A CONTEST to win TWO Bottles of an Amazing sauce...

2009-10-09T10:47:00.000-07:00

OK, little bookkeeping... If you are here for the first time, take a look at my first post... Do We Really Need Another Foodie Blog ...

Also, if you haven't read my Brother blog, MY YEAR ON THE GRILL post yet about ROASTED RASPBERRY CHIPOTLE Yorkshire Pudding recipe AND a GIVEAWAY CONTEST! ... which you can reach by clicking HERE, please do so now. there is info there that I am not going to repeat.

OK, everyone up to speed, let's talk...

First, JOIN UP GUYS. I know you are out there. Be bold, hang it out, get the ruler out and let's measure up as real men. Men who love their families and want to be a part of a group that is not ashamed. I've read your blogs...

OK, that's the sales pitch for the guys for today, Now for the ladies... Welcome.I didn't make a big deal about the ladies yesterday as I really want this to be a gentleman's club. But I certainly will welcome all women. I will of course welcome your participation on the blog, especially if your contributions center on the great things your husbands, fathers, sons and male figures in your life contribute to your happiness. I apologize that I did not make you welcome yesterday. Of course you are welcome.

OK... Time for a posting. No one stepped up and offered a story. Hopefully someone will feel an itch to share and someone new will wax on philosophically soon. Till then...

Two posts in on a simple blog deserves a simple recipe...

Raspberry Chipotle Cream Cheese dip

with whatever cheapo generic crackers happened to be in the pantry...

As I explained in my brother blog, Someone thinks I can do credit to their product. Last week, the good people at FISCHER & WIESER contacted me because they had read a recipe I made. That Raspberry ChipotlePork Loin with a Bacon Lattice...And oh yeah, a thin layer of provolone thing I am so proud of. They offered to send off a bottle of their signature sauce, Fischer and Wieser, handcrafted one jar at a time, THE ORIGINAL ROASTED RASPBERRY CHIPOTLE SAUCE to try. OK, in fairness, here's a disclaimer... You and I both know what the deal was to be... Freebies in exchange for mentions on the blog. I understand that there are a few lawyer types out there that are not money grubbing whores. I came to terms with myself long ago. I am a money grubbing whore (or freebie whore if you will) I was happy to accept whatever freebies i could get in exchange of an HONEST review. I agreed to give it a shot and see what would happen.

I wanted to have a little something for my wife when she got home from her inconvenient day job...

I assembled my ingredients...

A little cream cheese
a few crackers
about two tablespoons of , Fischer and Wieser, handcrafted one jar at a time, THE ORIGINAL ROASTED RASPBERRY CHIPOTLE SAUCE

Put some Cream Cheese in the romantic Ramekin.

top the cream cheese with the Fischer and Wieser, handcrafted one jar at a time, THE ORIGINAL ROASTED RASPBERRY CHIPOTLE SAUCE

Add the crackers... Took just a shade longer to explain it then it did to do it. Easy as pie... well, actually about 100 times easier than pie. Take a moment and check out their website. The good people at FISCHER & WIESER are wonderful to deal with and make a terrific product!

OK, here's the part where I talk about food, the product and my wife...

On my brother site, I did a comparison between this product and a similar product, the Allegro Raspberry/ Chipotle Marinade that I had been familiar with. I have used that stuff a lot. It never failed to please me. I could have gone my whole life enjoying the Allegro Marinade...

Then i got this stuff... Which made me ponder...

Do you remember that girl in 1st grade that you played Dr with. Remember THE GIRL? there were probably lots of THE GIRLS in your life... that first crush, Bet you even remember those embarrassing letters you wrote.

How about 6th grade when you got your first kiss, Jr. High dance when you really wanted to ask her to dance, High School at the drive-in, Prom... College romance with philosophy tossed in. I loved the intelligent girls. You may have even gotten married before (I've been happily married and unhappily married, I like being happily married). My point is, they were all THE GIRL...

Until...

Sometimes it was my fault, sometimes it was her fault, but something happened, and they stopped being THE girl. In the case of the Allegro Mainade, I started making my own. I worked on the recipe, and came up with a decent duplication. It was cheaper, more convenient to make my own, but mostly it was more satisfying. Same can be said for the girls that replaced whatever stage THE GIRL was in. ... um, except in most cases the cheap part, but you get the idea.

