I have been thinking a lot about family recipes lately. The other day I called my mom for the millionth time asking her to repeat her spaghetti and meatballs recipe to me. I know most of it by heart, but I like calling her to hear her version of it, just to make sure I have it exactly right. I then end up writing it down on a post it note or on the back of an envelope, usually never to be seen again.

My sister recently went through a divorce…in fact her divorce was final at the end of October. It is hard for me to write about because it is still so fresh and personal with all of us. I have known her now ex-husband since they started dating when I was 14 years old. I looked up to them both and felt like they had the “perfect marriage”. As things often are, what appears to be reality often isn’t. I love my sister and hate that she has had to go through this pain…a pain that I know she never envisioned being a part of her life. Even though the marriage has ended between the two of them, some wonderful things have come out of their relationship. I have a nephew who is incredibly talented, brilliant, witty and wonderful. I also have a niece who is loving, beautiful, compassionate and smart. We have lots of great memories, laughs and family moments that will always be in our heart. And, last but not least, our families have swapped some pretty tasty recipes.

What would our birthday parties be like without his great-grandma’s sugar cookie recipe or our grandmother’s homemade ice cream recipe? I have several emails from his mom sharing family recipes that I have asked for. Not to make light of the situation, but if these two families didn’t unite at some point in history, our recipe boxes would be void of some great tasting things.

The Viva Diva Cafe (home of Viva paper towels) is hosting a great family recipe contest on their website and they have asked me to be one of the judges when the contest has closed. The prizes are fantastic… top prize is a $1000 gift certificate to Willams Sonoma. 2nd prize, a KitchenAid Professional 600 series mixer and a set of OXO utensils. 3rd prize is an Apple iPod Nano 8GB and JBL On Stage II Speaker System.To enter, all you need to do is register with The Viva Diva Cafe (which seriously takes less than a minute) and then enter your favorite family recipe. Whether it is one passed down from generation to generation within your own family, or a recipe snagged up from a relationship lost, head on over to The Viva Diva Cafe and share it with us.

The recipe I am sharing with you today is not one that has been passed down from generation to generation in my family, but the cup and saucer shown have a story to go along with this post. My sister, one evening feeling hurt and angry about the divorce, decided to take her wedding china out to her back porch and have a little therapy session with it. She put a blanket down on the concrete porch and began throwing pieces of her china against her homes brick wall watching the pieces fall into the blanket (which I thought was brilliant… much easier to clean up!). After she broke the first setting, she called me feeling much better and explained to me what she was doing. I, being the sensitive sister that I am, applauded her for finding a way to let out her aggressions and then thinking of the most important thing first said… “Ummmm, if you are just going to be crashing your china against the wall, would you mind saving out a place setting for me for my food photography photos?” Yep… you can call me Mrs Sensitive if you want.

Chai Tea Latte (from Simple and Delicious Magazine, October 2008)

15 min | 5 min prep

SERVES 2

This weekend, as I was cleaning out my bathroom cabinets, I came to the realization that I have some serious commitment issues. Not with relationships, not with work and not with family obligations. My commitment issues lie in the form of product commitments. Shampoo for example. I buy shampoo, get through 3/4 of the bottle and go out and buy new shampoo. Instead of using all of the shampoo left in the old bottle, I put it in my cabinet and start using the new bottle. Hairspray, lotion, makeup… it is all the same. I just toss them to the side and give the newest product my attention. I can’t commit to a whole bottle of shampoo therefore I have cabinets full of the used bottle rejects wondering what they did to fail me. The thing is, I can love the shampoo, but I love trying out new things even better. Eventually the shampoo of the moment will get put aside and a shiner model will take its place too. I am, keep in mind, and equal opportunity non-commiter.

I am afraid I am passing this same trait on to my kids. If you look at the cereal boxes in our pantry, you will find boxes of cereal with 3/4 of the cereal gone. When I think we are running low on cereal, I go out and buy new cereal. As soon as the new cereal enters the house, the old boxes of cereal lose their appeal for the woo of something new.

This muffin recipe is for those of you with commitment issues, like myself. You can make your neglected cereal feel loved again by using the remaining bits to make muffins that will make you want to have even more neglected cereal so you can make them again and again. In this case, being a non-commiter is actually a good thing!

Along with these muffins, we enjoyed a cup of Cabaret Brewed Chocolate. Sweet, rich, unique… Cabaret Brewed Chocolate is the perfect drink for those of you who may not be fans of coffee but enjoy a warm beverage. Not as sweet and caloric as hot chocolate, this product is one you will want to keep around as the weather turns colder. The folks at Cabaret are giving my readers a chance to win a jar of of their Brewed Chocolate. To be considered, check out the Cabaret website and then please leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite warm beverage is. All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Tuesday 9/16 and the winner will be notified via email the following day. Good luck!

