Month of May Giveaway

(This is NOT like any other giveaway we’ve done so PLEASE READ IT ALL TO GET A FULL UNDERSTANDING!)

Important Information for Bloggers:

COST:$7 to enter, $2 is admin fee due to the magnitude of the giveaway, $5 is for Facebook Link only which will be due on May 13 to the winner of the giveaway. In addition, each blogger will supply the winner with $5 paypal cash. (This one is going to cost A LOT of my own time to organize, set up and make it a success I’m certain it will be. I’m pretty sure it will make the HP giveaway look like child’s play.)

When:Blogs can sign up until March 30, 2012. Giveaway runs April 1st- May 13, 2012 which is Mother’s Day.

How it works: There will be teams: The number of teams depends on how many people sign up. If 100 bloggers sign up, the teams will be divided into 10 bloggers per Rafflecopter and which means there will be 10 Rafflecopters. Once the entrant has entered the giveaway via team 1 RC, they can move on to another team 2 RC and enter there as well. They can enter on all ten RCs!

This is how the prize will work: 1 winner will be selected from each of the Team Rafflecopters. Each winner from each team RC will receive the cash prized from that winning RC. The bloggers on that team RC will send their $5 to the winner. For example: Team 1 RC has ten bloggers in it. Jane Doe wins Team 1 RC. All ten bloggers on Team 1 RC send Jane Doe $5 paypal cash for a grand total of $50 winnings for Jane Doe. Each Team RC will do the same thing for their winner. Finally, all cash winners from each team RC will be put on a new RC drawing. Random.org will select one of those cash winners to be the grand prize winner of the NETBOOK COMPUTER! Bloggers win too! All bloggers on the Rafflecopters will be entered into a drawing at the end of the giveaway to win $100 paypal, courtesy of LaDonna Dennis. At the end of every month, from now until the giveaway starts, all bloggers who’ve entered and PAID their fee will be entered into a drawing to win $25 paypal for that month.

RULES: You must agree to follow the rules of this giveaway!

• Sign up and pay your $7 fee.
• Agree to pay the cash winner on your RC $5 via Paypal.
• Find as many others participants as you possibly can to come and join us on this fabulous giveaway. The more sign ups, the more LIKES! If 100 bloggers sign up, you will get the traffic from their fans coming to enter your RC and vice versa.
• Make sure all the bloggers you refer put your blog’s name in the signup sheet.
• The Blog with the most referrals will get their $7 sign up fee returned. And I will pay your $5 cash winnings as well.
• You must advertise the sign up for this giveaway on your blog, both via a post and a button in the sidebar.
• Once the giveaway starts all members signed up are required to advertise the giveaway via all their social networks and by placing a button in their sidebar.

Important Information for Entrants: Entrants can enter all Team RCs. They can enter Team 1 RC and complete all the entries, then they can go on to enter all remaining team RCs. Technically, they could win all the Team RCs! On each team RC, they could win up to $50 paypal cash. Each blogger on the Rafflecopter will pay the winner $5 paypal cash.

And, the best part: All Rafflecopter winners will be entered into a random.org selection for the Grand Prize: the NETBOOK!

ALL IN ALL THIS GIVEAWAY WILL ONLY COST EACH BLOG THAT SIGNS UP A TOTAL OF $12! $7 due at the time of sign up and $5 due May 13 when the winners are selected. SIGN UP NOW FOR MORE LIKES AND TRAFFIC THEN YOU CAN IMAGINE

SIGN UP HERE: Remember to tell them Bonnie at Thrifty Momma Ramblings sent you!

My mom is an amazing baker. She makes all her delicious desserts from scratch. When she asked me what I wanted for my birthday, then I immediately replied Tiramisu please. I recently asked her where she found the recipe so I could share it on my blog. She got it off the back of the bag of lady fingers she uses (the brand will be listed in the recipe below). The Tiramisu cake was just as divine as it looks in the picture.

*Note: She usually uses Brandy but did use Marsala which made it taste a little stronger. You could smell the wine more than the brandy. Strange but true.

Tiramisu Recipe

To make tiramisu begin by making zabaglione cream as follows:

5 egg yolks from Large Grade eggs – 1/4 cup sugar – 1/2 cup Marsala

In the top part of a double boiler, beat eggs and sugar together until the mixture is pale yellow in color. In the bottom part of the double boiler, bring water to a boil then reduce heat to simmer. Place egg yolk mixture over water and gradually add Marsala, beating continuously. Scrape bottom and sides of pan occasionally and cook 6-10 minutes until soft mounds can be formed. Transfer to bowl, cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.

1 cup whipping cream, chilled

4 tbsp. sugar

1 lb. Mascarpone Cheese (if unavailable, substitute two 8 oz pckgs. cream cheese combined with 1/2 cup whipping cream and 5 tbsp. Sour cream)

1 recipe Zabaglione

2 cups (16 oz) freshly brewed espresso or other strong brew coffee

1/2 cup Brandy or Marsala

1 tbsp. vanilla

2 7oz pkg Alessi Savoiardi Cookies

3 tbsp. cocoa powder

*Chocolate curls or edible flowers for garnish (optional)

Whip Cream with 2 tbsp sugar until soft peaks form. Fold in Mascarpone and Zabaglione and mix till well blended. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour. On a separate bowl, mix espresso, 2 tbsp sugar, Brandy and vanilla. Arrange 16 cookies on the bottom of a 9″x13″ pan. Carefully spoon about 1 tbsp of the coffee mixture over each cookie so they are well saturated but not falling apart. Spoon 1/3 cheese mixture over cookies and sprinkle with 1 tbsp cocoa. Repeat two more times ending with cocoa. Cover and refrigerate at least 5  hours or overnight so that cookies can soften as they absorb moisture. Garnish and serve. Makes 12 servings.

*My mom does not use either one for garnish and just leaves the cocoa powder on top.

Enjoy the wonderful tiramisu cake and please let me know what you think.