The giveaway is now closed. Congrats to winner, Laurie Williams. Thanks to all who entered!

The events of last week put a bit of a hold on my current favorite cookbook showcase, but I’m back this week with a few more favorites to share! Today, I’m featuring my good friend, Lori’s, new cookbook, The Recipe Girl Cookbook!

I’m sure you are familiar with the Recipe Girl blog… one of the most comprehensive places for recipes on the internet. When I found out Lori was going to be doing a cookbook, I knew this was one book I’d want on my bookshelf! I can let you know, friends, that Lori’s cookbook does not disappoint. With over 190 recipes and tips for successful entertaining, The Recipe Girl cookbook is a great cookbook for beginner and advanced cooks a like! (more…)

I hope you all enjoyed my post about Jennifer Perillo’s new cookbook, Homemade with Love. I’m back today, sharing a cookbook by another friend: Steamy Kitchen’s Healthy Asian Favorites by Jaden Hair.

I’m sure you all know Jaden from her blog, Steamy Kitchen, and if you follow blogs at all you’ve probably seen mentions of her newest cookbook, Healthy Asian Favorites, around the internet. This is Jaden’s second book, which follows on the tails of her successful first book, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook.  

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I always feel a bit self conscious drinking Strawberry Daiquiris. Do you? I don’t really know why I feel that way, but I do.

Perhaps it’s because my very first ever alcoholic drink was a Strawberry Daiquiri. I’ve always felt like it was the “safe” “foo-foo” drink… and at my old age I thought if people saw me drinking a daiquiri they would just assume I wasn’t mature enough to handle a real cocktail. I mean, real women drink things like gin and tonic and Manhattan’s… not foo foo Strawberry Daiquiris, right?

Finally I began to realize…I really doubt anyone out there is talking about my choice in cocktails. Who cares if we’re out in a fancy nightclub and I order a foo foo Strawberry Daiquiris instead of a womanly G&T? Well, I would actually care because I never go to fancy nightclubs so I’d kind of wonder how I got there in the first place…but anyhow… (more…)

A feeling of pure happiness washes over me every time I see the photo above. Then, at some point, that happiness turns to disappointment and shame.

You see, that was probably one of the happiest “regular” days of my life. My husband and I were in Park City, Utah on a little getaway. I was feeling healthy because I had made exercise a priority in my life. I was feeling beautiful… thin, healthy, and in shape. I had a confidence that I hadn’t had in a very long time.

Nick and I went on a 20+ mile hike through the mountains and enjoyed every moment of it. It was an amazing day. (more…)

I’ve had this recipe for Apple Cider Glazed Apple Pie Rolls rolling around in my head for quite some time, but I wasn’t quite sure if the execution of my idea would work.

You see, I like apple pie enough. I don’t love apple pie, but I like it. If I’m being truly honest with myself what I like the most about apple pie is the cinnamon sugar mixture soaked into the pie crust with the flavors of apple juice mixed in. Melted ice cream obviously makes it even better.  (more…)

Ahhhh… Friday nights. This past Friday night I was in my PJ’s and in bed by 7pm. In fact, I had called a friend and left a voicemail at 5 to see if she wanted to come over for a glass of wine. I didn’t hear from her until 6:30 – and she was all ready to come over to welcome the weekend with me. Problem was, I was in my PJ’s and in bed, 2 glasses of wine done with the night. The past season of Grey’s Anatomy and I had a rockin’ evening together though. And you know what? It was absolutely perfect.

I’ve become *that* person who likes to stay in, with a book or movie and a cocktail on a Friday night. When did that happen?

Someone else out there likes my kind of Friday nights too. My friend Barb has shared a widely popular Friday Cocktail on her blog each week for a year now. Today, a group of us are celebrating her one year Friday Cocktail by sharing some of our favorite cocktails. Head over to Barb’s blog for the complete roundup…and wish her happy day by leaving a comment or sending her a tweet @FridayCocktails. Did I mention she has prizes? Oh yes, lots and lots of great prizes. Stop by and say hi!

Before you do, here is my contribution… I’m calling it Friday Night Coffee. I love coffee, I love simple cocktails and I love Friday nights. Hence, Friday Night Coffee.

Cheers to your weekend!

I woke up with an itch… the road trip itch.

I nudged my husband. “Let’s get out of town… go someplace for the day.”

It’d be a happy day, full of picture taking, shopping for props at antique stores, prancing through fields while notes from The Sound of Music filled the air.

We all pile in the car… 45 minutes later than we had planned because that’s how it goes when you have four kids and try to get out the door. But all is good. We’re going to have a happy day… a whimsical, carefree, spontaneous road trip kind of day.

5 minutes into our trip, Leah is screaming because her seat belt is too tight. Ella and Jacob are fighting over space. Kelly is giving us a play by play of every ones wrong doings. I try to tune it all out. We are going to have fun, dammit!

