Are you a blogger that needs extra exposure for your blog giveaways and contests? Do you want to keep up with the latest giveaways offering gadgets, cosmetics, food, fashion and much more? I discovered Giveaway Scout by reading a post written by Feeding Four.

Bloggers get to take advantage of a giveaway search engine that shares your contests with a large network of users. The users receive updates on the latest opportunities, as Giveaway Scout automatically scans your blog and many others for new giveaways everyday. If you have the word “giveaway” in your post title, Giveaway Scout will pass along the information to their network – updating every hour.

Follow Giveaway Scout on Twitter and/or Facebook. They also have a newsletter.

This is my first time participating in Tuesday Tag-Along, where you are introduced to a variety of blogs and get to connect with other bloggers, and of course, increase your number of friends across the Internet.  This blog hop is hosted by Twee Poppets Review and Giveaway!

How to Participate

(1) All you have to do is create a Tuesday Tag-Along blog post (and include the accompanying button).

(2) Add your blog name and URL to the McLinky list.

(3) Follow Twee Poppets – the hostess blog, who is in the first slot. She will follow you back, but you MUST leave her a comment saying that you are a new follower and leave a link to your blog!

(4) Follow the Blog Hopper of the Week in the second slot.

(5) Then, it would be nice to follow the three blogs before you, so that everyone has a chance to gain new friends. You are more than welcome to follow any other blog that catches your eye.

(6) When you get a new follower through Tuesday Tag-Along, take a bit of time out to stop by and say ‘hello’ on their blog. Have fun!

I found the master list of Tuesday Tag-Along blogs on Mommy2TwoGirls.

I usually don’t like fudge-covered cookies, but only the back of this sweet treat is covered in chocolate and it suits the overall cookie just fine.

Keebler Fudge Shoppe Cheesecake Middles are small, but still deliver a very satisfying taste and texture – offering an effective combination of soft sweetness (cheesecake filling as a center) and crunchy nutty (graham) flavors.

If you love cheesecake (like I do), then you won’t be disappointed. Three Fudge Shoppe Cheesecake Middles equal 130 calories.

I confess, I’m an avid reader and a book hoard, but I’m finding it harder and harder to completely finish a book. that’s why I’ve decided to track the books that I’m reading and have read (as of July 2010) to encourage myself to finish the books that I start.

I’m Currently Reading…

• the other Boleyn girl –by Phillipa Gregory
• My Talisman: The Poetry & Life of Alexander Pushkin – translated by Julian Henry Lowenfeld
• Memoirs of a Geisha –by Arthur Golden
• Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia – by Marya Hornbacher
• 100 Discoveries: The Greatest Breakthroughs in History – by Peter Macinnis
• The Book of Lists: Horror

My Book Wish List

• Last Exit to Brooklyn – by Hubert Selby, Jr.
• Life is Hot in Cracktown – by Buddy Giovinazzo
• The Millennium Trilogy:

1. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
2. The Girl Who Played with Fire
3. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest – by Stieg Larsson

Just Finished

• 5 People Who Died During Sex (and 100 Other Terribly Tasteless Lists) – by Karl Shaw

I’d also love to hear your current reading list and recommendations.

I ordered the Minion Berry Pancakes at IHOP last week and they are delicious. Lemon pancakes with a berry compote served with your choice of breakfast combination, such as bacon, sausage, hash browns, and your choice of eggs for $7.99. The lemon pancakes are just right – not saturated with an overbearing artificial flavor. I ordered my berries on the side because I don’t like when fruit toppings make pancakes soggy. The waitress was nice enough to bring a side of whipped cream as well – so thoughtful. The berries deliver slightly tart to sweet sensations, which I absolutely love. The compote complemented the pancakes very well.

The Minion Berry Pancakes are part of a promotion involving the movie, “Despicable Me” – so hurry up and try them – you won’t be disappointed. The Minion Berry Pancakes and other specials (such as Loaded Minion Taters and Minionade) centered on the movie will disappear on August 29, 2010.

Oh wow. Lucky Country Aussie Style Pineapple Licorice is not your typical licorice – it’s a fruity explosion with every bite. The licorice is described as a soft gourmet treat that is 98% fat free. It smells and tastes amazing – very flavorful. I swear it tastes like it’s made with honey, but that doesn’t appear in the list of ingredients. I do find it interesting that coconut oil is used (yum). Lucky Country Licorice is made in the U.S.A, in Lincolnton, North Carolina and also comes in Black, Black Cherry, Strawberry, Marionberry, and Apple.

Very tasty indeed, so much so that I had to share a bag with one of my lucky readers!

