Believe it or not, Thanksgiving’s just around the corner! Have you already started thinking about what you’re thankful for? If not, you can add ModCloth to the list!

This turkey day we’re hosting our first ever Thanksgiving Thank-a-Thon Blog Contest, and we want to hear who or what you’re thankful for! Write a post thanking that special something or someone on your blog, mention the contest in your post, and then share it with us for a chance to win $100 gift certificates for you and the person you thanked!

Contest Guidelines

• Beginning on Monday, November 9, you can comment on this post with a link to your submission through Monday, November 23
• Your blog post must include a mention and link to this Thanksgiving Thank-a-Thon Blog Contest post
• Submissions can only be made by commenting to this post with the link to your blog post. Stories submitted as comments will not be accepted.
• The winner will be announced on Thanksgiving (just in time for Black Friday shopping!)

As always, we can’t wait to see what you guys cook up! So put on your thanking caps and thank away!

For full contest rules, check out our Contest and Comments Guidelines!

Thanks to everyone who particapated in Pumpkin Carving for a cause! For each gorgeous gourd that was sent into our Facebook group, we are donating $5 towards the The Washington Area Humane Society. With an impressive 254 entries total, that adds up to $1270! However, we like to keep our numbers simple, so we decided to increase our donation, and round off to a clean $1500! In addition to the animal shelter donation, we also have a winner to announce! Judging on many variables ranging from creativity, inspiration, and relation to the ModCloth brand, Sara Torgerson’s pumpkin (pictured above) is the mod winner with her design that was, “Inspired by ModCloth’s vintage clothing”.

Her pretty pumpkin is creative, simple, and chic. While we had many entries relating to products on our site that were very well done, her original design relates directly to what we’re all about – vintage! Her prize pack includes a $100 Gift Certificate along with a Cat Face Mug, Cobweb Cuff, Chest-ire Cat Maxi Dress, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Book. Way to go Sara! It was a tough decision to pick a winner with so many great entries, so we decided to display honorable mentions of a few other favorites! Also, shout out to Faye Kennedy whose 36 entries equated to a donation contribution of $180!

From top left, 1. “The bride of Frankenstein hates when her favorite pieces at mod cloth sell out and so do I” by Jill Ann Wendorff 2. ModCloth Logo by Alyssa Hope 3. Modzilla by Mary Kennedy 4. Pumpkin Pie by Ashley Worden 5. My Pet Pumpkin by Lillian O’Connell 6. Pug-kin by Jennifer Sheppard Leale 7. PhotograKIN by Mad Doghoek 8. Treasure Tree Jewelry Stand Pumpkin by Corine Romero 9. Owl Ring Inpired Pumpkin by Lisa Mao

Today is a day for winners at ModCloth! We’re so excited to announce the winners of both the Fall Flavors, Fall Fashions Perfect Pairing Contest and the Mod Homecoming Queen! Thank you to all who participated in these contests – we had a blast going through all of your submissions!

Mod Homecoming Queen Winner:

Thirty three entries in, and Katie Mayo submitted the prize-winning photo of her divinely vintage styled Sophomore look, earning her the title of Mod Homecoming Queen! She will receive a $100 ModCloth Gift Certificate to spend on mad mod swag, along with bragging rights! Her dress was a borrow from her cousin who had it previously restored. We hope you had the time of your life at Homecoming, Katie – your dress is simply stunning!

Keep reading to find out the three ModCloth Cooks: Fall Flavors, Fall Fashions Perfect Pairing Contest!

Thank you to all who submitted an outfit and recipe pairing. They were all so unique, creative, and delicious!  These three winners will receive $100 towards their perfect ModCloth pairing ensemble! Here are our favorites.

Molasses Winner:

Congratulations to Meg, who impressed us with her recipe Coca Molasses Toffee, her fall-tastic outfit, and the adorable webpage she created for her submission!

Cocoa Molasses Toffee

• 1 cup molasses
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

Line a 9×13″ jelly-roll sheet pan (with sides) with heavy duty foil and butter generously.

