I am sure many of you are familiar with Dale Carnegie’s best selling book How to Win Friends and Influence People. His book is one of those books that is a must read for business professionals. In this best selling book, Dale Carnegie lists six ways to make people like you. Those six things are:

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
3. Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.
6. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.

As much as I love this book, I cannot help but think that Mr. Carnegie is missing a key point. My number one way to win friends and to influence people is to bake for them. If I want to make a good impression on someone or if I want to influence someone to do something for me, I simply bake him or her a treat of some kind and typically, I get what I want. It is very simple, really, and I do not have to do a lot of talking or listening. I simply present them with the baked good item and upon consumption, we are instant friends and they are putty in my hands.

One way that I influence my kids around the house is by baking them what they call "cupcakes" for breakfast. They are really muffins, but if they think they are getting dessert for breakfast, who am I to correct them? My husband is traveling in New York again this week so I knew I was going to need some extra help around the house from my little people. This morning, I decided to make a batch of my mini-banana muffins. My kids love these and beg for them all day long. Every time they asked for one I would say, "After you do ______, you can certainly have another muffin." They were doing chores like mad around the house today, simply to be rewarded with another mini banana muffin.

So, the next time you need to influence someone, try my suggestion of the 7th step and bake for them. You are certain to win them over in no time at all.

Julianne’s Mini Banana Muffins

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup shortening

1/2 cup applesauce

2 eggs

3-4 bananas, peeled and smashed

1/2 cup water

2 cups flour

1 tsp soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Combine the sugar and shortening until smooth. Add the applesauce, eggs, bananas and water and mix on medium for 2 minutes. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Once combined, slowly add to the banana mixture and mix until incorporated completely. Bake in sprayed mini muffin tins on 350 for approximately 12 minutes (or until toothpick in the center comes out clean).

Makes 48 mini muffins

I am so unoriginal. I know that many of you out there are great creators of recipes. Yes - I throw things together and create some yummy meals, but when I do that I never write it down or would not be able to recreate exactly what I did to perfection. I have always been amazed by people who can create recipes. Me…I’m a follower. I love those of you who create the recipes because then I can come along and follow in your footsteps and the hard work has already been done for me. I get nervous to switch things up too much because beyond recipe following, I am not so confident in my abilities.

Last week, the talented Deborah over at Taste and Tell posted a recipe for homemade teriyaki sauce. She created a delicious looking grilled chicken teriyaki dish. Myself, being the copycat follower that I am, decided to make her teriyaki dish this week for dinner. I copied her recipe for the teriyaki sauce exactly, but I stir fried some shrimp and pineapple in with the sauce instead of chicken. Thanks to Deborah posting the recipe, and me being an absolute follower, I will never be buying jarred teriyaki sauce at the store again.

I am not going to post the recipe here. I’ll lead you to Deborah’s site to be a copycat for yourself.

If it wasn’t completely obvious by my last post, I had myself all worked up about Kindergarten over the weekend.  In my mind, I had imagined every "worst case scenario" and had cried buckets of tears stressing about the "First Day of Kindergarten Event". I told myself to hold it together this morning…no matter what, I could not ruin Jacob’s excitement by crying today.

You know what I have discovered? The anticipation of today was ten times worse than the actually event. We have been talking about Kindergarten for so long, and my fellow Kindergarten mom’s have been talking about not crying and keeping our happy faces on, etc. Today, when we actually walked up to school and then Jacob confidently walked right into his classroom without even a bit of hesitation, I realized we had jumped over a huge hurdle. Yes - he will never again have a first day of Kindergarten, but he will have many more wonderful other days of Kindergarten. The anticipation of today was completely blown out of proportion… I survived, he survived and we are on with the future.

Another thing I have been anticipating for quite some time is the Devil’s Food White Out Cake from Dorie Greenspan’s cookbook, Baking: From  My Home To Yours. I have been drooling over this cake since I first got my copy of this cookbook almost a year ago. I drooled some more when several of you made this cake and posted about it on your blogs. I could not wait to try it, and I could almost imagine how delicious it would be.

