How to Register and Vote in the Martha Stewart American Made Contest

We are currently in 8th place out of 317 businesses in the food category of the Martha Stewart American Made contest! You read that right! Our loyal friends and customers have gotten us to 8th place out of THREE HUNDRED and SEVENTEEN businesses! We are overwhelmed with your support!  We need to claim at least 6th place to make it to the final round and we know you can get us there. You can vote 6x/day until September 22!

We’ve had many questions about how you register and vote for us in the Martha Stewart American Made contest. We’ve created two info sheets that will walk you through the registration and voting process. We hope these answer your questions so you can start voting!

How to Register to Vote 

1. Visit our page at http://www.marthastewart.com/americanmade/nominee/82415

2. Click on Register in the top right corner.

3. Click on Register again at the top of the page.

4. Type your email address. Type any password you want. Unlick the box if you don’t want email from Martha. Press play to reveal a security code. Type the code in the box. Click Join!

How to Vote

1. Once you are registered, visit our page at http://www.marthastewart.com/americanmade/nominee/82415 and click “Sign In” at the top of the page.

2. Enter your email address and the password you chose during registration. Click Sign in.

3. To vote just click the green “VOTE” button 6 times every day and watch the number beside the vote button go up! You can vote exactly every 24hrs. If you try to vote sooner than 24hrs you will be prompted to come back later.

We can’t thank you enough for your endless support!

Stella Leona Needs Your Votes!

We are a food category nominee in the 2013 Martha Stewart American Made Contest and voting starts today!

American Made spotlights the maker, supports the local, and celebrates the handmade. It’s a movement made up of people and communities who have turned their passion for quality craftsmanship and well-designed goods into a way of life.

 

Click on the Martha Stewart badge above or any of the pictures in this post to be taken to our profile page to place your vote!

You will be prompted to login via Facebook or register to vote. It’s very easy! You can vote 6 times/day!

Public Voting for Category Winners begins TODAY, August 26, 2013 and ends at 11:59:59 PM on September 13, 2013.

Things are moving a little slow due to the overwhelming response to the start of the contest, but Martha Stewart’s people are working on it so don’t give up if you are trying to vote!

We appreciate your votes and would love it if you would also share our blog, newsletter, and/or facebook posts with everyone you know! We always say we have THE best customers! Thank You for supporting Stella Leona!

This is how Stella Leona Customers Roll!

Where there’s a will, Jim Rufenacht will find his way to Stella Leona! Jim is a long time Stella Leona regular customer! He always has a smile and often brings friends with him to the shop.

Last week Jim came by the shop on his tractor with his Stella Leona mug in hand! Whether by truck, car, on foot or in a tractor, we’re just glad he finds his way here and we’re always happy to see him!

Lesson {2} The Health Benefits of Chocolate!

There is a lot of new information about the health benefits of chocolate! Yes, health BENEFITS! We’ve read multiple articles on this topic and are highlighting some of the common findings among our sources!

1. Studies have shown that dark chocolate helps lower blood pressure, control blood sugar and act as an appetite suppressant.

2. The cacoa bean is rich with flavonoids which are compounds that act like antioxidants. Flavonoids protect cells from harmful molecules knows as free radicals. Free radicals can cause cell damage that leads to heart disease, aging and cancers.

3. The cacoa bean contains another antioxidant known as polyhphenols. Polyphenols are known to help combat heart disease.

4. The darker the chocolate (60-80% cocoa) the more of the cocoa bean benefits it will contain. Dark chocolate is always best over milk chocolate or white chocolate when considering health benefits.

5. Like all good things, eating EVEN chocolate in moderation is best!

Welcome to Stella Leona Chocolate 101

Welcome to class! This is the first lesson in our new Chocolate 101 series where we will teach you all about chocolate! Lessons will be short, but informative and fun! Let’s get started with 5 facts about how chocolate grows!

Lesson 1 – The Cacao Tree

1. Cacao Tree – Chocolate grows on the cacao tree formally known as Theobroma Cacao. Theobroma is the Latin word for chocolate that means “food of the gods”.

2. Cocoa Pod – The leathery oval pod is the fruit of the tree that contains cocoa beans. It ranges from 8-14 inches long and varies in colors of green, yellow, orange, red purple or maroon, depending on the level of ripeness.

3. Cocoa Bean – The 50-60 seeds nestled in each pods sweet juicy pulp. The seed of the pod is called a cocoa bean once it is removed.

4. Location – Cocoa trees grow primarily in the remote areas of West Africa, Southeast Asia, Central America and South America.

5. Fun Facts – Cacao trees can produce good cocoa pods for 25 years. Seeds are so bitter that only humans will eat them.

13abc Action News All Stars VS Pettisville

Photos Courtesy of Phil King Images

This spring the 13abc Action News team traveled to Pettisville for a basketball game where all proceeds raised benefited the school. We proudly sponsored the Pettisville team. It was an entertaining game that ended with a Pettisville Victory after Mike made two free throw shots! Stella Leona T-Shirts are available for purchase in the shop!

Spangler Peanut Cluster Winners!

Thank you all for your comments and stories on our Spangler Peanut Cluster Giveaway post! They were fantastic and we had fun reading them! If your comment is listed below you are the winner of a box of clusters!!  You must claim your box of clusters by Saturday, May 4th. 

If you are a local customer you can pick up your box in the shop on Thursday or Friday 9-5 or Saturday from 9-12. 

If you do not live nearby, please email us with your address and your choice of maple or vanilla clusters to the following email address: info@stellaleona.com.

 

Spangler Peanut Cluster Giveaway!

                                                                                                          Photo Courtesy of the Bryan Times
If you haven’t heard yet, we have collaborated with the Spangler Candy Company to once again create their historic and iconic Spangler Candy maple and vanilla peanut clusters in the Stella Leona Shop! Yes, those clusters! The clusters that were originally produced by Spangler in 1912! 

We have recreated the original recipe that was first produced just over a century ago. It has been a wonderful collaboration and the clusters are proving to be wildly popular again! You can read more about our partnership and the clusters here.
While we suspected they would be a big hit, what we hadn’t anticipated were the memories and stories these clusters would reveal! We have loved hearing all about when you had your first original cluster, where you purchased them and how your parents and grandparents were big fans of the original clusters.  It has been equally as fun to see new generations try the Spangler Clusters for the very first time!

We’ve enjoyed the stories so much that we want to hear more and capture them in writing on our blog! We are giving away 10 boxes of clusters.  All you have to do is tell us about an old peanut cluster memory or leave a comment about trying these clusters for the very first time!
To enter, leave your comment on this blog post! Check back here on April 25th to see if you are one of the 10 random winners!

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