Have you ever had a really strong belief about something only to be proven wrong? There are so many things these days that if you base it on face value without doing your research, eventually you will be proven wrong.

Let me give you an example. You know how when you go to pick up your kids to school, you see moms in the carpool line or standing outside the school to pick up their kids. You look around and immediately peg them to be one way or another. You don’t do it on purpose, but your mind tends to wander… “Look at her…totally high maintenance”, “She has it all together… look at her with her perfect hair, well dressed kids and pda.”, “She must be some kind of coffee addict… every time I see her she has a cup of coffee in her hand. How hard is it to walk two blocks to school without a cup of coffee?”

Several years ago, there was a lady I had seen around town. She was at church, at school, at neighborhood functions. For some reason, she and I never spoke. We’d brush past each other and say hi, but we never had the chance to talk or get to know each other. I just assumed, because she was always so aloof and quiet that she was a snob… too good to have anything to do with the rest of us.

Fast forward a couple of years and this woman and I got put in a task group together. I saw her walk in and immediately felt disappointed that we were going to have to work together. She sat down, turned to me and said, “I have seen you around here for the past few years and am so excited to finally get the chance to work with you and know you!” Ugh - did I feel like the biggest snot in the world or what? After I let my initial beliefs about her slide, we worked well together and now she is one of my best friends.

We miss out on a lot of great opportunities when we have preconceived notions and don’t take the opportunity to really look into something or someone. Beer Bread was that way for me. Several years ago when beer bread became really popular, a friend of mind had some out at her house. I’m not a fan of beer at all and just assumed that because it was made of beer it would have a heavy beer taste. I passed on tasting it based only on my misconceptions.

Beer bread has a very slight yeasty taste… it is soft in the middle and has a gorgeous, buttery outer crust. The best part about it is this delicious loaf of bread can be on your table in about an hour. If you are a mom, you know how wonderful a bread recipe has to be if you can make it and have it ready by dinner time… even if you remember to make it at 5pm.

Put your misconceptions aside and give beer bread a try. Once you do, you will be sorry you didn’t give it a chance earlier!

Beer Bread - Adapted from Recipezaar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix dry ingredients and beer.
3. Pour into a greased loaf pan.
4. Pour melted butter over mixture.
5. Bake 1 hour, remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes.

Beer Bread is so versatile too! Check out what these other food bloggers have done to make their beer bread unique:

• Beer Bread with Sharp Cheddar and Dill by Farmgirl Fare
• Rosemary Feta Beer Bread by Kitchenmage
• Apricot Beer Bread from Baking Bites
• Italian Cheddar Beer Bread from Just Baking

It is now September. September! Can you believe that? I love spring. I adore summer. I am crazy about autumn! The only thing I don’t like about autumn is that at the end comes winter, and I could totally and completely do without winter.

Autumn conjures up so many warm and cozy feelings for me. Just a few of my favorite autumn things are:

• My birthday is in October, so it is no wonder I love this time of year!
• School supplies… nothing says Fall to me like a box of new crayons and freshly sharpened pencils. Of course, with school starting in early August now, this correlation will probably be extinct by the time my kids get to be my age.
• College football. I still love football this time of year. By January I am ready to kick football to the curb, but in the fall there is nothing like the spirit and excitement of college game day.
• Candles - I love the Yankee Candle fall scents. For some reason, I rarely burn candles in the summer, but in the fall, I have candles burning all day long.
• Visits to the pumpkin patch. This is probably my all time favorite family activity. We usually go out to Weston, Missouri to the Red Barn Farm. The trees are abundant with color, the pumpkin patch is full of pumpkins to choose from, the allergies are fired up… it is always a fun, memory filled day!
• Clothes that cover the pudge. I love for it to be cool enough to wear jeans and a light sweater, but warm enough that you don’t need to put on a heavy coat.
• The slight chill in the air. I love having the windows open and feeling the cool breeze come in.
• A light quilt and a good book. I love quilts that are well worn… the kind that seem to conform to your body in all the right spots. Give me a quilt and a good book, let me sit by the window or out on the deck, and I am in pure bliss.
• Fall flavors… pumpkin, baked apples, cinnamon and spice… Autumn is the best time of year for baking.

Today I was browsing through Yankee Candle and even though I just ate breakfast, I was starving by the time I left the store. I, being the foodie that I am, tend to navigate towards the food scented candles. Apple Pie, Oatmeal Cookies, Chai Tea… no wonder I was hungry. My belly thought it was going to be getting some great food, but instead it was nose that got all of the pleasure.

