
Put Your Best Plate Forward!
Something special for you today – KitchenAid is challenging home cooks across Canada to put their best plate forward by doing what they love for the cure: cook! Enter….the Culinary Showdown!
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What is the Culinary Showdown?
An all-star lineup of Canadian chefs, including Lynn Crawford, Chuck Hughes, Mark McEwan, Vikram Vij and Corbin Tomaszeski are recruiting foodies to compete on their team for the first-ever KitchenAid Cook for the Cure Culinary Showdown. Hosted by actor Dean McDermott, this extraordinary challenge gives culinary enthusiasts the opportunity to fundraise for a chance to cook alongside celebrity chefs in the type of team cooking challenge normally reserved for TV. Food lovers can register and begin fundraising today at cookforthecure.ca.
Eep! How amazing is that! A chance to cook alongside some of the best Canadian Food Network chefs and all for an amazing cause – to help realize the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation’s vision of creating a future without breast cancer!
The chance get up close and personal with your favorite culinary idols are quite good, too – The top 50 fundraisers across Canada will win the opportunity to work alongside renowned chefs and put their own culinary skills to the test. Fundraisers who raise at least $2,500 will participate in the Culinary Showdown’s Celebrity Chefs School, where they’ll learn tips and techniques from the top chefs. Finally, participants who raise a minimum of $1,000 will watch the culinary battle as a member of the event’s audience.

As part of putting your best plate forward, I’m also excited to share a tip directly from the multi-talented Chef Chuck Hughes here with you, courtesy of KitchenAid Canada! Among other shows, Chef Hughes can be seen on the Food Network & Cooking Channel’s Chuck’s Day Off and will be at the Culinary Showdown on December 7th, 2013. He shares one of his plating tips here with you:
Mise en place!!! It’s how every professional kitchen gets ready for service.. get a sharp knife…a good one! Stable cutting board…Set yourself up like a pro. Measure out your ingredients and get everything ready to rock at 95 %….then right before the guests arrive …put everything together and add the finishing touches!
Thanks for the advice, Chuck! I love it!
And my tip for today:
Have fun planning your event by incorporating a theme! Whether it be for Thanksgiving, Halloween or a pink theme for Cook for the Cure, use colors and/or decor to tie it all together – guests will enjoy the special touches and you’ll even find your own excitement grow during the preparation!

For my Cook for the Cure gathering, I made pink lemonade cupcakes topped with pink marshmallow icing for dessert and co-ordinated the flower toppers. Recipe and topper how-to coming soon. And a little heads-up for you… another fun Cook for the Cure Giveaway also coming along with it!

And now, in honor of Cook for the Cure, a Raspberry Ice KitchenAid Stand Mixer giveaway!

Raspberry Ice KitchenAid Stand Mixer Giveaway! CLOSED!!!
Prize: One Raspberry Ice KitchenAid Stand Mixer!
WINNER!!!
Congratulations goes out to comment #256, Monika Saito! I will be contacting you shortly to get your mixer to you!
Thanks again to KitchenAid Canada for sponsoring this giveaway!


Details:
- This giveaway is for Canadian residents only. U.S. residents, Jenny of Picky Palate is giving one away here if you’d like to enter! Sorry, my international friends outside of the United States and Canada! I am unable to do the same for you right now!
- The winner will be chosen randomly at www.random.org.
- The contest closes at approximately 7pm EST on Sunday November 3rd, 2013.
- Leave all your comment entries here, not on Facebook.
- Official giveaway rules here.
- Please read all contest entry details etc. below
HOW TO ENTER: CLOSED!!!
You have at least 5 chances of winning – each option below gives you one chance. Choose the options you like!
If you already do any of the following, you don’t have to do anything but leave a separate comment saying you already do. For example, if you already like my Facebook page, just leave a separate comment here saying you already do.
CLICK HERE to ‘like’ Sweetopia on Facebook
If you’d like to share on Pinterest, below is a summary of the instructions. Please make sure to let your Pinterest followers know the comments need to be on this blog post, not on the pin itself: GIVEAWAY CLOSED!!

Thanks to KitchenAid Canada for sponsoring this giveaway!
Good luck, friends!
xo,
Marian






Would LOVE to win!
I’ve pinned on Pinterest 🙂
http://www.pinterest.com/famograham/contest-entries/
Following on Google+
I want to win!!!!! 🙂
I would love to win:)
Shared on Facebook 🙂
Have liked on facebook for a long time I think! 😉
I have like ‘Sweetopia’ on facebook
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I like you on Facebook!
I would LOVE to win this beautiful Kitchen-aid Mixer! And my God-daughter would love to have my hand me down, as she is an aspiring chef! Passing down the love!
I follow you on google +
I like you on Facebook!! 🙂
I pinned a picture of the cupcakes! They are so cute and I love the Stripped cup!
I want to win this. Really Bad.
I follow on Facebook; shared, and pinned. XO
Thank you! What a sweet giveaway!
I would love to win this one! It ismy favorite kitchenaid.
I just pinned this post!
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/224968943859752089/
I have liked your facebook page for some time now.
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I “liked” you on Facebook 🙂
I would love to win the Raspberry Kitchen Aid Mixer. My Mom is a breast cancer survivor and every year we hold a fund raiser at work for the cure. My friends and I make Bra cookies and sell them. We aren’t very good at decorating, but its fun anyway. Lots of hints and inspiration come from you and your website. I have print outs of your recipes and tutorials and we used them as guidelines. Wine helps – lol. Thanks for being here for us.
I am ready to win, I absolutely love, love, love the colour! I have a pair of Hunter boots the same colour! 🙂
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I know that my wife would love to win this mixer, especially because of the colour!
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I pinned a photo!!!
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My grandmother is a breast cancer survivor! This mixer sure would be great for making cookies!
Shared on Facebook!!!! 🙂
Shared on FB! I love the mixer!
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Shared on facebook.
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Pinned a photo!
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ML
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Liked on facebook.