I know I say this every single time I do a Cookbook Giveaway, but this time I mean it more than ever: It was so hard to pick a winner this time.

I had entries from folks who had just quit smoking, were on fixed incomes and could not afford the book, wanted to lose weight for retirement, wanted to help their loved ones cook healthier meals for themselves and hoped the book would help them teach their children about a healthier lifestyle. I wanted to give the book to every single person who entered.

Fortunately, I was assisted just a little bit by a surprise phone call that I received this week. The public relations person for the Podleski sisters are sending me…. drum roll, please… an autographed copy of the book! So now I have TWO copies and I will give them out to my top TWO winners.

The winner of the autographed copy is Amanda, who said: I just started graduate school and am currently living at home with my 2 dogs while my husband is away doing military training. It’s so hard to eat healthy when it’s just myself! I’ve been married a little over 2 years and my husband is in the Army. He’s been gone for a little over 3 months. Right now he is doing training for his position. He will be be home in October and deployed next year. This will be a great way to get myself in shape -not only for him but for myself. I’ve started going to the gym, but need help with the nutritional aspect. I have around 40 pounds to go!

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It’s here! It’s here!

After lunch at Wasabi today (more on that later), we wandered down the street to see if Chocolatepaper‘s second location had indeed opened today, and lo and behold, it had! Now those of us who live across town from Southwest County or work downtown have easy access to one of the coolest shops in Roanoke.

As I have mentioned before, Chocolatepaper is owned by some of the same folks who own Mongrel, a fun, kitschy gift and card shop in Careytown in Richmond. The downtown Roanoke version features a wide range of cards and three display cases filled with beautiful chocolates, which range from 33 cents up to about $3 apiece.

They also have a lot of Roanoke and Virginia-centric gifts, like solid chocolate Mill Mountain stars and Virginia state-shaped cookie cutters. It would be a great place to make a basket for someone who is new to the ‘noke.

Image source: Chocolatepaperroanoke.com

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My sister is such a Chick-fil-A freak that she and her co-workers once dressed up as cows to win a free lunch at one of the restaurant locations in South Carolina.

It’s no surprise, then, that she was the one who sent me an e-mail announcing an upcoming chance for all of us to score free chicken strips on Labor Day at a Chick-fil-A near us.

According to the company’s promotional site, all you’ve got to do is visit a participating Chick-fil-A between 10:30 a.m. and closing time on Labor Day wearing any clothing or accessory that has a collegiate logo, or the logo of your favorite recreational football team, middle or high school football team, or professional football team.

If you do that, you’re eligible for three of the restaurant’s new chicken strips, which they are advertising as “bigger, tastier and dippier.” I guess this promotion serves as advertisement for their new strips as well as a celebration that football season is upon us. I can handle that!

In other news, please make sure to post a comment about why you want to win “Eat, Shrink & Be Merry” by Janet & Greta Podleski. The Cookbook Giveaway ends at 5 p.m. today and I’ll announce the winner tomorrow.

Stay dry. Eat a bowl of soup. Warm up.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such compelling and convincing entries in the Cookbook Giveaway contest.

Apparently, “Eat, Shrink and be Merry” by Janet & Greta Podleski has struck a chord with everyone from nursing mothers wanting to lose weight and stay healthy to military wives who are trying to stay in shape and maybe slim down for when hubby returns.

I’m guessing the big attraction is probably that the Podleski sisters manage to pass along healthful cooking practices with a big sense of humor. Who needs another dry, discouraging diet book?

Let’s keep the entries coming until Wednesday. Since the book sounds so popular, I’m going to share another recipe, this time for a chicken salad with pecans and cranberries in a creamy orange dressing.

Keep those entries coming!!

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Given the pitiful number of replies to the cookbook giveaway yesterday, I can only conclude that:

a) nobody was interested in that book, or
b) everyone was actually having a pretty good Monday and couldn’t think of anything whiny to say to earn the book.

Hopefully it was the latter, because this really is a beautiful cookbook. We do have a cookbook winner, however, and her name is Angela G. She wrote, “The dirt under my fingernails, my aching shoulders, and pinched back are all reasons why I deserve the organic cookbook you are giving away today. In addition to the 40+ hour work week I spend behind a desk I also work on an organic farm that provides weekly harvests of organic veggies and free range eggs to CSA shareholders in my small town.”

To check out Angela’s entire response, look below the jump. Congrats, Angela! E-mail me your mailing address and I’ll send “Organic Marin” your way.

In other news, tomorrow is National Bring Your Salad to Work Day. That’s according to Kraft Salad Dressings. I can’t imagine how they would benefit from such a day. Marketing aside, it seems like a good excuse to bring a crisp, cool salad to work for lunch. I’ve got some romaine, cherry tomatoes, green pepper and garbanzo beans lurking in my fridge this moment.

