Dine and Dish

Food blog with family recipes

Blogging Friends – A Giveaway for You!

Strawberry Cream Cookies

I started the Dine & Dish blog in November 2006. Back in my beginning blogging days, I was a very eager, typical new blogger. I cooked and posted on my blog almost every single day. I spent hours reading through blogs and learning the ropes, so to speak. I spent a lot of time networking with other bloggers, reading through magazines getting ideas of what I could blog about, and generally working on an attempt to build my blog up to be one with a decent reputation in the blogging world. Of course, back then, there weren’t as many food blogs as there are today. The network was quite a bit smaller and seemed a little easier to navigate.

Some of the bloggers I feel the most connected to today are ones who I met when I first started blogging. One person, in particular, is my friend Kate over at Kate in the Kitchen. Kate and I first connected on a crazy whim. Being a new blogger, I had over eagerly committed on my blog (and in a published letter to the editor of Food & Wine) to try the Food & Wine 100 Must Try Tastes. Soon after I posted this ambitious goal, I got an email from Kate saying that she was going to try the same thing. We had an immediate connection with common goal and eventually grew to become friends beyond blogging. (I must note that I quit the Food & Wine challenge part way through… some of the items were extremely expensive and impossible to get my hands on living in the Midwest. I was naieve, to say the least!)

Kate is one of those people who has managed to stay true to herself with her blog. She is a talented writer, an excellent and creative cook, and has a genuinely warm heart that comes through in all that she does. She hasn’t fallen prey to what I call the “blogging game” and has managed to still be successful. I admire her a lot for her ability to balance and to keep her blog organic to who she is.

Kate has generously offered up TEN cookbooks from the Taste of Home Annual Cookbook collection for me to give away on my blog. TEN cookbooks! That means over the next couple of weeks you will have the chance to add some of the best Taste of Home cookbooks to your collection.

For this first giveway we are giving away the Taste of Home Annual cookbooks from 2000 and 2001. There are going to be two winners for this particular drawing. All you need to do to be entered in the giveaway is leave a comment on this post. You must include a valid email address… just makes sense so we can get a hold of you if your name is drawn from the Random Number Generator.  It would be great if you would head over to Kate’s as well and give her a shout out… tell her thanks for offering up these great books! While you are there, stop and browse a little but be prepared to have your bookmarks locked and loaded to go… she has a lot of great recipes you’ll want to save to try!

Comments must be left by midnight on Friday, November 21st. Winner will be notified on the next day.

Oh – and stay tuned. You never know when a new giveaway for some of the other cookbooks might pop up. To keep abreast of it all, make sure to subscribe to Dine & Dish by email or follow me on Twitter. Some of the giveaways are going to be quick, and some may last a little longer… you will want to be the first to know!

This recipe is from the Taste of Home Best & Loved Cookies and Bars cookbook that is on newstands now. Delicious!

Strawberry Cream Cookies from Taste of Home

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • Seedless strawberry jam

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla. Add flour and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle. Shape dough into 1-in. balls. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Using the end of a wooden spoon handle, make a 1/2-in.-deep indentation in the center of each ball; fill with about 1/4 teaspoon jam. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool. Yield: 5 dozen.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  6. candy tai says

    wow! this is an awesome giveaway!! i would LOVE to add this cookbook to my collection….thank you for sharing this giveaway!

    candy tais last blog post..Santa Sightings in Kansas City!

  8. Beth D. says

    I love Taste of Home recipes…every recipe is a winner! Love your website-it’s so inspiring! Happy Holidays!

  11. Nancy says

    Taste of Home is one of my favorites! Real cooking by real people. Thanks to you and Kate for the giveaway!

  12. Payal says

    Hi,
    This is my first time visiting the blog. As I read through the post, it was so exciting to learn of a giveaway on cookbook. It sounds like a great idea. I would love to be the winner. But if not, I’ll def be visiting this site again.

    Thanks,
    Payal

    Payals last blog post..CommentLuv needs updating on this site. Please download the latest version and install it on your site. This message will apear during the first 10 minutes of each hour. This remote script will cease returning posts in 7 days

  15. Tanya says

    Oh those cookies look delicious and so easy to make…my favorite kind of recipe!

