I’m partnering with KRAFT on this wonderful brunch recipe, and chatting about my current obsession… farmhouse living. 

Friends, if you follow me on Instagram and Facebook, you know I’ve been doing a lot of dreaming lately… some may call it obsessing, but I’ll stick with dreaming.

You see, a house we have loved for the past 12 years recently went on the market. It’s a gorgeous little 1936 farmhouse with land and character and all kinds of wonderful features. The best part is, it’s still in town…just a few short blocks from where we live now. It’s one of those rare, best of both world scenarios. An old, charming house with land, still within just a short drive to Target and Starbucks and still with neighbors nearby. That’s my kind of living!

The thing is, the house is old… it has small bedrooms, a smaller kitchen, tiny closets… like you’d expect a 1936 farmhouse to have. But, we live in a very spacious 6 year old house right now. Moving to something like this would be a HUGE adjustment in lifestyle for our family. It would mean downsizing on stuff… simplifying our lives and getting rid of all the excess. The benefit though is what we’d lose for space on the inside, we’d gain 10xs on the outside, and something about that truly appeals to me. Gardens and outdoor movies on the lawn and pickup football games… tree houses and hide and seek and outdoor entertaining with white lights and long covered tables… it’s such a dream of ours. Would we be able to live smaller? Could we do it?  (more…)

It’s that time of month again… the time where I share an exclusive discount code for Green Mountain Coffee!

From now until April 21st, you can use the code STOREWIDE8125 at www.greenmountaincoffee.com to receive 15% off your order, storewide! From K-Cups to brewers to gifts and accessories… use this discount to fill your cart up with great coffee related things! (more…)

“Ring-a-ling, ring-a-ling”… the sick bell tolls.

“Ring-a-ling, ring-a-ling”… I charge up the stairs, peeking in on the patients who have summoned. “I’m cold, can I have more covers?” “Can I have a popcicle?” “I need a drink.” “My tummy hurts.”

Naturally, as a parent, when your kids are sick you want to do anything you can to make them better.

I used the very same sick bell to summon my mom when I was sick as a kid. It’s one of the few things I’ve carried onto my family from my childhood. My mom was always so patient when we were sick… bringing us a silver bed tray of hot soup, 7-Up and saltines when we needed it to make us feel better. The sick bell, always on the tray or nearby, was for us to use whenever we needed her. I’m sure, like my kids, I had a tendency to overuse it.

Soup equals comfort and in my opinion has healing powers. I’m not sure if that’s really true, but it always seems to make me feel better. Doesn’t it you? (more…)

Can you believe we are already done with the first 3 Sterling Vineyards Ultimate Host challenges? The search is now on for the 4th and final Ultimate Hosts and I personally think this is one of the best challenges yet!

For the search for the 4th and final Sterling Vineyards Ultimate Host, the theme is Hostess Choice.

Is a board game and wine-themed night your idea of an eventful evening? Do you love watching Mad Men, and want to design 60’s style drinks and bites of food? Be creative with your theme and complementary designs – this is your challenge to be as outside the box as you want to be. Watch the video on the Sterling Vineyards Facebook Page to find out more!

I’d love to see you in NYC and would be thrilled to see you crowned as The Ultimate Host!

Remember the winners of each challenge will get the chance to go to New York for a final competition and compete for the grand prize of $25,000! I’d love to see you in New York so head over to the Sterling Vineyards Facebook page today and enter!

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Sterling Vineyards. All opinions expressed are my own.

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I recently had my first ever “cupping” experience. Don’t worry… I haven’t gotten all strange on you. Cupping is simply a fancy word for a coffee tasting experience.

Kelby, Lisa and I are part of the Green Mountain Coffee bloggers ambassador team, and we joined up with our fearless Green Mountain Coffee leaders in Waterbury, VT for a weekend of sight seeing and Green Mountain Coffee experiences. I am even more impressed with Green Mountain Coffee than before! It truly is a great company doing really great things.

I took a ton of pictures on the trip, but unfortunately lost them all in the computer / iphone update issue I had last month. I do have a few short video clips  I compiled to share with you. I hope you enjoy our “cupping” experience!

