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Recipe: Bold Chex Mix

I’ve shared this recipe before, but it’s hidden on a post with other stuff, so I felt it was time to give it its own time to shine.

There are a lot of things I look forward to during the holiday season, and one of those things is this Chex Mix.

Could I make it anytime? Yes.

Do I? Nope.

It’s not fancy, but it’s something we anticipate every holiday season. Here’s how to make my bold Chex Mix.

Ingredients:
– 3 cups each of wheat, rice, and corn Chex cereal (off brand is fine!)
– 8 oz. of butter
– 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
– 2 tablespoons seasoned salt
– 1 teaspoon garlic powder
– 1 teaspoon onion powder
– whatever else you’d like to add: pretzels, nuts, crackers, etc.

Recipe:
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
2. Melt 8 tablespoons of butter.
3. In a large bowl, combine the melted butter with the Worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. Stir.
4. Pour in the Chex cereal plus whatever additions you have.
5. Stir until the butter mixture coats the cereal well.
6. Pour cereal onto a baking sheet and spread evenly.
7. Bake for 60 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.
8. Transfer to parchment paper or newspaper to cool.
9. Once completely cool, store in an airtight container.

You can do this in the microwave, and it saves a lot of time. I used to do it like this, but I think the oven gives it a better flavor. If you want to microwave, do 15-20 minutes in the bowl, stirring every 5 minutes.

As you can tell from the ingredient amounts, this is a garlicky, salty Chex Mix. If you don’t like loud flavors, this will not be the recipe for you. This is like the original recipe from the side of the Chex Mix cereal box, but turned up about 10 times. Make sure you have a glass of water on standby.

I like to include a bag of this with my holiday cookie deliveries. It’s a nice savory balance to sweets. I’d make this for your next holiday party or gathering. Just set it on the table with all the other snacks and see what happens.

Then share this link with everyone because it’s gonna be a hit. I promise.

the best rice crispy treats you’ll ever eat

That’s a bold title, but I’m actually really confident in this assertion. These are the best rice crispy treats you’ll ever eat. Just do exactly as I say and you, too, will be the hit of every party, gathering, or after school snack.

A few things before we begin. (I’m not going to tell you a long story about how I visited a beautiful marshmallow field in the spring of 1989 where I discovered the perfect fluffy morsels. I promise.) These are very specific tips to make these little squares of heaven the best they can be.

Tip #1: Don’t buy name brand cereal. The name brand has a coating on them that makes the rice crispies less absorbent. You want the off-brand rice crispies for maximum absorbency. I prefer the Aldi brand, but Wal-mart, Kroger, etc. will probably work too.

Tip #2: If you want to brown the butter, do it. When I brown my butter, the rice crispy treats get a little crunchy on top which you might like. If you want a softer rice crispy, don’t brown the butter. I think both ways are good and, depending on time and the way the wind is blowing, I’ll do one or the other.

Tip #3: My recipe calls for a whole box of cereal. This is going to make a lot of rice crispy treats. This is a good thing, but they definitely won’t fit in a 9×13 pan. I prefer a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for this recipe.

Tip #4: When you add in the cereal, you can remove the pot from the heat or leave it. Either is fine, but the end result will be a little different. If you leave it on, the mixture will melt the final marshmallows into little pockets of goodness. If you remove it from the heat, the final marshmallows will retain more of their original shape. Do whichever way you like.

Tip #5: When you transfer the mixture to the cookie sheet, don’t mash it down. You want fluffy, airy rice crispy treats so just pour the goodness out as evenly as you can and try not to mess with it too much. If I have to spread it and the spatula isn’t working, I grab another piece of parchment paper and use that to spread it. It doesn’t stick to the parchment.

Okay, that’s it. Here’s what you need:
– 12 ounces rice crispy cereal (about 12 cups)
– 30 ounces of mini marshmallows (or three bags)
– 12 tablespoons of butter (1 1/2 sticks)
– 1 teaspoon salt
– 1 teaspoon vanilla

Don’t argue about these amounts or question them. Don’t let that evil little voice inside your head say that’s just too many marshmallows. We don’t accept that kind of negativity here.

