I am regularly pinged by kitchen shops, food purveyors and emailed all manner of food-related content. I am learning to sift through what is worth sharing---and what is not. I read books and try products, hear of websites and iphone applications---all the while keeping my eyes open for 'cool' and 'worthy' mentions. 1. I am attempting to enter more contests and spread my food-blogging wings. Just over a week ago I video-taped myself de-seeding a pomegranate; for a pomegranate inspired menu/demonstration contest (POM Wonderful). Then there was the Tonnino Tuna video: how to assemble my favorite Italian salad using Tonnino's delicious 'Tuscany' seasoned tuna. And now I am a 'semi-finalist for the California Raisins’ Let’s re-Do Lunch contest!'

Really bloggers are just a new medium for extending a companies' brand... I enter because it forces me to cozy up to new foods, create brand-new recipes, make up cocktails, menus and even test the 'on camera' waters (of course: I wouldn't mind an occasional win!).

In this raisin-inspired contest, my entry  'Curry Chicken Raisin Wrap' was selected "based on the healthfulness, creativity, quality of photo, and number of votes received." (Just between you and me, this isn't a drop-dead gorgeous photo BUT the recipe, health factor and taste are top-notch). Here is the recipe; I suggest you make a batch and drop it into your lunch a few times this week. You will be so glad!

p.s. The top 10 semi-finalists are posted on the CA Raisins Facebook page. Please consider hitting the “like” button for my Curry Chicken entry (voting ends Nov 29); it's on the CA Raisins Facebook page (Click on the CONTEST TAB, then the VOTE NOW tab). Molto Grazie!!

2. Think of Surfin Seafoods as a seafood version of your monthly farm-box (CSA); this Seattle-based business delivers seafood---once a month---to your doorstep! I love that the 'milk man/butcher/farmer---and now fisherman---are landing back in our communities. I can buy food right from the farmer (farmer market or CSA), have milk and seafood delivered and enjoy all these great relationships. You can sign up for Surfin Seafood's monthly newsletter (full of recipes and ideas); I browse it every month.

3. This month's Seattle Magazine had a spread on finding the best meats and butchers in town. Who doesn't love this new focus on quality, neighborly butchers? Here are a few meaty places I plan to visit, in search of finding new favorite 'stops':

• cascioppomeats.com I have a good feeling about this place... might be the Italian sausage... do you think they have wild boar?
• laislaseattle.com (Puerto Rican cafe in Ballard)
• rainshadowmeats.com butcher tucked inside market on Capital Hill.
• ebeyfarm.blogspot.com they sell meat and offer a butchery class.
• dish-it-up.com store/butchery classes.

4. The Pampered Chef. They were kind enough to send me a box of goodies in anticipation of the holiday season (Thank you!). Do you remember the Pampered Chef? I do, from my growing up years. Every so often I would hear someone was giving a 'Pampered Chef Party.' The parties are a fun excuse to see friends, nibble on vittles and browse/try and sometimes purchase kitchen products. They didn't ask me to tout them; I just thought some of you out there might be interested. (No, I am not a Pampered Chef consultant nor do I get paid for telling you about them). It just brought me back to the classic 'Tupperware Party.'

5. I get a lot of PR and media alerts in my inbox; most of them never reach your ears. But once in awhile, a worthy cause that peeks my interest---and hopefully yours:

Gallo Family Vineyards is partnering with Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA) to help feed American seniors and families in need this holiday season. For each Gallo Family Vineyards wine cork collected between November 1 and December 31, 2010, Gallo Family Vineyards will donate $5 to aid in MOWAA’s hunger relief efforts.

“One in nine seniors in the United States is at-risk of hunger,” said Enid Borden, President and CEO, Meals On Wheels Association of America. “We are thrilled Gallo Family Vineyards shares our mission of putting an end to senior hunger and has found a simple way for everyone to get involved.”

A maximum of $25,000 will be donated to MOWAA. Cork(s) should be mailed to Corks to Fight Hunger Donation, P.O. Box 1154, Grand Rapids, MN 55745-1154. Participants are encouraged to use a padded or bubble envelope or tuf-pak to mail cork(s) with sufficient First Class postage. All corks must be postmarked between November 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010 and received by January 1, 2011.

For more information on how to participate, please visit: www.everycorkcounts.com or www.mowaa.org.

Just a few little notes from my kitchen desk... if I had a desk. In reality---I stretch and pile my stuff all across my dining room table, onto the floor and across multiple rooms. But in theory...

Oh and the pictures? The farmer/vendor selling vegetables was taken in a piazza in Florence, Italy. The pig... same thing, during a festival. The salami below was in a tiny little Italian village, famous for their meats and PICI pasta... the name escapes me. And the boxes of jars (see top photo)? My new obsession. I found them at an estate sale (all SIX boxes of vintage jars) and just about broke out the pom-poms. I reached a whole new level of happy, tucking all those jars into my car to take home. And I am slowly filling them...