You can join in a Green Mountain Coffee cupping experience of your own. Simply tune into the Barista Prima Facebook page on Tuesday, November 8th at 8am EST. Two-time Italian Barista Champion, Francesco Sanapo and Green Mountain Coffee’s own Sandy Yusen will conduct a virtual tasting for us, walking through the four Barista Prima Coffeehouse varieties.

Barista Prima Coffeehouse varieties happen to be part of the November discount for Dine & Dish readers. Use code AM0007-3571 on www.GreenMountainCoffee.com to receive a 15% discount on Barista Prime Coffeehouse K-Cup® portion packs as well as free standard shipping.  This code is valid now through November 30th, and may not be combined with any offer or discount including Café EXPRESS.

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Green Mountain Coffee. All opinions expressed are my own.

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Happy November to you all!

This month, I am celebrating Dine & Dish being 5 years old! It’s hard to believe 5 years ago I started this baby blog of mine. What’s even harder to believe is how much joy it has brought me over the past 5 years. I have come to connect with so many treasured friends, have had the chance to work with some pretty amazing magazines and brands, and have cultivated a love for photography, cooking, and creative writing in the process. Most importantly, I’ve tossed aside the idea that I will ever be a scrapbooker and have given in to letting my blog be where I store my memories for myself and my family.

With 5 years of blogging under my belt (which is ever tight, thanks to food blogging) I’ve spent some time reflecting on where I’ve been and what I want to accomplish moving forward. With that reflection, I’ve decided there are going to be a few changes around Dine & Dish.

Last month I had a random glitch when I was doing my iPhone update onto my MacBook Pro and I unfortunately lost the thousands of photos stored on my hard drive from January through last week. Needless to say, I was devastated. Sure, I still had some pictures from my Photo Journey blog and Instagram, which is much better than nothing, but all the priceless moments and everyday captures, I lost. Guess what I did have though? I had all of my food pictures because that is what I blog about. Do you think in the end I really cared that I still had all of my food photos? Yeah… not so much.

With that being said, I wanted to give you fair warning that Dine & Dish is going to expand some. I’m going to share more than just food with you… I’m going to share family life, things that make me happy, product reviews, books that I’ve read, travel experiences, recipes, photography, etc. Everything that is important to me in my life is now going to be part of Dine & Dish. And, I’m not going to do it on a separate blog… it’s obvious by how many dead websites I have out there how that’s worked out for me in the past

The month of November is going to be a great one…my blog is getting a big makeover (going back to basics with a simple blog design) and I have lots of amazing giveaways to show appreciation to you all for sticking by me through the years. Dine & Dish has never been the biggest blog out there, and that’s ok. Traffic isn’t what drives me. What drives me is the connection with each of you, and I truly appreciate you sharing in my journey.

If you choose to shut the door on Dine & Dish with it’s new direction, I completely understand. If you plan on sticking around, I am grateful to have you here. Feel free to subscribe via email for updates or follow me on Twitter and Facebook so you can determine what’s worth clicking through for you.

Thanks again for an amazing 5 years. I hope to enjoy many, many more!

I’ll admit that sometimes being a food blogger is tough work. Slaving over the stove each day, trying out new recipes, sampling this and that…all for you, our dear readers. For example, guess what challenge I am currently taxed with? Creating a new Fench fry flavor for Alexia foods! It is going to require day after day of creating and testing various flavors of fries trying to find the most unique and perfectly blended flavor combination to tempt your taste buds. Hard, grueling, difficult work, I tell ‘ya. I am willing to do it though because I want what’s best for everyone and their fry cravings. I’m such a giver that way.

Over the next few weeks, I, along with several other bloggers, will be getting busy in the kitchen trying out various seasonings and spices on Russet potatoes and sweet potatoes. I’ll work with different fry cuts and will begin narrowing down the choices until I have the perfect fry cut / flavor combination in hand. At that point I will hand my creation over to the judges who will determine if my fry creation is worthy of a top 4 spot, which means a trip to the Foodbuzz Festival in San Francisco.