Directions:
1. Spread parchment paper over a baking sheet and set aside.
2. In a large pot, melt butter on medium-low heat. Brown if you’re feeling fancy.
3. Add about 25 ounces of marshmallows, reserve 5 ounces for later.
4. Stir constantly so marshmallows and butter don’t burn. Once marshmallows are completely melted, add salt and vanilla.
5. Add rice crispies and stir until mixture coats the cereal. (See note above about whether or not you want to remove the pot from heat when you do this.)
6. Add in the remaining 5 ounces of marshmallows and stir until incorporated.
7. Transfer to the parchment-lined baking sheet. Spread it as evenly as possible without smashing the mixture down. Air is your friend here.
8. Let cool and enjoy.

These don’t last long in our house and there are never leftovers if we take them somewhere, but if you do need to store them, it’s best to let them cool completely, cut them into squares, and store them in an airtight container. I use parchment paper to separate the layers, otherwise they will all stick together.

If you make these, let me know what you think!

2021 Ultimate Holiday Baking Menu

The night before Thanksgiving, a friend and I sat at my kitchen table. We talked about kids and travel plans. We talked about changing family dynamics and grief. We talked about what we were learning, what we were struggling with, and what Christmas traditions we wanted to continue this year.

And, most importantly, we talked about what we were going to bake for the holidays. My friend showed up with a stack of recipes, ingredients to try a new cookie, and a bag of candy we needed to sample.

Holiday baking is serious business. That night, we compared notes, edited plans, and did a few experiments. Yes, the next day was Thanksgiving, but the cookies and candy we were going to eat in December were already center stage. Nothing some middle-aged moms love more than baking in December.

Here’s my 2021 plan for holiday goodies. Some of these are regulars that show up every year (looking at you, chocolate chip cookies and zesty Chex Mix) and some of them are new additions (decadent rice crispy treats and Chelsea’s chocolate peanut butter balls), but they’re all delicious and deserve a spot in your cookie jar this season.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
If I leave these out, the people will revolt. Here’s the recipe. If you follow me on IG, you can see a Reel later this week with all my tricks and tips to make them.

Decadent Rice Krispies Treats
Full disclosure, my friend Christine perfected this recipe. I’d been using a different one, because I wanted something a little more gooey than the traditional ones. Then we went camping this summer, and she brought a batch of these with her. I think my family finished off the whole container before the second night. These are grown up, richer Rice Krispie treats. A million times better than the ones you had as a kid. (Also, this recipe calls for the whole box of cereal and whole bags of mini marshmallows. Nothing more annoying than using half a box of cereal or marshmallows and then letting the rest sit until they go stale. We don’t really use those things for much else in our house, so being able to make a large batch and have nothing left to store until I decide to throw it away is a bonus.)

Ingredients:
1 box (10 oz.) of Rice Krispies
12 tablespoons of butter
3 bags (10 oz.) of mini marshmallows
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
– Melt butter in a large pot. Browning it just ups the flavor, but it’s not necessary.
– Reserve 3 cups of marshmallows then pour the rest in the pot with the butter.
– Slowly melt the marshmallows, stirring continuously.
– Once the marshmallows are melted, add the salt and vanilla.
– Remove from heat and add the Rice Krispies, stirring until the cereal is coated in the marshmallow mixture.
– Then add the remaining marshmallows into the pot and incorporate.
– Transfer the cereal mixture to a greased pan or cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. (This makes a lot! Don’t pick a small pan.)
– Spread the cereal mixture out evenly; don’t mash it down, you want the treats to be airy and gooey, not packed in and completely solid.
– Let cool and enjoy!

Extra Credit Additions:
Add in mini chocolate chips with the 3 cups of mini marshmallows if you’re feeling fancy. My friend Christine buys the bulk bags of Lucky Charms marshmallows from Rural King and throws those in there. (They also sell the tiny marshmallows, the kind you see in hot chocolate packets. Those would be fun too!) Throw in sprinkles, whatever your little heart desires. If you don’t want to add more stuff to mix in, just add the chocolate or sprinkles to the top. You can’t really mess these up.

White Chocolate Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
I first saw this recipe years ago on the side of an Ocean Spray dried cranberry package. I’ve been making them a few times a year ever since. Every time I make these, I think the dough looks too dry and I’ve done something wrong…then I try one for quality control purposes and they’re perfect. So don’t freak out if you’re used to wetter dough, these work their magic in the oven and come through in the end.

