Monday’s are not known for being awesome, but this Monday just got exponentially more so! The doyenne of Modern Calligraphy Maybelle Imasa-Stukuls has created a Besotted exclusive, (because she’s amazing like that), and because it’s Monday, it’s summertime and I suppose ‘just because’. We have teamed up for a giveaway–our most extravagant lettering Bestowal to date! This is for all those lettering enthusiasts, packaging aficionados, stationery hoarders and Maybelle fans. This is an exclusive set, created just for you and only available to win this week.

I think I should just get down to business and let you know what’s in this exclusive luxe kit giveaway, shan’t I? Oh, okay, if you insist:

MAYBELLE LUXE KIT GIVEAWAY

• The kit includes a custom built 13.75″ x 10.5″ x 3″ wood slide top box (Maybelle’s husband made it!)
• 26 page Practice booklet (A-Z instructions)
• 1 wood straight holder
• 3 Steel nibs
• 1 Lined Guide sheet
• 10 sheets of vellum practice paper
• 10 sheets black paper
• 1 ounce bottle of Maybelle’s favorite sumi ink (it comes in a dropper bottle with a letterpress label, sigh)
• 1 hand crafted wooden pen rest with 2 glass vials for black and white ink
• 1 Wood ink holder for 9 inks
• 9 glass ink bottles (empty, perfect when mixing your gouache)
• 1 full-size bottle of Dr, Martin’s Bleed proof White
• 1 empty jar for mixing white ink
• 2 letterpress coasters of Maybelle’s alphabet
• 1 letterpress print of Maybelle’s alphabet on thick kraft 4-ply chipboard perfect for framing and a reference
• 1 Botanical canvas tote
• 1 wooden drying rack
• Foto Rx | Vitamin L25 Paper to Pixel Photoshop action set
• Photoshop for Lettering Artists class

This magnificent kit is valued at $500! The only thing better would be a visit by Miss Maybelle, right?  The giveaway is open worldwide and the winner will be announced next Monday, July 27, 2015. To enter to win please answer the following question in the comments:

What is your favorite quote? Or quotes? (we know how hard it is to choose just one!)

For additional chances to enter make sure to follow Maybelle and Foto Rx on Instagram, we will be posting photos of the kit for you to regram with the hashtag #lovemaybelle. Need more chances? I.know. (I wish I could enter!) Pin this photo and hashtag #lovemaybelle.  We wish you luck our friends, we can’t wait to read your fave quotes!

P.S. If you are interested here are some of mine, here, here, here.

photo by michelle p.

I thought ‘Everyday Detox’ would definitely be a good book to mention, the name of the book and the site which it was borne from-‘Detoxinista’ might throw people off, thinking this is a diet book/site.  I don’t diet, I won’t diet and one day I shall share my super (okay, not that secret) secret (and totally simple) method to always be slim, have clear skin, shiny hair and be healthy with lots of energy and still be able to eat chocolate (or drink wine), but for today we will discuss the book. Another beautifully photographed and easy to follow guide to cooking whole foods. I had been looking to find ways to make bread type items out of vegetables or pantry staples like beans, something that wouldn’t taste like cardboard or have me soaking anything for hours at a time. Again, my search was inspired by my daughter who would love to only be allowed to eat bread and cheese (wouldn’t we all?) I wanted to find something that would replace the bread, I am always looking for ways to incorporate more vegetables into her life, seriously it is almost evangelical my veggie mission. My search brought me to Detoxinista and the companion cookbook. The cover photograph is of the cauliflower flat bread ‘pizza’ which as the name implies is a flat bread made from cauliflower, the best part is there is no added flours, it is pretty darn creative if you ask me. You’ll find lot’s of creative ways to re-work some of your favorite recipes/foods. This is another book that I downloaded on my Kindle from the library and I am so happy I did! I don’t get to indulge in too many hobbies these days, but cooking allows me to be creative without feeling guilty that I am taking away time from my family and being able to find a book that allows me to re-envision everyday foods in a beautiful and healthful way has really has upped the creative spark in my kitchen.

Have you discovered Detoxinsta yet? Do you also have a secret (not so secret) way to stay slim and be healthy? We would love to know if you have tried any of the recipes!

Gina Homolka’s, Skinnytaste blog is one of my go-to’s when I’m stuck for meal ideas (full disclosure, I don’t cook or eat anything that is reduced fat, so I will just use the whole version for her recipes). The recipes are usually very simple to prepare and I have found many that are toddler approved. One of our favorites from her blog is the mini broccoli omelettes, these come together in minutes and supposedly are perfect for freezing but we have never had leftovers to try that. Gina has an active community and from her crazy Pinterest following (some recipes have been pinned over 700,000 times if that’s any indication of how wildly popular she is).

