After a long delay and because of the demise of Posterous, I’ve had to move my blog. All my older posts are now available here and a new update on all my 2013 winnings is on its way.
Thanks for being such loyal readers!
After a long delay and because of the demise of Posterous, I’ve had to move my blog. All my older posts are now available here and a new update on all my 2013 winnings is on its way.
Thanks for being such loyal readers!
Happy New Year, Everyone! Well, 2012 has come to a close and it’s hard to believe we’re already in 2013. Upon looking back at my winnings this year, I am pleased to announce that 2012 was even more successful than 2011. To recap, I won:
The total amount of the winnings is difficult to calculate, but it is approximately $1300. A $200-300 increase over last year. I enjoyed winning all of these prizes and particularly giving my niece the opportunity to learn how to cook. I will still be enjoying free chocolate up to and including the month of May. It was great to take the chocolate to Greece and share it with my relatives. My friends and I also enjoyed it at Christmas in some delicious fondue.
Win #9 has followed very quickly on the heels of Win #8. However, I am very grateful to have won $100 towards transportation on West Coast Express. I have been taking the train off and on since I was a student at UBC back in 2001! I have always enjoyed the beautiful view from the train first thing in the morning and at the end of the day. The train is also usually quiet enough for me to catch up on reading or work. I received a food/drink voucher for the onboard coffee shop, as well. I can guarantee it will go towards a nice cup of tea one day soon.
If you haven’t taken the train before, I would recommend giving it a try. It is definitely the fastest way to get downtown from the suburbs. It is also stress-free which makes a nice change from fighting the traffic in rush hour. Also, if you are planning to take in the fireworks this year, there is a train on August 4th that will get you there and back.
*I won the $100 and food/drink voucher by entering the “Care to Comment” contest. I filled out an entry form with my feedback on some questions posed by the West Coast Express’ Commuter News.
All too often cooking is a means to an end. We grab our pots and pans and a cacophony of stainless steel echoes throughout our houses. Dinner must be ready by such and such a time, so we can complete tasks a, b, and c and eventually collapse in a heap. So, last night when my husband and I made our way into the Dirty Apron we broke the cycle, if only for a little while.
I was fortunate to have won two spots for us through the B.C. Dairy Association‘s “Get Your Hands Dirty” contest. I had to submit some ideas for how to cook locally and then had my name drawn at random, along with several other winners whom we met at the class. We were introduced to one another in a beautiful room with antique chandeliers and long wooden tables. Sparkling wine and hummus and eggplant dip with small pieces of baguette graced our lips as we took it all in. I felt very relaxed and would have been quite content to sit and sip the evening away, but soon we were led into the kitchen and watched what we would be making.
Chef David Robertson greeted us and began by showing us how to make our dessert, chocolate pate. We began with dessert first because it had to sit in the fridge for two hours and set before it could be served. As you can guess from its name, this was not a particularly low-calorie sweet. It was pure indulgence of the Julia Child, “everything is better with butter”, variety. And, as I folded melted chocolate into layers of whipped heavy cream, I heard a voice in my head mutter something about the hours in the gym it would take to burn it off. I quickly silenced it by tasting some of the residue in my bowl after watching the rest of the chocolate cascade into the most adorable mini loaf pan.
Then, it was onto the first course, poached sablefish with buttered crab. Yes, butter. The Dairy Association was the sponsor, after all. We also used a variety of fresh herbs, including tarragon, which I had never tried fresh before. The dish was not difficult to make and I did learn how to plate it attractively, which is something I normally don’t spend much time on, especially if I am the one eating it. It was certainly nice to sit at the table and then dig in. It was fantastic. The combination of flavours I think had more to do with this than my abilities as a cook, though. I also enjoyed another glass of wine and good conversation with my classmates.
The next dish was venison. I’m not a huge red meat fan and I have to admit I would probably never eat Bambi again, but the sauce that went atop him will certainly go in my repertoire. Shallots, garlic, red wine, cassis, beef stock, and salt and pepper. Reduce all of these to a syrupy consistency and you have pure heaven. I love shallots and garlic, so I didn’t even strain it. It also paired well with the celeriac puree that the chef made to accompany our main course. I also impressed others by getting my venison to stand upright on the puree, but I will let you in on a little secret: I put a prune wrapped with bacon under it just enough to secure it in place.
Finally, we decorated our chocolate pate with some rhubarb coulis and ribbons the chef had prepared. It was a very rich dessert that I was glad to pair with some English breakfast tea. We left at 9:30 p.m., clutching out “Dirty” aprons and butter-splattered recipes, very happy to have learned to take the time to make and taste something truly, uniquely ours.
Around this time last year, I was having dinner at the Waldorf Hotel.
Well, 2011 is almost at an end and I have won 11 contests:
The regrowth of facial fuzz after a long lack of cultivation.
I was awarded one of the six runner up prizes-a razorpit unit, which is designed to sharpen razors. The contest was across Canada, excluding Quebec, and I was very excited to have won a prize.