Next up, does anyone watch “The Next Food Network Star?” If so, it may amuse you to learn that someone on the Food Network’s Web team accidentally revealed the winner online before the finale ran. Oops!!

And finally, has anyone out there ever had a custard pie with fruit? As a lover of pies, I was surprised to realize that I never have had such a pie. A reader wrote in last night with his recipe for wineberry custard pie, which looks 10 times easier than actually collecting the wineberries for the pie. I’ll post the recipe, along with his beautiful picture, later today.

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The weekend flew by as usual, with a few blessings thrown in. I harvested my first round of cherry tomatoes (oh, the sweetness) and threw some lime on my other plants to hopefully rid them, once and for all, of the blossom-end rot.

More importantly, I learned that blog reader Lori gave birth to a bouncing baby boy, Samuel, early Friday morning. That makes regular blog reader Kathy a proud grandma! Congratulations to them!!

Let’s continue to brighten up this Monday morning with a cookbook giveaway! This week’s feature book is “Organic Marin: Recipes from Land to Table” by Tim Porter and Farina Wong Kingsley. It was produced by Marin Magazine and includes a forward about organic gardening.

Even if you don’t grow or buy all organic, there are some wonderful recipes in this book. I was immediately drawn to one for a shaved zucchini salad with Italian sheep’s milk cheese, which I will share below the jump.

If you want to win this beautifully illustrated, hardcover book, write in and tell me why you think you are most deserving of a little cheer on this Monday. I’ll accept entries until 6 p.m. today. If you have won previously, you cannot win. Thanks!

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And now I present to you…Amy T., the winner of the latest Cookbook Giveaway!

Amy won “Screen Doors and Sweet Tea” by Martha Hall Foose by being the first person to e-mail me a picture of her tomato plants.

“All green. Horrendous,” she wrote.

Well, maybe the cookbook has a few ideas for green tomatoes, Amy!

Thanks to the others who sent in lovely photos of their tomato plants. Everyone else can save themselves the trouble of running out to the garden with a camera.

And now, I leave you with the runners-up:

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It’s difficult for me to pinpoint the one recipe I learned from my grandmother or my mother that stands out as a favorite. Both of those women taught me so much about cooking and life.

If I had to, though, I’d say that my Grandma Nair’s carrot-raisin salad is near the top of the list. It’s such a simple recipe, but it taught me that you don’t always need exact measurements to turn out a delicious taste. And as someone who generally is not that fond of carrots, it showed me that with an open mind, an adventurous spirit and the right combination of ingredients, a person can learn to love a dreaded food.

I’ll attach a loose version of Grandma’s recipe below. But I’d love to know what one recipe you have that always reminds you of your mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, godmother or another very special woman in your life.

Entries must include the actual recipe. They will go into a random drawing to win a prize that’s a little more elaborate than my usual Cookbook Giveaway. This one (pictured above) includes the Betty Crocker Cookbook for Women and a Pampered Chef apron, measuring bowl, spatula, paring knife and herb seasoning blend.

The deadline for entering is 5 p.m. Thursday. I’ll announce the winner Friday morning.
Good luck!

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Ahhhhhh! Stop! We have three winners!
Terri Naff wins “BBQ Bash: The Be-All, End-All Party Guide, from Barefoot to Black Tie” by Karen Adler and Judith Fertig.
Kenn gets “Burgers: 52 Easy Recipes for Year-Round Cooking” by Sally Sampson.
And Melanie will receive “BBQ Joints: Stories and Secret Recipes from the Barbecue Belt” by David Gelin with a foreward by John T. Edge.
Thanks to everyone else who commented! Even if you didn’t win, I feel as if I did — I was able to hear from a bunch of folks who read my blog every day but rarely make comments. It’s so nice to hear from you guys.
Thanks for reading my blog. I hope our winners enjoy their books (e-mail your address to lindsey.nair@roanoke.com to receive them) and I certainly hope the rest of you will keep coming back.
I’ll have another Cookbook Giveaway very soon.
Enjoy this beautiful grilling weather!

I spent much of the day on a farm in Pittsylvania County, so I’m just now checking back on the blog.
Apparently, the grilled cheese topic is still going strong. I even got a note from a friend and Kroger employee who jokingly requested that I give them a heads up next time I plan to write about grilled cheese so they can stock bread and cheese. I’m pretty sure he was joking, anyway.
In addition, my mother found herself at the West Virginia Welcome Center yesterday afternoon, where one employee said, “Aren’t you Lindsey Nair’s mother?” and proceeded to chat with her about grilled cheese sandwiches.
Since I’m short on time today, I think I’ll just introduce our next Cookbook Giveaway.
This week, the book isn’t exactly a cookbook but it sure is packed with good food talk. It’s called “Roadfood” by Jane & Michael Stern, and it has recently been updated with 200 new listings.
The Sterns call their book “The coast-to-coast guide to 700 of the best barbecue joints, lobster shacks, ice cream parlors, highway diners and much, much more.”
The Sterns did make their way through Virginia, but I won’t tell you if they highlighted any local food joints. That would just spoil the fun of reading the book!
To win this book, however, I’d love for you to tell me the best roadside joint you ever stumbled upon, and why. The deadline is 5 p.m. next Wednesday.