I have not bought this book yet, but I have had the opportunity to peruse it in person and it is gorgeous! The photos are by famed food photographer Penny De Los Santos, which should give you an indication of the quality of this book. I recently borrowed it from the library, which was a quick download on my Kindle, if your library has this option it has been like a ‘kid in a candy store’ fun to preview cookbooks and read novels that I ordinarily wouldn’t purchase, I highly recommend the service!

Have you discovered Gina Homolka’s Skinnytaste? Any recipes you have tried that you’d recommend?

I mentioned this book briefly a couple of weeks ago, but after having it in our culinary library (aka on the kitchen counter) for a few weeks it really needed to be given a more proper endorsement. Last night, I looked in our fridge and pantry and I felt like one of those cartoon characters that looks in theirs and only finds a bean to split. Dinner was not looking promising and I didn’t have time before E.’s bedtime to get to a grocery store. I usually never let our pantry get this depleted but it was in ‘woes me’ condition. I had a head of cauliflower, E.’s whole milk, kale, garlic and not much else. Doesn’t sound like the making of anything delicious or satisfying, but I pulled out my ‘Food52 Genius Recipes’ found one for cauliflower steaks and got to work. The ‘genius’ in the recipes is the simplicity in both the ingredients and the actual prep time. The cauliflower steak ingredients were just cauliflower, pan seared than roasted, the ‘pizazz’ factor was the cauliflower puree that is made with the remaining florets boiled in water and whole milk with a little salt and pepper thrown in. Once they are tender you puree them in a blender or food processor and they inexplicably form something that tastes like rich, buttery mashed potatoes?! I could not believe my freakin’ taste buds, how is that even possible?  I think I am going to try this again, without making the cauliflower steaks, just the puree, using less liquid to get an even more authentic mashed potato feel. As for dinner? A little side of sauteed kale with garlic and we had a delicious + satisfying dinner on the table. I think I should also mention we had ice cream sandwiches as well, you know to just round everything off.

This book is filled with crazy easy and delicious recipes. If you are not making Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce on a regular basis you should be (another genius recipe), it’s just canned tomatoes, an onion sliced in half , butter and salt to taste, leave it on the stove for 45 minutes to simmer and you have probably one of the best pasta sauces you have ever made on your hands (and the easiest).  If only I had an onion and canned tomatoes that would have been dinner, it’s always my stand by when we have ‘nothing in the fridge’.  Bonus a lot of the recipes can be made toddler friendly (and still satisfy the grown ups), which is perfect because who wants to cook two dinners each night? Not me.

Although, this is not a vegan centric book or blog, there are loads of plant and grain based recipes. I am dying to try the braised lentils, I had no idea you could cook lentils like that! I think E. will approve, she has a thing for lentils and I have a thing for trying to expand her palate.

Are you familiar with Food52? Have you tried any of their recipes? If so, which ones have worked for you?

My toddler daughter won’t eat meat. This ordinarily wouldn’t have bothered me, I hadn’t planned on giving her meat for many moons, I was a vegetarian for 15 years, I figured we’d cross that bridge when we needed to. Well we needed to. We found out our daughter was low in iron, something quite common in babies that aren’t supplemented with formula, we had started on a liquid iron which I was not crazy about (I don’t think anyone wants to give their child anything additional in their system) and then we stopped the liquid iron after the recommended dosage term only to get re-tested and find out she was still low. The doctor insisted that iron from meat would be the best iron, so we tried all sorts of meat in all incarnations and even pureed it to see if we could ‘slip’ it in. No dice. Iron is essential for growth for a baby/toddler and she is very petite so we wanted to ensure that she had the iron necessary for her growth and health. We also didn’t want to give her too much iron, because it seems to be one of the easiest supplements to easily get toxic (and fatal). What’s a mother to do? I decided if she wasn’t going to eat meat I would need to learn how to create meals for her that offered the most balanced of nutrition for her growing body, that’s when I fell down a quite glorious rabbit hole. My research introduced me to many new blogs and books and an entire community that I wanted to be part of. From the infamous words of the diner in ‘When Harry Met Sally’–‘I’ll have what she’s having’.

One of my first discoveries was Sarah Britton’s, ‘My New Roots’.  Her blog is beautiful in it’s simplicity (she was voted a Saveur Best Food Blog), the recipes are completely doable and I discovered so many new things from Sarah. Risotto made from sunflower seeds? Making your own flours from grains? I have easily (and successfully) made at least five different flours now, which is perfect since I don’t bake enough that I need a ginormous container of suspect flour sitting in our already tiny pantry space. Sarah it seems has an enormous following + fan base and after you start reading her blog you may just find yourself amongst one of them.

This week we will be sharing the beautiful new to us blogs and their books. I was tremendously inspired and love that there are blogs that are still thriving, it makes my little blog loving heart swell.

Are you already a fan of Sarah Britton? If so have you tried any of her recipes? I would love to know which ones were a hit!