Peanut Butter and . . . Greeting Cards

Partial to marshmallow with your PB? Or is bacon more your style? This unique set of 4 greeting cards let you choose the right PB combo for your recipient. The set includes one card each of grapes, banana, marshmallow, and bacon. Printed from original art by Wind Up Bird Studios, the cards come with envelopes suitable for mailing. The cards are 100% mouldmade alpha-cellulose paper and have a soft felt finish, ideal for pen, ink, watercolor and other mediums. They're deckled on four sides, giving each card a soft and sophisticated look. Each card is left blank inside for you to personalize your message. What a delicious way to say "Hello!", "I Miss You," or whatever might be on your mind.

Using The Presidential Election to Sell Candy

The L.A. Burdick Company is marketing two collections of chocolate candies with a presidential campaign theme. Their McCain Campaign Chocolates include peanut butter half moons covered in milk chocolate--the only peanut butter candy in either collection. As I write this, the McCain candy is running a distant second to the Obama Campaign Collection (which of course contains no peanut butter). You gotta wonder, are peanut butter lovers that severely outnumbered, or are shoppers trying to make a political statement? Hmmm.

Peanut Butter Cup Shortbread Giveaway

Cookies by Kristin is a new shop on Etsy--just about one month old--but I'm hooked already! These peanut butter cup shortbread cookies are baked fresh when you place your order and then shipped Priority Mail so you get them quickly. Melt-in-your-mouth delicious, I could easily down half an order with my morning coffee. At $6/dozen, that makes this the best $3 breakfast I've ever had. And for that matter, the best shortbread cookies I've ever had. They're good for late night snacks, too. And mid-afternoon snacks. And dessert.

Kristin is not only an awesome baker, she's also very generous. She's giving away a dozen fabulous peanut butter cup shortbread cookies to two separate winners! Here's how to enter:

1. You must have a U.S. mailing address.
2. Have a look at Cookies by Kristin, then come back here and leave a comment telling what flavor of shortbread cookie you'd love to see in her shop next. (I'm hoping for a peanut butter and strawberry combo, sort of a PBJ flavor!)
3. Earn an extra entry by posting about this giveaway on your blog, with links to both this post and to Cookies by Kristin; then leave a second comment on this post letting us know where to find your post.
4. Earn a third entry by making a purchase from Cookies by Kristin, and comment here with your transaction number.
5. Make sure there is a link to your blog or an email address accompanying your comment so that I can contact you if you're a winner.
6. September 25, 2008, is the last date to comment. On September 26 I'll use that randomizer thingie to select the winners.

I've been busy lining up more terrific giveaways, so come back soon and see what else I'm giving away!

Grow Your Own Peanut Butter

I always thought of peanuts as warm-climate plants that need a huge amount of growing space. Seems I wasn't exactly right--good news for all of you! They've been found growing high in the Andes mountains, and they're even grown commercially in Canada. You can grow them in a child's plastic wading pool and even in a deep plastic dishpan on your patio or balcony.

The Mother Earth News has a terrific article on growing peanut plants, complete with resources for seeds. I've got to measure my back yard now to see how many peanut plants I can fit there next spring. It's never too early to start planning, right?