So far, my total winnings add up to $1012.24 – $1103.24. I am still hoping to win one more prize before the end of the month, so I will have won one prize per month in 2011. I’ve loved the new experiences, products, and excitement of winning throughout the year. It has definitely made me a lifelong contest enterer. My advice to anyone wanting to enter contests is to use social media-Facebook and Twitter provide so many opportunities to enter contests. Also, set up a free e-mail account, just devoted to entering contests-the spam quotient is very high. Go local, rather than national. The number of entrants is lower and your chances of winning are much higher. I entered many national contests and only won one. I wish you all the best of luck! And, to my competitor/friend, you’ve got 19 days left to beat me. Otherwise, I’m inviting you now to dinner and cocktails on me!
Between full-time work and a work-study internship, most of my time this year is gone. I am finally down to working six days a week for a few more weeks, then freedom! Until then, I have little time to scour the internet for contests and no time to visit places that have contests. In the last few days, here’s what I did enter:
It’s been a while since I had time to work on this project, but now that my work schedule is lessening a bit, I suspect I’ll have to catch up with R’s record of five wins.
****
On March 21 my competitor announced that she won her third contest. Now she is not only the winner of one more contest than I am, she is also at around $190, while I am about $150 behind her.
This morning, I had a great dream where I won a prize – a trip for two to the Maldives, worth $2500. During my whole dream, I was trying to get the tickets and answering last minute questions from the company giving away the tickets. As my dream progressed, it turned out that the tickets were for a 48-hour trip to the Maldives, with Matt and I set to fly directly there and on the way back with a stopover in Hawaii. Not sure how much of the Maldives I would have seen on my dream trip, but the dream me was very excited. I remember thinking in my dream, too, that I would finally be ahead of Rsaloust in the amount of winnings. I was choked up when I awoke and realized that I was not going to the Maldives after all.
Obviously this is a sign that I will win again soon and that I just need to get busy entering more contests!
Thus, here are my latest entries. On March 21:
On April 4:
On April 13:
On June 13:
Yet again, dear readers, I come before you with a list of contests I have hoped to win over the past few weeks. Some of those I would most like to win include: free yogurt for a year; a trip to York for two; and tickets to see the Canucks work their magic! Wish me luck in April! I will be back with photos of $100 worth of cheese next week.
-Win passes to the Vancouver Aquarium to experience the New Amazon Gallery!
-Win a kayak in Deep Cove experience with Adera Home
-Win a $40 1-hr Private Golf Lesson from @theKooperz & @VanCityBuzz
-I entered to win a #KokaneeMountainCan prize pack from @Miss604
Having had bad luck with my first contest, I was not going to let my second prize winning go to waste. To make sure I made it to the Georgia Straight office (everything about them is geared for Vancouverites – they are only open Monday to Friday during office hours), I changed my work schedule to arrive at 8 am and leave at 4 pm, then I drove across town to make it to their office a mere 15 minutes before they closed. (Lest you think I polluted the air with needless driving, I made sure to be at least somewhat environmentally responsible and combined my trip wtih a couple of errands. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any more contests.)
Not wanting to squander my winnings, I also made plans to see Unknown the next day. My husband and I made it just in time…to take our pick of seats. I don’t know how movie theatres survive today. I like going out and I like seeing movies on the big screen. Probably most people now have large TVs so they have no desire to go out anymore.
The movie turned out to be pretty fun. After a car accident, Liam Neeson’s character comes out of a coma to find out his wife no longer recognizes him and some other guy is pretending to be him. Anyhow, you most likely know this – I don’t have cable or read entertainment news anymore, so I have no idea what movies are playing. If not, let me tell you the best part.
The movie is set in Berlin.
There you go. You’ll enjoy the movie, too, if you like car chases.
*****
My contest contest winnings now amount to:
RV Show tickets $16
+
Unknown movie tickets $25
= $41
So I am behind R, but gaining! I am sure with my next few contests I should catch up:
March 7:
March 12:
March 13:
I have been busy since my last post and have entered many contests. Unfortunately, I have already lost some of them. However, I have highlighted a few that I’m still in the running for and are somewhat unusual. I’ve done this because I think it is obvious why I’d like to go to Paris or win beauty products, but not so obvious why I’d like to win the highlighted items below:
March 4, 2011
-Pamper Yourself at Capilano Mall
-Grouse Mountain Snowshoe Fondue
-BIG St. Pat’s Night Out!
-Win tickets to CelticFest Vancouver’s BIG St. Pat’s Night Out
-Win 1 Of 2 Shiseido Prize Packs Valued At $131 Each!
-Win 1 Of 5 Pairs Of Levi’s Curve ID Jeans Valued At $100!
-Win A Trip For 2 To Paris, France Valued At $5,000!
-Win 1 Of 5 Olay Prize Packs Valued At $50 Each!
