A giveaway from the Women Food Entrepreneurs

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When I started Not Ketchup at the beginning of this year, I never imagined I would find so many creative, generous people willing to help me on my entrepreneurial journey.

I've been lucky to fall in with a group of other women building natural food businesses. We call ourselves the Women Food Entrepreneurs and we "meet" in a private group on Facebook. Over the past few months we've shared failures and successes, cheered each other on, and (most important) traded practical business information about everything from packaging to vendors to product development to sales.

Keep an eye on us. We are going to be a Very Big Deal.

This week, to celebrate the kids being back in school and the end of summer and the beginning of every food business's incredibly intense holiday season, we're doing a joint giveaway. Enter below for a chance to taste all my fellow Women Food Entrepreneurs' products:

• Caramel sauce from Nicole at The Caramel Jar
• Coconut spreads from Nikki at Nikki's Coconut Butter
• High-protein, gluten-free pancake mix from Caren at ProCakes
• Flavored peanut butter from Sarah at A Loving Spoon
• Granola from (another) Nicole at Blissful Eats
• And, of course, some Not Ketchup from yours truly

Good luck and thanks for supporting us!

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A Not Ketchup fruit ketchup #giveaway to celebrate the Not Ketchup Tour O' Texas

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I just flew back from the Not Ketchup Tour O' Texas, and boy, are my arms tired.

{ba-dum bum}

Seriously though...my arms are tired. As are my legs, my feet, my back, and my brain.

My 12-year-old son and I went to Texas to demo Not Ketchup, my new line of artisan fruit ketchups, at all nine Central Market gourmet superstores. Nine stores in five cities in 12 days. At each six-hour demo, we gave out between 500 and 800 samples.

I'm not great at math, but I'm pretty sure that adds up to four aching feet, 12 hours of staring into space and babbling incoherently, and three or four well-deserved naps this coming weekend.

The trip was a huge success. Central Market's customers loved Not Ketchup and bought a ton of it. My son Weston was the best sales associate ever - he charmed the pants off every customer we met. We got comments on Facebook from Central Market customers like this:

And this:

Now we're home and I'm catching up on client work, Not Ketchup work, and blogging. While I'm getting some great new recipes ready for you, I thought I'd share the Not Ketchup love with a little giveaway. There are a bunch of ways to enter - see the entry form below.

The lucky winner gets:

• A Not Ketchup 4-Pack Sampler, including one bottle each of Cherry Chipotle, Smoky Date, Blueberry White Pepper and Spiced Fig Not Ketchup (retail value $36)
• A Not Ketchup t-shirt (the same one the kids are wearing in the photo above, size XL)
• A nifty Not Ketchup squeeze bottle, good for squirting Not Ketchup decoratively onto your burgers, steak, chicken, sandwiches, sausages, cheese plates and more

Good luck to all!

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Nambé CookServ cookware giveaway and Thai fish stew

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{Scroll to the end of this post to enter Nambé's great giveaway!}

A long time ago, I got engaged to a wonderful man. 

And like many young brides-to-be, sparkling diamond on my fourth finger, I immediately trekked down to Bloomingdale's and registered for flatware, dishes, pots and pans, serving dishes, and crystal. 

One of the pieces I threw onto the registry as a lark ("You need to include items at every price point," counseled the wise and chic department store salesperson) was a medium-sized bowl by Nambé. Silver-toned, asymmetrical, off-kilter in a pleasing way, it stood out among the many bright, shiny objects on display.

In the 16 years we've been married, I've used that bowl many dozens of times. Still graceful, still surprising, it makes me feel fashionable and design-forward every time it's on the table. Those of you who know me in person know "fashionable" is not exactly one of my common states.

I don't do a lot of product reviews, but when Nambé asked me if I'd be interested in trying its new line of CookServ cookware, I had to say yes. 

When I took my Nambé 12-inch CookServ sauté pan and its lid out of the box, I think I moaned a little. This is the most graceful and beautiful pot that has ever entered my house. The handles alone make me catch my breath.

It was so beautiful I was afraid to cook with it. It took me more than a week to get up the nerve to put it on the stove over an open flame. 

But then I made a batch of my family's favorite Thai fish stew, and the pan looked just as beautiful when I was done as it had when I started. It's heavy, 5-ply stainless steel. You can use it on the stove or in the oven. It can even go in the dishwasher.

However you cook with this pan, here's the most important part: You can carry it straight to the table with your head held high. You could put this pan down in front of Queen Elizabeth and it would likely be the most beautiful thing she'd seen on the table in a long while.

I've encountered only one problem with this pan: It takes up a lot of horizontal space and thus it's been hard to find a good place for it in my drawers and cabinets. The handles on the sides, while gorgeous, stick out pretty far, making it hard to store. So far I've addressed that issue by leaving it out on the stove at all times, but eventually I'm going to have to find it a hiding place. That said, I have a lot of pots and pans already. If you're starting your cookware collection from scratch or buying a wedding gift for a couple furnishing their first kitchen, space constraints probably won't be as much of an issue.

Summary: Stunningly beautiful cookware. Good for all stove types, including induction. Safe for stove, oven, dishwasher. Would make a fabulous gift. See the entire CookServ collection here.

Oh, the Thai fish stew? You'll love this recipe. It's a variation on a dish served to me years ago by my good friend Rachel Kaganoff Stern of Inside the Kaganoff Kitchen. She calls hers Brazilian; I added the Thai curry paste and took it farther east. I use whatever combination of fish and shellfish strikes me, and I give you permission to do the same.

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Thai fish stew

by Erika Kerekes May-2-2013

A quick and simple stew with fresh fish, shellfish, coconut milk and Thai curry paste. Finish with a generous shower of fresh chopped cilantro and/or basil.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds fresh fish filets and shellfish, any combination, fish cut into 2-inch chunks
• 6 limes (juice only)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 Tablespoons yellow or red Thai curry paste
• 2 14-ounce cans coconut milk
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves and stems, chopped
• salt to taste

Instructions

Put the fish and/or shellfish in a large bowl with the lime juice. Toss and leave to marinate 15 minutes.In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and saute 3-4 minutes, until the vegetables are softened. Add the Thai curry paste and stir to coat the vegetables; saute 1 minute. Add the coconut milk to the pot and stir until everything is well combined and the coconut milk is starting to bubble around the edges.Now add the fish and/or shellfish and the marinating liquid to the pot. Bring the pot to a boil, quickly turn down the heat, cover the pot, and simmer the stew about 15 minutes, until the fish is cooked through and flaky and the shellfish is cooked. Add the cilantro, stir, season to taste with salt, and serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 30 mins Yield: 6-8 servings

GIVEAWAY: Enter below to win a set of four Nambé CookServ sauté pans (8, 10, 12, and 14 inches). You can enter every day until the giveaway ends!

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Disclaimer: Nambé sent me the 12-inch sauté pan pictured above for this review. No cash changed hands. All opinions expressed here are mine (as if you couldn't tell).