give to members of BFB. Just tweet about the event as many times as you'd like between now and Sunday at 10pm, and I'll randomly select the winners from the tweeters. More tweets = more entries. Be sure to include the hashtags #BFBeetup and #MegaTweetup, as well as a link to this post.

Follow @BostonFoodBlogs on Twitter for up-to-date information about the event, including where exactly we'll be meeting. Hope you can make it!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Sponsored Post: Help Your Favorite Charity Win $1000 from ableBanking

As a food writer, I often feel guilty that this thing that I treat as a luxury, an adventure, and a novelty is something that others have to treat as a need that is barely met. While I write fluff pieces on food, others are barely managing to get the sustenance they need to survive. When ableBanking contacted me about promoting their charitable giving contest to support Massachusetts organizations, I thought it would be a great way for the food blogging community to throw support behind fighting hunger by nominating one of Massachusetts' worthy food-related causes.

ableBanking, an online-only savings bank with a huge interest in charitable giving, is launching soon. In the meantime, they're running a contest through January 31: anyone can nominate any Massachusetts nonprofit, and the top five nominated groups will each receive $1000, an amount that can do a huge amount of good for a small organization. Nominate your favorite Massachusetts nonprofit here. I'm nominating Project Bread - the Walk for Hunger Inc., because while I'm grateful to be enjoying the luxury of food from a food blogger's perspective, I want to do what I can to ensure that others are not going hungry.

More about ableBanking:
Launching as an online-only bank gets rid of a lot of the overhead that brick-and-mortar banks deal with, freeing up funds for better things, like great rates for customers and donations to charity. ableBanking is doing both of those things. When you sign up for an account, ableBanking gives $25 to a charity of your choice. Each year, ableBanking matches a portion of your savings with another charitable donation. Pretty neat, right? To learn more, check out their blog post on the topic, or take a look at this October 2011 article in The Boston Globe.

Connect with ableBanking on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. The Twitter hashtag for this contest is #ablegiving.

More about Project Bread:
"Project Bread is dedicated to alleviating, preventing, and ultimately ending hunger in Massachusetts." It's an important mission, considering that over 250,000 Massachusetts households are at risk for hunger. Project Bread strives to be a thought leader, coming up with scalable solutions towards ending hunger, and raises millions of dollars through its yearly Walk for Hunger, the oldest continual pledge walk in the country. The organization supports 400 emergency food programs in Massachusetts (such as soup kitchens and food banks) and fields a hotline, FoodSource, to help hungry people know where to turn.

Connect with Project Bread on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

More food-related charity opportunities:
One of ableBanking's featured partners, the Greater Boston Food Bank, has declared every January "Super Hunger Month," and it's filled with opportunities for giving. For example, on Wednesday, January 25th, the Four Seasons is hosting the Super Hunger Chef fundraiser for the sixth year in a row; local chefs including Jody Adams, Brooke Vosika, Michael Schlow, and Tim Cushman will treat attendees to an "international culinary tour." Tickets are $125; proceeds benefit the Greater Boston Food Bank. Additionally, Super Hunger Brunch takes place on Saturday the 28th and Sunday the 29th.

In addition to Project Bread and the Greater Boston Food Bank, Boston has many other food-related organizations that could use our support, such as Future Chefs, The Women's Lunch Place, The Friday Night Supper Program, and The Food Project.

I hope you'll take a minute - that's all it'll take - to nominate your favorite local charity for this contest. $1000 can make a big difference. And I'd love to hear about which charity you're nominating; please feel free to share your thoughts and stories in the comments below, and please share this information with the rest of the Massachusetts blogosphere and general community.

Disclosure: I am receiving monetary compensation from ableBanking to promote this contest.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

500 Members!

We just hit a big milestone: Boston Food Bloggers now has 500 blogs listed! Here are the latest additions to the list; check them out and make them feel welcome!

Boozy Brunch by Tania Rangel: "Your guide to a fabulously shaken (not stirred) way of life."

Boston Food Deals by Phil Hunt (@bostonfreefood/Facebook): "My blog will help you find free and highly discounted food in the Boston area. Occasionally I will throw in a free non-food item. Enjoy!"

brfoodie by Pacience Smith (@coco520): "I am a recent Boston transplant from Louisiana. I have Massachusetts roots and I'm exploring all things New England but from a southerner's point of view."

Cooking with Coley by Nicole Lawler (@nicolelawler/Facebook): "More than just a recipe blog, Cooking with Coley is a destination for home cooks to get inspired – whether it’s making a dish healthier or experimenting with a new ingredient. I live by two mottos – any dish can be healthier without sacrificing flavor and anyone can cook if they just give it a try. Not only do I invite you to test a recipe yourself, but I challenge you to try to get creative in your own kitchen."

The Eats: "kteb and cdog decided to log their encounters with great things they have eaten or think about eating – which pretty much is all the time. they like food. they like to drink. they like to blog. it only made sense for this blogging relationship to become something of its own."

Finding clairity (@findingclairity): "There's a lot about food here. In an attempt to reign in a sugar addiction, I removed white sugar and dairy almost completely from my diet. I sweeten primarily with stevia, sometimes using small amounts of minimally processed sugars, like raw honey. Making this change has also encouraged me to eat healthier in general, and I follow a mostly vegan diet as well. My general food philosophy is to eat as much fresh produce and unprocessed, organic foods as possible. But I've also learned that I am more likely to stick to a healthy diet if I don't feel compelled to, so I occasionally indulge, and consider it part of my wellness plan."