So, to get my creative juices flowing, I’d love to know about the absolute best fry you’ve ever had. For me, I haven’t met a fry that beats the fries at the greatest Kansas City barbecue joint -  Oklahoma Joe’s. I go a little crazy for their fries.

Tell me… what’s the best fry you’ve ever tasted?

Make sure to follow along with all the bloggers through the Alexia Facebook Page and the Twitter hashtag – #AlexiaFoods. I can’t wait to be inspired by you!

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored challange through Alexia fries. I am being compensated for recipe development, however all opinions expressed are my own.

(Video courtesy of Dole)

Last month I had the opportunity to head out to Monterey, California to spend time with some key people from Dole Fresh Vegetables as part of the Dole Salad Bloggers Summit. As is the case with many blogging trips, I was surrounded by some very talented and genuine bloggers.

Joining me at the Dole Salad Bloggers Summit was – Shaina, Shanna, Kathy, Romy, Debra, Cheryl, Jaden, Maggy, Dana and Brooke. We had such a fun time together. As much as I’d love to talk about these fab bloggers….

…and the incredibly beautiful city of Monterey, California…

…and the food, the wonderful glorious food…

…I want to get to the heart and soul of this trip, which was Dole. We were wined and dined and treated extremely well on our trip to Monterey, but you know what? The part of this trip that has stuck with me and will stick with me for a long time to come was standing out in the middle of an iceberg lettuce field, surrounded by row after row of perfectly maintained lettuce. I watched the step by step process as the workers in the field gently pulled the lettuce from the ground, removed any damaged leaves, bagged it and put it into the box which was then taken out on a truck to head to our grocery store shelves. To our grocery store shelves! Straight from that field in Monterey, California.

We all know that Dole is a big household name, but what I discovered on this visit was that Dole is not “corporate”. They have partnered with small family farmers all over the region to grow the freshest vegetables possible. The employees at Dole are passionate about their product, the workers in the field are treated well and have a legacy of tenure and the farmers take great pride in the vegetables they grow. Beyond picking up salad from the grocery store, I honestly never thought much about what it takes to get the lettuce to our kitchen table. As a family who has salad on our table almost every night, I am thankful that Dole has opened my eyes to the story behind what nourishes our bodies each and every day.

For an inside peek at our trip, make sure to check out the video Dole put together above. I want to give special thanks to The Clement Monterey for the spectacular service and beautiful accommodations, The Sardine Factory and Le Bicyclette restaurants for the unforgettable food and for the team at Dole for the hospitality and experience.

Thanks to Dole, it is easy for our family to enjoy salad on a regular basis. I don’t know about you, but I know we wouldn’t eat as much salad as we do if it weren’t for Dole’s bagged lettuce and salad kits. Whether we are eating it straight out of the bag or sprucing it up with something a little fancier, Dole has been and will be a big part of helping our family to eat our veggies!

For the picture above I spruced up a package of Dole Spring Mix lettuce by adding a few delicious ingredients. In individual parfait glasses layer the following: Spring Mix Lettuce, halved cherry tomatoes, crumbled bacon, diced hard boiled eggs and shredded cheddar cheese. Top with a drizzle of creamy ranch dressing. Make sure to leave a little room at the top for “tossing” to mix up the salad and added ingredients. Enjoy!

Dole sponsored my travel and accommodations, however all opinions expressed within this post are my own. Thanks to Cheryl from TidyMom for the use of some of the blogger pictures!

This giveaway is now closed. The winner, Andrea G, has been notified. Thanks so much for participating!

Last week I told my kids we were going on a picnic with some of my “co-workers” (that’s my fancy way of saying blog friends). You see, the folks at Wendy’s invited us to a picnic lunch with a few other Kansas City bloggers, giving us the chance to try their new Berry Almond Chicken Salad.

My “co-workers”: Julie, Molly, Erin, me, Jenn and Candy

When we started driving the sky began to turn dark and the rain began to come down. The closer we were to Wendy’s (and the nearby park for our picnic) the darker the skies became. It became fairly obvious that our plans for a picnic were going to have to change.

