Welcome to the Daily Version of Bonbon Break

This is a BIG day. I mean a BIG BIG day.

As we have been watching Bonbon Break grow and exploring ways to increase our contributors’ reach, we felt like we hit a dead end. And then, like all great ideas, it came in the middle of the night. We are giving everyone the entire box of chocolates in one sitting. What if we were to give them a little bite each day? What if we focused on 4-5 bloggers each day? WOW!

And so it is…this week we are changing to a daily format. We are VERY excited about the potential outcome for this slight metamorphosis of the magazine. As we make the shift, we will be learning as we go. There might be a little, um…rearranging over the next two weeks.

One shift that occurred already is with our newsletter. If you are already a subscriber, you will receive a brief daily update alerting you to who is being spotlighted that day. You also have the option of a “heartier” weekly edition that will come out on Saturdays. The weekly group will also receive emails alerting them to giveaways that are going on during the week since they will begin on Mondays.

So…here we go! Enjoy these brilliant women that grace our rooms this week and give our lovely original contributors a little comment and sharing love.

Oh yes, and Faith Gorsky from An Edible Mosaic is giving away one of her amazing cookbooks, An Edible Mosaic: Middle Eastern Fare with Extraordinary Flair in the Kitchen. Make sure you check out her Date Cookie recipe and post to learn about her love of Middle Eastern Cooking.

Now for our Holiday Gift Picks of the week from the Gift Closet:

Val’s Pick

My pick this week is the Sifteo Cubes. When I went to BlogHer ’12 this summer in NYC, this is the one product that really caught my eye. They are a set of cubes that you can download various games to and they are surprisingly durable. Through my 5 minute contact with them, I had a tough time tearing myself away from a Boggle-like game where the cubes show various letters and you align them to make as many words as possible within the set time. I was hooked like a well-baited fish. And that was just the beginning!

While they are recommended for 7-adult, I know my budding new reader (who is 5 1/2) would love these. The cubes respond to each other wirelessly and respond to your movements whether you shake, tilt, or connect them. Reading. Spelling. Math. Games. Straight up fun all the way around.

I would love to say that I am asking for these for the kids, but I am not. I want them for ME.

 Kathy’s Pick

Now that our oldest is a teenager his letter to “Santa” reads more like a to-do-list of his favorite stores with “gift card” written next to it. As much as I know he enjoys getting Amazon, iTunes, and Best Buy cards, I want him to have something under the tree that’s fun and doesn’t require a trip to the mall. That’s why I was so happy to find the Perplexus Epic Maze Game. It’s a fun, self-contained (no little pieces!!) brain teaser that he can open up and start to play with on Christmas morning without being online and attached to a device. Imagine that!

Sharalyn’s Pick

OK, most of us have a favorite coffee shop. For the sake of simplicity, let’s use Starbucks – I know, some you LOVE it and some HATE it.

Fact: At Starbucks, a medium (grande) latte costs $3.26. I drink coffee everyday, so I may spend $100 a month on coffee. Over the summer, as a splurge, my husband purchased this Breville Café Milk Frother and we use it everyday. Yes, it costs $130, but if you use it everyday to steam your milk, latte or cappuccino style, it pays for itself in two months. And you don’t have to wait in line! It’s a fantastic gift for the coffee lover in your life.

The Obvious Pick

Faith’s cookbook, of course! Here is the description from Amazon for An Edible Mosaic: Middle Eastern Fare with Extraordinary Flair:

When Faith Gorsky married her Middle Eastern husband, she married more than just the man. She found herself introduced to a culture and cuisine that would forever change how she experienced food and cooking.

Faith’s mother-in-law took her under her wing and in 6 months gave her a thorough course in Middle Eastern cooking that became the basis for her popular website, An Edible Mosaic. The growth and success of her website and her own developing interest led to more trips to the Middle East, deepening her knowledge of the cuisine which she shares in An Edible Mosaic.

In it, the book of the same name, Faith imparts her favorite Middle Eastern recipes, recipes anyone can make with a little work and some help from Faith! Her love for the cuisine of her husband’s homeland shows in her enthusiasm for these dishes and the awareness that food is more than just a means of sustenance for the people of the Middle East—it lies at the epicenter of their gatherings with family and friends. Don’t forget to stop by the Kitchen to enter the giveaway to win a free copy!