Heat the molasses and sugar over high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Let it boil without stirring for about 8 minutes, or until the sugar caramelizes. This is tricky, because you can’t see the color turning – the molasses is already so dark. Use a candy or deep-fry thermometer and pull it off the heat when the sugar starts to smoke or hits 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Meanwhile, warm the cream over medium heat until hot, but not boiling. When the sugar caramelizes, whisk in the cream and butter. Return to low heat and bring to a simmer. Clip your candy thermometer on the side of the pan and watch the temperature. You will need to boil this, relatively unsupervised, for about 45 minutes to an hour. When it hits 250 degrees F (the lower end of the hardball stage) remove from heat and immediately whisk in the cocoa and salt. Pour into the buttered pan. When it has cooled for a couple hours, score into 1-inch pieces with a knife. Then cover lightly and put in the fridge. After it has cooled all night, break into the scored pieces with a knife – this may take some work! Wrap in parchment paper. These can be stored almost indefinitely at room temperature.

Apple Winner:

Congratulations to Sarah, who wowed us with her Puffy Apple Oven Pancake and her apple-red accented ensemble!

Puffy Apple Oven Pancake

When fall comes around, I love making my infamous Puffy Apple Oven Pancake. It’s so warm and delicious for those cold fall days when the leaves are crunching and all you need is something that tastes like something your grandma would make.

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 9in pie dish with butter.
• Peel and core one small apple before cutting it into quarters and from there into small chunks.
• In a medium-sized bowl, stir together 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon with a fork.
  
• Add the apple chunks and toss until all of the chunks have an even cinnamon-sugar coating.
  
• Put this filling in the prepared pie dish, spreading them about with the fork before putting it in the oven for 5 minutes.
• In a large bowl or blender, combine 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, 3 large eggs, 1 cup of whole milk, 3/4 cup of flour, and 3/4 teaspoon of vanilla. Mix or blend together until the batter is frothy and resembes pancake batter.
• Open the oven and do not remove the dish of baked apples.  Pour the batter over the apples evenly.  Push the dish back into the oven completely.
• Bake the pancake for roughly 25 minutes, or until it looks puffy and brown.
  
• Remove the dish and set it on a cooling rack. As it cools, hold a mesh sieve over the pancake and use it to sprinkle 2 tablespoons of confectioners’ sugar over the pancake.
• Cut like a pie, and serve warm and fresh.

Squash Winner:

Congratulations to Drew, who impressed us with this chic, classic Squash Ravioli dish and autumnal yellow, brown, and orange-infused outfit!

Butternut Squash Ravioli

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3  tablespoons minced shallots
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup roasted butternut squash puree
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons grated cheese
• Pinch nutmeg
• 1 recipe pasta dough, rolled out into wide ribbons, about 1/4-inch thick
• 1/2 cup Roma tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage leaves for garnish
• Goat cheese for garnish
• 4 tablespoons of candied pecans for garnish

In a large saute pan, over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter.  Add the shallots and saute for 1 minute.  Add the squash puree and cook until the mixture is slightly dry, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Stir in the cream and continue to cook for 2 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in 3 tablespoons cheese and nutmeg, to taste.  Cool completely.

Cut the pasta ribbons into 3-inch squares.  Place 2 teaspoons of the filling in the center of each pasta square.  Bring 1 corner of the square to the other, forming a triangle and seal the pasta completely.

Add the pasta to pot of boiling water. Cook until al dente, about 2 to 3 minutes or until the pasta floats and is pale in color. Remove the pasta from the water and drain well.  Warm the roma tomato sauce in a saucepan and pour over pasta. Garnish with goat cheese, candied pecans, and finely chopped sage.

(Image above: Stuffed Acorn Squash from Post Punk Kitchen)

For the last day of our Fall Flavors, Fall Fashions Perfect Pairings Contest, our ingredient is SQUASH! Any kind of squash will do, as long as you pair it with an adorable ModCloth outfit that matches your recipe! Submit your squash recipe and matching outfit as a comment at the bottom of this post. Read complete contest guidelines here.

As our surprise guest blogger, Isa Chandra Moskowitz (co- founder of the vegan food blog Post Punk Kitchen, and author of such vegan cooking tomes as Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and Veganomicon) is sharing an amazing squash dish with us, and an adorable ModCloth dress to match! Thanks, Isa!

