Dads and Grandpas

Book Giveaway: Gluten Free Girl and the Chef

October 7, 2011 By FabGrandma

Gluten Free Girl and the Chef by Shauna James Ahern and Daniel Ahern. This is by far my favorite gluten free cookbook. It has recipes for real food that real people love–things like Chilled Asparagus Soup and Crab, Avocado, and Cucumber Salad with Tarragon Vinaigrette. Gluten Free Crackers, Pumpkin Soup, and Creamless Corn Chowder. This book includes the story behind the couple and 100 gluten free recipes.

Buy this book:Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef

Win this book just by leaving a comment below. Get an extra entry each day by tweeting the giveaway, for a total of 8 chances to win. The winner will be chosen using And The Winner Is plugin. Winner will be notified by email, and must respond within 48 hours with name and mailing address. US residents only.

This giveaway will end on October 14, 2011 at 11:59 pm MST. Winner will receive a copy of Gluten Free Girl and the Chef. Estimated retail value of each prize is $29.95. The winner will be selected using And The Winner Is…plugin. Giveaway open to US mailing addresses only. Winners will be notified by email, so please make sure you use a valid email address when entering. Winners will have 48 hours to respond to the notification of winning. If the winners do not respond in 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen. The mandatory entry must be satisfied before an extra entries can be counted. You can enter once each day by tweeting about the giveaway one time each day per twitter account. Giveaway is open to residents of the United States and must be 18 years old or over. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery after the giveaway closes.

Filed Under: Books, Dads and Grandpas, Gift Guide, gluten free Books, Moms and Grandmas, Review

Book Giveaway: How To Sew A Button

October 7, 2011 By FabGrandma

How to Sew A Button and other nifty things your grandmother knew by Erin Bried is a great little book that tells you how to do simple things that your mother or grandmother knew. Sew on a button, how to plant a vegetable garden, how to make gravy, how to build a fire, plus many many more things it would be good to know from time to time. With sections on Cooking, Gardening, Cleaning, Dressing, Nesting, Thriving, Loving, Saving, Joining, and Entertaining, this book gives lots of knowledge in just 278 pages.

Buy this book: How to Sew a Button: And Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew

This giveaway will end on October 14, 2011 at 11:59 pm MST. Winner will receive a copy of How To Sew A Button. Estimated retail value of each prize is $5.00. The winner will be selected using And The Winner Is…plugin. Giveaway open to US mailing addresses only. Winners will be notified by email, so please make sure you use a valid email address when entering. Winners will have 48 hours to respond to the notification of winning. If the winners do not respond in 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen. The mandatory entry must be satisfied before an extra entries can be counted. You can enter once each day by tweeting about the giveaway one time each day per twitter account. Giveaway is open to residents of the United States and must be 18 years old or over. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery after the giveaway closes.

Filed Under: Books, Dads and Grandpas, Gift Guide, Moms and Grandmas, Review, Young Adults

Microsoft Streets & Trips 2011 Review and Giveaway

August 4, 2011 By FabGrandma

This giveaway is now closed. The three winners have been notified by email. Thank you to everyone who entered.

Microsoft Streets & Trips 2011

Have you ever been getting ready to go on a trip, and not have a clue how to get where you wanted to go? As full time Rv’ers, Fabgrandpa and I often go to places we have never been before. The first thing I always do before the road trip begins is open up my Microsoft Streets & Trips. I have been using this great software for many years, and had a copy of the 2009 version of it. Microsoft recently sent me the newest edition of it, Microsoft Streets & Trips 2011.

The software is very easy to use. It has several features I really like, like the Route Planner. You just pick a beginning point and an ending point, then click Get Directions, and it produces a route for you on the map.

Maps are easy to read and manipilate

I like that I can look for places of interest along the route. The one we use most frequently is Campgrounds. You chose the places you want to find from a long list, such as restaurants, banks, hospitals, stores, etc., then choose a distance of how far away from the route. The one we use most frequently is Campgrounds within a 10 mile radius of the route. To do this, click on Tools in the menu bar, then on Find Nearby Places. When the Find Nearby Places box opens up, click on Categories. Choose the ones you want, then click OK, then click on Refresh. A list of places will appear. You can click on each one to find its location on the map.

Finding nearby places is so easy!

And once the campground is found, I can then click on the little tent icon on the map, and the telephone number and website will appear! It makes my planning soooo easy! And take a look at this video, showing just how easy it is to change the route:

And one more thing I really like, since I am going on 60 years old now, is that I can enlarge the font on the map with just click of a button. It makes reading the map much easier for this old grandma!

