The Cheap Gourmet

The Perfect Mother's Day Gift: Gourmet Monthly Club Subscription

Looking for the perfect Mother's Day gift? If so, today is your lucky day! There's no doubt mom's are special and they deserve much more than a bouquet of flowers and afternoon brunch. The Gourmet Monthly Club recognizes the need to reward mom all year long and are currently offering exceptional discounts on gifts that are certain to please!

The Gourmet Monthly Club offers monthly subscriptions of chocolate, cheese, flowers, wine, beer and cigars. Now, I realize most moms don't smoke cigars, but if they do the cigar subscription is a great gift! Otherwise, keep this gift idea in mind for Father's Day.

Most moms love chocolate and the Chocolate of the Month subscription will provide your mom with ooey, gooey goodness for months to come! Each month your mom will receive a box of handcrafted chocolates made by world renowned chocolatiers, along with a newsletter detailing the origins of the cocoa beans, how the chocolates are made, and how to make homemade chocolate confections.

Cheese-loving moms will go ga-ga over selections provided in the Cheese of the Month subscription. Each month, mom will receive three, half-pound blocks of extraordinary cheeses crafted by traditional cheese manufacturers, along with an informative newsletter explaining the origins and how each cheese is made.

The International Wine of the Month Club provides mom with two bottles of award-winning international wine selections each month. Three wine subscriptions are available which allow you to select two red wines, two white wines or one red and one white.

As one who has sent of the month club subscriptions to family and friends, I can tell you that people love receiving a special gift each month. If you want to give your mom an extraordinary gift, consider ordering a monthly club membership from the Gourmet Monthly Club.

Order before May 10th and receive up to $20 off any prepaid subscription.

When ordering a 6-month or longer subscription use code MD10 and receive a $10 discount.

When ordering a 12-month subscription use code MD20 to receive a $20 discount.

Offer expires May 10, 2010.

Indulge friends, family and colleagues with exquisite gifts from six Gourmet Monthly Clubs

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All in the Day of a Food Blogger by The Cheap Gourmet

An Open Letter to Fans of The Cheap Gourmet Blog,

This past week, The Cheap Gourmet has been endlessly harassed by splog owner, Dmitri Dercacenco. It began when I discovered Dmitri had published my beer of the month club review, along with about 20 other of my blog posts on his website.

I politely requested Dmitri Dercacenco provide a summary with a link to The Cheap Gourmet blog or remove the article altogether. I also requested the same for the other articles belonging to me. As I reviewed his website I began noticing content from other food bloggers I am familiar with.

Because I am a strong advocate for copyright protection, I contacted each blogger to inform them their content had been stolen as well. Dmitri Dercacenco refused to remove our content and continued to steal more of our blog posts and publish them on his blog.

We food bloggers joined forces and contacted Dmitri Dercacenco's webhost provider. After providing evidence we were the rightful owners of the content, the hosting service shut down Dmitri's website.

Dmitri Dercacenoco then left a comment on Brad's Bodacious Beef, Bean and Sausage Chili Recipe post, threatening to submit a ton of spam comments to The Cheap Gourmet. Not very smart, is he? I left his comment in place, but did alter his website's URL to IStealContentFromFoodBloggers because I refuse to provide a link to his website, which at present is out of service.

Now, Dmitri Dercaenoco has embarked on all-out war against The Cheap Gourmet by altering my Beer of the Month Club review and submitting it to news directories in Pakistan and other foreign countries. Apparently, he isn't smart enough to understand there are tools which allow bloggers to track their blog posts and I can easily follow his every move.

My message to Dmitri is if you are going to come into my home, steal my stuff and threaten me, I am going to call you out and take action against you. I imagine he would feel the same way if the shoe were on the other foot.

After considerable research, I discovered Dmitri has a long history of being a spammer and black hatter. He has registered 85 different URLs, many of which are connected to credit card scams. All of this information is public record and can be found at places such as Whois.com and DomainTools.com.

Instead of being able to focus on providing recipes to you, my valuable readers, Dmitri's behavior has left me spending my time submitting DMCA notices and taking various measures to report his illegal activity. If you aren't familiar with the term, 'splog' it refers to a blog that scrapes blog posts from honest bloggers and posts them on the offensive site as their own work.

Although Dmitri Dercaenoco has diverted my attention, I met some wonderful food bloggers who were also victims of this man's unethical behavior. As they say, when life gives you lemons make lemonade. Below are links to my newfound friends. I encourage you to visit their websites because each food blogger offers amazing recipes and cooking tips.

