Four years ago today, I posted for the first time to Bluebonnets & Brownies, this little blog o’ mine. I couldn’t know then the joy and knowledge it would bring to my life. Or the friendships.

Back when I started B&B, I was more homesick than you could imagine. Two years into our move to New Jersey from England, James and I still only had each other. As you might guess, working from home makes it very difficult to meet new people.

But then I started writing about the foods I missed from back home, and sometimes James’s home favorites too. And suddenly, I was part of a community. The food blogging community saved me from a lot of unhappiness, a lot of loneliness.

Over the past four years, I’ve learned so much about myself, about food, and recipes, and baking, and that building a group of friends is much like perfecting a recipe. Over time, the ingredients work so harmoniously, becoming that perfect recipe you dreamed of.
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Read the rest of Happy Anniversary to B&B! Giveaway: Le Creuset French Oven in Dune (643 words)

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Post tags: anniversary, giveaways, Le Creuset

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If you follow me on any social media, you may have seen my very freaked out statuses a few weeks ago. My dad had a heart attack on a quiet Wednesday, and survived, despite the odds being 98% in the favor of him not doing so.

Since that quiet Wednesday, I have been taking stock of my life. I’ve owned up to some mistakes I’ve made, and apologized to a few people. I’ve taken extra time each day to tell my husband just how very much he means to me.

And I’ve taken more time to be silly, spontaneous, and enjoy moments of quiet respite with a cup of tea.
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Read the rest of Tea Time with Donsuemor (433 words)

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Post tags: dessert, Donsuemor, life, madeleines, Mother's Day, tea

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Lately I’ve become obsessed with Lasagna. Which is weird for me. Growing up, it was one of the few dishes that my nanny did not make well, so much so that it turned me off of it completely. I think it had something to do with the crunchy noodles where they got overcooked. Blech! Or maybe the fact that we eat it EVERY Christmas Eve, and we’re not even Italian… can’t a girl get a good pot roast?

Then, a few years ago when we were living in England, I found a recipe for a lasagna, that while not vegetarian, used thinly sliced zucchini instead of pasta for the separation of layers. I thought it sounded divine, and spent nearly £50 at the shop (that was close to $75 back then) buying all the ingredients, including many of the spices I didn’t have on hand.

James took one bite, declared it too cheesy, and made himself soup for dinner.

As you can imagine, after all of that, I was kind of off lasagna for good. But then a couple weeks ago, we had zucchini and mushrooms, and Italian-Style Ground Turkey hanging out in the fridge, along with some leftover ricotta from a recipe test for a friend. I don’t know what came over me, but I decided to make lasagna!
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Read the rest of Sausage Vegetable Lasagna & Chinet Disposable Bakeware (1,217 words)

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Post tags: lasagna, one dish dinners, pasta, reviews, tomatoes

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Raise your hand if you love mangoes, but they’ve always intimidated you! Up until a few weeks ago, I would have raised my hand.

Every time I’ve had mango in a restaurant, I’ve loved it to bits. But I always passed it over in the supermarket – a funny foreign ingredient that I’d never use effectively. How wrong I was!

A lovely box of all sorts of mangoes arrived courtesy of the National Mango Board, and the smell alone led me down the path of google searches galore searching for recipes.
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Read the rest of Mini Mango Hazelnut Cardamom Bread (723 words)

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Post tags: baking, bread, Breakfast, Desserts, fruit, mangoes, quick breads

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It’s that time again, time for a Secret Recipe Club reveal!

This month I was assigned Itzy’s Kitchen, written by Erica, mom to the most adorable baby girl, Kaylin, and an English Bulldog named Frank. My pal Maegan would be so in love with Frank!

It didn’t take me long to settle on a recipe. With a title like Waffles of Insane Greatness, how could I not?!
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Read the rest of Secret Recipe Club: Apple Cinnamon Waffles (476 words)

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Post tags: Breakfast, Mother's Day, Secret Recipe Club, waffles

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Sometimes inspiration comes in the form of the desperate need not to waste food. Sure, I could throw those bananas in the freezer, but there they would languish, forgotten, until they become freezer burnt beyond all recognition.

As I was baking up treats for the Great American Bake Sale I looked around my kitchen and realized I had both bananas and mangoes on their way to a sad end.

Ever the Type-A overachiever, I decided to add two more baked goods to our bake sale roster; Banana Toffee Walnut Bread and Mango Cardamom Hazelnut Bread. Before I even started mixing ingredients, I grabbed the silicone “dessert bar” pan out of my cupboard, and knew that finally, finally I was going to make that dastardly pan work for me.
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Read the rest of Mini Banana Toffee Walnut Bread (535 words)

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Post tags: baking, bananas, bread, Breakfast, quick breads

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You’re not tired of me talking about how much I love coffee, are you? Good. Because I’ve got a whole new obsession to tell you about, and a nice little giveaway too.

Donut Shop coffee harkens back to the old doughnut shops of the 50′s and 60′s. Bold, strong, with exactly the right depth of flavor, Donut Shop is exactly the coffee you want at the start of your day or the end of your night (conveniently, it comes in Decaf too).
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Read the rest of Giveaway: Keurig Platinum Brewer & Donut Shop Coconut Mocha Coffee (373 words)

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Post tags: giveaways, Green Mountain Coffee, Keurig, Keurig K-Cup Ambassador

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This past Saturday, a few other bloggers and myself put on the central New Jersey chapter of the Share Our Strength Great American Bake Sale.

What is the Great American Bake Sale, you ask? Well, it all starts with the fact that 1 in 5 children go hungry every day in America, one of the wealthiest nations on the planet. Share Our Strength initiated bake sales across the nation, by food bloggers and non-food bloggers alike, to help raise funds and awareness to feed children across the nation.

For the past couple of years, on a (hopefully) sunny Saturday in April, food bloggers across the nation have organized bake sales together in a combined effort to bring light to this issue. Plus, it gives us a chance to hang out with each other and bake – obviously one of our favorite things to do.
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Read the rest of The Great American Bake Sale (437 words)

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Post tags: baking, Blogging Events, charity

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James and I are huge fans of brinner. This hybrid of breakfast and dinner, brinner typically means we’re having bacon and eggs or breakfast tacos around 8 p.m.

One of the highlights of brinner for me is that typically it takes little to no effort to accomplish, and we’re always left feeling happy and full.

I spotted this recipe for “Grandma Mack’s Breakfast Delight” on Sargento’s website, and I knew we’d be having it soon, and we’d definitely be having it in the evening hours.
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Read the rest of Grandma Mack’s Breakfast Delight (419 words)

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Post tags: Breakfast, brinner, eggs, mains, Sargento, sponsored posts

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Flash freezing is one of those things that, once you know how to do it, you’re going to do it with everything.

And you’re probably going to want to go out and buy a bigger freezer. I know I did.

Flash freezing might sound technical, but it is a really simple process. You can flash freeze pretty much anything you want, from meats and poultry to fruits and vegetables – even cookie dough.
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Read the rest of Nuts & Bolts: Flash Freezing (426 words)

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Post tags: flash freezing, fruits, nuts & bolts, preserving, vegetables

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