Enlarge the font with a click of the mouse.

And from Microsoft says this about the ne Microsoft Streets & Trips 2011:

Simple to use

Save Planning time

Find More Fun

Be Flexible

Personalize Your Maps

Great GPS Companion

and more….

AND, right now through August 30, 2011, Microsoft is running a Cruising the National Parks Triva Sweepstakes! You could win! This summer Microsoft Streets & Trips is sponsoring a trivia sweepstakes—all about our national parks. Come back to this site each Tuesday from June 28, 2011–August 30, 2011 when we will post a new trivia question about our national parks. All correct answers will be entered into a weekly drawing to win a $50 Visa gift card. You can enter once each week! Click HERE to learn more about how to enter!

OH, but wait! There is even MORE! Microsoft is giving away three (3) copies of Microsoft Streets & Trips 2011, one to each of three readers here! It enter, click over to the Microsoft Streets & Trips website, then come back and tell me in a comment what learned about the software.

For extra entries, do any of the following, and leave a separate comment for each one:

Follow FabGrandma on Twitter

Tweet this giveaway (one time per day per Twitter account)

Follow FabGrandma Reviews on Google Friend Connect

Follow FabGrandma on Facebook

Follow Microsoft Streets & Trips on Facebook

Click on this link Microsoft Trips & Streets at Amazon.com

This giveaway will end on August 30, 2011 at 11:59 pm MST. Each of three (3) winners will receive one (1) copy of Microsoft Streets & Trips 2011 from Microsoft valued at ERP $39.95. The winners will be selected using And The Winner Is…plugin. Winners will be notified by email, so please make sure you use a valid email address when entering. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to the notification of winning. If the winners do not respond in 48 hours, a new will be chosen. The mandatory entry must be satisfied before an extra entries can be counted. You can enter once each day by tweeting about the giveaway one time each day per twitter account. Giveaway is open to residents of the United States and must be 18 years old or over. The prize is the responsibility of and will be shipped by the sponsor. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery after the giveaway closes.

I received free product from Microsoft as compensation for hosting this review and giveaway.

Filed Under: Dads and Grandpas, Gift Guide, Give Aways, Household Misc, Moms and Grandmas, Other Products, Review Tagged With: giveaway, Review, software

Flip Flop Wines

June 15, 2011 By FabGrandma

I was given three bottles of wine from Flip Flop wines to review, so I decided to have a wine tasting with my friends. After a long week on the job, we were looking to have some fun, so I made some appetizers, and set out the three bottles of wine. We all tasted all three of them.

Flip Flop Wines

The favorite by far, loved by all of us, was the Pinot Grigio. This wine is not too sweet, and not too dry. It went well with the cheese ball, gluten free cheese crackers, and garlic stuffed olives. My friend Kelly said that she liked that there was a scale on the label that indicates whether the wine was Dry, Medium Dry, Medium Sweet, or Sweet. The scale for the Pinot Grigio indicated that it was between medium dry and medium sweet.

Flip Flop Wine Pinot Grigio

The information sheet I received on the Pinot Grigio gives this information:

Vintage: 2010

Appellation: California

Tastes Like: Light bodied, refreshing Pinot Grigio with tropical citrus, ripe pear, and a zesty, clean finish.

It is full of: Balanced crisp acidity.

Eat with: Bruschetta, spaghetti carbonara, or eggplant parmesan.

Serve: Chilled

Store: Away from direct sunlight

The suggested retail price is $7.
The next favorite wine of the group was the Riesling. I love Riesling, and this one did not disappoint me. It is a sweet, refreshing wine that goes well pork and fish. Nancy liked that it was smooth and had a peachy flavor to it.

Flip Flop Wine Riesling

The Riesling information:

Vintage: 2010

Appellation: Washington

Tastes Like: Medium-bodied, complex Riesling with peach, apricot and melon which leads to a satisfying, smooth finish.

It is full of: Tropical notes and sweet aromas

Eat with: tofu stir-fry, shredded pork tacos and sake sashimi

Serve: Chilled

Store: Away from direct sunlight

Suggested retail price is $7.

While not many of my taste testers liked the Pinot Noir, it is a nice red wine that goes well with either dinner or dessert. It was the driest of the wines we tested. My husband, Jim, liked this one best. I loved it with the chocolate covered bacon. It did have a spicy flavor at the end.