-Win A $500 Tommy Hilfiger Gift Card!
-Win a Whimsical Night in Wonderland
-Win a $7500 Shopping Spree at Lane Home Furnishings with Colin and Justin
March 5th, 2011
Win $100 worth of cheese at the Holland Shopping Centre – Dutch cheese is incredibly delicious and I will host a wine and cheese party if I win.
-Win 1 Of 5 $500 Gift Cards At Winners!
-Win A $1,000 Spa Gift Certificate!
-Win A Trip For 2 To See Lady Gaga In Vegas Valued At $2,500!
-Win A Trip For 2 To Holland, To Attend The Flower Parade!
-Win 1 Of 10 Signed Copies Of Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table Cookbook!
-Win 1 Of 10 AVENE Gift Baskets Valued At $400 Each!
-Win 30 Full Size Cake Beauty Products, Valued At Up To $1,000!
-Win A 5-night Trip For 2 To A Sandals Resort Of Your Choice Valued At $5,000!
-Win 1 Of 158 Prizes Of 2 VIP Passes To The Bachelor Season Finale Party!
March 6, 2011
-Don Cherry DVD prize pack
-Ben Sherman Spring wardrobe
-A Trip for two to the NYC Design district
-Win tickets to Flamenco Vivo
-Win a handcrafted pendant by Quench Designs from the Bloom Market in Fort Langley
-Win Bambi on Blu-ray/DVD combo pack (a Georgia Straight contest) – this was the first movie I ever saw in a theatre and I strangely don’t have the same traumatic memories of this that haunt others
-Win Factory Girl on Blu-ray/DVD combo pack
-WIN tickets to see Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s WONDERLAND!
-Win a Starbucks Espresso Center
-Win a Trip to the Tulip Festival in Ottawa (We’d have to fly there, so I may give this one to Sandy, too.)
?
March 8th, 2011
-weekend for two in Toronto during JUNO Awards week
-Win An ACER Liquid Mt, Valued At $399.99!
Win 1 Of 5 Brinno BirdWatchCam Digital Bird Cameras Valued At $230 Each! – My mother loves watching the birds at her bird feeders, so I thought it might be fun to photograph them for her.
-Win 1 Of 2 Prizes Of A 2-night Trip For 2 To Quebec City Valued At $5,000!
-Bon Jovi at Rogers Arena, Win Tickets
-Win tickets to California Wine Fair 2011
-enter to win tickets to an advance screening of West is West
Oldtimers’ Hockey Challenge Classic (24 Hours contest) – This is a father/daughter outing
-Win Passes to see The Lincoln Lawyer
-Win the book, Altar of Bones
-Win tickets to the ultimate Red Bull Crashed Ice Weekend
-Win a St Ives Gift Basket
-Win a Scrubbing Bubbles Accessory Package – I like a clean bathroom!
March 9th
-Win an Aluratek Digital Photo Frame
-Win a Vinturi Wine Aerator & Stand
-Win a set of ZALTO Wine Glasses
-Win a Spa Gift Card
-Win a Jimmy Choo Fragrance
-Win a Kodak Mini HD Video Camera
-Win It All from Elle
– Win a Metrotown gift card
March 10th
-Win a copy of Jodi Picoult’s Sing You Home (Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival 2011)
-Win tickets to Louder Than Love on March 12th at the Shark Club
-Dining Out for Life 2011
-Win tickets to 1984 presented by The Cultch
-Win Hereafter on Blu-ray/DVD combo pack
March 11th
-Enter for your chance to win a Wine & Culinary Adventure
in Chile & Argentina and $1,000 CAD spending money!
-Go for dinner at one of the The Heather Hospitality Group restaurants (on the house)
-Win An Amtrak Coast Starlight Trip For 2 Valued At $2,500!
-Win 1 Of 6 $100 Bench.ca Gift Cards!
-Win A Pair Of Vancouver Canucks Tickets, One Set Drawn For Each Game!
-Win A Pack Of 4 Tickets To The Vancouver Canucks Valued At $1,900!
-Win a $25 gift certificate to La Casa Gelato
March 12th
-Win 1 Of 2 Prizes Of Air Canada Tickets For 2 Anywhere In North America!
-Win A Sony PlayStation 3 And LittleBigPlanet 2 Game, Valued At $360!
-Win 1 Of 6 Prizes Of A 1 Year Supply Of Hill’s Science Diet Valued At $550!
-Enter to win 1 of 10 copies of Sing You Home by Jody Picoult
-Enter to win 1 of 6 pairs of shoes from Hush Puppies
-Enter for a chance to win a $500 grocery gift card or 1 of 5 Life Made Delicious** gift baskets!
-Win 1 Of 5 $500 Home Depot Gift Cards!
-Win Sing You Home from More.ca
-Win All You Can Eat Ribs At Montana’s Valued At $30!
-Win A Rowenta Beauty Gift Pack!
-Roll up the rim to win online – $25 Tims card or Free coffee for a year