Chelsea’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls
I grew up eating buckeyes at family Christmas gatherings. Both my grandmas made them, so we were never without and that made me feel #blessed. But I’d never made them; they didn’t seem like a thing I should make. It might ruin the magic. But then my friend Chelsea shared this recipe and I finally took the plunge last year. She uses Rice Krispies in her balls so they are lighter than the traditional ones you might have grown up eating. What’s great about this is you can eat more of them. One traditional buckeye and you’re done because they’re super rich. These peanut butter balls? 3-4 with ease. Don’t make these too far in advance of your holiday gathering though, because they will not last. I’m serious. Be careful.

Puppy Chow (or Muddy Buddies for people who like to be wrong)
I made a batch of Puppy Chow last year on a whim with leftover cereal, and the girls went crazy for it. I forgot how delicious it is and how fun it is to make. Here’s the recipe I used. We just sprinkled this in cookie containers as filler, but putting it in cute bags and tying it with some ribbon is a fancy touch if you’re in the mood to impress.

Chocolate-Covered Oreos
Okay, so this recipe is a little more intense than I normally do, but I love the look of the sticks with it, so I’m sharing it in case you do too. If you just want to coat some Oreos in melted chocolate and add some sprinkles, do that. This recipe has all the information you’ll need. The girls love helping with these!

Chocolate-Covered Pretzel Rods
This is similar to the Oreos, so if you like the idea of holiday treats, but baking isn’t really your jam, these should work for you. Also, they just look pretty and festive. For a fun twist, bag a few of these in a Christmas baggies and top your gifts with them.

Rolo Pretzel Turtles
These are classics and super easy. If you feel like baking is hard and everything always ends up ruined, start here. Low heat in the oven with lots of pre-made things. You’re literally just warming up some stuff. I bought my bag of Rolos too early this season and have to pick up another one this weekend to be able to make these. But no regrets, honestly. Those Rolos supported me well.

Iced Sugar Cookies
Make this dough the day before you want to roll out the cookies and bake them for the best flavor. Here’s the recipe. Ice with whatever your heart desires, you can’t really go wrong with these cookies. (Side story: this is a recipe my mom got from a friend when I was in elementary school. The lady was a home ec teacher and knew her cookies. This recipe calls for Crisco and you just have to go with it. Don’t ask questions.)

Zesty Chex Mix
My family LOVES this stuff. It’s really bold, so if you don’t like garlicky, salty treats, skip this one. For everyone else, make a few batches with this recipe and take it to all your holiday gatherings. Your breath will be kickin’ afterward, but it’s worth the sacrifice. (I normally make 3-4 batches to use up all the cereal. Otherwise, it’s just goes to waste because no one eats it for breakfast.) This one will be on Instagram this week too, if that’s your jam.

Banana Bread
I make banana bread all the time. It’s a great way to use up bananas that no one ate, and the bread freezes really well. I’ve shared before that I believe in the ministry of banana bread. If someone is hurting or sick or just having a bad Tuesday, I’ll grab a loaf or two from the freezer and deliver it to them. You can do this too or whip up a batch for Christmas morning. I use a four-loaf stone from Pampered Chef to make smaller loaves, but this recipe can be made into muffins or one giant loaf as well.

Two new recipes I’m trying this weekend:
Soft Gingerbread Cookies (link)
The girls decorated gingerbread houses about a week ago. While they were working, I realized they’ve never actually had gingerbread cookies. Harper kept licking her house, which was edible, but probably not delicious. Then I saw these, and they made my mouth water. We’re trying them out this weekend.

The Very Best Chocolate Cookies (link)
Both the gingerbread cookie recipe and this one are from Pinch of Yum. She always has recipes that look delicious, now we get to see if they actually are. (I have no doubt they’re good, I’m just being dramatic.) I need to grab a few ingredients to be able to make these and then it.is.on.

The girls and I love to spend a long weekend in December baking and watching cringe-worthy Christmas movies. We buy a few DIY Christmas ornament kits from the craft store and assemble ornaments. Sunday afternoon, we pack up all the goodies topped with homemade ornaments, jump in the car, and drive around the city dropping off packages of deliciousness to all our favorite people. We put Elf on the TV, sing Christmas carols at the top of our lungs, and try to sneak onto front porches without getting caught (with the prevalence of Ring doorbells and cameras, this is actually pretty challenging!).

