All posts,  Food

Cooking up a contest

Last weekend was kinda hectic – exhausting in a happy, foot-numbing kinda way.

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Among the many memorable moments of our Goodwill Games, was the launch of a special book.

A cookbook.

A simple, unpretentious little book filled with simple (and some slightly less simple) recipes.

The kind of recipes that we cook for our kids.

That we take to a neighbours barbecue when ‘bring a plate’ is expected.

That we chow down with our kids when we only have ten minutes to get dinner ready.

That we whip up to impress our friends with at dinner parties.

Its 106 pages are packed with the favourite recipes of our community.

And (if I do say so myself) – it’s a cracker.

My sausage roll recipe is there.  As is my semi-famous pumkin and spinach salad.  And there are a hundred or so other ‘best of’s’ there too.  From pleasing Pineapple Meatloaf to perfect Play Dough, from amazing Apple Roly Poly to awesome Aioli, from luscious Lamington Balls to mouth-watering Cob Loaves…

So here’s the deal.  I bought one extra, on Saturday.  Just for my blog buddies.  But only one.  To get your very own Goodwill Gourmet cookbook, leave a message in the comments section. A message of goodwill.  A story of goodwill.  A link to a moment of goodwill.  I would love to hear – and I know others will love to share (and be inspired).  Enter as many times as you like.  Goodwill.  You can never have too much of it.

I will choose a winner in one week’s time (at random with my trusty little Random Integer Generator).

Good luck!

24 Comments

  • SleeplessInKL

    You know what? The best stories of goodwill are the ones that are never told. As I mentioned on Twitter on the 3rd of June:

    Good deeds are best done without telling anyone. It’s like one big happy secret that’ll keep a smile on yr face for a long, long time.

    🙂
    Mimi

  • debby

    Good deeds never just benefit one person. It’s a win-win situation. Always. You make someone else’s life better, but you also come away feeling happy in your own skin.
    .-= debby´s last blog ..Brand New Book =-.

  • Elizabeth

    “Nothing that I can do will change the structure of the universe. But maybe, by raising my voice I can help the greatest of all causes – goodwill among men and peace on earth.”

    Albert Einstein.

  • Elizabeth

    Oh, I forgot to mention, if there are any copies left for sale your readers may be interested in purchasing them….Personally I love these type of cookbooks they are full of tried and true recipes….

  • jeanie

    There is also a Croatian biscuit cake recipe in there, isn’t there? 😉

    Are there any copies left over available for sale?

    My favourite goodwill story comes from a Dale Carnegie book I once read.

    A rich bloke (the story mentions which Getty or Rockerfeller it was, but its a detail I can’t recall) got approached by a woman.

    “Oh” she said “I have five children and my husband died and left me destitute. Please can you help me?”

    So moved was he, he gave her $10 – a princely amount for the day. After she left, his minders turned to him and advised him he had been duped.

    “Are you telling me there is no dead husband? No starving children?” he asked.

    They told him indeed that was true.

    “Oh, that is the best news!” he responded.
    .-= jeanie´s last blog ..Splice Yarn =-.

  • A Novel Woman

    I always let people go ahead of me in line, whether it is the grocery store or a car in traffic (almost unheard of here in Montreal where they drive like they’re on suicide missions.) They always seem so shocked by the offer, always refuse until I insist, and then there is a transformation as they accept, and they always leave with a smile. I like to think that little gestures like those translate into bigger ones, and a ripple effect that can be felt around the world.
    .-= A Novel Woman´s last blog ..Giveaway Reminder =-.

    • Bush Babe

      Oh wow… this one makes my heart ache Kelly. What happened to them all in the end? Did they find homes. Not sure about where the people who dump animals end up, but pretty sure those who save them (add my family to this list) must end up somewhere pretty nice…
      🙂
      BB

      • Kelly

        Of that batch, two went to a home in the country, six went to the animal shelter (where I’m pretty sure they were quickly adopted), and the two that stayed with us are living the high life in our house. (the two with tails in that picture I used for the caption contest when giving away one of your photos).

        Then there was the litter of nine we ended up with last summer……

        All six dogs we have now are strays we’ve taken in. For the record, once they join our household they get spayed or neutered so they can’t add to the unwanted puppy population.
        .-= Kelly´s last blog ..Oil Spill Prayer =-.

  • Lydia

    I read a thank you in the local paper. Someone had her food paid for in the drive-up in McDonald’s by the person in front of her, she had no idea who or why. But she was so grateful she put a thank you in the paper.

  • Hippomanic Jen

    Okay, I’m in for anything. And now trying to come up with a story of goodwill that is good enough to win something.

    You know what? My favourite thing (and it’s only a small thing) is when I’ve had a big, hectic day and my Beloved will just go and get some take-away for dinner. Simply because he loves me and he cares.

    Gee, I could use a simple recipe book so that he could cook something easy…

    (bit too pointed, maybe?)

  • Naomi

    goodwill? my boss buying supper (a feast of chinese food) for the entire residence and staff because of a fiasco on thursday.

    goodwill? my husband making me a sandwich because i hadn’t eaten since lunch and it was after midnight.

    goodwill? my co-worker bringing coffee for me on friday of the weeks i work days because it’s friday and she’s nice.

    goodwill? drivers informing us that our passenger side rear tire was low.

    goodwill? keeping a 2 year old busy while mom finishes up some business and hearing all about the dinosaur book she has. i don’t know that it was goodwill on my part because i entirely enjoyed the whole conversation and it got me out of doing work for a little while. 🙂
    .-= Naomi´s last blog ..Hell On Wheels =-.

  • Amanda

    I love recipe books like that – full of recipes normal people can make AND actualy like to eat.
    The Preps at school put one out for mother;s day which is fantastic as a source of easy meals that the averge 5 year old will like (and no – they weren’t all recipes for spaghetti, sausages and pizza!)
    .-= Amanda´s last blog ..Dear Darl, it’s June 6 =-.

  • Tracey

    Probably more relevant to your next post (!) – but you have reminded me, again, of an idea I want to put to our school P & C for our next school athletics carnival. Another mum told me about something they’d done at a previous school – and that was for every kid to get a large safety pin for their shirt. And then every event they went in, they got a ribbon to add to it. By the end of the day, no matter where they came, they would have a chest full of ribbons celebrating their participation. I’ve kept thinking about it, but this last year I have at this school, I would really love to introduce it and make it happen. (So keep on me about it!)
    .-= Tracey´s last blog ..Chasing the weather =-.

  • Joyce

    I wish I could take one of Kelly’s puppies!
    A neighbour was walking by our house a couple of years ago, and told me there was a dead dog up on the hill beside our house. We have coyotes around and I was worried and headed up the hill with a cardboard box to pick up the poor dog. Lo and behold the dog was still alive but in very sad shape. A very cute black toy poodle. Anyway to make a long story short(er) the dog recovered and was reunited with it’s owners,( although I would have loved to keep him ,he was so dang cute.)

  • Dorothy Draper

    One about my husband and grandson. During the Christmas holidays one year, my husband took my grandson and hams and turkeys to the local supermarket (or as we say in our small town, the local grocery store]. They picked out older cars and put a turkey or ham on the front seat. This was my grandson’s favorite memory of his grandfather and it was told at my husband’s funeral. He did things like that often, but few people knew.

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