Candy Addict – www.CandyAddict.com

Andrea Myers - www.AndreasRecipes.com

Veg Inspirations - www.VegInspirations.com

Poor Girl Eats Well - www.PoorGirlEatsWell.com

100 Café Street - www.100cafestreet.com


I apologize for the diversion and assure you The Cheap Gourmet will be back in full swing on Monday. I will be announcing the winners of January's Giveaway of Truvia Natural Sweetener and announcing the February giveaway.

In closing, if you are a blogger it is important to protect your work. There are measures in place that allow you to report individuals who have stolen and published your content. If you discover someone's content has been stolen, take a moment to contact them and provide the URL where the content is published. By watching out for one another we can reduce the amount of thievery and shut down the sploggers, spammers and stalkers who behave like Dmitri Dercaenoco.

Copyright © The Cheap Gourmet and Kathy Browning. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright and intellectual property rights. Reproducing or electronically submitting this article without written permission from the author is prohibited by law. Govern yourself accordingly. Violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Beer of the Month Club Review

I purchased a Beer of the Month Club subscription as a Christmas gift for my husband. I ordered his beer subscription through Clubs of America, which is an affiliate program promoted through The Cheap Gourmet Blog.

This is the second Beer of the Month Club subscription I have ordered. The first beer subscription expired July 2009 and my husband has been going through "micro-brew withdrawal" for the past five months. He loved receiving his 12-pack of specialty beers each month and reading the informative newsletter that arrives with each order.

I am not a big fan of beer and couldn't tell you if it is good or not, so I asked my husband to provide a review of the brew he received. The following Beer of the Month Club microbrew review covers the four beer varieties he received in January.

Michigan Brewing Company

Celis Grand Cru – Grand Cru, refers to a type of specialty ale brewed in the Belgian-style, often served on special occasions or at festivals.  This is a style of beer that has very strong characteristics, and connoisseurs of the brew making art will appreciate the bold flavor.

Michigan Brewing's Celis Grand Cru is brewed with the vintage traditional recipe of fine malt and hops, Saaz (a Czech Republic aroma hop), and spices with citrus. Celis Grand Cru pours nicely producing an appropriate head with complex flavor that is true to tradition. This is excellent ale to serve with beef, wild game, or anything with accommodating bold flavors.

High Seas IPA – India Pale Ale refers to a type of ale that is very pale in color due to the malting process and because it could be transported for long periods of time, hence the name "India Pale Ale."  East Indian traders would transport this type of ale by ship to India, but it was also widely brewed and transported on ships traveling across the globe. 

Michigan Brewing's High Seas IPA is nice blend of complex malts and hops that pours nicely and follows with a light head.  Although I would refer to India pale ale as more of a light, yet complex and bitter ale, it truly has a flavor that discerning aficionados can appreciate.  This is an excellent beer to serve with poultry, fish, or hanging out just eating wings and watching the game.


Snake River Brewing Company

Snake River Pale Ale – A modern-style pale ale using domestic malts and hops best describes this common-man brew.  Today, this type of pale ale is very prevalent in the U.S. in terms of mass-production, but many micro-brewed pale ales use a more vintage recipe. 

Snake River Brewing's Pale Ale has a real Pacific-Northwest micro-brew vibe, with a smooth citrus flavor that finishes with a classic bitter tone.  This finely-tuned pale ale pours nicely with a light head, and beautifully clean color.  Common-man would fit the smooth flavor with this beer, as anyone would appreciate it.  This excellent ale compliments salads, fruit, poultry, fish, or anything with a light flavor.

Snake River Zonker Stout – Stout refers to a type of specialty ale that is extremely bold and complex.  It is also referred to as Porter because it was popular with the street and river porters of London. 

This is a style of beer that is not for the faint of heart and commands respect. Stouts typically use roasted barley, as well as chocolate and caramel malts, that produce an intense flavor with a dark black color. 

Snake River Zonker Stout pours nice and smooth, with a thick head and color.  The flavor is astonishing, yet it has a very complex flavor and finish only a true connoisseur would appreciate.  This is an old-world or foreign-type of brew and excellent to serve with smoked meats, wild game, pungent cheeses, chocolates, or anything with a strong and complex flavor.