For me, this is reminiscent of the Christmas cookie Tupperware my grandma would drop off every December to our house when I was a kid. We’d come home and find the huge bin sitting on the chest freezer in our garage. It was a mad dash into the house to open the container and grab your favorite sweets before someone else did (buckeyes and the green shortbread cookies with red sprinkles, please and thank you; if you chose wrong and got the chocolate coconut balls, it was acceptable to immediately barf them into the trash can. Sorry, Grandma).

I hope my friends aren’t barfing our holiday creations into the trash can, but who knows. They’re all nice enough not to mention that part if they are. But I’m actually pretty confident you could make anything on this list and it would be met with nothing but love. Last year a friend was having a particularly challenging time, so we returned to her house a few days later with another package of cookies. So maybe make a few extras and keep them on hand for holiday parties and emergency emotional support. Because, truly, everyone loves holiday treats.

Let’s Eat

It’s the middle of August and the gardens are overflowing. Finally, after months of watering, weeding, pruning, and whispering sweet nothings into their little plant ears, we have buckets of produce coming from the gardens.

But what do we do with all of it?

I love a cheeseburger and a salad as much as the next person, but I can’t eat them for every meal to keep up with all the tomatoes I’ve got. And truthfully, by now, I’m completely over cucumbers. Who even likes them? I don’t anymore. Get them away from me.

August is when I’ve got enough of everything to start prepping for winter. I love eating fresh from the garden in the summer, but there’s something deeply satisfying about preparing food you’ll eat later when the days are short and we’re wearing sweatshirts.

I think it’s important to mention I don’t can things. Everything I prep for winter can be frozen or is shelf-stable for a few months before we eat it. I don’t have the desire to can food that will last for years. I grow what we can eat this year (summer and winter), and then I grow it again next year. I don’t want to dedicate tons of shelf space to 2019’s tomatoes or 2017’s jalapenos. Plus, I like to give a lot of what I grow away. Thinking I have to keep everything to prep for years to come limits the amount of food I can share with friends, family, and strangers. I don’t want to keep creating things that only benefit me and my family.

Okay, so here’s what I consistently do with our garden produce. I’ll add things to this list as I try them or find new favorites. Some things are recipes I’ve created or tweaked, some are things I’ll link to from others, and some are just super simple that don’t really need directions. Also! There are lots of great things to do with this food that I might be missing, this is not a comprehensive list. It’s more of a starting place that teaches you some of the yummy things you can do with your veggies. And finally: you don’t even need a garden to make all of this stuff. Can’t garden? Don’t want to garden? No big deal, just grab your produce from a local farmer’s market or grocery store. There’s no shame in not wanting to grow your own food. We all love delicious things to eat and that’s the point here.

Tomatoes
I grow grape and cherry tomatoes then some variety of big ones. This year they’re big boys, last year they were beefsteak. I don’t really think you can go wrong with whatever you pick. I like the small ones because you can put them on salads and pizza really easily. I halve them and add them to any pasta or tomato dish I’m making. I LOVE to halve them, lightly salt them, and then slow roast them in the oven at 250. It takes 2-3 hours, but they get super sweet and delicious. Some years, I’ll store them in a jar with olive oil and garlic cloves (the oil preserves them). Right now, I’m keeping a container in the fridge to eat with eggs or so I can just pop a few on my plate with every meal. They literally taste like candy, no lie.

I use the pizza sauce recipe found in Homegrown and Handmade by Deborah Niemann for tomato sauce and pizza sauce. I don’t normally have 45 lbs of tomatoes at one time, I just don’t plant that many, but I halve or quarter the recipe and it’s amazing. I just let it simmer a little less if I want pasta sauce and a little longer if I want pizza sauce. You can’t really mess it up; I do like to throw in more crushed red peppers sometimes to make spicy pizza sauce. It’s so good I could eat it with a spoon.

