Tarragon Chicken & Pesto Potatoes

Have entered to win the candy giveaway yet?  No?  Head back to Tuesdays post and be sure to get in on the action!  I'll wait...

Okay, welcome back!  I'm still off in the Caribbean, sailing around on a floating city.  This is actually my fourth cruise, third one with boyfriend.  The remaining cruise?  I took that one with WildeMom! 

A few years back, WildeMom and I descended on Florida from our northern locations of Buffalo and Madison.  We sailed out of the port of Fort Lauderdale to celebrate WildeMoms 50th birthday!  The plan was just two crazy girls, living it up on the high seas!  And that's just what happened.

We walked around Old San Juan and dodged random cloudbursts in the fort.  Trolling through the city we enjoyed creamy gelato and warm weather.  We faced the ocean on St Maarten and someone was smarter than I and stayed in the shallow end.  Truth be told, I'm pretty sure the ocean was trying to drown me.  We kayaked through a mangrove forest on St Thomas and cheered on a hermit crab during a race.  We even managed to hit the ships gym every morning and I made friends with the fitness coordinator onboard.

It was a fantastic trip for both my mom and I.  We never had, and haven't since, had so much time to spend together.  A whole week of mother-daughter bonding time.  Lots of time to relax together. 

Travelling with boyfriend is nothing like travelling with WildeMom (as you could have guessed from Tuesdays post!), but tomorrow I can have a direct comparison.  Tomorrow our ship docks in St Thomas after a full day at sea.  How will my day on St Thomas compare with the day spent with WildeMom?  I'll let you know next week, along with the winner of the candy giveaway!

Chocolate Malt Marshmallows

As you read this, boyfriend and I are cruising around the Caribbean.  Depending on what time you read this today, we may be rappelling through waterfalls, sitting on the beach or stuffing ourselves with buffet food. 

We are on a cruise vacation because I wanted a nice, calm, relaxing break from work.  Our past few vacations have been anything but relaxing, with the trekking to far flung foreign lands, managing several different foreign languages and packing in as much sight-seeing as we could.  You want to go on a calm vacation, do not go to Bangkok.  You want a relaxing vacation, do not go on a trek around Europe.  You want to sit still for more than ten minutes, do not go on vacation with boyfriend.

This boyfriend of mine has energy for miles.  While vacationing on a white sand-ringed island last year, we decided to spend the day at the beach.  Snorkels, beach towels and Gatorade in tow, we made our way to a quiet and secluded beach overlooking the neighboring islands.  I laid my beach towel out, dropped my sandals in my bag and went to wade in the warm Caribbean water.  Having decided that was enough movement for now, I made my way back to our beach towels and realized I was by myself.

Boyfriend had wandered off.  Figuring he couldn't go too far (I had his shoes), I decided to wait for him by reading a magazine (okay, I was doing logic puzzles.  I'm a big old nerd!).  I kept hearing rustling noises in the bushes behind me, but we had been hearing that all week.  The noise was always birds.  A half hour later, boyfriend strolls up the beach from a completely different direction from where I last saw him.  When I inquired about where he was, his answer was simple.  "I was looking for monkeys!"

No, boyfriend isn't crazy.  We were on St. Kitts, which is an island with a bountiful monkey population.  He didn't find any monkeys on his little tour of the beach bushes and this wasn't his last trip off the beaten path.  When offered two options - the easy way - or - the way that requires climbing over rocks and shimmying down perilous ledges - boyfriend will always pick option 2.

This is why we are spending the day canyoning, rather than sitting on a beach and baking in the sun.  And you know what?  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Since I'm away this week, I didn't want to leave you feeling sad.  I realized there were two things I could do to make my absence a little easier. 

1. Chocolate malt marshmallows!

2. Throw a giveaway while I'm away! 

What am I giving away?  If you have been following the Candy Month hype on my twitter account, I mentioned giveaways!  This is the first of two that will happen this month.  (Oh just wait for the second, it will be delicious!)  I'm giving away one of my favorite candy cookbooks to one lucky reader!  This book gave me so much help and insight in the first few months of Candy Challenge 2011.

The Giveaway is now closed!  Congratulations to the winner - Amy Marantino!