Now - please don’t kill me, but I kind of feel the same about this cake as I do about the first day of Kindergarten. I had imagined for so long how wonderful this cake would be, and I have to say when I tried it I was slightly disappointed. It is a really good cake, and honestly, after this much anticipation, there is no way the cake would have lived up to my expectations. The cake makes a "Wow!" presentation, and it tastes good…just not out of this world fantastic like I was hoping. 

The friends I made this cake for enjoyed it, so it was a success. I also will make it again but this time I may adjust some of the ingredients a bit to better suit my picky chocolate palate.  

For your viewing, drooling, and anticipating pleasure visit the following blogs for more about this cake:

Other People’s Food

Baking Bites

Fresh From The Oven 

Simply Anne’s 

Jumbo Empanadas 

My baby starts Kindergarten tomorrow. At one point recently, I did not think that Kindergarten was going to be that big of deal. The school we go to still has half day Kindergarten, so I get my boy back every afternoon. As the time has neared, and as we have gone to the Kindergarten Round-Up and School Open House, I am really starting to not be able to hold it together. What is it about Kindergarten that stirs up such emotions? He has gone to preschool for the past three years. We have been apart before. He loves school and has zero anxiety about it whatsoever. For me, I think the emotions stirring are from the time we have had over the past five years. Have I spent enough quality time with him? Did we build memories that he will look back fondly on? My friend Sara, whose daughter started full day 1st grade this year, summed it up perfectly. "I feel like I have just wasted the past 6 years with her." I know that I haven’t wasted the past five years with Jacob, but I cannot help but feel like we could have done more. I should have worked less and played more. I should have scolded less and hugged more.

I know that I am a good mom and I know that Jacob and I have a great relationship. I also know that he is going to be exposed to things that he has never been exposed to…kids and people that I have been able to protect him from in the past. The real world is inside those school doors, and I don’t think I am ready for him to face that.

As you can imagine, there is going to be a lot of baking going on in our household over the next few weeks. Baking is my comfort activity and comforting is what I need.

I’m going to go grab a tissue. In the meantime….enjoy these comfort inducing Parker House Rolls.

For the past couple of weeks, I have turned into one of “those” bloggers. You know…the bloggers who take the time to update their own blog but do not go and visit all of the blogs of those who make comments. I really believe that it is important to frequent the blogs of those who frequent Dine and Dish. I love and appreciate your comments and I love your blogs…I so miss reading them, but life has been so hectic lately and to be frank with you, my need for at least a few hours of sleep at night is starting to take over.

Soon, very soon, things will slow down. In the meantime, can I make it up to you with chocolate? This was a rich and delicious cake…even better the next day after it had been in the fridge!

Fudgy Pudgy Cake - from the most recent issue of Taste of Home
12-14 servings

1 hour 30 min prep

Why is it that all that I can think about when writing this post is the You Tube video of Faith Hill recently telling off a concert groupie for groping her husband? I know, I have the mind of a 5th grader, don’t I?

We went to an Italian restaurant a couple of years ago and  I ordered spaghetti and meatballs. To me, meatballs means lots and lots of meatballs and I was looking forward to my heaping plate of pasta with a pile of meatballs. When our food arrived, I looked at my plate and my expectations for the pasta were fulfilled… it was a heaping pile of pasta. Much to my dismay, my expectations for the pile of meatballs fell very short. On my plate was one, single, solitary meatball. It was a large meatball, but there was only one.

This was all wrong. Meatballs belong in groups and piles. Meatballs are not loners. They need other meatballs to be by their side to be complete.

That was the final time I ever order spaghetti and meatballs at a restaurant. From that day on, I stuck to things like Chicken Parmesan at Italian restaurants and skipped the meatball(s) all together. I could not be sure that the restaurants I went to had my same philosophy on meatballs and I was not willing to be disappointed again.