I started making a tomato soup recipe last summer from a recipe I found on Instagram. I’ve tweaked it slightly and it’s great because you can basically throw in any vegetable you have and it works:

Tomato soup
14 oz. tomatoes (canned or fresh)
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper
1 celery stalk, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 cup chicken broth (use vegetable stock if you don’t want animal products)
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 cup basil

-Preheat oven to 450 degrees
-Spread halved tomatoes on a baking sheet, add salt & pepper, and 1/4 cup EVOO
-roast for 25 minutes
-heat remaining oil in saucepan and add celery, onion, carrot, and garlic (zucchini is good here too! basically any vegetable can be thrown in)
-cook veggies until soft, about 10 minutes
-add roasted tomatoes and juice, broth, bay leaf, and butter
-simmer for 15-20 minutes until tender
-add basil
-puree with an immersion blender or let it cool slightly and use a food processor in small batches

I store this in quarters in the freezer and we eat delicious, homemade tomato soup all winter long. If you’re feeling fancy, you can add some heavy cream to the soup when you reheat it.

I feel like it would be illegal to skip the suggestion to make salsa, so here it is. I don’t have a specific recipe to suggest. Just chop up lots of tomatoes, onions, jalapeños, garlic, and green peppers. Add cilantro, lime juice, and more salt than you feel is healthy. Then let it sit in the fridge overnight or eat it immediately. Either way, you can’t go wrong.

Cucumbers
Every summer, I have way more cucumbers than necessary and I promise next summer I’ll plant less. So then I plant less and the plants just produce more. It’s like a curse. Besides just eating them fresh, I love these two recipes: Thai cucumber salad and Shannan Martin’s 10-minute refrigerator pickles.

Thai cucumber salad from my aunt
Dressing ingredients:
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. salt
-combine the above ingredients in a bowl and set aside

Combine in a second bowl:
2 large cucumbers, peeled and sliced
3 green onions
1/4 cup chopped peanuts

-pour dressing over cucumber mixture, stir, and enjoy (this is good to eat immediately or after a few hours in the fridge; it doesn’t stay crunchy if you let it sit a day or two)

For Shannan’s DELICIOUS cucumbers, you’ll need to go to her Instagram account. Watch her quick video and then screenshot the recipe. I could explain it here, but you need to get all her tips that I don’t have. I feel pretty strongly about this recipe. I’ve tried countless pickle recipes over the years and nothing has been that great. Ellie is obsessed with pickles and eats a few jars a week. I’ve never been able to make homemade pickles she’ll eat until now. Also, I don’t even like pickles that much, but now I’m eating these for breakfast and lunch with sharp cheddar and some roasted tomatoes. It feels like the most decadent treat.

Jalapeños
This is my go-to pickled jalapeños recipe. The first time I made them, I realized how gross store-bought jalapeños were and vowed to never ever buy them again. We ran out this summer before the jalapeños were ready and buying a jar at the grocery store physically hurt.

I don’t have a specific jalapeños poppers recipe, but that’s another way I use up a lot of our peppers. We had poppers and Spanish rice for dinner just this week. I let some peppers grow bigger on the vein so they hold a good amount of the meat mixture. I also slice and freeze bigger ones for winter. I make sure we always have a batch for the Super Bowl in February and we’ll eat them about once a month as well.

Then the normal suspects: in salsa, on meat in the crockpot, in soup, on eggs, etc.

Butternut squash
This is my first year growing butternut squash. I go out at least once a day to stare at the 15-ish squash ripening on my arches and get so happy. I’m specifically growing all these for this spicy Thai butternut squash soup recipe. I could eat it every day topped with a little Everything But the Bagel seasoning and die a happy woman. I am very dedicated to this soup and have a hard time sharing it with my family, because they don’t appreciate it like they should.

(I’m also growing acorn squash this year. Last year, I grew delicata sqaush. I always try random recipes online when they’re ready to eat, but I consistently come back to slicing them, drizzling sesame seed oil on them, and then roasting them. I could eat them straight off the pan. Okay, not “could,” I DO eat them straight off the pan.)

Zucchini & Yellow Squash
I throw zucchini and yellow squash in everything I make in the summer. Stir fry? Check. Soup? Check. Rice? Check. Omelet? Check. Also, just sautéing it with some onions and EVOO is a delicious side. I make this zucchini bread and freeze it for the winter. (There’s a really good chocolate zucchini bread recipe on that link if you’re into cake for breakfast like I am.)

I enjoy making this southern squash casserole every summer even though my family hates it. I don’t have a favorite recipe, but making squash fritters is always a hit with yellow squash. I can’t seem to ever grow a variety that has soft skin, so I end up peeling mine before using them, but it doesn’t seem to mess up any recipes.

