friday links PLUS a giveaway

CONTEST CLOSED!

It's Friday! I love fridays. But you know I love Fridays even more when there is a SUPER fabulous giveaway.
The creative and GENEROUS folks over at Funky Chunks Soaps are giving away a basket full of goodies.
You may recognize the name Funky Chunks Soap as I am a HUGE supporter and user of their soaps. They are all natural, no chemicals, no junk and quite possibly the worlds best scents. They make all of their soaps in small batches to bring you the freshest soaps possible. Soaps are Vegan friendly and have highly fragrant big bubble lather that is kind and gentle to your skin.
Coming soon they will be launching a retro men's line of soaps, as well as plans to open their own store in 2013. Did you know that over 45% of their customers are men? Nothing better than a nice smelling man--well if he smells like Surf Wax then all the better! Surf Wax is my favorite: it smells just like the beach. No really. If you're going to buy just one thing, make it the Surf Wax. Amazing beachy-like scent. It's one of their top sellers.

The giveaway includes a filled with:
Funky Four Pack of soap chunks (green tea zen, tequila sunrise, secret sin, and hello sweetie)
2 ounce Beach Butter solid lotion
16 ounce Organic Cane Sugar Scrub
16 ounce Whip'd Body Butter

AND......
on top of the giveaway, they are offering the readers of vanillasugarblog a 25% off your total order! Yep, you read that right 25% off. No boring 10% or 20% but 25% off until May 6th, 2012!
Use coupon code: vanillasugar when you checkout; enter it in the coupon box. Easy peasy.
AND......
LIKE them on Facebook page. They have other offers and deals there too.
Right now, they have a contest (ends April 15, 2012) "Show us your soapdish".



Drawing ends Friday, April 13, 2012!
One comment per person, please have a valid email.
All you have to do to enter is tell us, if you could create your own soap, what scent(s) would you choose and why?
Be creative!

Friday Links:

Easter is this weekend. Are you interested in making Easter treats for yourself?
Chocolate-peanut butter eggs with crispy filling. Take two with an ice cold glass of milk--Happy Easter!





Or maybe coconut-almond truffle is your thing?
These are the MOST pinned item on my Pinterest.

Are you a horoscope junkie like me? I love my horo-tweets on twitter with these guys. I love them! Follow Zodiac Fact on Twitter.

The updated omelet pan. I want one not only for omelets, but for dual grilled cheese--hey it might work?

Raisins lower blood pressure? I think you might have to eat a fair amount though. Still good news.

Turmeric is really becoming a super-healing spice. Do you use it?

How many of the most common food related illnesses do you have?

Top 10 recovery foods post-workout according to Outside Magazine.




Another hobby I want to take up. I love little magical worlds.
How cute are these books?

DIY hanging garden globe terrarium? Love this website: full of nifty DIY crafts.



The sauce, the rolls, heavenly! I would add a touch of ground peanuts to the rolls. Don't these look good?
Recipe from Williams-Sonoma



I saw this on Pinterest. And now I must have it! I have no idea where it came from, sadly. If you do, tell me.



Using paint chips/samples to decorate a wall. Fabulous idea!!

Last minute Passover recipes.

1-hour NYC tour of Chinatown eats with chef Susan Feniger. She has the best gigs!

Chef Daniel Holzman of The Meatball Shop.
Giving us the scoop in his infamous meatball shop in this candid interview.
Anyone been there yet? It's on my list for NYC.

The Great Food Truck Race is currently casting!

Easter egg tree has a bumper crop!

Shockingly popular British dishes. Yeah, no thanks.



Peanut butter & jelly vodka is here! LOL

Geeky decorated easter eggs.



Best & worst supermarkets.

How about a gumball dress filled with real gumballs?

Cheesecake filled chocolate Easter eggs. Amazing. Hard work.

Spicy-sweet fried tofu buns! That's foodporn to me.

Winners of the "How to Cook Gluten Free" cookbooks are #3 Alexandra and #8 Caiti.
Congrats! Email me your shipping address.

Have a great weekend kids!

friday links

Did you hear that interview on NPR with writer Jonah Lehrer on his book "Imagine: Fostering Creativity in the Workplace"? It's about how innovative thoughts originate and explains how some companies are now working to create environments where they're more likely to occur. He delves into why certain scenarios work (instantly) for the brain to be more creative. Very interesting, and of course we all knew that being less stressed let's the creativity flow better.



More terrarium love. How cute? Right.

From uncommon goods.