My favorite recipe for meatballs is my mom’s and I will share that with you some day soon. My old stand by meatball recipe for things like BBQ meatballs and rice, Meatball hoagies, or Meatball Calzones is the one I am getting ready to share with you. This recipe is extremely basic and simple. The meatballs freeze great so you can be an Alpha Mom and have some on hand. This meatball recipe is also very versatile. Beyond the basic meatball this recipe makes, you can add additional seasonings to the recipe to enhance the flavor however you would like. The best thing about this recipe is your meatballs won’t be lonely. One batch makes about 15 large meatballs or 30 small meatballs. There are plenty of meatball friends to go around.

Oven Baked Meatballs

1 Pound Ground Beef or Ground Turkey*

1 Large Egg

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped

1/3 cup Italian Herbed Breadcrumbs 

1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

(This is the basic list of ingredients. I will sometimes add Italian Seasoning, Garlic, a 1/2 envelope of Lipton Onion Soup Mix, etc. The options are endless!) 

*If using ground turkey or very lean ground beef, add 1/4 cup of milk to your meat mixture 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix all ingredients together by hand.

Shape mixture into several 1 1/2 inch balls.

Place the meatballs into a lightly greased 9×13 inch glass baking dish and bake for 20-25  minutes or until light brown.

Drain off any excess grease.

Serve however you wish or let cool and freeze for later.  

The concept "Less is More" and I just don’t see eye to eye. Did you know that when you are shampooing your hair if you cannot get the shampoo to lather, you need to add more water, not more shampoo? I’m always piling on more shampoo! Oh - and those concentrated cleaning products where you just need to use a thimble full for an entire load of laundry? I have such a hard time believing that. To me, if I don’t have a full measuring cup of laundry detergent to add to my laundry, I do not feel like it is going to work.

There are some things in which I truly believe that "Less is More"  does not apply. Those things would have to do with butter, garlic and onions. No way could less be more. Yes…with butter less is more "fitting into your skinny jeans", but less butter does not make a dish any better.

I made a dish the other night that was a delicious combination of tons of butter, green onions and lots of garlic.  Less was definitely not more with this dish as I added more garlic and green onion than the recipe called for and ended up with a completely wonderful meal.

If you are a believer of "Less is More" you might want to skip this recipe. If you believe that the more the better, than add a little extra of what you love to this recipe and enjoy! 

If you are anything like me, how well your hair behaves for you in the morning can be a great predictor of how your day is going to go. If my hair falls limp and is unmanageable before I even walk out of the bedroom, I know the day ahead is going to be rough. If my hair is full of body, laying at all the right places and looking good, then I know that I am in for a great day!

On good hair days, I often find myself a little happier…a little more chipper. I am a better parent and therefore my kids respond to my happiness with their own happy moods. I am productive, energetic, and I seem to be more balanced.  It seems odd that something as simple as looking good can help you to feel so good.

On my most recent good hair day, I somehow managed to get all of my work done, spend a lot of quality time with the kids, get my cleaning done and find time to bake something. Since I have been working more, my baking time has gone completely down hill and I have been itching to bake something…anything! I have had a chocolate cake bookmarked to try for the past 3 weeks and I really wanted to make that, but it was 7pm and a cake would be too time consuming. Craving something chocolate, my mind went back to some photos I saw on a blog the other day corresponding with a Whoopie Pie recipe. I couldn’t for the life of me think of which blog I found it on and I had forgotten to bookmark the recipe. I decided to Google Whoopie Pie recipes and stumbled upon an Emeril recipe for Whoopie Pies.

These whoopie pies were very sweet and upon first taste, I didn’t really care for them. My family devoured them and kept begging for more. Overnight, I stuck them in the freezer and the next day I pulled them out and tried one. Frozen whoopie pies are the way to go. I am really not sure why freezing them made such a big difference for me, but I am hooked on the frozen version of whoopie pies, and the rest of my family enjoyed them frozen as well.  