Outfit:

• Panacea Dress
• Bow-sic Black Flats

Keep reading for Isa’s vegan cornbread stuffing and roasted squash recipe! Ingredients:

• 4 acorn squash, cut in half lengthwise, seeds removed
• 1 recipe PPK Cornbread or Veganomicon cornbread, or your favorite recipe from a 9×13 pan
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 Cippolini onions, diced medium (use whatever onion you like – about 2 cups once chopped)
• 1 cup pecans
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh thyme (keep the soft stems on, just ditch the woody ones)
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 2 teaspoons dried sage
• 1 teaspoon salt
• fresh black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 2 red Bartlett pears, sliced in 1/4 inch slices (use whatever pear you’ve got)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 375 F. Place the squash face down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 45 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork. You can proceed with the rest of the recipe in the meantime.
• Cut cornbread into roughly 3/4 inch pieces. Place on a baking sheet and toast for about 15 minutes, flipping about halfway through. Remove from oven.
• In the meantime, toast the pecans. Preheat a large heavy bottomed pan over medium low heat. Add the pecans and toast for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring often, until they smell toasty and are a few shades darker. Transfer to a bowl and roughly chop once cooled – I like to keep the pieces relatively large.
• In the same pan over medium heat, saute onion in olive oil for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned.
• Preheat the oven to 375 F.
• Add the herbs to the pan and saute for about a minutes. Add the cornbread and sprinkle in salt and pepper. Mix with a spatula, it’s fine if you break the cornbread up with a spatula a bit. Drizzle in the oil and vegetable broth. If it seems too dry, add a little extra veggie broth.
• Fold in the apples and pecans. Transfer to a lightly greased 9×13 pan and bake for about 45 minutes, until the top is lightly browned.
• Serves 8.

Leave your outfit ideas and matching squash recipes as a comment below, and good luck! The Fall Flavors, Fall Fashions Perfect Pairings Contest ends at midnight EST, Sunday, October 18th, so get your submissions in soon!

ModCloth would like to extend a big Thank You to all 394 people that participated in the Super Saturday edition of Name It & Win It! We hope that those of you with weekday obligations reveled in the opportunity to have fun and play ModGames. You certainly did not make the job of choosing a winner easy!

And now, without further ado, the winner of Super Saturday’s Name It & Win It is (drum roll, please)… Nakari! Nakari came up with the ingenious name, “Mark-er My Words Board”, and we think it’s fabulously fitting for this adorable dry-erase board.

Congratulations, Nakari! The Mark-er My Words Board is all yours. We hope everyone had fun brainstorming! Stay tuned for more chances to Name It & Win It – maybe you will dream up the next marvelous ModCloth moniker.

(Image above: Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Cookie Bars taken from Picky Palate)

It’s Day Two, and our fall ingredient for today is APPLE.  Find your favorite apple recipe, and pair it with an adorable ModCloth outfit that matches your dish! Submit your apple recipe and matching outfit as a comment at the bottom of this post. Read complete contest guidelines here.

To show us just how yummy apples can be, Jenny from Picky Palate is sharing one of her super sweet, totally indulgent recipes and a matching outfit with us! Thanks, Jenny!

Keep reading for a cute fall look,and an ultra delicious apple treat!

Outfit:

• Cassiopeia Dress in Mythology
• Ginger Button Sweater

Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Cookie Bars

• 3 Tablespoons melted butter
• 3 Cups Golden Grahams Cereal, ground in food processor
• 1 Roll Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough or 2 pkgs Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Dough Mix prepared and divided into 2 equal parts
• 8 oz softened cream cheese
• 1/4 Cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 21 oz can apple pie filling
• 1.5 oz package Nature Valley Oats N’ Honey Crunchy Granola Bars (2 count), crushed (I use a rolling pin to crush them right in the bag before opening)
• 9.5 oz Kraft Caramels
• 1/2 Cup Half and Half

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Combine melted butter and ground cereal into a large bowl; press into an 8×8 inch baking dish lined with foil that’s been sprayed with cooking spray.  Bake for 10 minutes then remove from oven.  Crumble half of the cookie dough over partially baked crust.
2. Place cream cheese, sugar and vanilla into a mixer; beat until smooth.  Pour over crumbled cookie dough layer.  Bake for 25 minutes then remove from oven.  Top with 3/4 of the apple pie filling (I chose to just add part, but you can add the whole can if desired).  Next top with remaining cookie dough, breaking off into little pieces evenly over top.  Sprinkle with crushed granola bars and bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes clean from center.   Let cool completely, then cut into squares.  Melt caramels and Half and Half according to package directions.  Drizzle over each bar.  Refrigerate leftovers.
3. Makes 9 squares. Refrigerate leftovers.

Leave your outfit ideas and matching recipes as a comment below, and good luck! Be sure to check back tomorrow at 1.00pm for the next ingredient – Squash!