Now it's your turn to give it a try!  This giveaway is for one brand new, shipped fresh from Amazon, copy of

Chocolates and Confections at Home with the Culinary Institute of America!

And...

How can you make candy without a thermometer?  You'll also receive the very same thermometer that I have come to love.  It's digital, has an alarm and two settings (oil & candy).

How do you enter?  There are so many ways!  Do them all and get up to 6 chances to win!

1. Simply comment on this post and tell me which candy recipe was your favorite from Candy Challenge 2011 (you can find the recap on the tab at the top labeled "Candy Collection")  Or maybe which candy you would like to try (or have made!).

2. Subscribe/follow/RSS Wilde in the Kitchen so you don't miss out on a single post!  Leave me a comment saying that you did!

3. Follow @WildeKitchen on twitter and leave me a comment here saying that you did so!

4. Tweet the following on twitter (or something along these lines!) and let your friends know about our fun giveaway!  Leave a comment here saying that you did so!

I just entered to win a copy of Chocolates and Confections at Home from @WildeKitchen so I can make candies at home too!  Enter to win at wildeinthekitchen.blogspot.com

5. Like Wilde in the Kitchen on facebook and leave me a comment, you know the drill.

6. The last and the most involved way to earn a chance to win...  Take part in the Wilde in the Kitchen Relay for Life Bake Sale!  Happening on May 17-18, I will be fundraising for Relay for Life and need your help!  Up for sale will be several popular Wilde candy treats and I would love to have you all help out! 

Drop me an e-mail [wildeinthekitchen @ hotmail (dot) com] and let me know if you would be interested in making a baked good/sweet confection for the bake sale!  For more information on the bake sale, check out Sundays post.

If you already do any of the above, like you already follow me on Twitter, you can leave a comment stating that fact.  That's cool, we're already friends!

Giveaway is open from April 24, all of the way until Tuesday, May 1st! The Giveaway is now closed, thank you everyone for entering!

Disclaimers...  This giveaway is open to those in the United States and Canada.  Sorry international friends, I'm not good with shipping abroad!  I have no affiliation with the publishers or writers of this cookbook, I just think it's awesome and want to share!

Sweet Potato & Choriquo Gratin

I am very excited to announce my very first Wilde in the Kitchen Bake Sale! But I need your help! In June, less than six weeks away, I will be participating in Relay for Life out here on Long Island. For those of you who don't know exactly what the event entails, here is the description straight from the American Cancer Society.

Relay For Life is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease.

At Relay, teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events up to 24 hours in length. Relayers do not have to walk all night, but each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event.

The event begins with a lap completed by cancer survivors, showing their victory over cancer. The caregivers then join in the next lap, showing their support for those who have battled cancer. Finally, the remaining walkers join the track and start the relay. As daytime passes into night, luminaria bags are lit to commemorate those who have lost their fight to cancer. The relayers then walk through the night with the light of those now gone guiding them around the loop.

Our Relay will take place from 6 pm until 6 am the next day and our team will be camping out at the local college. I will be relaying with several of my work colleagues! Being a newer member of my company, I'm looking forward to not only raising money for ACS, walking with survivors, but also getting to know some of my coworkers a little better.

Now I need your help! May 17-18 will be the Wilde in the Kitchen Bake Sale for Relay! I'll be putting up several candy confections to help raise money for Relay and am looking for people to join in the bake sale!

How does it work?  Don't worry, I do all the heavy lifting!  You provide an image and web address for whatever baked good you would like to donate to the bake sale.  People bid on the items by e-mailing me with their bids.  Once the bake sale closes, the baked goods go to the highest bidder!  Here's where your work comes in...  Within a week, you just have to bake your item and mail it to the winner!

What would be a good item for the bake sale?  Anything that ships well, is delicious and is something that you love.  Cookies & Bars ship really well.  I'll be making several different candy recipes to contribute to the sale.  Marshmallows are their own packing material!

Do you have a little extra time in your week to whip up something sweet and delicious? Send me an e-mail at wildeinthekitchen (at) hotmail (dot) com and let me know!

As a thanks for your help and kindness, I've made you dinner. Kinda. In order to prepare for an all-night relay walk I think my team is going to need some carbs. So make yourself this spicy gratin and leaf through your dessert cookbooks!