Breakfast Cereal Muffins (from Recipezaar)

30 min | 10 min prep

SERVES 12 , 12 muffins

Looking for more ways to use up some breakfast cereal? These food bloggers have some great ideas:

• Naboo Nuggets from Little Foodies
• Raisin Bran Bread from Cooking is Medicine
• Peanut Butter Coconut Krispie Cookies from Judy’s Kitchen
• Sweet Chex Mix from This Week for Dinner

• Tomorrow night is the deadline for entering the drawing for the County Bob’s Cookbook! Check out the details HERE
• The Adopt-a-Blogger 2 matches have been made! Make sure to check out and support those people participating. Please make sure to drop by my adoptee’s site, Apples and Butter, and say hi!
• There is a new site for moms out there created by two of my favorite food bloggers. Make sure to check out Voice of Mom

I have a horrible fountain drink addiction. I used to never drink soda/pop/cola/coke of any kind. Once I had my first child, a trigger went off inside of me and I had a sudden caffeine crazed addiction of the fountain drink variety.

I have tried off and on over the years, without a whole lot of success, to break this habit. I will do good for a few weeks and then will break down and fall down the slippery slope, yet again.

My mom once told me that the easiest way to break a habit is to replace it with another habit. With that brilliant piece of advice in mind, I have now found something that I really believe will be a sufficient fountain drink habit breaker.

Care to join me?

Mudslide (from Recipezaar)

5 min | 5 min prep

SERVES 1

• 1 1/2 ounces vodka
• 1 1/2 ounces Baileys Irish Cream
• 1 1/2 ounces Kahlua
• 8 ice cubes
• 1 1/2 ounces cream
• 1 scoop vanilla ice cream
• 2 scoops chocolate ice cream

• Frozen Lemonade Cocktail, from Sweetnicks
• Frozen Blackberry Margaritas, from Patty’s Pantry NYC
• Pina Colada Slush, from Divine Domesticity
• Raspberry Champagne Cocktail, from Posie’s Place

Ugh - in the last couple of days, my computer got hit by some kind of virus or trojan or something. I still don’t know what it was, but it caused serious havoc in my world. To make matters worse, I tried to fix it by downloading what I thought was a legitimate spyware program, which ended up being virus fueled as well. I have wasted so much time on computer problems this week. I was about to lose my mind when I stumbled upon a great computer repair help board called, Bleeping Computer (appropriate name, isn’t it?). Thanks to the helpful tips of some of the forum posters, my woes are gone.

This morning I was knee deep in annoying computer problems and didn’t even want to think about breakfast. But, guess what… the kids thought they needed to eat. Can you believe their nerve? When times like these strike, I go for pure simplicity. Something quick, healthy and full of vitamins. The best part is the kids have noooooo idea that I am cramming nutrition down their throats. They think they are having milkshakes for breakfast and because of that, I am the coolest mom in the world!

If you need a little simplicity to start your morning, give a breakfast smoothie a try. There are plenty of options out there, but this tasty Blueberry smoothie is one of our favorites!

Blueberry Breakfast Smoothie

5 minutes total | 5 minutes prep

SERVES 1

• 2/3 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1 banana, sliced and frozen
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 tablespoon wheat germ
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/4 cup ice cubes

1. Put ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse until smoothie is at your desired consistency.
2. For a thicker smoothie, add additional ice cubes.

So, you love smoothies? Here are some other great smoothie recipes from food bloggers around the globe:

• Breakfast Smoothie, from Food for Thought
• Pomegranate Smoothie, from Eat Me, Delicious
• Creamsicle Power Smoothie, from Food Blogga
• Chocolate Strawberry Banana Smoothie, from GreenLiteBites

I know I often complain about being stuck in the Midwest and I long for being a living part of the pages of Coastal Living, but I will say this… we live in a great neighborhood. This weekend has been full of food, friends and fun. Friday night we went to a block party across the subdivision and enjoyed the company of neighbors as we all ate, conversed and watched our kids play. Same thing on Saturday night… an evening of great conversation, yummy food, and fun times.

Sunday, I volunteered at something called the Jiggle Jam, which was a great kids event at the Crown Center in Kansas City, MO. I worked at the beverage tent, of all things, while my husband got to drag the kids all over the event by himself in the heat of the day. Needless to say by the time my four hour shift was over, my husband was very ready to head home and was completely “Jiggle Jammed” out. We got home, changed into our swimsuits and headed up to our subdivision pool for a quick dip to cool off. While there, we ran into our good friends/neighbors and decided to invite them over for drinks on the deck that night.

I made up a big pitcher of Mojitos, a batch of guacamole, and they came over around 7pm for a relaxing evening of catching up and enjoying the gorgeous summertime air. As we were sitting there, another one of our neighbors walked by and I invited them to come on over when they were through with their walk.

We had a lovely evening, ending when the storms started to roll through around 11pm. Weekends like this is what makes me think I never want to leave my house, my neighborhood, the Midwest, etc. Friendships, camaraderie, good neighbors.. you can’t find this just anywhere. I feel very blessed to have it right here in my own backyard.

Mojitos by the Pitcher (from Recipezaar)