February 2008 Food and Drink Blog Events

EVERY WEEKEND - Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Kalyn's Kitchen.

WEEKLY - Presto Pasta Night. Channel your inner comfort food muse and join in the new, fun weekly event. Hosted by Ruth at Once Upon A Feast, complete details to participate can be found right here.
WEEKLY - ARF/5-A-Day. Hosted by Cate at Sweetnicks every Tuesday night. Have you recently made a recipe with fruit and/or vegetables? Then this is perfect for you. Come on and join in the fun - complete details are right here.

ONGOING - World Bread Day - After Hours Party. For those that missed out on the recent 113-entry roundup for World Bread Day, this is your chance to join in the fun. Complete details can be found here.

MONTHLY - MASTER BAKER. Bake what you want. Every month we will choose an ingredient of the month and you're job is to bake whatever your little heart desires with our ingredient of the month. For more info, click here.

MONTHLY - Weekend Breakfast Blogging. Saffron Trail hosts this event. Complete rundown is here.

MONTHLY - Cooking with Tea Contest sponsored by Tea Chef. Experiment with different ideas to develop the best recipe with that tea, then send it in with a picture. Every month new recipes are posted for community voting (look for the "Vote for this Recipe" links). The highest-ranked recipe will win a fabulous tea-related reward and the acclaim of the community!

MONTHLY - Carnival of Dining Out. Come celebrate your favorite place to eat in this new monthly event. Entries are due by the end of the month, and complete information can be found here.

MONTHLY - FOOD BLOGGY PETS OF THE MONTH. Peanut Butter Etouffe is doing a monthly round-up featuring all your pets. Come join in the fun - all the details are right here.

MONTHLY - GROW YOUR OWN celebrates the foods we grow ourselves and the dishes we make using our homegrown products. Make a dish that uses at least one item from your very own garden (indoor, outdoor, urban, whatever) or meat you have raised and post about it. You can use something that was gifted to you, but the giver must have personally grown or raised the item. Posts are due on February 27 and the round-up will be posted on or around March 1. Check out the full details here.

MONTHLY - SNACKSHOTS #2 hosted by Greedy Gourmet. Take a photo of anything leek. It can be of a fish you prepared or abstract photography. Whatever you do, we want to see it! For more info, click here.

MONTHLY: Art You Eat #1 - Chocolate - DEADLINE EXTENDED to FEBRUARY 11! We all want our creations to look as wonderful as they taste and there are tons of absolutely gorgeous examples out there of the amazing creations that all you beautiful bloggers create. Why not hold an event that shares the decorating and presentation tips as well as the food? After all, if someone is going to try to recreate your masterpiece, shouldn't it look spectacular too? Each month we will hold an event that will focus on a different kind of decorating theme, medium, idea, holiday, etc. That way we can all go for variations on a similar theme for that month and end up with lots of ideas to choose from! It should be fun to see all the variations we come up with. To join in the fun get all the details here!

MONTHLY - APPLES & THYME. A celebration of time spent in the kitchen with our mothers and grandmothers (or anyone else you wish to blog about) and what they did or did not pass on to us that influenced how we cook and eat today. The event is hosted by Vanielje Kitchen and The Passionate Palate. We would love you to enter and share with us a person and a dish that celebrates your relationship with them. Deadline is February 20th. More details here.

MONTHLY: ART YOU EAT CHALLENGES. Hello again! We have another challenge before us, chosen by AYE #1's winner, the lovely and oh so creative, Inge of Vanielje Kitchen. For this challenge Inge and I agreed that eggs and creations that are shaped like eggs would be eligible to participate. As before, posts you have published before can be entered as long as you repost it as an entry to the event with a link back and tell us how you made your creation look so amazing and artful. So whether you make something with eggs as a main ingredient or in the shape of an egg, try to make it celebrate the coming spring and Easter season! Please email entries to artyoueat AT gmail DOT com by the end of March 19th and include the following: NAME, LOCATION, ENTRY TITLE, BLOG TITLE, BLOG URL, POST URL, THEME IDEA IF YOU WIN. The top three entries will be chosen by Inge and myself for this challenge (mostly by Inge since it is her theme – I just get to put my two cents in!) and then voting will begin to choose who will host the next round.

