Sharing Recipes & Unexpected Afternoons!

I love getting tried and true recipes passed to me from my friends. My most recent newly acquired recipe is a perfect pumpkin bread from a good friend out in California.
I often think about her enjoying sunny skies throughout the year.
When you live year round on the Cape you have to put up with gray skies and cold temperatures now and again. Except in the summer when this is truly the only place in the world to be.
Although, today is not one of those dreary days. It's bright and sunny-close to sixty!
So I don't have much time now for blogging or baking- I'll get back to that when the weather unexpectedly turns cold again as we are expecting a sudden storm this weekend.

'Fun'-due with a Four Year Old!

Our Ski trip to North Conway, NH got put on hold because my sons basketball team made it to the finals. They won 17-0 for the season then all four of the championship games.
One would assume that with the season championship behind us basketball season would be over for now. Although we now head full swing into 'post' season tournaments. Next weekend we go to Basketball City in Boston. It'll be good to get to go into the City.
In the meantime, I want to have fun with my youngest daughter while she is home over break. Yesterday we decided to make fondue which she calls 'fun'-due.
We melted a bowl of chocolate. We cut up fresh apple slices, bananas and grapes. She decided to try everything she could find in our pantry. We used large marshmallows and small and a handful of pretzels too. After awhile as I noticed the large ring of chocolate around her mouth it was all about the chocolate.
I'm into this 'fun'-due too. It's perfect if you end up with last minute dinner guests and don't have time to bake a more formal desert.

The Results are In!

Throwing a chili cook-off super bowl party not only turned out to be a lot of fun, but it was also a smart move on my part! We had a ton of food to share with guests but the best part is I didn't have to make it all!
I did make a delicious beer bread. It's kind of like a banana loaf bread or a pecan bread but I made it with a bottle of beer. Adding the beer just gives it a unique texture and flavor. It went great with all the chili.
I am pretty certain that over the summer I will up the ante for my friends a little and throw a summer salad and cocktail party!
As for the results, each entry scored pretty well. One entry was especially tasty because the maker put cumin and all spice which gave it a sweet taste. The prize turned out to be very simple-a sterling silver ladle, a cookbook and some tasty crackers that go well with the chili.
Although as I pointed out to the winner--it's the title of "best chili" that really matters.
My entry didn't actually win but I will say that the large pot of it that I served in my Crock pot through out the night was completely empty!