In an effort to give my tummy some pleasure, I came home and began flipping through my new “go to for desserts” cookbook, The Pampered Chef Delightful Desserts. A recipe that I had been flipping past, waiting for just the right occasion, jumped out at me as the perfect way to welcome Autumn. These apple bundles are all of the cozy things of Autumn all wrapped in a delicious dessert.

Make these and you won’t need a Yankee Candle to fill your house with the scents of Autumn. Sit down, savor the moment, and think about what you love about the beginning of this new and wonderful season. Care to share?

Apple Bundles from Pampered Chef Delightful Desserts

2 lg apples
1 pkg refrigerated breadstick dough — 11 oz
1 med orange
2 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375F. Peal, core, and slice apples. Cut slices in half. Unroll dough; separate into 8 breadsticks. Cut each in half crosswise to make 16 strips. Place 3-4 apple slices at the end of each piece of dough; roll up. Arrange bundles in greased 7×11″ pan. Zest 1 t. orange rind, set aside. Juice orange. Pour orange juice into bottom of pan (but not over bundles). Brush bundles with butter. Mix zest, sugar and cinnamon; spoon over bundles. Bake 25-30 min. or until golden brown.

Are you ready to welcome Autumn with some yummy apple recipes? Check out these other recipes from food bloggers around the blogosphere:

• Homemade Apple Pizza from Tammy’s Recipes
• Apple Fritters from The Picky Apple
• Apple Chicken Stew from Taste Buds Are the Best Buds
• Teddie’s Apple Cake from The Wednesday Chef

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• Adopt-a-Blogger matches should be coming out within the week. We could still use a few more Veteran bloggers. If you are interested in mentoring a new blogger, contact me as soon as possible!
• I participated in Wordless Wednesday for the first time over on my family blog - Dishing It Up Family Style
• I am looking for a good blog designer who can work on a special project for me. I’ve contacted my go to designer, Jules from Everyday Mommy, but if she isn’t available I’d love to have some other people to check out. Know of anyone? Let me know!

When I turned 16, I was finally allowed to date. For a constantly boy crazy girl, I felt like sixteen would never come and when it did, I took full advantage of it! I dated some pretty nice guys, but one guy, who ended up becoming my boyfriend for a few years, taught me more about the dating lingo than anyone else. I first met Travis at the grocery store, of all places. Remember back in the day when the sackers at the store would carry out your groceries for you? Well, my mom and I went grocery shopping, Travis carried out our groceries, and as I watched him load the groceries into the trunk, I fell in love.

Living in the proximity of two small towns away from each other, it didn’t take long for the two of us to find out about each other. Travis first called me up to ask me out a short while after we met. We chatted for a long while on the phone the first time he called and he ended the call with “I was wondering if you would like to go get a Coke sometime.” Random, but of course I would! Next call to ask me out… “Would you like to go get a Coke?” Even if our date was dinner out, a movie, going over to his parents house to hang out, he would always ask me if I wanted to go get a Coke. Eventually, after we had been dating for awhile, I called him on it. “Why do you always ask me if I want to go get a Coke? Even if we aren’t going some place for a Coke, you ask me if I want to get a Coke?” He explained that it is just what guys say if they want to hang out with you. Ummmm, okay. Travis and I continued to get Cokes for 4 years after that.

Fast forward to life as I know it now. I’m an almost 35 year old mom of 3, living in the burbs, and surrounded by other women living very similar lives. A few years ago, I noticed a shift in things that took me back to my “Wanna get a Coke?” years. I would get calls on a regular basis from other moms asking me if I wanted to go get a coffee. I didn’t really like coffee back then, but the thought of hanging out with other adults during the witching hours with the kids really appealed to me. We would go out, kids in hand, and get “coffee”. Eventually, I realized that getting coffee was similar to getting a coke. It was just a way of one person asking another person if they wanted to get out of the house and get to know each other. Getting coffee, in the life of a suburban mom, is something I now look forward to on a regular basis. A chance to hang out with other women to share frustrations, joys, woes, ideas, etc. More sophisticated than “wanna get a coke”, going for coffee is the same thing, only all grown up.

Speaking of “all grown up”, were you an Oreo cookie fan? I still find myself craving those things dunked in a big glass of cold milk. I now tend to be a closet dunker as it doesn’t seem very acceptable for someone of my age to have a Oreo cookie mustache. If you want to enjoy a kiddo treat but in a grown up acceptable format, give this Cookies ‘n Cream Cake a try. Like your Oreos and milk, only all grown up.

