Win a $100 giveaway and a chance to win a Kitchen Aid standmixer!

It's almost been a year since Snacksgiving was born. Although I envisioned it to be at a better place that it is today, it doesn't stop us from partying and celebrating.
Joining us in the party are beso.com - an online shopping destination that allows you to browse products at thousands of stores - from big name retailers to exclusive online stores and boutiques. What makes it so user friendly is that you can customize your search options to browse by your favorite category, brand, or store and create your own little gallery - all this at one place rather than browsing each store individually.

For example, here is what I have been browsing - some waffle and bread makers, and some food processors that I have narrowed down by brands.

One lucky winner will get a $100 gift card to their favorite store from the beso.com shop. To enter the giveaway:

• Do a search on beso.com for your favorite kitchen or home items and paste the url of your search results in the comments section below. It'd be nice to know why you chose that particular item(s). The link should be from beso.com.
• "Like" Beso on Facebook
• Follow Snacksgiving publicly - the Google Friend Connect is there to help.
• Tweet about this giveaway. Just copy and paste this on twitter. RT @Snacksgiving :Enter a $100 giveaway to your favourite online store - open internationally. http://bit.ly/bNxmAZ #giveaway

For an extra entry.

• "Like" Snacksgiving on Facebook. And then comment here again.

The giveaway is open internationally and ends on 12-June-2010 - when we celebrate our birthday!

Oh, and another thing. I'll ask you a question. Do you want to win a Kitchen Aid standmixer?

Do I see a nod? Well of course I do. Who doesn't want a shiny new Kitchen Aid? There is another contest open until 31-May-2010 giving you the chance to win your favourite kitchen gadget. All you need to do it share your favourite summer recipe and tell why you love it, tweet about the contest, and follow beso on twitter. Here is link to enter. 31-May-2010 is the deadline for this contest so hurry up. Good luck!

This giveaway is open to international readers so anyone can enter. if your profile doesn't link to your contact info, be sure to leave your email address so we can get in touch with you if you're the winner.

The winner will be randomly selected on Saturday, June 12 at 10am c.e.t. to receive a $100 gift card to their favorite beso.com shop. This post is sponsored by beso.com. I recieved a $50 gift certificate for my efforts in hosting the giveaway. The final responsibility for the giveaway rests with beso.com

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How to make Masala Chai

{A Girl At the local Starbucks} Can I have a Chai Tea Latte?
{Ancient} Me : "Chai Tea Latte"? That's "tea tea milk"..? That's like saying Starbucks Starbucks coffee. Or maybe not..Starbucks is a proper noun..chai..no..Ok so may be its equivalent to saying "Chocolate Chocolate biscotti" or "Whole wheat whole wheat pasta".

Yes, that is what it is equivalent to!

Masala chai is an Indian drink made my adding a blend of aromatic spices in freshly brewed tea and served hot.
Masala = Spices
Chai = Tea
It is a staple in our home and indeed, in most Indian homes. Every family has a different way of preparing their favourite brew. Some alter the ratio of the different spices, some would add more milk than water in this recipe.

While staying in New York, sharing an apartment with 2 other roommates, there would be 3 different types of tea that were made EVERY morning. Even in the morning rush that all of us used to be in, we would not budge and have the tea the other roomie was making. One used to simmer it for very long, which would make it thick and slightly burnt tasting for my liking, one used to have her own special blend of darjeeling tea with honey, and I used to have my good ole spiced chai. I usually grind up a big batch of spices every few weeks for my chai.



RECIPE
Here is what you will need to make 4 cups of Masala Chai

INGREDIENTS

• 3 Cardamom pods - Discard the outer peel, use only the seeds from the pod
• 1 Cinnamon stick 1 1/2" stick
• few pepper corns
• a teaspoon of fennel seeds
• 1" piece of ginger
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups water
• 5 teaspoons assam or darjeeling tea
• 3 and half tablespoons sugar. Brown sugar works beautifully in this recipe, but regular granulated sugar is fine too.

DIRECTIONS

1. Grind the spices into a powder.
2. Place the water in a saucepan, and add the tea to it.
3. Add in the sugar and the ground spices
4. Grate the ginger piece and put it in the saucepan
5. Once the concoction comes to a boil, add in the milk
6. Simmer it all for about a minute or two so that all the flavours combine
7. When it starts coming to a boil again, take it off the heat and pour it in your tea cups using a sieve.
8. Enjoy it hot with a biscuit or 2.

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Cupcakes for Spring

Friday night - Late at work. Wrap up work. Thank the lord! Check weekend forecast. Sigh..yet another rainy, cloudy, gloomy weekend.
Saturday morning. In bed. Sun peeps through window. What do you do? Jump out, open all the windows, dance(..sorta..) in your PJs!
Sometimes I love it when these weather forecasts are proven wrong. Easter weekend had a similar story. This weekend was another pleasant surprise.
After days of grey, today anything bright and colourful had such a calming affect on me. Spring is here. Let us celebrate.

Did I tell you I have bought dozens of new silicone moulds? Today was the perfect day to do justice to them. The cupcakes themselves are pretty basic. I refrigerated the batter for an hour while I went out for some grocery shopping - hence the domes.




Cupcakes for Spring
Here is the recipe (from the joyofbaking.com)

INGREDIENTS

1. 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
2. 2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar
3. 3 large eggs
4. 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5. Zest of 1 large lemon (optional)
6. 1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour
7. 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
8. 1/4 teaspoon salt
9. 1/4 cup (60 ml) milk

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Brush your muffin tin with butter or line them with cupcake liners. I used silicone moulds.
2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy using an electric mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.
3. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.
5. Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 18-20 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Checkout my latest post : Win a $100 giveaway and a chance to win a Kitchen Aid standmixer!

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Really? Is this spring?

So how are you all doing? Celebrating Spring? Or like us wearing jackets and mufflers every morning, struggling to get out of bed? To describe zurich weather for the past week, you need 1 word - Rain.
But I wouldn't share a gloomy, cloudy day with you. A short post today. Just realised the blog is going to complete one year of existence next month. I would have liked Snacksgiving to be at a better place than it is today.
But that's ok - I'll survive. Will come up with another Indian recipe soon. For now, I have been going a bit crazy with all the fresh berries showing up again! Woohoo! Made some desserts and smoothies with those babies, and looved it! Be back soon! Share