Springpad Blog

Win a $50 gift certificate to Shoebuy for Valentine’s Day!

lsleeper — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:46:47 +0000

Shopping for Valentine’s Day can be hard, so for Day 6 of ‘Ten Days of Valentine’s Day,’ our friends at Shoebuy have given us gift recommendations for him and her. Shoebuy is already known as the largest site for shoes, but they also have an extensive selection of accessories and apparel. We’re sweetening the deal with a $50 gift certificate giveaway! To enter, just spring your favorite item from the lists below. The winner will be chosen by Friday, and will be alerted by email.

Gifts For Her

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Gifts for Him

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Recipes for Romance: Feast on the Cheap’s Top 10 Valentine’s Day Dishes

lsleeper — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 11:00:04 +0000

Day 5 of ‘Ten Days of Valentine’s Day‘ brings more recipes, this time from Mary Anne and Mariel of Feast on the Cheap. Feast on the Cheap was started with the goal of providing readers with “delicious yet wallet-friendly entertaining recipes for those of us who are becoming more acquainted with our kitchens.” The ladies have dipped into their recipe boxes and picked out ten of their favorite meals to dish up on Valentine’s Day.

Appeteasers

Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup, Crab Cakes with Jalapeno Aioli

The Main Event

Herb and Honey Marinated Sirloin, Risotto with Shrimp and Zucchini, Japanese Miso Cod, Roasted Chicken with Figs, Wild Rice and Sweet Onions, Braised Lamb Shanks with Fresh Herbs

On A Sweet Note

Chocolate Mint Brownies, Cheesecake with Raspberry Puree, Chocolate Gateau with Almonds

Top Ten Most Romantic Cocktails

lsleeper — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 11:00:36 +0000

Everyone loves to enjoy a few cocktails on Valentine’s Day! Day 4 of ‘Ten Days of Valentine’s Day‘ has ten of the most romantic cocktails from Maria Hunt, aka The Bubbly Girl. Maria’s adventures in bubbly are chronicled on her site, which is a destination for cocktail and food recipes designed for entertaining, information on great wines to try, and fun events– like her private wine and food classes where people discover how sparkling wines are great matches for everyday food.

Flirtini: This cocktail which is like a Cosmopolitan with champagne and pineapple added, was popularized on Sex & The City. It was developed for actress Sarah Jessica Parker by a bartender at Gustavino’s in NYC.

Champagne Bath: This sexy cocktail lets you indulge in a rose bubble bath with your clothes on. Then again, it’s probably more fun sipped while sitting in a bathtub, either alone or with company.

Loving Cup: This is a vintage style cocktail that’s like the cups and punches made in the pre-Prohibition cocktail era. It’s a bit of work, but worth it for a party or someone you want to impress. Borage is hard to find at this time of year so try using violas pansies raised without pesticides. Add to the romantic effect by using heart-shaped ice cube trays.

Love In The Afternoon: The piquant flavor of tangerine, combined with cooling mint and calming rose water, makes this cocktail ideal for a relaxing dreamy midday potion. In the movie Le Divorce, set in Paris, a similar combination was described as the perfect drink to sip before romance.

Soul Kiss Cocktail: This fruity whiskey cocktail was printed in the circa 1936 Just Cocktails bartending guide; the Soul Kiss was still considered quite the smart cocktail by the early 1960s.

French Kiss: Many cocktails have similar names and a variety of different ingredients, but this simple drink is the original and a great to sip before dinner.

Between The Sheets: This Prohibition-era cocktail is said to have been considered rather vulgar for its time according to David Wondrich of Esquire.com, what with the suggestive name and the over-abundance of alcohol.

Maiden’s Prayer: This drink actually refers to a piano exercise that was all the rage in the late 1800s, according to the illustrious David Wondrich. In the early 1900s, a drink was created with the same name; its purpose was to help a date progress more smoothly. Perhaps it should be called the young gentleman’s prayer.

Thug Passion: Rapper Tupac Shakur shares the recipe for this passionate libation in the first lines of his song by the same name.

Femme Fatale: From Raffles Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In 1967, Jacqueline Kennedy visited Cambodia to fulfill a lifelong dream of seeing Angkor Wat. While residing at Hotel Le Royal, she admired Prince Norodom Sihanouk’s own jazz composition, The Evening I Met You, sipping a rouge-colored Champagne cocktail in the Elephant Bar. Decades later, during the refurbishment process of Raffles Hotel Le Royal, her cocktail glass was discovered still bearing the imprint of her lipstick. To commemorate her visit to Phnom Penh this elegant Champagne cocktail is reborn as “Femme Fatale.”

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Is This Ad Good Enough For The Super Bowl?