If you are looking for a great gift, we highly recommend Clubs of America Beer of the Month subscription. Additional monthly clubs include: Wine Club, Flower Club, Fruit Club, Cigar Club, Coffee Club, Chocolate Club and Pizza Club.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Copyright © The Cheap Gourmet and Kathy Browning 2010. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright and intellectual property rights. Reproducing or electronically submitting this article without written permission from the author is prohibited by law. Govern yourself accordingly. Violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Disclaimer: The Cheap Gourmet earns a one-time customer referral fee for Beer of the Month Club sales generated through our marketing efforts.  Supporting our carefully selected vendors allows us to continue offering recipes to our visitors at no charge.

Beer of the Month Club: Perfect Father's Day Gift!

Beer of the Month Club makes the perfect Father's Day gift. This unique club offers rare, microbrewed beers from all across the United States. Each month your dad will receive one 12-pack of fresh, unique, flavorful beers that will make his friends green with envy. Each 12-pack includes three bottles of four different beers.

Once your dad tastes Beer of the Month Club brews, he'll never be able to drink regular beer again. This can actually work to your benefit because Clubs of America is currently offering a $25 instant savings with the purchase of any 12 month subscription.

Another great feature of Beer of the Month Club is there are no minimum requirements. You can send your father one 12-pack of tastebud exploding brews or establish an autoship account for eternity. Seriously, Beer of the Month gives you full control over your shipment frequency and if you only want one 12-pack they won't hound you to buy more.

I purchased a one-year subscription for my husband's 40th birthday last year. Every time his beer arrives he is like a kid on Christmas Eve. This is truly a gift that keeps on giving. My husband only shares his prized mircobrewed beers with a few select friends. They think I am a Goddess for buying my husband the coolest gift on the planet. Who knew all it took to be adored and admired was a 12-pack of exotic beers once a month!

If your dad isn't a beer drinker, Clubs of America offers all types of monthly subscription clubs. Maybe your father would prefer cigars, chocolate, wine or pizza. Although the Pizza of the Month club is a little pricey, recipients receive three enormous 9-inch deep Chicago-style pies. For the pizza consummate, this is the ultimate gift. Not to mention, it pairs perfectly with the Beer of the Month Club!

If you aren't already sold on ordering the Beer of the Month for your dad, consider this... You don't have to go out shopping and deal with rude sales clerks. You won't have to fight for a parking spot. You won't have to wonder if your dad will like your gift. You don't have to buy gift wrap.

All you have to do is click on the banner below, select subscription frequency and voila! - instant gift delivered straight to your dad's doorstep. And, if you're lucky, he'll share one of his brews with you.

In closing, you must be of legal drinking age to order from Beer of the Month Club. As always, please drink responsibly and never drink and drive!

Beer of the Month Club - The Gift that Keeps on Giving!

My husband's birthday is July 31st. He's turning 40, so I wanted to get him a gift that would be memorable. With the passing of my mother, handling of her estate and our upcoming move, I didn't have time to head to the Mall and spend endless hours searching for the perfect birthday gift. Instead, I decided to locate something spectacular online. And, guess what? I hit the jackpot!!

I discovered, GreatClubs.com; a website that offers just about any kind of "gift that keeps on giving". They offer Beer of the Month, Chocolate of the Month, Wine of the Month, Cigars, Flowers, Coffee and even Pizza of the Month! Since my husband is a connoisseur of beer, I chose to subscribe to the Beer of the Month Club.

The Beer of the Month Club allows you to choose the length of your subscription; from one month to one year. I elected the one year subscription because I know my husband is going to flip over this gift. Besides, the annual subscription gives you an extra $25 in Club Cash. With this added bonus, Brad will receive what I refer to as the "Baker's Dozen of Beer." In essence, using the extra $25 he can receive an extra month of beer for the price of 12 months. I love bargains, don't you?

This monthly beer club includes a 12-pack of four different microbrewed beers from around the country. Each month, Brad will receive a collection of these unique mircobrewed beers right to our doorstep. With the cost of gas these days, I'm thinking of ordering everything online! He'll also receive a monthly newsletter, "Beer Expeditions", which provides information about the various beer selections. Another nice feature of Beer of the Month is members receive discounts on any additional purchases. If Brad falls in love with a particular microbrewed beer, he can order more of it through the club at a discounted price. 

Hopefully, Brad won't be reading The Cheap Gourmet blog this month. I'd hate to ruin his birthday surprise! However, I did want you to know about this service. All I ask is that you keep his gift a secret until July 31st :-) If you are looking for a gift that keeps on giving, check out GreatClubs.com. I'm seriously contemplating joining the Chocolate of the Month club and giving it to myself for my upcoming 50th birthday on July 27th. There's nothing wrong with treating yourself to a milestone birthday gift is there??