On your next good hair day, or if you are having a bad hair day and need a yummy chocolate pick me up, give these creamy chocolate treats a try! Oh - and I have sense remembered the blog I originally saw the whoopie pie recipe on. It was fellow Just Baking writer, Jennifer from The Barmy Baker. Her version is a little different with a delicious looking marshmallow filling inside.

Here’s wishing you a good hair day, every day.

Whoopie Pie Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2002 Show:  Emeril Live Episode:  Pennsylvania Dutch Cooking

1 cup granulated sugar 1 3/4 cups shortening 2 large eggs* 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup baking cocoa 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup buttermilk 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 2 large egg whites* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1/4 cup whole milk 3 cups confectioners’ sugarPreheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 baking sheets and set aside. To make the cookies, in a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the sugar and 1/2 cup of the shortening. Add eggs and mix well. Onto a sheet of waxed paper, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add to the wet ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk. Add 1 teaspoon of the vanilla and mix well. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake until tester comes out clean, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on wire racks. To make the filling, in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups of shortening and 1 tablespoon of vanilla, and mix well. Add the milk and sugar, and beat until smooth. Lay half of the cookies flat on a work surface. Divide the filling among the cookies, spreading out to the edges. Top with the remaining cookies to form sandwich pies. Serve immediately, or cover tightly and refrigerate before serving.

I will admit, I was one of the millions of people who jumped on "The Secret" bandwagon after Oprah had featured the author and other life coach professionals on her show. I watched her original show and the follow up show afterwards and was immediately hooked. I wanted to learn more. Next, I bought the book and the DVD. I read the book 3 times, trying to absorb all of the information and I watched the DVD twice. It all made sense to me…think positively and positive things will come to you. Put your energy into what you want to happen in your life and the "universe" will answer you, granting your wishes. I am all about the power of positive thinking and I truly believe that attitude is everything.

Well, it was several months ago that I read "The Secret" and watched the DVD. I believed in the concept and mentally put myself in that place, but I was not really doing any of the things they said to apply to your life. One thing the author of "The Secret" says to do is to create a vision board. A vision board is exactly what you probably imagine it to be… a board with all of the things on it that you want to happen in your life. Specific "wishes" that you would like granted.  Things that you want to focus on and bring to fruition. I knew that I wanted to do a Vision Board and I had even purchased the board. I decided 2 weeks ago to finally sit down and do my vision board. I completed it, hung it up in my closet where I would see it every day and I really started to focus on those things. Within two days…only two days…things were really starting to come together for me. Within a week, I had three fantastic job opportunities…opportunities that followed what I had on my vision board. 1) I began working for Moms In Law Consulting doing recruiting for one of their clients. The great thing about this is the recruiting is 100% internet based… no cold calling or sourcing via phone. 2) A paid opportunity fell in my lap to start writing restaurant reviews for local Kansas City restaurants. I am writing reviews for a restaurant review website, which has been a lot of fun so far. 3) And the best, I can’t believe it thing that has happened, is I am going to start writing for a new women’s magazine that is being published once a month called "Her Life Magazine". I will be writing their parenting articles as well as some dining / entertaining articles. This opportunity completely fell in my lap as well because of my blog writing and the writing I do for The Well Fed Network.

I would get in to some of the other things that have happened in the past two weeks, but it is really starting to get a bit unbelievable! I have been very blessed (and extremely busy!) and I am so excited to be working from home doing something that I am passionate about all the while being able to raise my kids.

Speaking of secrets, do you have any recipes that you sneak ingredients in to that your family would normally not eat? I have heard of people sneaking extra veggies into their spaghetti sauce, putting purreed veggies in their muffins, or making desserts with secret veggies in it. If you like to get extra veggies in your diet, but would rather have them sneaked in, try this recipe for Squash Bread. Your family will not have a clue that one of the main ingredients is squash, and you will be pleased to know that your secret is safe.  

Butternut Squash Bread