2011 was quite the eventful year around the ol’ Flamingo Pond. Particularly the last six months! I’ve taken my particular brand of crazy, Freakin’ Flamingo, to the web, the South Miami Farmers Market,  and even teaching the occasional culinary/canning class at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, here in Miami. (Click on that last link to see what I’m teaching and find out how to sign up.)  2012 promises to be just as eventful, if not more so!

In keeping with the theme of a New Year – A New Day, I took the plunge, abandoned Blogger, and (very reluctantly) moved it all over to a self-hosted WordPress platform. Ooo. Scary. It was time for a change and part of that change was to coordinate this blog more effectively with my retail site.  Kudos to one of my best friends and original retail site designer, Lynne Cohen of Tante Leah’s Handmades.  Heather Jurczyk (better known to you as @bodaciousgirl) of He Cooks She Cooks did all the updates, cleanup, and took away the night terrors. Heather then rocked out the New & Improved Flamingo Musings, and did the move over here.  Just in time for the New Year!

Never fear – Flamingo Musings will continue to be primarily a blog about food, not just jam. And whatever else I feel like talking about at any given moment. For instance, in the coming days you’ll see several cookbook reviews (both here and at Cooks & Books & Recipes); more original recipes (some involving jam, some not), even some restaurant reviews – both local and from my travels – (from the perspective of an average person who just wants a good meal, not a persnickety reviewer).  I hope to also get back to joining in some of the blog challenges, such as Secret Recipe Club.  I miss you guys!

And to celebrate, let’s kick things off with a giveaway! No, it’s not a mixer. Geez.

No, I’m giving away Jam! Of your choice! And a cool, heavy duty, last-for-the-rest-of-your-natural-life Freakin’ Flamingo market bag! And a $15 StarSux (er, Starbucks) gift card!  That one’s actually a re-gift. What’s the matter with people that they keep giving you gift cards for places they know full well that you can’t stand? But you like Starbucks, don’t you? I know you do. So you want this.

What do you have to do? Well, for starters, you have to leave a comment here. Tell me how much you missed me. For additional entries, “like” Flamingo Musings on Facebook, “like” Freakin’ Flamingo on Facebook, and/or sign up for the Freakin’ Flamingo Newsletter (see the form? right over there in the sidebar?).  Then leave separate comments telling me that you did.

Wanna tweet?  Tweet this (maximum once per day – don’t annoy your friends!):  Check out the NEW Flamingo Musings and win Freakin’ Flamingo Jam, a Starbucks gift card & more from @RJFlamingo! http://bit.ly/xaxk17

Deadline to enter is midnight, Monday night, January 8th!  The winner will be chosen by random number generator at Random.org.

So? What do you think? Does this wallpaper make me look fat?

Update:  We have a winner!  Dena, come on down and claim your prize!  Thanks for playing, everyone!

Everybody recovered from the 4th of July? Yes? Good! Totally time for a contest!

I’ve been using the catchphrase “Everybody Gets Jam!” for about 7 months now. It started out as a private joke between me and the hubs around Christmastime, when we were trying to figure out what to gift people for the holidays. And even though I’m kinda stuck with it for awhile on a bajillion business cards, t-shirts, market bags, and the like, I think it’s time to freshen things up a bit.

A contest is definitely in order: You get to come up with the next great Freakin’ Flamingo tagline. The winner will receive a Freakin’ Flamingo mug (suitable for coffee, tea, or disguising your fave beverage):

PLUS a heavy-duty market bag: PLUS a jar of any Freakin’ Flamingo product (jam, marmalade, or BBQ sauce) your little heart desires. Check the website to see what’s available.

Your prizes will bear the “Everybody Gets Jam!” line, because, well, I paid for them already. But, your winning motto may appear on my new market banner, on future versions of my business cards, and on all future promotional materials.

The only rules are: Your entry should be original, short, funky, and pithy (kinda like me), and fit on one line. It should be G (or marginally PG) rated. And, most importantly, it should make me laugh. Simple, huh?

Just submit your entry* in the comments on this post, and make sure it’s linked to a good e-mail address, so I can contact you. And, I’m going to open this up to anyone in the U.S. and Canada. Shipping, of course, is on me.

Deadline for entries is Monday, July 11, 2011, so get those creative minds cracking! I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

**UPDATE** The first Freakin’ Flamingo Newsletter will go out on Wednesday, July 13th! That’s the first place the winner will get to see the new tagline in action – sign up for the mailing list now! Please? http://eepurl.com/eEPrk

**UPDATE 2** We have a wiener! Um, a winner! The winning motto is: “Tickle Your Tastebuds Pink!” submitted by Lettergirl. She will receive all of the aforementioned prizes in addition to immortality! At least until I get bored again. Thanks for playing, everyone!