ANNUAL - A Taste of Terroir. Between now and January 21, 2008, create and post an entry on your blog which highlights a food or drink, or food/drink product, or recipe which highlights terroir in your location which you can write about with a personal perspective including a photo. Describe how it relates to your locale. Full details are here.

ANNUAL - EAT LIKE A PIRATE DAY. September 19th is the first annual Eat Like a Pirate Day! If you are going to talk like a pirate, you should eat like one too! Whether it's parrot a'la orange or seaweed-wrapped seaweed, swash your buckle on over and share. More details soon. Contact kitchenMage(at)gmail(dot)com.

NOW UNTIL FEBRUARY 4th - MONTHLY MINGLE. This time, the 17th!! Monthly Mingle will be focusing on Comfort Foods. After all the big fancy meals we have been eating the last few months, wouldn't it be simply great to go back to the simple, undressed-up charms of comfort foods? I keep finding myself creating simpler foods right now. Food that hugs me from the inside out! It's the type of food that picks us up when we are down, warms us when we are feeling lost and cold and blurs out the bad mood. The first mouthful takes us straight back to the familiar, the good; to the time when all was well. That is what I am looking for this month. Your very favorite comfort foods. Comfort food is not to be confused with favorite foods though. Favorite foods are more fancier like a lemon tart, mousse au chocolat or a Chateaubriand steak. Comfort foods are often simple, no frills and easy to prepare kind of foods. So, do something good for yourself and bring over your Comfort Foods to my mingle this month. Complete details can be found here.

NOW UNTIL FEBRUARY 9th - MY LEGUME LOVE AFFAIR. Hosted by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.Looking for a healthy, economical, yet tasty change after the overindulgences of the holiday season? Consider the legume. Full details found here.

NOW UNTIL FEBRUARY 12th - MINI PIE REVOLUTION EVENT #2: Small Tarts Have Big Hearts! Here at the Mini Pie Revolution HQ, we know that Valentine's Day requires tarts of a different kind. Grandmothers everywhere would not lie – the stomach leads to the heart, and nothing inspires love like a filled pastry crust. For Valentine's Day, we want to see your sweetest tarts! Complete details can be found here.

NOW UNTIL FEBRUARY 15th - A HEART FOR YOUR VALENTINE. On February 14th we celebrate Valentine's Day, a holiday honoring love and lovers. In the spirit of the holiday, I suggest to romance the special person in our life not only with a love note but also with a homemade "edible heart." So I would like to invite you to treat your Valentine with something sweet or savory but always heart-shaped or heart-decorated. Give your fantasy full scope and surprise your beloved one with a special heart! Of course we would like to see what kind of heart you give away, so please blog about it from now until February 15. More information about the event can be found here.

NOW UNTIL FEBRUARY 20TH - NO CROUTONS REQUIRED. A monthly soup and salad challenge, hosted by Holler of Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen. This month's challenge is to create a tasty vegetarian soup, that even the most carnivorous diner would drool over! The winner will be awarded a gorgeous badge for their blog! More details can be found here.

NOW UNTIL FEBRUARY 21 - WEEKEND COOKBOOK CHALLENGE #25. The theme is Nigella Lawson, and the due date is Feb 21. Ani from Foodiechickie is hosting and complete details can be found here.

NOW UNTIL FEBRUARY 25th - A FRUIT A MONTH. Sra from When My Soup Came Alive is hosting the A Fruit A Month (AFAM - Pomegranate) event this month. AFAM is an event that focuses on dishes of all kinds - savoury and sweet - made with the fruit chosen for the event every month. In February, it's pomegranate. The deadline is Feb 25. Find the event details at right here.

