It has been quite the exciting weekend here at the Dine & Dish household. If you are one of my friends on Twitter or Facebook you know all about our adventure this weekend. If not, I’ll give you a brief update. Dine & Dish was taken over by a lovely hacker dude on Friday evening. I found out because he had taken over my blog (not directly, but through a “hole” in the server) and put Google ads up all over the place. He had control of Dine & Dish most of the weekend and we were finally able to get things restored this afternoon. It has been exhausting, to say the least, and quite the emotional roller coaster. I had to go to church on Sunday just to repent for the language I have used towards this man over the weekend! Anyway, hacker dude… if you are reading, thanks for the wake up call and the education.  I have learned a lot over the past few days.

I have several people to thank but am going to save that for a post where I have more time to devote to it properly and when I can really share with you what I’ve learned from this. In the meantime, if things are a little screwy around here (like RSS feed posts from the past showing up) hopefully this will give you an explanation. I hope you stick with us as we get things completely back up to speed.

At last check before hacker dude entered my life, the cookbook giveaway had 150+ entries. Well, since our last backup was the day prior to hacker dude entering my life, we lost some of the entries. Because of this, I am going to extend the cookbook giveaway until this Thursday, September 3rd, 11pm CST. This gives those of you who entered before, the chance to enter again. Those of you who may have had a comment slip away because of all the fun happening around here, it gives you the chance to enter as well. To enter the cookbook giveaway, click here and just leave a comment on that post.

Thanks all for being so patient…for your emails, tweets, phone calls, mood uplifters and for simply being there. Much love to you all… even you, hacker dude, because obviously you need a little TLC.

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Recently, the publisher of Table Talk contacted me about another cookbook they were releasing called Morning Glory Farm. I think Table Talk may now have some competition as one of my favorite cookbooks! See, I believe that so many people can make a cookbook, but it takes a special kind of author to be able to weave personal stories in with the recipes they share. Morning Glory Farm is more than a collection of recipes. It is a tale of a husband and wife who, 30+ years ago, started a small farm. Through their hard work, dedication, ups and downs in the farming industry, and help from friends and family, they grew their farm  to be one of Martha’s Vineyards finest…where people will stand in line on any given day for a fresh loaf of zucchini bread or just picked corn. Their farmstand is bustling with customers daily, hoping to snatch up fresh produce or fruit pies. Their farm has become so popular that keeping items stocked in their retail store is a everyday challenge.

The Morning Glory Farm cookbook shares 70 recipes that are favorites of the residents of Martha’s Vineyard. The Morning Glory Farm cookbook is extra special because it separates each recipe out into the season that it would highlight the freshness of the produce available that season. For example, winter recipes include such gems as “Judy’s Simple Chicken Pot Pie” or “Baked Stuffed Winter Squash” while the summer recipes include recipes like “Chesca’s Roasted Corn Chowder” and “Fresh Green Bean Potato Salad”.

I have a huge amount of recipes from this cookbook bookmarked to try. The lovely folks at Morning Glory Farm thought that you should get in on the fun as well. I have an extra cookbook to give away to one lucky Dine & Dish reader. To qualify, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post. Make sure to include your email address in the form so that I know how to contact you. The random drawing will take place next Tuesday, so all entries need to be left by midnight CST on Monday, August 31st.

And, to tempt your tastebuds, I challenge you to try this Zucchini bread recipe and tell me if you have ever tasted better Zucchini bread. I am not sure what it is about it, but the light crust of this bread sets it apart from any other Zucchini bread I have tried!

Morning Glory Zucchini Bread (from the Morning Glory Farm cookbook)

2 to 2 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups sugar
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray two 9″ x 5″ bread pans with nonstick spray.
In a large mixing bowl, combine zucchini, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Mix thoroughly.
Beat sugar into mix until it is thoroughly creamed.
Once liquids and sugar are well mixed, add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Mix until batter is well blended and even in texture. The batter should be smooth, outside the zucchini shreds. If it’s not, add a little juice from the zucchini.
Pour batter evenly into pans.
Bake for approximately 1 hour, or until bread is brown and springs back when gently pressed in the middle.

Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Whitney, Stacy and Cathy… today is your lucky day! The Random Number Generator selected you all as the three winners for the Pizza Hut gift certificates. Soon you will have the chance to try their new Tuscani Pasta and an order of breadsticks. Congratulations to you and thanks to everyone for participating. A special thanks to Pizza Hut for this great opportunity!

I have to apologize to everyone for my lack of blogging lately. We recently found out that I am…. Surprise!… expecting baby number 4. I have been incredibly sick with this pregnancy and just haven’t had a whole lot of energy to cook. It is hard to write a food blog when you aren’t cooking! Anyway, I promise that things will be back to normal soon and appreciate you all hanging in there. I am slowly but surely starting to get my mojo back, at least a couple of days a week. Cooking supper and then being able to eat it these days is a monumental milestone. I can’t wait for this all to pass.

In the meantime, I have a cookbook to give away! I have multiple copies of The Taste of Home Cookbook and would love to give one to you. This is one huge cookbook full of recipes from trusted home cooks, like you and me. If you like Taste of Home magazine, I promise you will love this cookbook. To enter to win, please leave a comment after this post telling me what your number one favorite cooking magazine is. All entries must have a valid email address. Comments can be left up to midnight CST on Monday, October 27th and the random drawing will take place the next day. Thanks and good luck!

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I menu plan for a couple of different reasons. The main reason is this…I am a work at home mom. I work part time from home doing freelance work. Our food/entertainment budget since staying at home has dwindled considerably. We just don’t have the funds to go out and eat on a whim like we used to. When I have a menu planned for the week and have shopped from my grocery list for those meals, I am much less likely to be tempted to eat out. Plus, if I can limit the number of times I go to the grocery store, that helps eliminate the impulse buys that inevitably happen when I go to the store unprepared.

I try to stick to our menu each week, but it doesn’t always happen. Last week, we had the first really cold, fall day of the season and to me that screams chili. I didn’t have chili on the menu plan, but I did have the ingredients on hand, so we switched out whatever was that day for chili. When you have at least five days worth of dinners planned out, you know that with at least those ingredients on hand, you have a meal to fall back on. If your mood calls for something different that night and you have the ingredients on hand, don’t feel like you are stuck to what’s on the menu. Let your menu be a flexible guide and start with baby steps. Once you get in the routine of planning, you will find it is an enjoyable event. (Think of it this way… what better excuse do you need to get to browse through your recipe collection? My husband knows that Sunday afternoons, I can usually be found pouring over magazines, cookbooks and food blogs, all in the name of “menu planning”.  Me time, with a purpose!)

Here is what the Dine & Dish household has on the menu this week. What do you have planned? Make sure to head over to Organizing Junkie to see what others are planning this week!

Let me know one thing that is on your menu this week or what you find to be the most challenging aspect of menu planning, and your comment will be entered into a giveaway for a great cookbook from Country Bob’s.  Winner will be chosen by the Random Number Generator. Deadline for commenting will be 10pm CST on Friday, September 12th.

• Monday – Maple Grilled Salmon from Cooking Light
• Tuesday – Grilled Bacon Cheeseburger Calzones – from Everyday with Rachael Ray
• Wednesday – Tacos
• Thursday – Chicken Baked in White Wine Marinade from Cooking Light
• Friday – Homemade Pizza
• Saturday – Onion Smothered Italian Burgers from Cooking Light
• Sunday – Pork and Bell Pepper Stir Fry from Everyday with Rachael Ray

Since you stuck with me through this whole post, let me share with you one of my favorite Tilapia recipes.

Mama’s Supper Club Tilapia Parmesan (from Recipezaar)

35 min | 15 min prep

SERVES 4

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In buttered 13-by-9-inch baking dish or jellyroll pan, lay fillets in single layer.
3. Do not stack fillets.
4. Brush top with juice.
5. In bowl combine cheese, butter, mayonnaise, onions and seasonings.
6. Mix well with fork.
7. Bake fish in preheated oven 10 to 20 minutes or until fish just starts to flake.
8. Spread with cheese mixture and bake until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
9. Baking time will depend on the thickness of the fish you use.
10. Watch fish closely so that it does not overcook.
11. Makes 4 servings.

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Congratulations Grace. Thanks to all who entered. We will have a new giveaway coming up soon!

The post We Have A Winner! appeared first on Dine and Dish.