Josh — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:50:13 +0000

At Springpad, we’ll be passing on advertising in this year’s Super Bowl. After all, this is not 1999 and we’re not Pets.com. While it’s true that some ads can still help make a company, at a price tag of close to $3M, our Super Bowl debut will have to wait.

In the meantime, we’ve taken a homemade approach to showing how Springpad can help you. The video stars a beautiful 2 year old named Ariel (who also happens to be my daughter) who thinks that there must be a better way to organize recipes than old fashioned cookbooks.

Are there any Super Bowl ads you’re looking forward to?

Romantic Valentine’s Day Recipes

Devin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:31:39 +0000

Day three of ‘Ten Days of Valentine’s Day‘ brings some delicious recipes from Springpad’s partners. If you’re like me, then you prefer to avoid restaurants on Valentine’s Day and opt for a more relaxing, romantic night at home preparing a fresh and delicious meal with your honey. This year, I tapped some of our food blog partners to find out what they suggest for a savory Valentine’s Day feast.

Filet Mignon with a Marsala Wine Sauce
Wow your Valentine with this upscale entree from Danica’s Daily.

Oatmeal Raisin Bars
If you want to indulge but don’t want consequences, try these oatmeal sweets from Carrots ‘n Cake.

Chocolate Strawberry Turnovers
These simple and sweet turnovers from Dishing Up Delights would make a great dessert or breakfast in bed.

Dark Chocolate Truffles: Plain, Lavender, Balsamic & Mint
No Valentine’s Day is complete without candy! Go gourmet with Napa Farmhouse’s homemade truffles.

Dark Chocolate Cayenne Pepper Brownies
Spice up your night with a chocolate dessert with a kick from Simply Savor.

February 2010 User Newsletter

katin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:08:48 +0000

Upcoming features, Adding photos & Super Bowl recipes

Valentine’s Crafts from Crafty Mama

lsleeper — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:49:00 +0000

It’s day 2 of ‘Ten Days of Valentine’s Day,’ and Kim of Crafty Mama of 4 has compiled a list of her favorite Valentine’s crafts and recipes. If your budget is tight this year, avoid going out and buying pricey gifts and desserts, and instead make them yourself by folllowing Kim’s tips! Kim has been blogging since 2008, and has become a resource for her readers for fun crafts and activities to do with their families. Kim is also a member of Walmart’s More Than Eleven Moms, and works with work with Momfluence, Buzz Cooperative, and Party Planning Professor.

Kim’s craft ideas include felt fortune cookies, a do-it-yourself Valentine’s Day snow globe, pink strawberry cupcakes and more! All of the directions and recipes for Kim’s projects are listed in her Valentine’s Craft Ideas group in Springpad.

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What are your favorite crafts to do with your family for Valentine’s Day?

What’s New with Springpad? My Stuff

Jeff Chow — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:39:50 +0000

Last week Katin gave you a sneak peak of the improvements we’re making to the Springpad Clipper that will make it even easier to capture things that you come across on the web.

We’ve also received a bunch of feedback from our users who want help managing their growing sets of data in Springpad. Today I’m thrilled to give you a preview of the next round of enhancements: a vastly improved My Stuff section that will help you organize and access your captured data faster and easier.

Improved Navigation
It’s all about context. We’re now making it easier for you to jump into a specific area in My Stuff (recipe, product, task) and easily search, create and filter by just that data category.

Search within My Stuff
We’re adding a powerful new search to My Stuff, so you can quickly find the things you want.

Save Your Searches
We’ve also added the ability to save your past searches & return to them later. Want a quick way to access all of your flagged items? Or how about just movies you haven’t seen yet? You can quickly access your saved searches in the sidebar.

Make Lists of Stuff
For a while now you have been asking us for a simpler way to manage random sets of data other than using Apps – so we’ve created Lists! Simply put, they’re like a playlist in iTunes: easily drag and drop items from your stuff into a list. Lists can be used for anything: a meal plan, a task list, a shopping list or even a list of things that you want to share with your friends.

Lots of Different Layouts
Depending on what you’re trying to do in My Stuff, you may want to view your data in different ways. Into recipes? View the beautiful photos from your favorite bloggers in our new Gallery View. Working on GTD? How about a simpler List View.

We’ll release these and other improvements in a couple of weeks… In the meantime, let us know what you think!

Frugal Valentine’s Day Gift ideas

lsleeper — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:35:57 +0000

Valentine’s Day is almost here, and Springpad can help you organize your ideas to make this year’s holiday a success!