Tomatillos
I grow tomatillos specifically for this roasted tomatillo salsa recipe. It is to die for. I make batches to freeze and then in the winter, if I show up at your house with a container, you know you’re special because this stuff doesn’t just come out for anyone. I ration it all winter so we can never be without. It’s also good to put on chicken and sit in the crockpot all day. Roasted tomatillo salsa chicken is a delicious and easy winter meal.

Truthfully, there are other uses for tomatillos but why even bother? I’ve tried soups before and they were good, but I just can’t quit that salsa. No apologies.

Random Other Stuff
-I grow lots of basil to make pesto. I make it without pine nuts then freeze it in ice cube trays. Once they’re frozen, I store them in freeze bags and pull out a few for dinner when we need it. Pesto pasta is a staple in our house throughout the winter. But it can also be thawed for a charcuterie board, to dip with bread, to put on pizza, etc.
-I grow green peppers every year; mostly I use them for fajitas or soup or salsa, but we also stuff them with rice and meat for dinner or freeze them for later.
-I grow peppermint and spearmint every year, rarely use it, then let it go to seed. This is annoying, and I probably won’t stop doing it.
-This year I grew cubanello peppers for the first time. Just four small plants in pots next to the garden beds. They’re good to throw in with any meat you have in the crockpot. It added a little kick without being super spicy.
-Chris requested banana peppers for the first time this year. I planted four plants and that’s way more than we need. Banana pepper plants are crazy. I’ve just been pickling them for winter, using them for salads, sandwiches, and pizzas now. Also, if we’re friends in real life, I’ve probably tried to give you 3-5 lbs of these recently. I’m so sorry, it’s just that they’re taking over our lives.

This post would seem to indicate we eat a lot of pizza. While I’m not sure that’s completely accurate, I’m very happy to show up on the internet and pretend we eat pizza every day.

DISCLOSURE: Affiliate links used

Just good dirt and some seeds.

When we moved to my grandparents’ land—land they had filled with overflowing gardens—I said I wasn’t interested in gardening. It wasn’t my thing.

By our second summer here, I accidentally had two raised beds. The people renting a house from us moved one weekend without telling us, breaking the lease and leaving behind a house filled with trash, filth, and two newly-built raised beds in the garage.

I brought them home and filled them with dirt. I planted tomatoes, jalapeños, zucchini, yellow squash, cilantro, and basil. I watered and tended to the blooming plants as we spent the summer remodeling the rental house.

It was the first summer Chris was sober. We were overwhelmed with getting a house ready to sell while paying two mortgages. Our girls were miserable as we spent hours upon hours at the rental with no internet or air conditioning.

My two unexpected garden beds felt like a quiet gift in a loud, stressful summer.

2021 is my fourth summer gardening. I’ve learned a lot and still have a ton to learn. Here’s what I’m using this summer in the garden. I get a lot of questions on Instagram about garden stuff and I’m definitely not the best person to ask, but I’ll tell you the little I know. (With the caveat that most of this stuff isn’t necessary. My first summer I had two poorly-built raised beds, some veggies from Home Depot, and a watering can with a crack on the spout. Growing food to eat shouldn’t be complicated or fussy. People with resources tend to overcomplicate things because they can afford to. You don’t need the things I have to grow green peppers and tomatillos. Don’t talk yourself out of gardening if you don’t have much to start with. You really just need good dirt and some seeds.)

My favorite addition to this year’s garden is the squash arches. I’ve been dreaming of them since last summer when vines started taking over my yard. But they’re expensive. So I planted yellow squash, butternut squash, zucchini, and acorn squash thinking I’d just accept another year of vine madness. But then, like a week later, I found this tutorial to make an arch out of PVC pipe and chicken wire. I bought the plans ($5), and for less than $100 we made two arches for the garden.

Hindsight, I’d have put them up *before* planting, but it was too late to dig everything up. So I just had to be a little more patient with letting them grow before I started training them up the wires. But they work great. I spray painted the PVC pipe black because the white stood out too much, but there is no actual reason to do that besides being picky about stuff. The arches I really want are not cheap, but I think I might save up to buy at least one of them. Maybe two, if I’m feeling fancy. But in the meantime, these work perfectly.

