Between the Lines

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Don't Forget!

Don't forget that today is Week 1 of our new Spotlight Saturday Blog Hop! We would love for you to join us for the blog hopping fun. Have a fantastic weekend!

Spotlight Saturday Blog Hop #1 Update

It's Spotlight Saturday Hosted By

Between the Lines, Survey Junkie, and Kindred Spirit Mommy

Welcome to our new blog hop with a twist! Every week swing by to link up your blog and one you want to spotlight! Did you find a new blog you liked this week? Is there one you visit on a daily basis? Well, simply link up your Spotlighted blog right under yours. We will Spotlight our favorite blogs of the week in spots 4, 5, and 6.

How it Works

1) Link up your own blog.
2)Link up a blog you want to spotlight for the week.(ex. Spotlight: Crazy Daisy)
3) Follow your three hosts.
4) Grab our button and post it on your sidebar or a Spotlight Saturday Post.
5) Follow as many blogs from the list and leave a comment so they know you stopped by.
6) Return the favor by following blogs that followed you.
(Be aware that URL's cannot be duplicated so please have a second spotlight choice in mind. If your blog's URL has already been spotlighted, just add one you'd like to spotlight. )
**Update: Don't forget to leave a comment for the blog you spotlighted so they can come join the blog hopping fun!

Friday, July 30, 2010

Giveaway Ending Tonight!

Don't miss your last chance to enter the fun giveaway from My Lip Stuff. This giveaway is open worldwide!

Enter Here and good luck!!

Fill-r-Up Review and Giveaway

Have you heard of Fill-r-Up? If not, you are in for a real treat. “Fill-r-Up is a customized gift basket service and retail store located on Manhattan’s Upper Ear Side. The company is the brainchild of Amanda Poses who, as an event planner at a top fashion company, was often looking for gifts for VIP clients and events. In her quest to provide original, high-end gifts, she found the products never seemed to measure up to the high quality items her clientele was accustomed to.”

At Fill-r-Up you can find gifts for anyone on your list, for any occasion. Although their personalized gift baskets are quite a treat, don’t forget to browse through all their a la carte items too. They carry fun and thoughtful gifts for the old and young alike. Ashley, from Fill-r-Up, was kind enough to send me a “Blue Quilted Bag” to review. This bag was just what I was looking for to take on my family vacations. This cute, stylish bag has a waterproof lining inside, so it makes a perfect toiletries or make-up bag. For those of you with small children, it would be a perfect little bag to store food and bottles. And since you can personalize the bag, it would make a perfect baby shower gift!

Fill-r-Up also offers a great variety of party favors and stationary items. These great products can also be personalized. And unlike other stores, the personalization is included in the shown price. While you are checking out their fun website, don’t forget to join them on Twitter. A few times a week they ask a trivia question for their followers to answer. After you’ve answered five correctly, you receive a prize. And if you live in the New York City or Bridgehampton area, they also reveal secret words that earn you surprises from their store.

The wonderful people from Fill-r-Up have offered one lucky reader of Between the Lines a chance to win their very own Blue Quilted Bag, retail value of $28!

Mandatory Entry: Visit Fill-r-Up and leave a comment about an item you’d love to have or give.

Extras: (Remember each entry must have a separate comment and an email address is needed to contact winner.)

~Follow Between the Lines (3)
~ Subscribe to my email (5)
~ Grab my button and leave a link of where it’s displayed (5)
~Add me to your Blogroll and leave a link (5)
~Follow me on Twitter (2)
~ Follow Fill-r-Up on Twitter (2)
~ Like Fill-r-Up on Facebook (2)
~Tweet this giveaway leaving me your link. (3x a day not back to back) (1 entry each)
~ Enter any of my other current giveaways (1 each)
~ Grab my Twitter Hop or Blog Hop button and leave a link (3 each)
~Blog about this giveaway and leave me a link (10)
~Make a purchase from Fill-r-Up (10)

This giveaway will end on August 14th @10p.m Eastern

*This giveaway is open to US only. Winner will be chosen randomly. An email notification will be sent to the email address provided by the winner. The winner must respond within 48 hours. Failure to do so will result in being disqualified and a new winner will be chosen.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary bag in exchange for my honest review. The opinions & thoughts expressed are my own. I received no other compensation for my review nor was I under any obligation to give a positive review.

Fabulous Food Friday with Food Songberries

Welcome to Fabulous Food Friday! While exploring the blogosphere, I realized that there were many great recipes to share. So every Friday, I am going to try to feature an awesome blogger with their great recipe! Today’s feature blogger is Carol from Songberries. When you get a chance, swing by Carol's delicious blog. I’m sure you’ll find a recipe or giveaway you love!

I'm Carol from Songberries (http://songberries). I'm a baker at heart. Cakes, cookies, breads. . . these are the things that really catch my eye. I'll cook for sustenance, but my joy comes from baking!

I've recently started doing reviews and giveaways on my blog, you'll find them on the upper right corner. Poke around a little, you'll find crafts, sewing and decorating and you could even find a new idea for dinner!

3/4 cup strawberry puree, room temperature (follows)
1/4 cup milk, room temperature
6 large egg whites, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 1/4 cup cake flour
1 3/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a sheet cake pan with Pam.

In small bowl, combine puree, milk, egg, vanilla and mix with a whisk until well blended. In another bowl whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

In a mixer at slow speed mix the dry ingredients and the butter until combined and resembling moist crumbs.

Add liquids and beat at medium speed for about 1 minute or until fluffy and well mixed. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for 1 more minute. Spread the batter into prepared pan.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cake then frost.

I wanted to make a strawberry cake with fresh strawberries, but I couldn't find a recipe for what I wanted. I wanted fresh strawberries and no strawberry Jello. So I put my thinking cap on and came up with this recipe. I made it in a sheet cake pan because I think a thin piece of cake with a nice covering of frosting is yummy! I made a nice strawberry cream cheese frosting for this cake, and I think it turned out a winner.

Strawberry Sheet Cake

Strawberry Puree

2 cups chopped strawberries

1 tablespoon sugar

Sprinkle the sugar over the strawberries and let sit for about 2 hours. I didn't want to wait that

long, so I put them in the microwave for about 1 minute. Microwaving it kind of gets the juices to come out faster. Dump it in the blender and puree. Measure out 3/4 cup and save the rest for the frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

4-5 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons strawberry puree

8 oz cream cheese, room temperatur

Beat strawberry puree, cream cheese and 4 cups of powdered sugar until fluffy. Add more powdered sugar to get the desired thickness. Spread on cooled cake.

Spotlight Saturday Blog Hop is Coming!

Spotlight Saturday Hosted By

Between the Lines, Survey Junkie, and Kindred Spirit Mommy is starting tomorrow!

How it Works

1) Link up your own blog.
2)Link up a blog you want to spotlight for the week. (ex. Spotlight: Crazy Daisy)
3) Follow your three hosts.
4) Grab our button and post it on your sidebar or a Spotlight Saturday Post.
5) Follow as many blogs from the list and leave a comment so they know you stopped by.
6) Return the favor by following blogs that followed you.
(Be aware that URL's cannot be duplicated so please have a second spotlight choice in mind. If your blog has already been spotlighted, just spotlight someone else.)

Don't forget to link up tomorrow!!!
And don't forget to check out Wacky Jacqui's Designs. Jacqui not only designed my lovely blog, but also our great new blog hop button!