Jenn and Erin’s kids sitting nicely, eating their lunch while my kids were wrecking havoc everywhere.

What’d we do instead? Our group of 6 bloggers and all of our kids invaded the Wendy’s restaurant and had our own little picnic inside. (If you were at the Wendy’s we invaded, I have to apologize to you now… and to the man who said the sound of our children was music to his ears, I have a few I’d be happy to pass off to you for your listening enjoyment).

Candy captures the fun!

Before you know it we were all settled in with our salads, taking pictures and chatting away (and getting strange looks from people wondering why we were taking pictures of our food from Wendy’s). It wasn’t the ideal picnic, but it was so nice to catch up with local blogging friends.

Ella and Leah work diligently on their Minute to Win It game

The Berry Almond Chicken Salad was really quite good. With a combination of 11 different types of freshly chopped greens, fresh berries, roasted almonds, Asiago cheese, grilled chicken breast and a fat-free raspberry vinaigrette dressing, this is the perfect salad for your summer lunch and dinner cravings. I loved the entire flavor combination, and my kids loved to swipe the blueberries and strawberries right out of the bowl.

Sweet baby Sam steals a berry from his mama’s salad

Wendy’s would like to be a part of your summer and they are giving one lucky Dine & Dish reader the chance to win a $25 gift card so you can give the Berry Almond Chicken Salad a try for yourself! As your required entry, leave a comment on this post letting me know what your favorite salad toppings are. All entries must be received by Wednesday, June 8th at midnight CST.

This is a sponsored post provided by Wendy’s and The Motherhood. Wendy’s and The Motherhood provided a gift card for us to enjoy lunch as well as one to giveaway to you, a picnic basket full of fun games for the kids, and a stipend for the time and travel involved. All opinions are my own.

This giveaway is now closed and the winners have been notified. (P. Kennedy and R. Smith). If a response isn’t received within the required time frame, new winners will be selected. Thanks for participating!

I recently returned from the trip of a lifetime…an all expenses paid trip for my family to Universal Studios Resort and the Loews Portifino Bay resort in Orlando, FL. I’m pinching myself that we were even asked to take part in such a great event.

I want to share a few highlights, in the way of a top 10 list, with you but don’t worry. There’s something in all this for you too! We’re giving away EIGHT 2-day passes, which includes tickets to both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. We are breaking this up into 2 so TWO families have the chance to win 4 2-day passes! Each package of 4 is valued at $539.96. All packages together are valued at $1079.92. The prize is to be used by June 11, 2012, or winner will forfeit prize

Without further ado, here are my top ten highlights (in no particular order) from our trip!

1. Butterbeer

If you are a fan of Harry Potter, you’ve most likely heard of Butterbeer. Let me tell you this… I can’t get this stuff out of my mind. They only sell it in the Harry Potter part of Islands of Adventure and we did have to sneak away quite a few times just so I could get my Butterbeer fix. I may have to go back sooner than later so I can satisfy my craving! I attempted to get the recipe from the chef who created all of the recipes in Harry Potter land, but he wouldn’t budge. Darnit!

2.  The Rides

Oh my… the rides. I’ve been known to take the chicken exit a time or two in my life. You would be happy to know that I conquered the two terrifying roller coasters (The Hulk and Hollywood Ripride Rockit) pictured above as well as several others. What I loved about these two parks is there are rides for every age. From the rides at Seuss Landing to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, there is something for every age at Universal Orlando and Islands of Adventure! (I don’t know if other parks have this, but these two parks have “child swap” areas for specific rides, where you wait in line and then go into a room with child friendly movies. While one parent rides the other watches the kids and then you “swap” places once the ride is over. So cool!)

3.  New Friends

This was the first blogging trip I’ve been on that included my family and it was such a blast. The kids met new friends, my husband and I met new friends, and it was a fun experience all around! I think one of the best quotes I heard was from one of my sons new buddies when he said “This trip is kind of bad because you make all these great new friends and then we have to leave them.” I totally get that. It was so hard to experience this and then to say goodbye when the week was over.