Up for grabs is one 6-ounce bag of Lucky Country Aussie Style Pineapple Licorice.

Mandatory Entry: You must be my Google Connect friend (on the sidebar) and leave a comment saying so – must be completed or all other entries will not count.

Extra Entries (must leave separate comments for each entry)

1. Twitter friends of Priceless Writers get an entry. Leave your username. [1 entry]

2. Email subscribers of Yona Writes get [1 entry]

3. RSS feed subscribers to YonaWrites get [2 entries]

4. RT on Twitter: “Lucky Country Aussie Style Pineapple Licorice Giveaway at Yona Writes – http://tinyurl.com/23shwhf  ” [1 entry]

5. Leave a comment on any non-giveaway post and come back and tell me which one. [2 entries]

The Fine Print: For every entry that you complete, let me know in the comments section. For example, 2 entries = 2 separate comments. Contest ends July 30, 2010 at 11:59pm (ET).  The winner will be chosen through Random.org. Please leave an email address so I can contact winners, who will have 48 hours to tell me where to send their prize. Must be 18 years or older to enter. Giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.

There’s a national Taste Intervention contest taking place and Sabra Dipping Company is hoping to offer millions of people a chance to break free from their snacking and food ruts. Wouldn’t you like to win a trip to Turkey to attend culinary school or have Sabra’s chef Colombe Jacobson come to your home for one-on-one coaching?

Sabra wants to know your “food ruts” – like does the majority of your lunches consist of a ham sandwich or do you always snack on toast and jelly in the middle of the night? Whatever you’d like to share – Sabra (and I) would like to know.

As for me, I need to break from the wheat crackers and port wine cheese spread. As for my sweetie, he resorts to peanut butter and jelly on Saltine crackers. You can nominate yourself, friends or loved ones for the contest.

Questions:

1. What are your “food ruts” – snacks and foods you find yourself continuously eating….

2. Have you ever had Sabra hummus? What’s your favorite flavor?

Answer one or both of these questions for 5 extra entries into any of my current giveaways until July 30. Also, let Sabra hear your thoughts – tweet them your answer [@sabra] using #foodrut at the end. Further details about the Taste Intervention contest can be found here.

Good luck – I hope one of my readers win the contest!

Disclosure: I will receive coupons for free Sabra hummus in exchange for spreading the word about the Taste Intervention, which I will gladly accept because their hummus is delicious! I would never suggest something that I don’t eat myself!

Whether your writing letters, sending off postcards, or mailing off bill payments, you’re going to need a stamp sooner or later. For a fun little giveaway, I decided to encourage the beauty of the handwritten letter and ‘thinking of you’ Hallmark cards by supplying a lucky reader with one book of stamps.

Up for grabs is this Adopt a Pet book of 20 stamps – perfect for animal lovers.

Mandatory Entry: What would you use your stamps for?  (This comment must be completed or all other entries will not count).

Extra Entries: (must leave separate comments for each entry)

1. Answer the question posted at the end of my US Postal Service – Literary Figure Stamps post. Leave a comment here telling me that you did. [1 entry]

2. Google Connect followers get [1 entry]

3. RSS feed subscribers of YonaWrites get [1 entry]

4. Leave a comment on any non-giveaway post [2 entries each]

5. RT on Twitter: “Win a book of 20 stamps at YonaWrites – http://tinyurl.com/2aj8oro “  [2 entries – one time only]

6. Tell me your “food rut” on my Sabra Taste Intervention post [5 entries]

The Fine Print: For every entry that you complete, let me know in the comments section. For example, 2 entries = 2 separate comments. Contest ends July 30, 2010 at 11:59pm (ET).  The winner will be chosen through Random.org. Please leave an email address so I can contact winners, who will have 48 hours to tell me where to send their prize. Must be 18 years or older to enter. Giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.

Throughout the years, the U.S. Postal Service has manufactured a variety of literary-inspired stamps, including Richard Wright, Emily Dickinson, William Shakespeare, Dr. Seuss, and Robert Frost.

Maybe one day Stephen King will have a chilling stamp collection fashioned after his classic tales – perhaps a blood-soaked knife for Misery, classic car for Christine, or the ghoulish clown from It.

The ultimate literary stamp for me is Edgar Allen Poe, which I bought a book of last year and rarely use. I especially like that the signature part of the stamp is in gold.

Question:

Which author, poet, dramatist or other figure would you like to see get his or her own stamp?

Perfect for do-it-yourself and home improvement blog posts, Templates.com is offering a “painter girl” as this week’s free illustration. The image is complimentary for one week and then replaced with another one.