Monday Book Giveaway (June 16, 2008)

Whoo hoo! What a fun, fun day! I get to give away two reader’s choice books, offer Sarah Strohmeyer’s new book, AND give you all a little something sweet, to say thank you for reading.

First, two new winners <insert drum roll here>: Ginnie and Lace!! Congratulations! Ginnie chose the Southern Living Cooking (this one?), and Lace chose Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke (pre-orders are fine, Lace). Ginnie and Lace, please send your shipping information to katrina (at) stonoff (dot) com, and I’ll get your books in the mail.

If you didn’t win today, come back! I do a book giveaway every Monday, and every four weeks or so, it’s Your Choice.

For next week, I may have mentioned (*ahem*) that Sarah Strohmeyer’s new book comes out Thursday. I cannot wait! I pre-ordered it the day she sent notice to her fans that it was coming. It’s called Sweet Love, and it features a woman who expresses love by cooking spectacular desserts (and her daughter Julie, who is alone at age 40 because Mom chased off her only love when she was 17). What’s not to love? You can read an excerpt here. Even better, Sarah has graciously agreed to inscribe the books to the winners. Yay!

So, to win an autographed copy of Sweet Love by Sarah Strohmeyer, just comment below by noon Sunday (Pacific Time). Monday, I’ll announce the two winners. Contest open to anyone who has access to reliable mail service.

And come back next week. I’ll be offering another brand new release by an amazing author: No One You Know by Michelle Richmond. It’s a STUNNING book, even better than A Year of Fog (my favorite book of 2007). I’ll be posting a glowing review of it later this week, so watch for it! And come back next Monday to win.

Now, my gift to you. Inspired by Sarah Strohmeyer’s dessert-cooking character, I offer you an original recipe for a cake that will give you a culinary orgasm. Yes, it’s that good*.

Lime Upon Lime Cake

This is a very rich, very dense and moist cake with lime curd filling and a glaze that crystallizes for a satisfying crunch. Every bite tastes like fresh lime. If you’d like to make it, I’ve posted the recipe here.

And finally, here’s the hat from which my mother chose the winners (she didn’t enter this week, don’t worry).

Again, it’s vintage (an ebay find), with a Chapeaux label. My sister (fabric artist extraordinaire) said the fabric appears to be a silk velvet, and it has a silk brocade lining. It’s decorated with loads of beads and metallic braid and embroidery. Very fun hat!

Big thanks to all the bloggers who help promote the Monday Book Giveaway: A Contest Blog, A Striped Armchair, Ardently Book Reviews, Blog Giveaways, CallMeaBookworm, Fiction Scribe, In Spring It Is the Dawn, Juxtabook, Laura Williams’ Musings, Melody’s Reading Corner, Mom of 2 Dancers, My Friend Amy, My Weblog, Out of the Blue, Prize-a-Tron, QuiverFullFamily, Tara’s View on Books, Things Mean a Lot, and West of Mars. If you found the giveaway via a different blog, please let me know, so I can thank them for the link.

*Sadly, however, it is not “that” pretty, at least not in this picture. Because the cake has to be assembled fast, I prepped all the ingredients before I started. I even sifted the powdered sugar to make sure the glaze wouldn’t be clumpy. But my family is visiting, and when it came time to mix the glaze, I was yakking with my sister. And instead of putting two tablespoons of water into the powdered sugar, I put in two cups! I had to dump the glaze and start over, but I didn’t have time to sift the sugar again. *sigh* But trust me … she might not look sexy, but you’ll moan with every bite.