It’s funny how our tastes change as we get older, isn’t it? I used to hate having things in my muffins. In fact, I used to pretty much make muffins that resembled as close to a breakfast cupcake as possible. Plain Jane muffins, delicious, but not really substantial.

As I’ve aged, I’ve realized I want more out of my breakfast. Instead of something that’s filling, I want a hearty breakfast with substance to sustain me until lunch time. Those breakfast cupcake muffins I used to make weren’t going to cut it. I needed a muffin recipe full of good for me ingredients that also doubled as a filling and substantial start to my day….

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The other day I was feeling a bit full of myself, bragging about my love of baking and how even the summer heat doesn’t keep me from turning on the oven. Then, I went into my kitchen and whipped up a loaf of this Pistachio Avocado Quick Bread, loaded with those shelled Diamond Pistachio Nuts I told you about when I made that amazing Toffee Brittle. This loaf bakes for an hour in a pretty hot oven. As I was cleaning up in the kitchen, and sweat was dripping off my forehead, I started thinking “maybe I’m not actually cut out for baking in the summer heat!” I was miserably hot…and our air conditioner was on! Or so I thought… turns out our air conditioner was broken and my love for summer baking was not. I recovered, our air conditioner got fixed, and I went on to boast my fondness for baking in the summer!…

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Before I start my post, about how much I love Kansas Farmers and share this fabulous Bacon Cheddar Bay Beer Bread Biscuit recipe with you, I wanted to pass on this bit of news with you…

See that banner? Yes, the one that says you can win BACON for a year? Well click on it and find out how to enter the Show Us Your Bacon contest the Kansas Pork Association is hosting over on their facebook page. Can you imagine winning a years supply of bacon? Oh the goodness that will be coming from your kitchen with that much bacon is unimaginable! If you win, you’ll have to share with me, ok? 🙂

Now that you’ve entered the contest (right?), is it possible for me to wrangle you back in with some talk of bacon recipes and how blessed we are to have hard working farmers in our lives?…

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Friends, we need to talk about eggnog. Specifically, where you are on the love / hate scale with it?

Eggnog is one of those things where each year around this time, I get incredibly tempted by the freshly stocked shelves of eggnog. Things go down exactly like this…

1. I purchase a 1/2 gallon of eggnog
2. As soon as I get it home, I have one small glass
3. As soon as I finish drinking that one glass, I remember I really don’t love eggnog
4. I spend the next week using my eggnog in recipes, because I do really like the flavor of eggnog, just not actual eggnog itself.

…

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You’ll have to excuse the inappropriateness of this post. I fully understand your position.. it’s 100 zillion degrees outside and the last thing you want to be tempted with is something that requires you to turn on your oven.

Baking. In the heat of the summer. Who does that?

I do!

And you should too.

Here’s an oldie but goodie (blogged before on Dine & Dish) recipe to get you in the mood…classic Beer Bread. Not the kind you mix up from a box, but just as simple.

Turn on your oven and heat things up even more. It’s so worth it. I promise!

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Buttery Beer Bread

Beer bread with a thick, buttery crust and tender inside. Quick, easy and so delicious!

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour sifted (not packed)
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 12 ounce can or bottle of beer
• 1 stick butter melted

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375°F
• In a medium bowl and using a wire whisk, sift together all dry ingredients.
• Add beer and stir with a wooden spoon until well incorporated.
• Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and pour beer bread batter into pan.
• Pour melted butter over the top of the beer bread batter.
• Bake for 1 hour.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan.

The post Heat it Up {Recipe: Beer Bread} appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Weekends at our house are a time for more leisurely breakfasts… things that require more effort than the opening of a box and pouring of cereal and milk into a bowl. Weekends are for stirring, sifting, baking… the smell of bacon or sausage wafting up the stairs, rousing the kids enough that they come into the kitchen and eagerly ask “what are you making for breakfast, mom?”…

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I dropped my kids off at school today, got in the car and practically cheered. I love having my kids home, but for the past three days there has been nothing but bickering and meanness coming out of their mouths towards each other.