4.  Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, Orlando

The most luxurious, family friendly resort I’ve ever stayed at. Kid friendly, pet friendly, adult friendly… this hotel had it all. Gorgeous pools, incredible plaza area with entertainment, courteous staff and more! If you are planning an Orlando vacation, definitley consider checking out Lowes Portofino Bay Hotel! (The pictures above is the view from our balcony, overlooking other parts of the hotel and the plaza)

5. Blue Man Group

Short and sweet, but if you get the opportunity to see their show, go. Incredible and like nothing else I’ve ever been to!

6.  The Food

The food… oh my, the food. From the dinners created by the chef at Loews to what we ate while at Universal and Islands of Adventure to our date night at Margaritaville, we ate some good grub. There is a cocktail recipe I am hoping to snag for you… see that straberry cocktail in the pics above? Soooooo good!

7.  Luau Fun

I’ve never been to a Luau before, so being treated to a luau as part of one of our evening activities was a definite highlight. I left there completely beaming.  You know when you have those moments, looking around at your family, and things just seem oh so perfect? That was how I felt that night. Things couldn’t be any better. Such a fun experience!

8.  Flash Mobs

We had the chance to be live at the Universal Studios press conference where they shared some exciting news. Universal Studios is creating a ride based on the hit kids movie, Despicable Me (one of my favorite movies!) After the announcement, we were all outside and witnessed a Minion Flashmob. It’s hard not to smile when you witness a flash mob – especially when minion’s are involved.  You can find the Minion Flashmob at this link.

9.  Welcome Summer

Loews Portofino Bay had a wonderful summer kickoff event on our last evening there. Hula hooping, dancing, cup stacking, bean bag tosses, great food and fun. What a wonderful way to end a most amazing week at Universal Orlando and Loews Portofino Bay hotel.

Before I get to #10, I just want to say a huge thank you to the folks at Universal Orlando and Loews Portofino Bay for including us. We are so grateful to have been a part of this amazing group of bloggers. Our family will remember this trip forever…so many great memories were made. If there is such a thing as vacation perfection, this was it. We wouldn’t have changed a thing! Our most sincere thanks!

and now…one of the best parts of our Universal Orlando vacation is…

#10. Sharing it with you!!

As I said before, I am so excited to share this giveaway with you! We’re giving away EIGHT 2-day passes, which includes tickets to both Universal Studios Orlando and Islands of Adventure. We are breaking this up into 2 so TWO families have the chance to win 4 2-day passes! Each package of 4 is valued at $539.96. All packages together are valued at $1079.92. The prize is to be used by June 11, 2012, or winner will forfeit prize.

If you are planning a vacation to Orlando, I want you to know that I never thought of Universal Studios as a destination for our vacation. I always considered it as something to tack on to after planning a vacation to other Orlando destinations. We were so busy and had so much fun during our week at Universal…between the hotel pools and entertainment, the two theme parks and the City Walk, we still didn’t have time to get everything in. Next time we head to Orlando, our family has voted to make Universal Studios our destination!

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this post telling me about your favorite vacation. Receive an additional entry for each of the following:

• Tweet the following: I just entered to win a family 4-pack of passes to Universal Studios Orlando from @dineanddish & @uornews http://su.pr/86c9Hh (Leave a comment on this post letting me know you tweeted)
• Follow @UORNews on Twitter (Leave a comment on this post letting me know you did this)
• Become a friend of Dine & Dish on Facebook (Leave a comment on this post letting me know you did this)
• Leave an extra comment on this post letting me know what your favorite color is – just for fun.

Winner will be chosen via Random.org. Entries must be received by midnight CST on Wednesday, June 1st 2011. Winner will be notified via email on June 2nd and will have 48 hours to respond. If there is no response, another winner will be chosen. Thanks and good luck!!

Universal Studios flew my family and I out to Orlando for an all expenses paid vacation and they are providing the prize pack for the giveaway. All opinions expressed within this post are my own.