TJOTJOC's anniversary and a GIVEAWAY!

***I love comments but I've had an influx of very annoying Japanese spam comments and they are driving me crazy. So please, send me your comments or comment on another post because I'm closing comments on this one***

I missed it! I missed the big day!


What big day?


The blog's birthday!


September 23rd was TJOTJOC's second birthday! Two years ago, I made Becker Brussels Sprouts and started this journey!

So what has changed in the last two years?

I have gotten over my fear of phyllo, learned how to beat egg whites, and made an entire Thanksgiving meal. In the last two years I have traveled to Japan (twice), China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mexico (three times) along with about two dozen states. I have gotten married and blogged about my engagement, finding my dress, and the wedding (with more to come!). I have learned a few recipes that I have made 10+ times including (among others) chicken stock and tortilla soup (with the requisite homemade tortilla chips). I have gained more fans on my Facebook fan site (make sure to become a fan!) and followers to this blog than I would have ever expected. TJOTJOC shows up within the top ten choices when you google "the joy of cooking" and just about any food--and first if you google "joy of cooking blog", before The Joy of Cooking's actual blog.

So for my anniversary/birthday I am giving away a copy of TJOC!!

The small print:

1. You have to live in the US--I'm sorry, it's just too heavy of a book to send outside of the US.
2. You have to post to this blog with some way to get a hold of you if you win. You will get a second entry if you post a comment onto a different blog post.
3. Know that I plan on personalizing the book to you, so if you want to sell it to the used book store or return it for cash to Borders, this is not the contest for you.
4. The contest will officially end November 2nd.