So, while writing this post, I thought about Sandy (my 1 st grade Dr. patient), Robin (that first Kiss), Rhonda (Jr. High), Leia (the girl at the Drive-In), Julie (Prom Date), Little Bird (College) and Jill (1st wife). At one time, they were all THE GIRL.

Garth Brooks did indeed say it best... The visuals are from the TV series JERICHO (how can you not love a series where Kansas gets blown to hell... but I digress). The lyrics you should all listen to and thank God for the unanswered prayers we all made for those girls to be the one...

And now...A GIVEAWAY...

Girls, sorry, sexist that I am, I want to build the male population on the site. Contest is only open to guys. Blogger honor, as i really don't know the sex of the person for sure, but my brother blog is offering a free bottle in an open contest. Think of this as the male version of the Miss America pageant. I'm not welcome to compete there either. But read on ladies, there is a way that you could get a bottle of the sauce free...

Guys... The standard random number thing -

1 point for joining up (follow, or put me on your blogroll). comment that you have done this.

3 more points for mentioning me on your blog (top billing, make it fun). Write something nice about the idea.

and 5 yes 5 yes 5 points if you provide me content for the blog... Tell me your story, first date, worst date, playing Dr or Prom... Or how you met your wife. What she does nice, what you do nice. Why is it better the second time around... anything you can think that would fit into this blog... You have a week, email me at before Friday at midnight, October 16, 2009 central time.

I will plug you all into the data base, assign a number and the random number generator will assign a winner... That winner gets a bottle of this amazing stuff (to me, right now it is THE SAUCE for me). Sauce only, not the picture of me and Bernadette.

OK, ladies (and guys)... there is another way to get a bottle FREE...

I need some I.T. help. I want a button for this site that people can post on their sites...
like this one...

Notice how when you run your cursor over it, you can click and it will take you right to the blog... I want one of those for this site. Anyone out there with the talent to come up with a logo I like and the software to get that as an option for folks? I would happily mail a bottle of this elixir of the gods if you would help us out...

So there we go, two posts down... anyone else want to share???

Do We Really Need Another Foodie Blog

2009-10-08T08:41:00.000-07:00

HELL YES WE DO...

But, this is not going to be your average blog. This will live or die, succeed or fail not based on the talents of the blog author, but on the participation of the "Happily Married Guys Who Cook".

I am indeed one of those HMGWC. And from my time of surfing around the Internet, I have seen a great deal MORE HMGWC's. Something about men and cooking aids in having a happy marriage. there are other ways of course, but check out my theory... Women love us!

So, are you a HMGWC? If so, would you like to participate in an active blog community to help others, show off or just to support the idea that it is better to be happily married and well feed than to be a hungry miserable partner? Most of us have seen the TUESDAYs WITH DORRIE blog of seemingly hundreds of cooks all churning out sweets week after week after week. Don't we guys deserve an equally popular place to hang out and be a part of? A place where we are actively part of a community...

That I've been able to find, this is indeed a unique place to hang out. A Men's club, a specialty blog that

Here's what I envision...

First, plan to make comments. Looky Lou's are welcome, but I want 100 HMGWC to visit the blog each time there is a new posting. I want at least 50 comments. This blog is a place to share... Plan to share.
Also plan to help. I will write the first few blog posts to get us started, But I want ideas from you (comments), stories and successes from you in the form of guest bloggers. I will solicit help, but I would sure appreciate volunteers. Got a story about how you met your wife? Here's the place for it. How about how you popped the question, or your first/worst/best meal with your wife? There are plenty of stories out there in the naked blogosphere, share them on this site.
Participate in a once a month cooking challenge. Everyone of us cook with the same theme, or main ingredient or serve the same ... Something. This will unite the community, help us to get different ideas and do what we do best... Cook for the women we love!
Help to create the blog you want. Got an idea... great, I'll at least consider it, and probably roll with it. Hate something, love something, anything in between... Be interactive.
Help to build traffic. Add this to your blogroll, once we get up and started, do a posting about us. Make a comment that you have added us, and I will start a blogroll of HMGWC. Do you know someone who qualifies (a happily married guy who cooks), drop them a line and let's make this idea a big deal. Celebrate our happiness (I do everyday).

I have spent a great deal of time surfing around different blogs. I considered joining some of those groups (like Dorrie), but honestly I would have felt like the red-headed step child at most of them. Tolerated, but viewed as a bit of a freak. I have found nothing like this where I would be a natural fit. This can be the TUESDAYs WITH DORRIE blog for married guys...

So, what do you think??? Time to start getting interactive... leave me a comment...