NOW UNTIL FEBRUARY 29th- LEFTOVER TUESDAYS #12: THE SWEETHEART CHALLENGE. Leftovers got you down? How about converting those leftovers into something new and intriguing? That’s what the Leftover Tuesdays event is all about. This month Project Foodie is hosting Leftover Tuesdays #12. We’re going to add a twist to our leftover challenge in honor of Valentine’s Day. Make a leftover creation for your sweetheart. The leftovers can be the remnants of a previous meal (either home cooked or bought) but they can also be the unused portions of the various components you've used to create recent (or not so recent) meals. Basically, leftovers are anything in your fridge, pantry or freezer for which you have no intended purpose and need/want to use up! Get all the details here.

NOW UNTIL FEBRUARY 29th - FRUGAL FOODIE CHALLENGE. Food Revolution is pleased to host the Frugal Foodie Challenge. This monthly event is to encourage creativity within saving money. How creative can you get with $7 and a required ingredient? You must create a meal for two people with the $7. This month’s required ingredient – Apples (or a natural derivative – applesauce, apple juice, etc)! Deadline for entries is February 29 at 5pm EST.

NOW UNTIL FEBRUARY 29th - THE POTATO FE(A)ST, in collaboration with International Year of Potatoes (2008). Hosted by Dhivya Karthik from Culinary Bazaar, you can find the complete participation details right here.

NOW UNTIL FEBRUARY 29th - FOOD FIGHT #3: Pantry Raid! Monthly Food Fight's are being resurrected by Allen at Eating Out Loud. This month's theme is somewhat voyeuristic since it focuses on what's in your pantry and what you can make from it. Anything goes -- are you ready for the challenge? Be creative and wow us with what you can whip up. Complete details can be found here.

NOW UNTIL FEBRUARY 29th - SERENDIPITY BAKE-OFF. We are hosting a contest for the Most Pleasing Dessert - baker’s choice of what to prepare. Then, take at least one photo during its preparation process (so we know you didn’t go to Confetti Cakes for it!), photograph the finished treat & share the recipe and your experience with us on your blog. In the end, we all win, right? However, since it is a contest, the prize will be 3 To-Die-For products from Serendipity Soap. The Contest Rules are simple: All entries must be posted or emailed to us (bencomobaby AT hotmail DOT com & soapchix AT gmail DOT com) by February 29. By entering this contest, you agree to divulge your secrets (i.e. your personal recipe or its source). If you are friends, relatives, neighbors, or mere acquaintances of any of the judges (Amy, Ash or Tiff), then you not only qualify to participate in this contest, but are strongly encouraged to do so (this means you Mom & Aunt Jenny!). Complete details can be found here.

NOW UNTIL FEBRUARY 29th - CLICK. A theme-based event dedicated to food photography. The theme for February 2008 is 'FLOUR'. For details, go here.

NOW UNTIL FEBRUARY 29th - WEEKEND BREAKFAST BLOGGING - HEALTHY EATS EVENT. Weekend Breakfast Blogging, the monthly event that celebrates the most important meal of the day. comes to Tasty Palettes. This month's theme is Healthy Eats. To participate in this event, send in your healthy, nutritious and well balanced recipes that can be served at breakfast. Deadline is Feb 29. More details here."

NOW UNTIL MARCH 1st - TO MARKET, TO MARKET. Celebrate your local market with this new event from A Scientist in the Kitchen. Complete details can be found here

NOW UNTIL MARCH 1st - BREAD BAKING DAY #7: FLATBREADS. This one is being hosted by Chili und Ciabatta. Flatbreads were the first breads (people have been making them for more than 6000 years) and exist in almost every culture. Come and join us in baking flatbreads! It's so easy: you can use almost every grain, even legumes such as chickpeas or lentils. And you don't even have to use an oven - you can also throw your flatbread in a pan. Complete details can be found here.