Kicking off our ‘Ten Days of Valentine’s Day,’ Kelly Whalen of the ¢entsible life has compiled a list of frugal Valentine’s gift ideas for the whole family. On the ¢entsible life, Kelly focuses on writing about family, finances, and living the life you want within your own means. By working towards her goal of taking charge of her own family’s finances, she hopes to inspire other families to do the same and make their money work for them.

For the candy lover: Make your own Candy Kits, $12.99. Available in Chocolate, Chewing Gum, and Gummies. For kids aged 8 and up, or younger children with parental supervision. I want all 3!

For the champagne lover: One Fo(u)r Champagne from Nicolas Feuillatte. $9.99-12.99 in Brut or Rosé. Perfect size for you and your honey to share.

For someone who likes to sleep in: Why not surprise your sweetheart (or your kids) with heart shaped waffles for breakfast? Amazon has a huge selection of Valentine’s gifts, but I adore this Chef’s choice waffle maker, on sale! for $49.99.

For the anti-Valentine’s Day person: Rotem Gear offers several anti-Valentine shirts, but “Valetine, Shmalentine” is my favorite! $19- $30 depending on fit, and cut.

For the giver: Make a donation in your sweetie’s name to aid in disaster relief in Haiti, buy a bed net for a child in Africa, or donate to his/her favorite cause.

For the beauty queen: You may not be able to afford a full spa day for your beauty, but you can buy spa products from the famed Red Door spa to make her feel like princess for the day. Prices start at $27.

For the photo lover: One of my favorite gifts to give is a personalized photo book. Kodak makes fantastic photo products, and is offering 20% off now through February 2nd if you spend more than $20. Coupon code is LOVETHIS. Prices start at $9.99.

For the stressed: Who says pampering needs to be expensive? A massage can cost as little as $25 at a massage school, and and average of $65 for a certified massage therapist. A fantastic bargain if it gets your stressed out spouse to relax! Find a massage therapist or bodywork professional through ABMP.

For the sweets lover: Cookies are a sweet treat for just about everyone. You can make your own, or purchase a gift package from a cookie baker like Park 19, who has an adorable and delicious gift pack. $17.99.

For the fitness fanatic: Give your sweetie a gift from your heart, for their heart! This heart rate monitor for $32.99 from Omron, is a great way to encourage healthy habits whether it’s for your fit friend or someone trying to get heart-healthy.

For the bachelor: Whether you are trying to reform your bachelor boyfriend, or you’re a single guy who’s idea of cooking is calling take out, you will love Bachelor 101: Cooking + Cleaning = Closing. $21.90. In the authors words, “my book just may save someone from death by Dominos and/or dust inhalation.”

For the sexy: What Valentine’s list wouldn’t be complete without something a little spicy? Panty on the Vine offers discretely packaged panties, and lingerie sets for your loved one. Can be delivered to home or work, and or even anonymously. Prices range from $25-50.

For the pet lover: Maybe your precious poodle is your sweetie , or maybe your sweetie spoils her pooch. Either way, you may want to give the gift of DogToids or CatToids, available at PETCO for $4.99, so your pet will have fresh breath for Valentine’s Day.

For the chocolate lover: What could be better than delicious, gourmet chocolates? These Eclat chocolates are my favorite. You can eat one and it will sustain you for days! Pricing varies.

For everyone!: Some of the best gifts in life are free. Spending time with loved ones, sharing laughter, calling someone, or giving someone you love a hug or a kiss can be worth more than any gift you could buy. Cheesy? Yes. But completely true. So go embrace love in whatever form you have it in your life!

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Use Springpad to stay organized at Blissdom

lsleeper — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:12:40 +0000

Springpad has created a one stop resource for this year’s Blissdom conference. Springpad is a free online personal organizer to help you save and use anything you want to remember. Create your FREE Springpad account today and you will be entered to win a $100 gift certificate from The Container Store!

Already have a Springpad account? Just spring the Blissdom Event to enter. The winner will be randomly selected and contacted on February 12th by email.

When you sign up for Springpad with this link, your profile will be preloaded with:

A FREE Blissdom Travel Planner, helping you keep all of your important information in one place
Organized links to the conference’s sessions and speakers in one place
Lots of Restaurants and attractions to check out in Nashville
A Packing List that you can customize
A Budget Tracker to keep track of Blissdom expenses
One spot to keep your session notes, with Springpad’s customizable notebooks

Other tips on how to use Springpad to keep you organized at the conference:

Use the web clipper to keep track of new sites you learn about, including your fellow bloggers’ sites!
Set alarms to remind you to attend particular sessions at the conference.
Not near your laptop? Pull up your Springpad data on your mobile phone.

Be sure to say hello to Heather of Sprittibee, our Springpad sponsored blogger.

Do you have any tips for bloggers attending the Blissdom Conference?