Flip Flop Wine Pinot Noir

Information on Pinot Noir:

Vintage: 2010

Appellation: California

Tastes Like: Medium-bodied, structured Pinot Noir with bright cherry, sweet spice and a supple, velvety finish

It is full of: Cola aromas and hints of vanilla

Eat with: Grilled mahi mahi, bacon wrapped shrimp, or chocolate chip cookies

Serve: Room temperature

Store: away from direct sunlight

Suggested retail price $7

David Georges, Vintner at flipflop wines, says “These are just good wines that complement the everyday casual lifestyle. My goal was to stay true to the varietal character, to be expressive and to be well-balanced, and be affordable for people of all economic levels.” The flipflop wine collection consists of Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Grigio, and Moscato for whites and Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir for reds.

flipflop wines work closely with Soles4Souls: For every bottle of flipflop wine purchased, Soles4Souls will distribute a pair of shoes to someone in need. To learn more about flipflop wines, visit their website here.

One of the things I like best about flipflop wines is that they are all naturally gluten free. While most beers contain gluten because they are brewed with barley hops, wine does not have any gluten containing ingredients in it. So, if you are new to a gluten free diet, and would like to join your friends in a drink, try flipflop wines instead of beer.

Filed Under: Dads and Grandpas, Gift Guide, Misc, Moms and Grandmas, Refrigerated Tagged With: wine

Go Fly A Kite!

April 18, 2011 By FabGrandma

Windy days make me want to go fly a kite! Amazon has some really neat ones, too!

This Prism Butterfly Kite is gorgeous. Available today for $17.55.

How about a Skyfoil Frameless Parafoil Kite on sale for $6.79, a 33% savings!

This Red Macaw Kite is my favorite! Todays price is $20.17, a 19% saving and get free super saving shipping.

Go fly a kite today!

Filed Under: Dads and Grandpas, deals, Gift Guide, Tween and Teen Boys, Tween and Teen Girls Tagged With: deals, kites

Executive Gift Shoppe Review and Giveaway

February 28, 2011 By FabGrandma

This giveaway is now closed. Sarah, with comment #43 was the winner. She has been notified by email. I used The RandomNumber Generator to select the winner. Thanks to everyone who entered.

I don’t know about you, but I love girlie, sparkly things. When I was offered this business card case for reviewing The Executive Gift Shoppe, I couldn’t say no. It is so pretty. Most people like things like business card cases to be functional, but I like the pretty:

Swarovski Crystal Business Card Case

Executive Gift Shoppe has a wide variety of business card cases ranging in price from $13.50 to over $50, so you will surely be able to find just the one you want to give as a gift or to keep for yourself. They will engrave the back of the case with anything you want. I had mine engraved with my name and blog name:

My engraved business card case

I love being able give my business cards away, and I love it when people ask me where I got my case. Business card cases are not the only thing Executive Gift Shoppe sells. They have many different items to choose from, such as these engravable flasks which I think would be great for mouthwash or even liquid medicines like Nyquil.

The delivery of my engraved business card case only took about 4 days, so you can order from them with short notice and still receive a beautiful gift just in time. Mine arrived in a beautiful velvet lined gift box:

Velvet lined gift box

WIN IT:

One of my readers will win a $25 gift certificate to Executive Gift Shoppe. To win, go to their website and look around, and then come back and leave a comment telling me what you would get if you win.

For Extra entries:

Like Executive Gift Shoppe on Facebook

Follow Executive Gift Shoppe on Twitter

Like Fabgrandma on Facebook (I have a like box in the sidebar)

Follow FabGrandma on Twitter

Follow FabGrandma on Google Friend Connect

Follow FabGrandma on Networked Blogs

Sign up for FabGrandma’s Reviews email newsletter.

Tweet this giveaway (You can do this once per day. Leave a comment each time you do) “Win a $25 Gift Certificate from @giftshoppe @fabgrandma #giveaway ends 3/11″

This giveaway ends on March 11, 2011. The prize is (1) $25 Gift Certificate to Executive Gift Shoppe. The winner will be chosen at random from all comments left on this blog post. I will use the Random Number Generator to pick a comment number. The winner will be notified by email, so please be sure to leave a valid email address when you make your comments. Comments will be verified before notifying the winner. The prize is the responsibility of the sponsor. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.

Filed Under: Dads and Grandpas, Gift Guide, Gifts, Give Aways, Moms and Grandmas, Other Products Tagged With: business card case, engraved gifts, gifts