    Tanyas last blog post..Barefoot and Making Herb-Roasted Onions

  16. clumbsycookie says

    Before I started blogging I used to read in other blogs about “blog friends” and allways thought it was a bit too much, you know what I mean? I thought that was no way people could connect in such a way trhu blogs. Of course now I start to undestand it, and think it’s great that a lot of connections and a few good friendships come along the way with posting some recipes in a blog. Anyway you can’t go wrong with strawberry and cream!

    clumbsycookies last blog post..Could this be the best in the world?

  18. Stacy says

    I love these cookies, my favorite! I am into baking right now, I may have to try some new recipes!

  20. patsyk says

    What fun! (I apologize if my comment duplicates… something weird just happened!). I’ll go and visit her blog next, I’m very intrigued!

  25. Mandy C says

    Those cookies do look really good – maybe I’ll make some this weekend.

    Thanks for a great giveaway – I love Taste of Home books.

  27. sangeeth says

    yey! giveaways make me excited regardless of me winning them.Thanks for the giveaway and lovely cookies there…I read your post on blogher conf and if you decide to come I will be very eager to meet you 🙂

  28. Bmiller says

    I haven’t had a chance to check in in a LONG time and had fun catching back up. Thanks to you and Kate for this offer! I’m off to check out her site now too….

  36. holler says

    I headed over to Hot off the Garlic Place to have a look and that post made an interesting read. I think a lot of it is true, but I think we have to remember as well as the stresses we find ourselves under in trying to keep up, there is also the same for the visitors to your blog and I think sometimes people are dropping by and leaving a comment to show support and to let you know they are still following your blog. It is not always easy to think of something interesting to say, even though you may appreciate the recipe you have just enjoyed. Saying that, I am probably as guilty as everyone else of skim reading when I have only a few minutes to spare. Maybe it is better not to leave a comment in such a case. I will have to ponder that one! Anyway, I just wanted to say I do enjoy visiting and hearing what you have to say.

    We sometimes call these thumb print biscuits. I think you can guess how we make the dent 🙂

  37. Nikki says

    Thanks for the give away. I am new to your blog and have really been enjoying it. Especially the china setting post & stories about your family. These cookies look great!

  38. Les in NE says

    Toss my name in the hat. I love Taste of Home cookbooks!

    This recipe looks fabulous. I think I’ll try it with seedless raspberry jam, though, since that’s my favorite.

  40. Lynne says

    Hi Kristen,
    Gosh, it’s been a long time since I have read your blog. It’s as great as ever. Thanks for commenting on my blog.

  50. Erin from Long Island says

    oh how lovely! i’ve had a hard time finding a jelly cookie that works, i will give this one a shot. who knows, maybe i’ll get a new book full of recipes to try = )

  52. grace says

    my frequency of posts has completely dwindled as time passes. to think that i used to post every day just makes me laugh…and sigh.
    thanks for the generous giveaway! 🙂

  59. Liz says

    Hi, Liz from MealMakeoverMoms.com here. I enjoyed reading your post and look forward to visiting your blog often and following you on Twitter. I signed up for Twitter last Friday and am already hooked!
    Thanks for offering the great giveaway. Can never have enough cookbooks. I’m one of those annoying home cooks who can’t resist taking recipes and giving them a healthy makeover — I’m a dietitian/cookbook author/blogger and like to switch to healthy oils and toss in whole grains and fruits/veggies when possible.
    My email is lizweiss@aol.com

    Lizs last blog post..Blogging Friends – A Giveaway for You!

  60. Jessica says

    I love your stories about how you started out and what you’ve grown into as a blogger. I was also committed to posting every single day when I first started out and as should have been expected, I burned out. I was not making plans on the weekends so I could get posts done and racing home after work to catch the last bit of sunlight for my pictures. I’m now slowing down to 2 – 3 posts a week. It makes my life more sane and also gives me time to do more involved recipes. I’m happier already. Thanks for your guidance in that area – You’re the best!

  61. Carla says

    I love Taste of Home – I have so many back issues and cookbooks but another one would be great!

    I have Kate’s blog in my google reader as it is, I love her site! Thanks to you both for the giveaway.

  62. Kellie says

    I’m a college junior who regularly stalks cooking blogs…especially this one! My roommate loves you guys, because you keep him fed, haha! Thanks for the chance to win!

  67. Brandi says

    I LOVE taste of home. They are my absolute favorite when it comes to cooking mag. and cookbooks. Thanks for the chance to win.

  72. Suzie Powers says

    I’d love to learn out to stretch and yet make tasty foods like I see in Taste of Home Recipes. Time to start making everything from scratch!

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