You are all correct, Jamie Oliver’s restaurant in London is called “Fifteen.”
Unfortunately for the rest of you, Mary Moore was quickest with her keyboard. She wins Oliver’s latest cookbook, “Jamie’s Italy.” Congratulations Mary, and I’m so sorry the rest of you did not win. I hope you aren’t too disappointed. I’ll do another cookbook giveaway next week! Keep reading!
Mary, to claim your book, please send your name and address to my e-mail at lindsey.nair@roanoke.com.
Have a great weekend!

I will preface this blog entry with an apology to those who are sick and tired of hearing about Peeps. Later today, I’m going to announce the latest cookbook giveaway. So maybe that will make it up to you.
And now, on with our regularly scheduled entry:
Apparently, the makers of Peeps (JustBorn, Inc.) are not content to just send me a new and different shape, color or flavor every month (and every major holiday. Or minor holiday…).
Now, they’ve sent me the results of a survey that included such important questions as “If Peeps came to life, what male public person or celebrity might it become?”
The answer: Will Ferrell. Isn’t that exactly who you were thinking?
The best one, though, was “What person or celebrity is in most need of Peeps?”
Answer: President Bush.
To kill a few brain cells by reading the entire survey, look for it after the jump. And tell me: What do you suppose President Bush would do with a box of Peeps?

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What better way to start a slow week than with a long-awaited, much-anticipated cookbook giveaway!?
As much as I love to spend hours in the kitchen, lovingly concocting a hot dish with quality slow food ingredients, the chaos of my weekend fully underscored the importance of having quick, easy dishes in one’s repertoire.
On that note, I’m offering up a book called “Mealtime Magic” by Joey Green, which claims to have “more than 250 offbeat recipes using beloved brand-name products.”
The table of contents alone was enough to pique my curiosity. While other cookbooks are categorized by appetizers, soups, meats, breads and the like, this one is arranged by products such as Aunt Jemima syrup, Fritos Corn Chips, Quaker Oats, SueBee honey and Heinz ketchup.
With a few popular ingredients and this cookbook, you can whip up such dishes as the 7-UP brisket, Popcorn Fluff Puffs with marshmallow fluff or Grilled Salmon with Peanut Hoisin Sauce (made with Jif Creamy peanut butter).
To win this book, share your favorite use for pantry standbys such as canned soup, peanut butter, ketchup, SPAM and the like. The deadline is Friday. My favorite response wins the book.

As usual, I found it almost impossible to choose one entrant over the others for the Fridge Magnet’s latest cookbook giveaway. The book is “Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook” by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.
How do you turn down a woman who has congestive heart failure? A guy who wants to strengthen his bond with his little sis by cooking her something healthy and delicious? A lady who wants to help her mother improve her eating habits in preparation for a double lung transplant?
You guys are killing me!
Each and every one of you deserve this book so much (except maybe Rich and Henry. You guys are ornery but we love you anyway). I wish I could obtain several more copies of the book so that I could play Santa and hand them out to everyone.
I have finally decided, however, to award this book to the reader who seems most dedicated and enthused by the cause: Corey Wrenn.
Corey is a graduate student at Virginia Tech who has been a vegan for 7 years. She is president of the animal rights group at Tech and is even a big fan of one of the authors, Moskowitz.
When I emailed Corey to find out if she is a she or a he (sorry, Corey, I know you get that a lot) her response email even had a picture of two cute, tiny little piglets!
Jeez, girl, you’re killing me! Don’t get me started on all the pork loins I’ve consumed in my lifetime.
I believe that Corey will really use this book. In fact, if we checked back with her a year from now, it would probably be dog-eared and stained with saffron and mole sauce.
Because Corey is also a member of a Roanoke vegan group that hosts monthly potlucks, I’m sure she won’t be the only one to benefit from these recipes.
I’m going to share one more recipe from this book with all of you before I give it away to Corey.
And if you really are serious about changing your eating habits, I would encourage you to go online or to a book store and pick up a copy of the book for yourself.

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I never heard from Donna Alley, the reader who sent in the Broccoli Casserole recipe last week. Therefore, the free cookbook “A Passion for Baking” by Marcy Goldman goes to our first runner-up, Carrie!
Carrie, if you will e-mail your mailing address to lindsey.nair@roanoke.com, I’ll stick the book in the mail.
Everyone else, I’m going to announce the next cookbook giveaway tomorrow, so check in.