Cookies ‘n Cream Cake from Pampered Chef Delightful Desserts

CAKE
12 crème-filled chocolate sandwich cookies, coarsely chopped
1 package white cake mix
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream
3 egg whites
2 Tbs vegetable oil

ICING
6 crème-filled chocolate sandwich cookies, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
3 Tbs butter, softened

1 Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray fluted cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. For cake, coarsely chop cookies, set aside. Combine cake mix, water, sour cream, egg whites and oil; mix according to package directions.
2.  Pour half of the batter into pan. Sprinkle chopped cookies evenly over top of batter but not touching sides of pan. Spoon remaining batter over cookies.
3. Bake 50-55 minutes or until center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Loosen cake from sides and center tube of pan. Invert onto cooling rack; remove pan. Cool completely.
4. For icing, coarsely chop cookies; sest aside. Combine powdered sugar, sour cream and butter; beat until smooth. Ice top of cake allowing some to flow down the sides. Sprinkle top with cookies. Let stand until icing is set. Cut into slices. Store leftover cake, covered in refrigerator
Yields 16 servings.

Come out of the closet and get your Oreo fix. Here is what other food bloggers are doing with these yummy cookies!

• Oreo Cupcakes from Baking Bites
• Oreo Cheesecake from Happy Home Baking
• Oreo Truffles from The Savory Notebook
• Homemade Oreos from Love and Olive Oil

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• Have you had the chance to check out my Mom’s blog yet? She is amazing me each and every day with her stories! I am so proud of her!
• Remember to particpate in Menu Plan Monday. Head over to The Organizing Junkie for more information.
• Do you use Entrecard? I came across this site over the weekend and am intrigued. Let me know if you sign up!
• Do you want to subscribe to Dine & Dish? It is free and can be delivered straight to your inbox. Get the latest news on Dine & Dish giveaways, blog events and recipes Click here for more information.

I launched Adopt a Blogger #2 last week. Blogging friends, we have some eager food blogging newbies who need an experienced blogger to adopt them. Thanks to those of you who have already stepped forward. For the rest of you veteran bloggers, here are the top five reasons why I think you should adopt a blogger:

1. Adoption is cool. If you go the adopt a blogger route, it is much less expensive and you don’t have to travel internationally to pick up your adoptee.
2. Under most circumstances, your food blogging adoptee will come already potty trained.
3. How often do you get to completely influence someone without actually worrying about what kind of adult they’ll turn out to be?
4. Deb from Smitten Kitchen, Lydia from The Perfect Pantry, Holler over at Tinned Tomatoes and Peabody were all adoptive parents last go around (along with a whole slew of wonderful people!). If they have the time to adopt a newbie, you do too!
5. Oprah Winfrey has a mentor. Michael Phelps has a mentor. Wouldn’t you like to be a mentor too?

Lydia from The Perfect Pantry (who adopted 2 bloggers last time around) had this to say about her Adopt a Blogger experience.

“I just want to tell all the more experienced food bloggers out there that adopting a blogger is a wonderful thing. I’ve adopted two bloggers. The time commitment is only what you can do, and it’s so rewarding to watch your adoptive blogs grow. Please sign up!”

I am not going to beg… at least not yet… but I hope you will consider taking a part of Adopt a Blogger #2. Help a fellow food blogger get their wings and mentor someone today! Sign up by commenting on THIS post.

Just for kicks and grins, here is what we had for dinner tonight. I made some minor adjustments (didn’t have colby jack cheese, so used what we had on hand… cheddar and mozzarella) and I completely changed the tomatillos and chilies to a can of rotelle. I know - nothing like tomatillos and it is probably a bit sacreligious, but it is what I had on hand and it turned out great! This is a very versatile recipe. I hope you enjoy!

Chicken Chilaquiles (from Cooking Light Magazine)

2 cups shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeño peppers, divided
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup 1% low-fat milk
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 (11-ounce) can tomatillos, drained
1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375°.

Combine chicken, green onions, 1/4 cup Monterey Jack cheese, Parmesan, chili powder, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Place milk and next 3 ingredients (through chiles) in a food processor or blender; process until smooth.

Heat tortillas according to package directions. Pour 1/3 cup tomatillo mixture into bottom of an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 4 corn tortillas in dish, and top with half of chicken mixture. Repeat layer with remaining tortillas and chicken mixture, ending with tortillas.