Bubble terrarium from sprout home.

Are you getting enough Vitamin D? Here's a good summary on it: the why, the what, and how.


I just love when I find gorgeous websites about famous gardens from around the world--well lost gardens actually. This one is The Lost Gardens of Heligan.


These 'french sneakers' are becoming popular. I may have to get a pair. What do you think? Like or ? They are called french sneakers or bensimon sneakers?


I want this bag. From Swell.com. One of my favorite sites.


Or this bag. A little market bag aka bamboula.


Colbie ballerinas. Perfect for spring. I love you anthropologie, but your prices have to come down a bit.


This dress is so cute. A sundown crochet maxi from anthropologie.


cute right? another one from swell.com


The striped tee dress from madewell. Super comfy looking.


A studio sweatdress is just what I've been looking for to pair with leggings. Cute. From madewell.com


Sombrero style sheets from anthropolgie. I mean seriously, these are so fun. Check out the detail in the pillowcases--those little sombrero's! Click on link for larger, more detailed photos. I think I have to get these.


Tell me this lush landscape quilt won't brighten up any room? Fabulous! From anthropologie.

Mad Men is back this Sunday. Do you watch? There is already a Mad Men Cookbook out! It's kind of wild. Did anyone get this book yet?


Personally I would LOVE this vintage cocktail book instead. Now this looks fabulous.


How about the ultimate Mad Men Playlist from Rolling Stone?

Make me Mod! Top 10 Mad Men Essentials. From a fun collectors website.


Are these not fabulous for summer grilling? Love love love. From crate & barrel.

One of the best things in life (to me) are those first few days of spring in new york city. I just love the energy, the weather, the streets opening back up, the people are in good moods. I think this article does and says it best with it's words and photos.

You know those peanut butter granola bars by Nature's Valley? The new ones that have a pb coating on them? I found a recipe on how to make that pb coating.

Cleaning my cast iron pan. Well, it never happens, then I have to take it to the carwash to sandblast it with water. No, not really, but almost. Here's a good tip for cleaning cast iron and how to re-season it.

There are now apps (I did not know this) for helping you decorate your house or room. Fascinating. When I have money to decorate AND to buy an ipad, I will definitely get this!

Gourmet magazine has some of the best tips I've seen in a long time for homemade sushi rolls at home. Super simple. I've seen tips before that were just awful and cumbersome. Not this one.

Jen over at Use Real Butter has made the ULTIMATE california roll burger. I swear this woman is genius.

I was wondering when this would happen. Grilled cheese doughnut.

Grilled cheese hard boiled eggs. That's bananas and I would totally try it!

And use those bananas to help ripen your avocados!

Have a wonderful weekend! What are your plans? I plan on going here, a lot.



Hang with these guys for a while.




Loving the summer-march in the northeast.


cape cod national seashore (my favorite place to chill)

friday links

What's everyone making for St. Patricks Day?

I found a few ideas for you.
First one is my favorite: hoisin glazed corned beef with hoisin-ginger reduction, served over spicy sauerkraut relish. Don't let the long name scare you into thinking it's hard to make--its not! A very tasty dish, AND the leftovers make incredible sliders with a nice creamy coleslaw.



Maybe a reuben calzone?



Maybe some reuben bread from recipe girl? With step by step instructions?



Or how about corned beef grilled cheese sandwich with Guinness caramelized onions! From Kevin at Closet Cooking. Man, that's just insanely good looking. I think I'm making this one just for the Guinness caramelized onions.



Guinness-chocolate pudding! Let's have dessert first.



How about a sweet & salty Guinness chocolate pie from SprinkleBakes.com ?



I adore iced oatmeal cookies when it's a think, crispy cookie with generous amounts of iced frosting. From Bake-Aholic.com



If you ever have leftover donut munchkins, here's a great way to use them up: Donut Chips! Love this idea. From Kate over at framedcooks.com



Need a step by step guide on how to make "the perfect Irish Coffee"?

Cheddar-chive Guinness Bread.

An easy recipe for homemade colcannon soup from she's in the kitchen.

Here is a great way to naturally dye Easter eggs. None of that awful food coloring needed! This is great for kids.

I had to share this one: sweet little lumbar pillows for your office chair. I'm defintiely getting the black one from Brookstone--it looks like it's perfect for my chair. How many times during the day do I take my arm and rest on the backside of my lower back because of pain.

List of the best narrated audio books. I would love to listen to Tina Fey's "Bossypants"

Brownie Roll ups!

