Victorinox Knife Set Giveaway (For All of You Cooks!) via Very Sharp Things

A couple of years ago, I got to meet one of my lovely readers, Sheryl and her husband Warren.  

(after lunch at La Madeline)

They were taking a trip to Houston and Warren emailed me to let me know his wife was a fan of my blog. We arranged to meet at the Galleria and I invited Sheryl and Warren to have lunch with us. It was fun to meet a great couple, and they were Canadians to boot, so I knew they'd be awesome :)

Warren recently started a new business called VerySharpThings.ca and he generously offered to host a giveaway for my lovely readers. If you or your husband like to cook, this one's for you!

As you all know, my husband does most of the cooking in our house (God bless him!) I love to grocery shop and I love making scrambled eggs, baby purees, peach basil oil salad, lucky charm marshmallow squares, and tortilla soup--- but there's where my relationship with the kitchen ends. 

We got a lot of items from generous family members and friends when we got married, but one thing we never got was a great set of knives. We already owned knives so we didn't think to get better quality ones that would last a really long time.  Luckily for us (well, mostly for Kevin) Warren hooked us up with a beautiful new set by Victorinox. They make I Swiss Army knives, so how could we go wrong?

Plus, they look fab in our kitchen and let's just say I appreciate something that's functional and pretty.

Though Kevin uses the knives daily for our dinners, I do most of our weekly food prep, and I've come to appriciate them since they make chopping up all of our stuff for the week a cinch.

 I chop up various fruits and make fresh fruit cups for Harper to take as a snack at daycare.

Even though the website is based in Canada (the homeland!), the shipping you pay is very similar to what you would pay for other things you order online if you're in the US like me. You can also email Warren anytime for advice on knives if you're not sure what would best suit your cooking needs. He's kind of a knife aficionado and he returns emails promptly. 

Warren is giving away one Victorinox 7-piece forged block set (that's a $495 value, folks!) to one lucky Veronika's Blushing reader. All you have to do is go and "LIKE" Very Sharp Things on Facebook and your name will be entered into a random draw. Please make sure you complete the rafflecopter form below so we know you entered!

The draw will be open until 12 midnight on April 14th. The winner will be announced on the Very Sharp Things� Facebook page.

Thanks for entering and good luck!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Apricot & Shrimp Skewers for Summer

One of my New Year's resolutions was to cook more often and learn to make differenct dishes. I was so resistant to recipes. I hated that there were rules and measuring and grocery lists with seemingly endless ingredients to buy.

However, I've changed my tune lately. I've learned to kind of enjoy making different dishes and I am proud of myself everytime I try a new one. I've learned to embrace recipes and come to understand that you have to measure it all out for a reason (because um, otherwise, you'll end up with horrible chicken parmasen one night...not to be too specific or anything, but gosh it was bad).

Today I bring you yet another recipe I saw in Women's Health magazine. I modified it in two ways- we didn't make these as skewers and I didn't use a grill, just a plain ol' pan.

It turns out that my husband hates/loathes/despises both peaches and apricots. In fact, his exact words were "if I was on a deserted island and the only food source were peaches or apricots, I would drown myself." Heavy. 

I loved this meal, and H loved the marinated shrimp, but he pushed all of the apricots back onto my plate after giving his deserted island speech. Haha. Keepin' it real, ladies.
Here's what you'll need:

2 tbsp + 2 tsp canola oil
1 tsp lemon zest
Juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup parsley, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
6 apricots, quartered, pits removed
12 metal or soaked wooden skewers
Lemon wedges

You can find the instructions here, on the Barre Studio's blog.

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Delicious!  Share your favorite summertime recipes below!

Just Peachy- Amazing Salad Recipe from Women's Health Magazine!

Last night I made the best salad ever.  There's a backstory to this so I'll tell it really quickly--- basically, I used to have a salad phobia.  I LOVED eating salads...but I could only eat them at restaurants when they were prepared for me. If I tried to make my own salad, I would feel sick when I tried to eat it and it always tasted awful.  Strange, right?

In the past year, I've been experimenting more and I've made a few salads that I have enjoyed---but none of them were better than the one I made last night.

I discovered it when flipping through my latest issue of Women's Health Magazine (I'm a loyal and loving subscriber) and I was intrigued because the recipe called for peaches, which I absolutely love.  In fact, I've had a salad before at Ruggles Green that has peaches and it was delightful.

After running errands all day, H and I stopped at the grocery store and I bought all of the ingredients I would need to make the ir "Peach Salad with Basil Oil." This recipe is from the July/August 2012 issue of Women's Health Magazine, and I credit the below photo to them as I couldn't find the link to this recipe on their website.

So, here's what you'll need:

• Baby Arugula
• Peaches
• Walnuts
• Mozarella Cheese
• Salt
• White Wine Vinegar
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Fresh Basil Leaves

Tools:

• Knife for chopping
• food processor
• Mixing spoons or tongs
• 1 large bowl
• Measuring cups/spoons

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Here's what it looked like, step-by-step:

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YUM!  This was one of the best dinners I've had in a long time!

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 I hope you'll love this recipe as much as we did! 

What is YOUR favorite salad recipe? Please link it below if you can find it online!

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