Red Gold Tomatoes Blogger Contest PLUS Review and Giveaway

Hello my dear blogger buddies!  Today, I want to share a fun event and opportunity with you that, unfortunately, with a new baby I would not be able to attend.  But, since I am the sharing type, I am going to let you all know about it.  Please let me know if you decide to enter!  I would love for one of my readers to win!

This is an opportunity to attend the popular Taste of the NFL – http://www.tasteofthenfl.com/ – a fund-raising, food and wine tasting event featuring NFL celebrities, top musical entertainment and some of the best chefs in the country on Feb. 4 in Indianapolis, the day before the Super Bowl. Each year during the Super Bowl weekend, Taste of the NFL raises money for food banks across the country, including MY local food pantry, St. Louis Area Food Bank.

To celebrate that the Super Bowl will be in nearby Indianapolis in 2012, family-run Red Gold Tomatoes in Orestes, Indiana – http://www.redgold.com/ – will choose seven bloggers from around the country for an all-expenses paid trip to join them at Taste of the NFL in Indy as well as at their HQ to learn all about growing and cooking exceptional tomatoes during a weekend of great cuisine.

Red Gold takes pride in growing during the true seasons of the Midwest, where the country’s best soil and climate for tomatoes can be found (even the winter is crucial, which breaks up the soil for tiny root systems). At farms in the Midwest, Red Gold grows some of the best tasting tomatoes around.

If  you are interested in entering your blog in Red Gold’s contest, it’s easy to sign up right here and see official rules – http://redgold.com/bloggers. The company will be reading blogs who write about their love of tomatoes in a creative way (e.g. game day recipes, food trends, reader challenges, product reviews, giveaways, holiday meal ideas, or really any creative way). Just also mention any interaction with Red Gold tomatoes and show an overall passion for cooking and food, too.  The company will follow bloggers online until Dec. 31, 2011.  The seven chosen bloggers will be notified in early January, 2012.

Those chosen will attend Taste of the NFL on Saturday evening, Feb. 4, and also will join Red Gold at their headquarters (about an hour from Indianapolis). In Orestes, you would learn about tomatoes from the ground up, including a tour of the production facility and meeting with many tomato experts on staff. Chosen bloggers would fly in on Friday, Feb. 3, spend the weekend, and depart on Sunday, Feb. 5.

I am so sad that I can’t try to win this fantastic opportunity!  It sounds like it would be so much fun.  I hope you all decide to enter!

Since I was unable to attend, Red Gold sent me this awesome prize pack to give their products a try and let you all know what I think of them.

and this awesome car that my son fell in love with…

Now, to the reason we are here… the Red Gold Tomatoes.  I use tomatoes a whole lot in my cooking.  I prefer to make my own pasta sauce so tomatoes are a staple in my grocery list.  I have them on hand all the time and buy many cans when I do purchase them.  I add them to chicken dishes, to soups, to chili (yum) and other random creations.  I have purchased tomatoes before though that are not very good.  Either they have stems in them (yuck) or they are sour tasting.  This is NOT the case with Red Gold tomatoes!  They are delicious and look good too.

I am not a huge tomato fan so this is a big thing for me to say… I really like the flavor of the Red Gold tomatoes.  They are not tart, are juicy, and have a nice crisp taste.  They are the perfect ingredient to my many dishes and they will be the tomatoes I purchase from now on.  No more nasty tomatoes, we are sold on Red Gold!

How would one of you like to win the really fantastic prize pack I won?  You will get some of the delicious Red Gold Tomatoes I received as well as a lot of fun goodies including the car, a reusable shopping bag, some recipes in a fantastic book and on cards, a key chain, a clip, and magnet.  You will also get a valuable coupon to buy more Red Gold tomatoes… because you will want to after you give these a try!

How to enter: The mandatory entry must be completed in order for all others to count. All entries must be recorded into the Rafflecopter widget.

Tagged as: giveaway, review