Fitness and Feta (@fitnessandfeta/Facebook): "A Greek girl's guide to healthy living and a happy life."

Food Beautiful by Janet Kalandranis (@foodbeautyful): "There's nothing more comforting than Sunday dinners around a large Greek family. Food is a focal point of each day and of every occasion. I live for the smell of fresh herbs, the sight of an heirloom tomato and the ability of a bowl of pasta to connect a group of people. Here's my real food blog that makes a celebration out of every meal!"

Gourmanding (@whowantssoup): "Where to eat in Boston."

Kait's Inside Dish by Kait Capone (@KaitsInsideDish/Facebook): "As of January I am back to the bean town. I plan to blog about the many local restaurants (both about the vegan friendly offerings to the restaurants simply offering a vegan option by chance) I also plan to post recipes inspired by the local Boston flavors. My blog is unique because it focuses on healthy vegan recipes and dining reviews based on my travels."

A Locavore Lost in Urbanity (@lostlocavore): "A happy-go-lucky woman living in Boston, I’ve recently found myself immersed in a world of food and all aspects leading to its creation. This blog is a chronicle of my adventures as I challenge myself to being a locavore. I’m a new blogger hoping share my explorations and thoughts as I travel down this strange new road."

My Vegetarian Paradise (Facebook): "Being a vegetarian with a passion for local food, healthy choices and caring about the planet may not always seem like a paradise. This blog serves to show the successes and struggles - and everything in between!"

Old New England Recipes (@royalpresence): "Collections and curation of New England recipes from New England Clam Chowder to Boston Baked Beans, Seafood Newburg, and old fashioned brown bread."

Pea 1 and Pea 2 (@Pea1andPea2): "As sisters, fellow foodies, and best friends (when we're not fighting over clothes or the TV clicker), we've deemed ourselves--a cliche, we know--two peas in a pod. So, the two peas welcome you to a food blog that will keep us cooking, photographing, and procrastinating on a daily basis. These posts are our 'food moments': snippets of our daily lives that are captured through mealtimes. And snacktimes. Enjoy!"

The PescoVegetarian Times by Myrna Greenfield (@MyrnaGreenfield): "The PescoVegetarian Times is Myrna Greenfield’s blog about the joys and challenges of being a fish-eating vegetarian trying to eat fresh, local, healthy and delicious food."

Pink Apron Baker by Alayna Van Tassel (@PinkApronBaker/Facebook): "I am a thirtysomething professional working and living in the Boston area with a passion for baking and cooking. I am mostly self taught, having taken one class on pie making. Everything I have learned has been from trial and error...I started this blog as a way to keep track of what I've made and to share tips and techniques with others. I originally only posted about baking, but this blog has now grown to include general cooking posts. I love sharing ideas for making a delicious, yet quick weeknight meals."

Pretty Plate (@prettyplate/Facebook): "Inspiration for your kitchen endeavors."

Seasons from Scratch (@ssnsfrmscrth): "Perhaps one of my favorite things about nature is experiencing the change of the seasons. This is because I love taking part in 'seasonal' activities - baking apple pie in the fall, decorating our Christmas tree, planning a garden for the spring and designing and sewing a cute dress to add to my summer wardrobe. I have decided to share the how-tos for my delicious recipes and fun crafts in hopes that you will have as much joy creating these lovelies as I do!"

Seth's Food Blog by Seth Heidkamp: "A blog about cooking and food, and how to make it taste good and be healthy. The dishes are almost all gluten/dairy free, and many are vegetarian. The focus is on techniques and ingredients over recipes - this is about everyday cooking, and that means making it work with whats on hand!"

SheManufactures (@shemanufactures): "Learning to fit more veggies and better meat into our meals, baking with almond flour, finding great places to eat out, and occasionally laughing at stories of my kitchen catastrophes."

Simply Gourmet in Southie by Emily Goodman (@EmilyJGoodman/Facebook): "Life long Bostonian, passionate about cooking, and new to the blogging world!"

Streaming Cheese by Chris Tighe and David Gordon: "This blog is dedicated to the idea that great food can be prepared in grubby places. More specifically, our grubby kitchens. And, such a magnificent feat can be accomplished easily, without the help of fancy gadgets, expensive shopping trips to France, or lasers. Born from the land of triple-decker apartments, where the kitchens are crappy and the company’s rowdy, this blog sets the bar low to ensure success. All the food is acquired from local joints, cooked in less-than-ideal conditions, and photographed on scene as is. If you like simple food, modified to look like classy gastronomic porn, this blog might be for you. So strap on your aprons kids, its going to be a tasty ride."

The Sweet Life by Melanie Martin (@melanie_martin): "I’m a twenty-something preschool teacher living in Boston. I love to: BAKE, take pictures of things I bake, take pictures of things in general (read: mostly flowers and puppies), EAT, and explore this wonderful city I live in."

The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook Blog (@DineLikeDraper/Facebook): "Our blog explores all aspects of the food and drink seen on the hit television show 'Mad Men.'"

Yoga, beauty, life: "I am on my path. Where it leads, I can only guess. My goal is to trust the process and work through my pain without judging it. I’ll update this as my path develops but for now, I invite you to travel along with me as all is revealed in due time."