Pour remaining 1 1/2 cups tomatillo mixture over tortillas; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Monterey Jack cheese. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until bubbly.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups)

Intrigued by tomatillos? Check out what these food bloggers are doing with them:

• Tomatillo and Black Bean Salsa from Kaylyns Kitchen
• Avocado and Tomatillo Salsa from Cafe LynnyLu
• Pork and Tomatillo Stew from Daily Bread Journal
• Homemade Guacamole with Tomatillos from A Veggie Venture

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• Two more days to enter the Dine & Dish giveaway for your very own set of Envirosax. Check out the details here.
• Something I found hilarious, and so very handy. Check out Inn Cuisine’s post on The YouTube Movement Against Chip Clips.
• Obsessed much? My son is a tad bit obsessed with the Olympics and Michael Phelps. At least my kiddos learned something from watching so much TV! Dishing It Up Family Style is here.

My grade school friend, Jennifer Treiber, was the daughter of our school cafeteria cook. You know how most people complain about school food? Well, I cannot relate to such nonsense. Our school cafeteria had the best food. Poor Boy sandwiches that I have never had anything compare to. Chicken Supreme that was too good to be wasted on the grade school palate. Cinnamon rolls that were so ooey and gooey they would practically melt in your mouth.

I would often go over to Jennifer’s house to play and would end up staying for dinner. When I was there, her mom would always make us homemade chicken strips and french fries. It was her special meal that she would make when I was there because she knew how much I loved them. I had never had chicken strips and fries that tasted so out of this world delicious!

Birthday’s were a pretty big deal in our house growing up. My mom, who was also a fantastic cook, would always let us choose what we wanted for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I would choose things like Funnel Cakes for breakfast, and my mom would happily oblige.  Chocolate cake for lunch? Sure… coming right up. One year, whatever year it is when you become a major brat, my mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday dinner. When I told her that I wanted homemade chicken strips and french fries she delivered. When she placed my wish meal out on the table, I took one look at the chicken and fries and balked… “I don’t want your chicken strips and fries. I want it to be like the kind Mrs Treiber makes!” Being the age of bratiness, I didn’t take one single bite. Can you imagine how much my mom probably wanted to smack my smug little face? I am sure she was so proud of making exactly what she thought I wanted, and here I go and repay her by being a complete jerk.

I am sure I hurt my moms feelings (sorry mom!), but even after that show of ungratefulness my mom called Mrs Treiber to find out what her secret was. The fries were normal homemade fries, deep fried and salted to perfection. The chicken strips? Schwans. Yep… the chicken strips that I raved and raved about and stabbed my poor mom in the heart about were frozen, deep fried, Schwans chicken strips!

I cannot make homemade french fries of any kind without thinking of Jennifer, her mom and that birthday dinner. I can tell you that tonight, when I sat the fries out on the dinner table, my four year old took one look and said “I thought you said we were having french fries with dinner… I want fries like McDonalds, Mom!”

And what is it they say about paybacks? I have a feeling, I’m about to find out!

Zesty Oven Baked Fries, from Recipezaar

A little bit of housekeeping…

I admit… I was torn to see school start this year. It felt like the summer just flew by. Maybe that is something all moms say once they have kids in school, but I truly feel like summer was gone in a blink.

As sad I am to see school back in session, I am truly excited to get back into a somewhat more manageable routine. We may have more things going on during the school year, but at least we are on somewhat of a schedule.

Along with that schedule comes the challenge of finding time to sit down to dinner as a family each evening. During the summer we would eat dinner early or eat late or eat out… we ate dinner together, but it varied greatly as far as times. Now with school getting out at 4pm, and after school activities starting soon after, I am hungrily looking for delicious recipes that can fit into our ever tight schedules.

I recently found this recipe for Asian Lettuce Wraps on another food blog and now I can’t find the blog. Luckily, I did a search on All Recipes and found the same recipe. (If I commented on this recipe on your blog, please let me know and I’ll link this back to you.) I love this recipe because it gives me something besides tacos and spaghetti to use ground beef with. It is a fun, hand held dinner and it can be made in a jiffy. With recipes like this in my repertoire, I feel like I can finally get into the groove of things!

