mother lode!

My neighbors are probably beginning to think that I'm running some sort of lucrative, scandalous, somewhat illegal mail-based service.


I'm not. It's lucrative, scandalous, and completely legal.

No, seriously, I've just been extremely fortunate these past few days. I earned some free chocolate and was the lucky winner of not one, but two blog giveaways! Plus, I've been doing some online ordering of my own, so I've had a package waiting on my doorstep just about every day this week.

First, the chocolate. Oh, the chocolate. This was a Blake Makes giveaway from Amano Chocolate. The package contained three bars of their insanely fabulous chocolate, which, except for a few chunks that have mysteriously disappeared (into mah bell-ay), is being saved for something special. My deepest gratitude, Blake and Amano!

Secondly, my comment on a Glam Dish post was randomly picked to be the winner of a stellar combination of goods. I got an autographed copy of Gale Gand's Short and Sweet: Quick Desserts with Eight Ingredients or Less, a Reddi Whip bowl, several coupons for free Reddi Whip, and two silicone baking molds (one for mega muffins and one for mini muffins). The molds will be used often, I'm sure, and having glanced through the book, I can safely say that lots of the recipes are begging to be tested. Many, many thanks, Amy!



Lastly (and most exciting), as the result of another random drawing by Melanie at My Kitchen Cafe, I was picked as the winner of a bundle of fabulous goodies from Utah.

She sent elderberry jelly and blueberry syrup (also known as motivation for pancake-making)...


...honey bran muffin mix and huckleberry honey (perhaps some homemade baklava is finally in order)...


...awesomely shaped pasta and a delicious-sounding sauce mix...



...AND key lime cookies and vanilla caramel pretzels:



(amen)

Check out the box she chose to send these delicious, ultra-healthy treats in:


What a character. I'm absolutely floored by your generosity, Melanie--thank you so much! There's a lot of sensational cooking and baking in my future!

One gift that I didn't get in the mail but will gladly accept was an award from toontz at Okara Mountain.


It's given to blogs for their creativity (don't know about that...), design (if you say so, toontz!), and interesting material (on a good day.). Recipients also contribute to the blogger community, no matter what language (there we go--this I definitely do!).


See, I told you it was all legal.