NOW UNTIL MARCH 1st - THEY GO REALLY WELL TOGETHER (TGRWT) #9. This month's challenge is to create a recipe that combines Parmesan cheese and cocoa. The event is being hosted by lamiacucina. They Go Really Well Together (TGRWT) is a food blogging event where you create a recipe that pairs two ingredients that are not usually seen together. Cocoa and Parmesan share several chemical compounds and theory predicts there should be great recipes with the pair. The challenge is finding one. Complete details can be found here.

NOW UNTIL MARCH 3rd - AN APPLE A DAY. I am organizing a Blog Event on foods that can prevent stroke. I made a critical selection. A apple a day … has a great scientific meaning. Indeed apples help also to prevent stroke. In your recipe apples must be present (one apple is enough) plus one of the other ingredients from this list: APPLE(S) + Almonds, Black Tea, Cinnamon, Dark Chocolate, Fish, Peperoncino, or Tomatoes. Complete details on the event can be found here.

NOW UNTIL MARCH 8th - CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY. A major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women. We don't want to celebrate the political way, instead fiordisale and I would like to invite you to prepare some food. Food connects people, so we ask you to cook or bake something yellow for this special day. More information about the event and how to participate you'll find in English here and and in Italian here.

NOW UNTIL MARCH 10th - MONTHLY MINGLE. Theme: One-Dish Dinners. Complete details can be found here.

MARCH 10th - MARCH 14th - CELEBRATE Pi DAY. What holiday do we celebrate on March 14th? What might hungry mathematicians eat on the 3rd month’s 14th day? Ah yes, on March 14th, we celebrate Pi Day to honor pi, the revered mathematical constant of 3.14 and a trillion more digits. To help pie lovers and food bloggers celebrate the occasion, you are invited to share a favorite pie recipe for Pi Day here at Kitchen Parade. The challenge: While it's easy to fill a pie, the crust itself is more challenging -- but so worth investing in, so worth doing well. And so for Pi Day, please make your own pastry. Yes, Pi Day is about homemade pie crusts, whether a favorite pie crust recipe, whether a new-to-you recipe with a particular technique, whether your own innovative twist on pastry -- all are welcome. Butter crusts? Crisco? Olive oil? Lard??? All ingredients are welcome! Single crust? Double crusts? Lattice tops? All are welcome, so long as the pastry is homemade. Complete details can be found right here.

NOW UNTIL MARCH 22nd - Novel Food #3. The culinary/literary event Lisa of Champaign Taste and Simona of briciole co-launched two seasons ago is back. Continuing what is becoming a special tradition, we are looking to find culinary inspiration in literary works. The simple rules for participating in Novel Food #3:

1. Prepare a dish of your choosing that has a connection to a published literary work (novel, novella, short story, memoir).
2. Post it on your blog by Saturday March 22, 2008, 9 am (Pacific Time).Send an e-mail to Lisa (webrina AT gmail DOT com) or to Simona
   (simosite AT mac DOT com) and include your name, blog name and blog
   address, and a permanent link to your post.

Non-English submissions are fine. If possible, include an introduction in English. The announcement is available here and here.

NOW UNTIL MARCH 22nd- "FESTA ITALIANA." A new food event hosted by Marie of Proud Italian Cook and Maryann from Finding La Dolce Vita. Let's celebrate the sweet life together! Bring your favorite Italian dish or drink and gather with your friends for a food event not to be missed. All are welcome. Complete details here and here.

NEW!!! NOW UNTIL MARCH 24th - SUGAR HIGH FRIDAY #41: SWEET GIFTS. Habeas Brulee invites you to share the recipe for a dessert you made (or want to make) for someone else. Any sweet will do, as long as you also share the story of why you made (or want to make) that particular dessert for that particular person! The deadline for entries is March 24th, and the round-up will be posted on March 28th. Get all the details here.

NOW UNTIL APRIL 19th - LiveSTRONG WITH A TASTE OF YELLOW. This popular event from last year is back! Complete details can be found here.