It’s funny how when you have kids, you have the first one and you think you have it all figured out, then you have another one and you realize, “hey… God sent me someone different!” I have four kids, as many of you know, and they are all about as different as can be. Jacob is my shy, goofy, smart, loving one. Kelly is my little mama… she is a nurturing, caring, sweet martyr. Ella beats to her own drum… she is so funny, spirited, snuggly and warmhearted. Leah is still growing into who she is going to be, but right now I would describe her as inquisitive, charming and spunky. 4 kids blended together in one family, all with completely different personalities. It’s no wonder they bicker so much. However, you know what? They have an equal number of days where they get along splendidly… best friends that can’t be separated. They want to sit by each other at dinner, sleep in the same bed, do everything together. Best buds.

Sometimes when you blend together certain ingredients, you would think it wouldn’t be good because the flavors are so different. Then you take a taste and discover that yes… as different as those ingredients are, they certainly blend well together.

This recipe for Triple Chocolate Malt Bread is kind of that way. Chocolate, malt, cinnamon…flavors that are certainly bold enough to stand on their own but blended together they create a beautiful medley of flavors that is so different, subtle and so unexpected you go back in for another bite just so your mouth can explore some more.

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Triple Chocolate Malt Bread

Triple Chocolate Malt Quick Bread

Author Dine & Dish

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups milk chocolate chips melted
• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1-1/2 cups cinnamon applesauce
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup chocolate malt powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Glaze:
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate mini chips
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons half-and-half cream
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup chocolate malt powder
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

• In a microwave-safe bowl, melt 1 cup chocolate chips; set aside to cool. In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and cooled chocolate; mix well. Add applesauce and vanilla; set aside. Combine the flour, chocolate malt powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in the remaining chocolate chips.
• Spoon into four mini loaf pans sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing to wire racks.
• For glaze, melt chocolate chips and butter in a small heavy saucepan; stir in cream. Remove from the heat; stir in confectioners' sugar, chocolate malt powder, vanilla and salt. Drizzle over warm breads. Cool completely.

The post Differences {Recipe: Triple Chocolate Malt Bread} appeared first on Dine and Dish.

I have been blogging for almost four years now, and while I am no expert at all to food blogging, I have seen a lot of things as the food blogging niche has completely exploded into something beyond belief. When I first started blogging, there was a small, intimate handful of us. Now, there are more food blogs than any one person can keep track of… it has gotten quite insane!

What I have noticed over the years, however, is there seems to be two different groups of bloggers. Neither “type” of blogger is good or bad… there are just two totally different philosophies on how they will build their blog.

One type of blogger is the blogger who is all about growth and development of their blog. It is all business and getting to the top of the mountain with ultimate success and financial reward as their main motivation. They are not in it to build friendships. They are not in it to assist others. They are in it for themselves and to become a brand name in food blogging. They believe the information they have is proprietary and they don’t really want to share their blogging tips, photography tips, etc. because it might help to make someone more successful than them. Twitter and other social media outlets are used as a marketing tool versus a chance to engage with others. This isn’t saying that they aren’t nice and kind… there are many bloggers who fall into this category who are some of the nicest people in the world. Their motivation when it comes to blogging is just purely business.

The other type of blogger is the one who thrives on building a community of people to help and support each other with their blogging efforts. They rally around each other, celebrate successes, promote each others blog posts, and do not see the other bloggers as competition. They look at working mostly with PR companies and brands that want long term, mutual relationship.  Their first thought isn’t “what’s in it for me” but instead “what’s in it for us”? Sure, it may take them longer to make it to the top of the mountain, but more than likely they won’t be standing there alone…they’ll have a support network of people they’ve built relationships with standing around them cheering them on.

One of my personal goals with blogging is to help as many people as possible find their way along their own, authentic blogging path. This is one of the reasons why I started Adopt a Blogger a little over three years ago. I wanted people to have a person they could trust and count on to provide that sense of community in this big blogging world. Adopt a Blogger will be launching again this month with a new website and a new format! I hope, if you are new or experienced, you’ll join me in building up our blogging community.

I am also excited to announce that I will be speaking about the value of building a blogging community at the BlogHer Food 2010 Conference in San Francisco. I’ll be on a panel with some bloggers that I truly admire: Elise from Simply Recipes, Ree from The Pioneer Woman and Alaina Browne of Serious Eats (I know… pinch me now. I am so lucky to be paired with such a great group of talented ladies!)

So with that, I leave you with this thought (and a link to a killer banana bread recipe from Simply Recipes). What kind of blogger are you? Do the actions you do everyday in regards to your blog speak volumes to the world about how you want to be perceived as a blogger?

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