20 minutes into our road trip, things have only gotten worse. The kids are in full sibling rivalry mode… every thing they do is annoying the other one. “Ella, stop breathing so loud!” “Jacob, stop kicking my seat!” Blah, blah, blah…

25 minutes into our road trip, the car comes to a halt. “Do we really want to do this?” my husband looks at me and asks. No… no we don’t.

We turn around and head home, much to the dismay of the wailing kids in the back. They come into the house and are sent straight to their rooms. If we aren’t road tripping, they are going to clean.

I make a beeline to my new blender and decide the reality of my fantasy at least deserves a cocktail.

So, no road trip with the family… but a delicious, creamy, peachy cocktail creation instead. Fantasy versus reality… and suddenly it’s not all that bad.

July 1st: Crabby girl

I know I know… I’m horrible at keeping up with Project 365. Normally it’s this time of year that I stop uploading and sharing and give up. I never quit taking photos every day but if you’ll look at my past few years attempts, this is the time when I usually get so behind at uploading that I just quit The pictures stay on my computer and no one ever sees them.

Not this year. Nope… This year I’m going to bore you all to tears while I get caught up on my photos from July and most of August. Then, I have no vacations or out of town trips planned that should throw me off from uploading for awhile! Thanks for hanging in there! Here we go… (more…)

Nick and I just got back from enjoying a kid-free vacation in Park City, Utah… the first we’ve shared in over 6 years.

In 6 years time, it is pretty easy to forget all the reasons you fell in love with your spouse in the first place. I definitley knew I still loved my husband, but this vacation was exactly what we needed to get reacquainted with each other again, and that was a good thing.

With 4 kids and grandparents who live far away, getting away for even a date night is hard. Add to that living on one income and juggling busy schedules, finding the time and resources to get away isn’t easy, but we decided it was time to make it happen.

There’s something to be said for adult time… getting to have real conversations without interruption, sleeping without little bodies wiggling between you, eating at restaurants you wouldn’t set foot in with children, doing activities (like our 22 mile hike) that you wouldn’t sanely take 4 kids on…. it was truly blissful.

It’s important to turn off the noise and let the light shine on you as a couple every once in awhile. Hopefully, now that we’ve had this reminder, it will happen more often than not. I am grateful for the man I married. I love my kids too, but I know that we will both be better parents if we continue to invest in our marriage this way, don’t you think?

We’re back home now, but have one more kid free evening ahead of us. I see these fun cocktails and a good movie night in my future!

I’m thankful for my in-laws for keeping the kids at their place while Nick and I vacationed together! We couldn’t have done it without them.

My eyes had the pleasure of taking in Magic Mike earlier this week. If you aren’t familiar with this movie, you can find more about it here, but in general, there really isn’t much of a plot, but lots and lots of eye candy.

Before the movie even started, the packed audience (of mixed ages and genders) was going wild in anticipation for what we were about to see… Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey and a slew of other nice looking actors wearing next to nothing as they took it all off on the stage of a male strip club.

What I wasn’t prepared to see was the heavy use and acceptance of drugs, simulated sex acts, “sharing” of partners, the “f-bomb” dropped more than any other word and more… all this while the audience in the theater cheered on. I couldn’t help but wonder what this says about our society today. I feel a little disturbed that I am raising three girls and a boy in an era where no one seems all that embarrassed to be sitting in a theater watching this stuff happen on screen.

Do I like seeing a nice looking man with his shirt off? Yes… yes I do, and there was plenty of that in this movie. In fact, I wouldn’t mind freeze framing a few Channing Tatum scenes and staring at them for awhile. The dancing, although a bit much at times, was really good.

I guess I am more disturbed by what’s “acceptable” today… we are no longer hiding behind closed doors to read “erotica”… in fact, it’s so well accepted that certain books have jumped to and stayed on the NY Times Bestseller list for a long time. Movies, like Magic Mike, leave little to the imagination. Even clothing young girls and women are wearing have you wondering if they paid full price for an outfit that barely covers their body.

We concern ourselves with pedophiles and sexual predators, yet we cheer wildly when a man holds a woman’s head to his near naked crotch and bumps and grinds. What kind of message is our behavior sending to those people observing us…looking up to us…taking their cues from us?

I may be a prude for even writing this post, and I know I can’t have it both ways… I enjoyed parts of Magic Mike but I am honestly ready, for the sake of future generations, to return to the days where leaving more to the imagination was a very good thing.

Sidenote update: My friend Shaina just shared this link to a Washington Post article by Suzi Parker. If you have questions about whether to see this movie, read this article.

And on to a recipe that has absolutely nothing to do with the blog post, except it was inspired by a cocktail I enjoyed with girlfriends prior to heading over to see the movie!