I mentioned I was trying to think of ways to make my blog more interesting, and I thought, “Free goodies!” This morsel of brilliance came to me even before reading Predictably Irrational, which speaks of our irrational tendencies to the “Free!”. Not that I’m expecting a sect of Sugared Ellipses worshipers to pop up or anything, but this is just another tool in my arsenal to slowly take over the world…ha, ha, ha, ha, ha *maniacal laugh* Seriously though, I thought it might add a little spice to our lives.

Since we’re speaking of spices I thought I might give away some. I was in need of some fresh cinnamon since according to Nancy Silverton, “Once you’ve tasted freshly ground cinnamon sticks, you’ll never settle for preground cinnamon from a supermarket jar.” In the desire to test Ms. Silverton’s claim I decided to place an order for the cinnamon, as well as a plethora of other fall spices, with the renowned Penzeys spice company. Somewhere along the way in composing my final order I thought what better way to celebrate the warmth of this season than to give away some spices to warm the heart and the belly. Without further ado I am including:  

Whole Allspice
Ground Cinnamon (China Cassia)
Whole Madagascar Cloves
Ground Ginger
Ceylon Softstick Cinnamon (5″ Sticks)
Whole Nutmeg

In addition to that you’ll be the proud owner of a small ceramic loaf pan. The winner will be all “Ooo” and “Aaaah”-stounded by the surprise goodies that I’m sure will find their way into the box. If you’d like to enter to win, just create a link to the giveaway on your blog. Although not a requirement, (because hopefully trackbacks will be working properly!) the best way for me to know for sure that you’ve entered is to comment on this post. (Those of you who do not have a blog, contact me and we’ll work something out.) The last day you can enter will be December 15th at midnight Eastern Standard Time. The winner will be randomly selected and announced on December 16th. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

For those of you unfamiliar with Penzeys, the company has been a purveyor of high quality, fresh spices since 1957. The company’s first incarnation, started by Ruth and Bill Penzey, Sr., was as a spice and coffee store in Milwaukee, WI. With an attentive eye for customer needs, satisfying both the heart and the kitchen, Bill Penzey, Jr., transformed his parents fledgling business from a retail front, to mail order, to multiple retail outlets and mail order, with stores in over 20 states. Regardless of whether you’re endeavors are savory or sweet, Penzeys is bound to aid you in reaching new heights.

You’ve gotta love a company whose perspective on business is, “We have tried to build our business on these feelings of caring that we see every day in our customers. We know that if you want to get people to cook you have to show them the value in it and we are pretty convinced the real value is in the lifetime of relationships it creates.”

Do stay tuned because throughout the coming weeks I will be presenting lots of information on these fall spices and recipes that highlight each of them.

*I felt the need to state that this giveaway is not sponsored by the Penzeys company in any way. I wanted to have an event like this, and decided that their spices would make a nice gift.

No, I’m not making a perfume recommendation here. Unfortunately when I was making the Orange-Cardamom Madeleines the other day I became aware of the fact that the large tub full of confectioners sugar I have has a perfume aftertaste.

I wish I had something more concrete to tell everyone, but this is all I got from the manufacturer:

Sugar is good indefinitely, but it can absorb odors when stored next to other types of products.  It is possible that the sugar you purchased was stored either in the store or at the retailers warehouse next to or near an item that has a perfume type odor.  They have stated that this is not harmful however it may cause the sugar to have an off flavor.

I don’t think the bag of sugar tasted this way from the get go, and the container I have it in was clean and had no strange odors to start with. Where did I go wrong? Maybe it was funny tasting from the beginning and for some reason I didn’t notice it when I used it last. I used to to dust some pecan sandy cookies and they tasted fine, but then the cookie itself was the main flavor contributor in my mouth. Maybe if I hadn’t sampled the glaze by itself before actually putting it on the madeleines I would have never noticed. I don’t know.

Has anyone ever had this experience? Is it possible that there’s some strange chemical reaction from putting it in a plastic container? Inquiring minds want to know.