(Image above: Molasses Cookies from Southern Grace Gourmet)

We are so excited for the first day of our Fall Flavors, Fall Fashions Perfect Pairings Contest! Our ingredient for today is MOLASSES.  Find your favorite molasses recipe, and pair it to an adorable ModCloth outfit that matches your dish! Submit your molasses recipe and matching outfit as a comment at the bottom of this post. You have until this Sunday at 12:00 a.m. E.S.T. Read complete contest guidelines here.

To help us kick off this contest and get the molasses recipes flowing, Angela from Southern Grace Gourmet has a yummy molasses dish and an adorable outfit to share with us! Thanks, Angela!

Outfit:

• The Soda Fountain Dress in Ginger
• Coca Beach Wedges
• Out of Africa Bag
• Birds of Paradise Earrings
• Hibiscus Bangle
• The Raphael Necklace

Keep reading to see Angela’s yummy recipe! There is nothing more delicious than a warm, chewy molasses cookie.  This cookie will give you a warm snuggly feeling. The molasses paired with the spices is perfect for the fall season. The chewiness of the cookie will allow you to savor every bite of this delectable treat. I have tried several recipes, before perfecting this one. These cookies have cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves. Molasses balances out the spices in the cookie and adds a perfect backdrop for the spices. The best part of these cookies though, is the beautiful aroma that will fill your home as they bake.

• 2  1/4 cups flour
• 2 oz, or 1/4 cup butter at room temperature
• 4 oz, or 1/2 cup shortening at room temperature
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup white sugar for rolling cookie dough in

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter, shortening, and sugar. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, and spices. Add molasses and egg to creamed butter and sugar. Mix until light and fluffy.
2. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
3. Then take teaspoons of dough and roll in sugar and in the palm of your hand to make little balls. Place on un-greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees until just firm. Do not over-bake. They should be browned, but look underdone when removed from oven.  They will firm up when cooled.  For a crisp cookie, cook longer.

Leave your outfit ideas and matching recipes as a comment below, and good luck! Be sure to check back tomorrow at 1.00pm for the next ingredient’s recipe – Apples!

The ModCloth Cooks Perfect Pairings Contest is back! This time around, we’re featuring three harvest-time ingredients to match with our fall wardrobe items.  For the next three days, we’ll present you with a new, tasty, fall flavor. Simply send us your favorite recipe for that ingredient and an outfit that matches the recipe,  and you’ll be entered to win $100 toward the outfit you styled! As a super fun twist, we’ll also be featuring guest food bloggers to help us launch each day’s ingredient! We’re so excited, and we can’t wait to see what you cook up this time!

Fall Flavors, Fall Fashions: ModCloth Perfect Pairings Contest Schedule:

• October 13 – The ingredient is Molasses, and our guest blogger is Angela from the down-home and healthy blog  Southern Grace Gourmet!
• October 14 – The ingredient is Apple, and our guest blogger is Jenny from the delectably sweet blog Picky Palate!
• October 15 – The ingredient is Squash (any kind!), and we’ll have a surprise guest blogger!

Contest Guidelines:

• Choose a recipe which incorporates the daily featured ingredient.
• Create an outfit using ModCloth items that matches your recipe.
• Leave your outfit idea and recipe as a comment to each of the daily posts on October 13, 14, and 15. Submissions left on this post, on Facebook , or on Myspace will not be accepted.
• Submit your Fall Flavors, Fall Fashions Perfect Pairings by Sunday, October 18, midnight EST.
• We will accept multiple enteries.
• We will choose the best ensemble/recipe pair, and the winner will receive $100 towards their ModCloth outfit! In addition, the winning recipe/outfit combination will be featured on the ModLife blog!
• Winners will be announced on Wednesday, October 21st.
• Click here for our Official Contest Rules.

It’s Saturday! The day is a blank canvas, much like this whiteboard. In fact, it doesn’t even have a name. Celebrate our Super Saturday and try your hand at naming this awesome new addition to our decor section; the person who submits our favorite name will make this caption-shaped whiteboard part of their own home or apartment decor.

(If you’re up for more competition, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and play “I Spy” at 2:30 p.m. E.S.T.)

Keep reading for the Super Saturday Name It and Win It rules!

Deadline is 12:00 a.m. E.S.T. October 11th. Please submit no more than three entries per person.

Remember, you have to submit your name as a comment on the blog to be eligible. Comments sent to ‘Ask ModCloth,’ or left on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter will not be considered.

Be sure to read full Name It and Win It Contest Rules before playing! Good luck and have a great weekend!