Asian Ground Beef Lettuce Wraps, from Allrecipes

• 16 Boston Bibb or butter lettuce leaves
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 2 teaspoons minced pickled ginger
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• Asian chile pepper sauce (optional)
• 1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 2 teaspoons Asian (dark) sesame oil

1. Rinse whole lettuce leaves and pat dry, being careful not tear them. Set aside.
2. In a medium skillet over high heat, brown the ground beef in 1 tablespoon of oil, stirring often and reducing the heat to medium, if necessary. Drain, and set aside to cool. Cook the onion in the same pan, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar, and chile pepper sauce to the onions, and stir. Stir in chopped water chestnuts, green onions, and sesame oil, and continue cooking until the onions just begin to wilt, about 2 minutes.
3. Arrange lettuce leaves around the outer edge of a large serving platter, and pile meat mixture in the center. To serve, allow each person to spoon a portion of the meat into a lettuce leaf. Wrap the lettuce around the meat like a burrito, and enjoy!

Interested in other recipe versions of Lettuce Wraps? Check out what these food bloggers have to offer:

• Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps, from Picky Palate
• Quick Chinese Lettuce Wraps, from Chaos in the Kitchen
• Ginger Chicken Lettuce Wraps, from The Village Voice
• Five-Spice Turkey and Lettuce Wraps, from Culinary in the Desert

There is still some room for you in the Adopt-a-Blogger 2 event. Veteran’s especially… come on out and mentor a new blogger! Click here to sign up.

Alright folks… it is that time again. Time for all of you Veteran Bloggers to come out and give a hand to the newest folks on the food blogging block! I know you remember how anxious you felt starting your food blog. You weren’t sure what you wanted to accomplish back then, but you did know that being a part of this great community was an important thing to you! Let’s lend our hands to those just starting out, give them a leg up with our advice and expertise, and help them build some of the best new food blogs out there.

The Rules - because we can’t just let things be all willy-nilly, can we?

First, my goal is to have this be a fairly regular event now that life is somewhat under control. We had an amazing turn out with the first Adopt a Blogger event and I hope it continues! If you were adopted the first time around, consider adopting someone this time around. If you adopted before, you can adopt again. I am limiting the number of potential adoptees to 25 for this round. So, I am looking for 25 newbies and 25 Veteran food bloggers. First come, first serve basis. If you miss it this time around, we’ll get you next time!

• Newbies - Newbies are food bloggers who have a blog that has been up for a year or less. If you are just starting out, you must have had at least 1 month worth of posting on your blog.
• Veterans - Anyone who has maintained an active food blog for over 1 year. If you have a blog that is younger than a year old, but feel like you have the whole food blogging thing down and could provide some expertise to someone just starting out, then please feel free to sign up as a veteran.
• Newbies will commit to writing one post about their Veteran. Veterans will commit to doing the same. Trying a recipe out and posting this on your blog would count as well, as long as you are introducing each other and the blogs.
• You will each add each other to your respective blogrolls.
• At the end of the 3 month mentoring time, where the Veteran will help the newbie find their way, I ask that the Veteran write one post linking back to this Adopt-A-Blogger post with a piece of advice for new bloggers. I also ask that the newbies write one post about what they have learned about blogging during the 3 month mentorship. Please note that by three months, I don’t mean that you have to be in constant contact with each other. Just keep in touch with each other for the three months and be available to ask/answer any questions that might pop up. The posts that you write for this piece of the Adopt a Blogger event will be included in a round-up at the end of the 3 month period.
• If you are interested in participating, please leave a comment on this post indicating if you are a newbie or a veteran. Please make sure you enter your website information in the form as well as an email address. If that information isn’t included, I can’t get a hold of you which means you won’t be able to participate!
• Once we have reached have reached 25 newbies and 25 veterans, I will carefully match you all up and the adoption will be official!

I am also looking for someone who has design talent to share. If you can design a nifty badge for this event, I have a nice little prize package for you! Email me through my contact form.

I think that is it! I am looking forward to another successful Adopt a Blogger event!

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Written for Paper Palate on The Well Fed Network

I will admit… I have been a little disenchanted with some of the latest issues of Food & Wine magazine. Usually, I am able to flip through the magazine and bookmark a good handful of recipes to add to my “I will make this someday list“. Lately, however, I have bookmarked less and less.

This is why I was pleasantly surprised when the 30th Anniversary Issue arrived in my mailbox and the number of recipes that piqued my interest more than made up for the lack of recipes I had bookmarked in recent months. This issue of Food & Wine magazine takes us back to what I consider to be classic Food & Wine style… recipes that are elegant and unique, yet not so overwhelmingly complicated that it turns novice cooks away.

