It’s my one year blogiversary today! It all started with my pesto lasagna, and here we are, 92 original recipes later! When a fellow contestant at the Pillsbury BakeOff told me that Anna, the previous BakeOff $1 million winner, had a blog called Cookie Madness, I was intrigued. I checked it out and immediately became addicted to Anna’s blog and several others on her blogroll. It wasn’t long before I was toying with the idea of starting my own. Cooking had been my creative outlet for a few years by then, and I had a feeling I would enjoy blogging, but I never anticipated how amazing the food blogging community would be or how many friends I would make. You have all inspired me to challenge myself in the kitchen and prepare things outside of my comfort zone, and I’m a better cook because of it. Getting feedback has been incredible too – I appreciate each and every comment and there is no better feeling than the swell of happiness when someone says they’ve enjoyed one of your recipes!

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with a giveaway. I love buying presents – I’m one of those people who will brainstorm and research until I find the perfect gift. So, I’ve actually been thinking about this giveaway for a couple months now and slowly accumulating items for two prize packages that I would love to receive!

The first prize set ties in with my new blog design that is finally up (yay!) and is a Martha Stewart Cupcake carrying case, Williams Sonoma Daisy Crown Cupcake Pan, and a cute set of 6 spring sprinkles from Target.

The second prize set is an adorable apron from Anthropologie, a shower gel set from Sephora featuring apple pomegranate, vanilla cupcake, guava passion, and coconut crème scents, and a Stila Mango and Pomegrante Crush lip gloss set.

When you comment, just let me know which prize set you like the most and that’s the one you will be entered to win.

There are two ways to enter:
1. Leave a comment letting me know which of my recipes you’d like to try most.
2. You can get an additional entry for each time that you’ve blogged about one of my recipes (if you were inspired by one of my recipes and changed things a bit, that counts!). Post each link in a separate comment.

Remember, don’t forget to tell me which set of prizes you would like to be entered to win in each comment. Entries must be in by 11:59 pm EST on Friday, March 5. Good luck and thank you for following me on my foodie adventures. I’m already excited to see what the next year will bring!

p.s. The winner of the CSNstores Crème Brulee set giveaway was commenter number 55, Ashley – congrats!

When Hotel Chocolat recently contacted me about trying their premium chocolates, how could I resist? Hotel Chocolat (shok-o-la) is a UK chocolatier that specializes in high-end luxury chocolates, so I jumped at the chance to check out their new hip shop on Newbury Street in Boston.

The store itself was warm, sleek, and inviting, with shelves and tables brimming over with their signature chocolate slabs, truffles, and whimsical chocolate bars. I expected the cool contemporary store, but was surprised by the very wonderful, friendly, and unpretentious service (and yes, I was shopping anonymously!)! I immediately felt at home asking all my foodie questions.  All their chocolates are organic, and they actually own a cocoa plantation in St. Lucia and see the chocolate making process through from start to finish.

After perusing the store and sneaking in a few pictures, I decided I needed to sample a variety of treats. I selected the Christmas Goody Bag, which contained a cute solid milk chocolate penguin and Santa, milk chocolate Christmas pudding slab with crunchy shortbread cookies, Christmas Star hazelnut and caramel truffles, and a bag of Munchkin Snowballs, which are mini shortbread cookies surrounded in white chocolate and dusted with sugar!

Everything was incredibly rich and decadent. I couldn’t stop myself from ripping into the package on the train and was immediately transported to another place with just one luxurious bite!  The chocolates sets are the perfect holiday hostess gifts and I was so happy I was able to try them – thank you Hotel Chocolat!

And don’t worry – Hotel Chocolat didn’t forget about you! I’m giving away a Christmas Goody Bag and Milk Chocolate Advent Calendar to two lucky readers!

There are two ways to enter:

1. Check out Hotel Chocolat’s Christmas Chocolate Gifts and leave a comment with a link to the item you most want Santa to leave in your stocking!

2. Tweet about this giveaway (using #cakebatterbowl), or post about it on your blog or Facebook. Don’t forget to come back and leave a second comment with the link for your second entry.

Entries must be in by Saturday, December 5 at 11:59pm EST. Good luck!