*All entries become the property of Freakin’ Flamingo, LLC and may be used in advertising and promotional materials of every sort, in print and online. By entering this contest, you confirm that your entry is original to you, that you have the right to publish and release said entry, and that you release the contents of your entry to be used by Freakin’ Flamingo, LLC in any manner at its discretion. Compensation for the use of the winning entry is limited to the prizes listed in this post.

You know, it’s Christmas. You’ve been running around decorating, baking, cooking, buying presents for everyone else. You deserve a little something just for you. That’s what I’m thinkin’.

So, to reward you for just being you, I’m giving one of you a $15 Starbucks Gift Card. Starbucks is everywhere – probably right next door to your favorite shop in the mall – and I want you to take a little break on me!

Here’s all you have to do:

Tweet this on Twitter: “I just entered to win a Starbucks Holiday Coffee Break from @RJFlamingo at Flamingo Musings. Join me? http://bit.ly/iaogaB” Then come back here and leave a comment with the URL of your Tweet. (To get the URL of your tweet: Go to your own user stream, find your tweet and click on the bit where it says how long ago you tweeted it. A browser window should open with the information.) -and/or-

“Like” Flamingo Musings on Facebook, either by clicking the icon in the sidebar over there to the right (no, your other right!) or by clicking here then leaving me a comment here. -and/or-

Or, if you’re not on Facebook (Why not? All the cool kids are doing it.), just leave me a comment telling me why you deserve a break today. Wait. Wrong restaurant.

This is a quickie, kids – deadline to enter is 12:01 AM, EST, Friday December 17, 2010. Random.org will choose the winner and I will tweet and post the winner on the Facebook Flamingo Musings page on Friday morning. Make sure there’s a valid e-mail address linked to your comment!

Happy Holidays, from all of us (that would be me) at Flamingo Musings!

Disclosure: I was not paid or otherwise compensated to conduct this giveaway. I don’t even like Starbucks. But I knew you would. This is my own personal gift card that I’m giving away just because I like you. And it shouldn’t go to waste.

Lest you think that the International Food Bloggers Conference was a full-on bummer for me (see previous post), let me assure you that it was anything but. Oh, sure, there was drama, but I think a certain amount of drama is natural in any situation where you’ve got 250 people together in one place for the better part of 3 days. No? So, let me tell you about the really good stuff:

The evening of Day One began the more promising parts of IFBC. I finally met up with a bunch of bloggers I’ve gotten to know and love through Twitter and their gorgeous sites; and James Oseland of Saveur Magazine gave our pre-dinner speech. It’s reassuring to know that not all print publishers consider food bloggers to be dilettantes. I suspect many came away with different interpretations of some things he addressed, but he was most inspiring.

Dinner was a vast improvement over lunch:

Beef Cheeks – Need I say more?

Day Two brought us sessions on Modernist Cuisine (will anyone forget the time-lapse video of the popcorn kernel popping?), pitching to editors and publishers (the only thing I really got out of that one was that bribery frequently works – use chocolate), and the most inspiring presentation of all – Digital Photography with Saveur contributor & incredibly talented photographer, Penny De Los Santos (don’t take pictures – make pictures! and she doesn’t own a macro lens, y’all, so save the $200!).

Lunch brought us the “Gourmet Food Trucks of the Northwest”, and this was a stroke of brilliance on the part of the organizers, if you ask me! Check it:

Falafel

Pizza from a traveling wood-fired oven!

Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream

Salted Caramel Ice Cream

Lemon Sugar Crepes

And let’s not forget the people, the connections, the friends we made and bonds forged in an atmosphere of (mostly) like-minded people. I came away from IFBC ’10 with new and strengthened friendships, and most of all, a renewed desire and commitment to keep doing what I’m doing – taking my blog and my life in directions as yet unexplored. Thanks, Foodista!

I’m turning the page and starting a new chapter, people. I hope you’ll come along for the ride!

The PhotoHunt theme this week is “Music”

Another subject that I always enjoy showing you, is the Hindu wedding that MJ and I attended a couple of years ago.

Before the ceremony, the groom and his family and friends are led in a procession to the temple by musicians playing a drum called a “Tavil” and a double-reeded instrument called a “Nadaswaram”. The Nadaswaram is considered a very auspicious instrument, and is generally played at temples and weddings. As always, please click on the images for a much better look!

*Note that the groom here should be riding an elephant, or at the very least, a horse. For various reasons, among which I believe is that he was chicken, that didn’t happen.*

Just a quick note: If you have honored me by adding me to your blogroll or bookmarked Flamingo Musings, please take a moment to update your link by removing the “blogspot.” from the URL. That’s right! I’m a dot com, now! Any link to Flamingo Musings should now read: http://flamingomusings.com Thanks!