Some of the recipes that caught my eye were Chunky Guacamole with Cumin, Watermelon Salad with Feta, Triple-Tomato Penne, Caramelized Black Pepper Chicken, Skillet Apple Charlotte, Chipotle Shrimp Tostadas, Stir Fried Five Spice Pork with Lettuce Cups, and my favorite… Molten Chocolate Cake with Caramel Filling.

Thank you Food & Wine for bringing classic back and sharing with us some of the trends of the past and the future.  I can only hope that one trend that falls into my mailbox each month is a Food & Wine magazine packed with great recipes that readers like me love.

Molten Chocolate Cake with Caramel Filling

ingredients

When you look at the photo associated with this post, what do you think? “Mmmmm… fresh homemade Challah bread.” That would be the logical thing to think, now wouldn’t it? When I took this bread out of the oven today, do you know the first thing I thought of? “Oh… it looks like a little newborn baby all swadled up burrito style.”

It is official everyone… I have baby fever.

I know! You thought after this incident, that baby fever wouldn’t hit again, didn’t you? Reading through that post from that awful day, I am honestly amazed by it myself. Then you thought, “Oh, her kids are getting a bit older now, things are running fairly smoothly these days… she can get out of the house without a diaper bag full of the necessities for a newborn. She gets to sleep through the night… no nursing sessions every 2 hours each and every day. Why would she want to add another baby into the mix to just cause chaos in her already semi-chaotic world?” Yeah, exactly. You are so right. I should listen to you more often.

But, you know what, it is still there and it isn’t going away.

A special thanks for starting this whole fever goes out to you, you, you and you know what… I’m even blaming you a bit just because my Ella was born on the same day as Shiloh, and here you are going and having more babies. It also doesn’t help matters that Ella is at about the cutest stage of life ever… well, minus the humongous fits and incredibly strong personality… she really is doing some adorable things these days. Really, she is… trust me.

There was a reason we have been getting rid of all of our baby stuff the second Ella grows out of it… my husband is 100%, completely and totally happy to have three kids. It is probably a good thing he doesn’t read my blog or I imagine I would be padlocked away in a room somewhere until I reached menopause.

Tomorrow, I am sure I’ll change my mind. Someone will puke on my head, we will have a grocery store meltdown, or even worse… the children will eat all the bread that I made and I won’t get a single bite. Oh, wait! That did happen. In fact, it happend tonight with my little bambino loaf of Challah bread. I took the bread out of the oven, had one tiny nibble while it was still hot (because I personally can’t contain myself when it comes to waiting for bread to cool), left for a two hour meeting and came back to no bread. Not even a single crumb. Hubby placed blame on the kids, which I am not completely buying, but I do bet those little selfish creatures had a lot to do with it.

Well, guess what. Baby fever is officially out the window. I can share my body, I can share my life… I can even get through diaper bags, 2am feedings, grocery store meltdowns, puking on the head, etc., but I draw the line at sharing food with one more person in this family. So, back off baby thoughts, the next loaf is mine. All mine.

Braided Bread Machine Challah (from Recipezaar)

45 min | 15 min prep

1 loaf

Ahhhh, you like homemade bread, do you? Check out these tasty recipes from other bloggers around the blogosphere:

• Fresh Tomato and Basil Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread, from Farmgirl Fare
• No Knead Bread, from Steamy Kitchen
• Rustic Bread, from The Fresh Loaf
• Irish Soda Bread, from Closet Cooking
• Caramelized Onion Bread, from One Hot Stove

Carol’s cookbook, Table Talk, continues to be extremely popular in my house. My love for this book has only increased with each recipe I try! I have decided that it would only be fair to give one of you the chance to win a copy of this fantastic cookbook. For dinner tonight, we had Tried and True Meatballs with Zingy Red Sauce. My husband’s comments, “These were the best meatballs with sauce and pasta you have ever made!”. Want the recipe? Get the book

Gathering together at least once a day for a family meal is very important. Because of that, I am also going to include in this giveaway Food for Talk by my friend Julienne Smith. Food for Talk is a box of conversation starters for families and friends to use at meal time to get the conversation flowing.

Entering to win is simple. First, head over to Carol’s website and check out Table Talk. After you have done that, come back and leave one comment on this post. Please fill out the form with your name, email address and blog address. If you don’t have a blog, that is fine. Just make sure you let me know how I can get a hold of you.

All entries must be received by Midnight CST on Wednesday, July 23rd.