Cauliflower crusted pizza.

A mock tuna salad? Made with chickpea's. Fabulous idea.

Need to ripen an avocado fast?

Rocker Gene Simmons opening a chain of restaurants? Rock & Brew.

Want to increase your Twitter followers? Here are some excellent tips.

Cupcake nail art. Not for me, but still cute; gotta admire the attention to detail.

New human species? Could this be true? Not homo sapiens nor neanderthal. Very interesting.

Easing eye strain with "optical aerobics"

What I'm curiously reading these days.....what do you think of the whole Paleo craze? Work for you?



Top instant noodles from around the world. Some of them are very odd indeed.

On my "to create" recipe list: Black Pepper Tofu (it's the photo that captured my attention).

Want to know about food, drugs, health, market withdrawals, and other recalls? This is a very handy little website.

Cruelty free beauty products. LOVE THIS.

Have a great weekend kids!

friday links

Here on cape cod we've been blessed with a good amount of gorgeous weather this winter. The complete opposite of last winter, which was full on snow and no sun. This winter we've had above normal temps. good amount of sun and about four inches of snow so far. Last year at this time we had already received over 57 inches of snow. Crazy extremes. When the sun is out I do my very best to get to the beach as much as possible.
One day I was lucky enough to tag along for clamming.




Steamers for dinner!


This is north chatham, ma.



Off in the distance is the infamous Nauset Beach, but before that, there is the small island sanctuary called Tern Island. And yes, this is the same Nauset that hooks up with other end of Nauset Beach down by the national seashore. Nauset Beach, used to be one long piece of beach, but a few winters ago a part of the beach broke/breached. For those who love history of beaches (like me) you can read more about the breach, and history of the beach click here. There are summer homes over there, no electricity or power. The homes are few, and very minimal. From what I've heard from the natives, it's like going back in time over there; gas lanterns, fishing poles, books, and minimal furniture is about it. One four wheel drive vehicle for the island and people to use to drive around in--no other cars there. Hard to rent one that's for sure. I hope to get a ride over there one day this summer--fingers crossed. I haven't found much info on Tern Island though....still looking....

Around the web:

Speaking of cape cod, I've become obsessed with these giant oat cookies, aptly named: Salty Oats made by Kayak Cookies. Almost a quarter pound cookie that is oatmeal cookie with raisins and a touch of salt. Heavenly cookie indeed. They are made here on cape cod (originally started in DC) and are sold in most businesses on cape cod and almost all whole foods in Massachusetts. Growing in popularity simply because of their taste and short list of wholeness ingredients. I've already started my quest to make a suitable clone. Have you tried these cookies?



After my post about the peanut flour peanut butter cookies a couple people asked about other uses for peanut flour. For me, I just look at what recipes that use flour, can we use peanut flour instead? A few other tips found here too.

My latest salad dressing obsession can be found here.

Did you know you can clean copper with lemon and salt? I didn't.

Linen sheets have always gotten a bad, scratchy rap. But apparently not here. Do you like them?

Do you compost? Here's a helpful guide.

My latest cookbook obsession?


At first I was a little intimidated by this book thinking it might be too hard because it is from an acclaimed Norwegian pastry chef Sverre Sætre, but no actually the recipes are very easy to follow.
And as a little treat they show you how to make your own marzipan--and guess what? It's super easy. I never knew. Chef Sverre has 50 recipes in side and each recipe has it's own color photograph. For me, that's the most important part--I need to see the finished product and am really not fond of cookbooks that give you only a handful of photographs. This Norwegian cookbook is a treat, if you've ever wanted to step out of your comfort zone and try a few Norwegian delicacies, this would be it, as it's not hard to follow and won't have you running around town looking for crazy ingredients you can't find or pronounce.



Many women are low on iron. Did you know that liver is very high in iron? LOL I knew that, but I still won't eat it.

Have any of you started canning? I remember a few of you said you were doing some this winter. How about pickled carrots? They actually sound really good.

I do love that kneadless bread is all the rage. Especially when it's got cheese in it.

Have you ever wondered what a day in the life is like for a location scout? Fascinating.

And for those who are still curious about canning. Here is a well-written beginners guide, with a brief history too.

Onion and black pepper scones. Gluten free too!

The kettlepizza. I really want one of these, just in time for summer. What a great idea.

Foodie pick up lines. Cute very cute.

Need new slippers?

Ways to boost up your salad dressings.

Have a great weekend!