(The only thing I’d do differently is not be so great at growing butternut squash because those things are super heavy and while these arches are wonderful, they’re not made to hold 14 growing butternut squash without bending. They don’t break—PVC pipes are made to bend—but things got a little wonky a few weeks ago so I had to take matters in my own hands. So maybe I just need the fancy arch for butternut squash. Because those suckers are heavy. And delicious. Heavy and delicious.) (Also #2: the plans make the arches six feet tall, but I’m six feet tall and with vines, I wasn’t going to be able to walk under them. So we made them seven feet tall. That might have added to the bending factor.)

Another new thing I tried this year is this cucumber trellis. In the spring of 2020, we tore down my two (rotting) raised beds taken from the rental property and built sturdier, larger beds in a different spot. I added two more beds, put gravel around the beds, and surrounded everything with a border. I don’t need more space or bigger beds, but I did need better ways to contain all the vines. The arches were one solution. The cucumber trellis was another.

I really like it. I’m not sure why hanging cucumbers seems like magic, but it does and seeing them grow while dangling in the air is better than watching TV. (Your grandma would agree with me, ask her.) One trellis was enough for me; we get more cucumbers than we can eat and trimming the excess to keep it contained hasn’t stopped it from producing a ton of cukes.

I ordered four of these square tomato cages from Gardeners.com when I got the cucumber trellis. I needed more cages, specifically something heavy to hold up tomatillo plants. Those bad boys get so tall and overflow with fruit. I’m not complaining. But the cages I had were not up to par. These square ones are great.

For Christmas, my friend Jessi got me the cutest gardening apron in the world. Did I even know I needed a gardening apron? Absolutely not. But I did and now I’m not sure how I survived three summers without it.

What do I keep in my cute gardening apron? Thanks for asking. These hand trimmers. This twine. And this plant tie. Good for training butternut squash vines up your new arch or tying jalapeño plants to stakes as they get heavy with peppers.

I have gardening Crocs. (I’m sorry, I can’t find a link to them. Good news: I also have house Crocs.) Please respect my privacy during this time. It’s not how I imagined my life going, but we all just have to roll with the punches. While wearing sensible shoes that we can rinse off at the hose and put into sport mode when the occasion calls.

I don’t use any chemicals on my garden, but I do use Neem oil to try to stay on top of squash bugs and mildew. This year I’ve been more consistent about it and, shockingly, it seems to be working. I dilute the Neem oil with water, but I don’t really need to tell you that. I’m sure you can read the directions just like I did. I believe in you.

The last two things I’m adding to this gardening list aren’t for the garden exactly, but for the bounty. I love growing vegetables, but I grow way more than we need. Even planning our weekly meals around what’s ready and freezing things for winter, I have more than we can eat. (I freeze instead of can; also, I freeze what we’ll eat this winter and that’s it. I don’t have the space or desire to prep for years out. I love these for freezing soup, salsa, giving away, etc.) I really love giving garden harvests away. I ordered these quart produce containers so I can give things away in style.

Okay, that’s it. I’m sitting outside staring at my garden as I write this so I don’t forget anything. It’s dark now and the only light is this computer screen. I’m not sure where the bugs are—it’s been the buggiest summer I can remember—but I’m not going to think too hard about where they’re at. It’s nice to be outside in the evening again. A few weeks ago, we put up a hammock so I can read and nap and hide from my family. We hung it in a cluster of trees, over a bed of hostas I planted last summer. It sounds dreamy. It is. But the bugs have made it nearly impossible to use. Let’s hope they stay gone; I have a fresh stack of books and some reading to catch up on.

DISCLOSURE: AFFILIATE LINKS USED

8 good-for-your-soul books

My reading tends to fall into seasons. Not so much the calendar seasons, but certain weather calls for certain books.

In the summer, I need fiction. Chick lit, murder mysteries, good storytelling–things that make me stay up late and can hold my attention for hours at the pool. I do not need to be challenged or grow from the books I read in the summer, they are for entertainment purposes only.

Maybe it’s because I will forever be conditioned to think of the end of summer and fall as a time for learning, but right now, I’m all about growing and healing and thinking. My current to-read stack is Love Over Fear by Dan White Jr., Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson (a re-read for me), Addiction and Grace by Gerald G. May, MD, Everything Belongs by Richard Rohr, When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron (a book I’ve skimmed but never read all the way through), and Not Quite Healed by Cecil Murphey and Gary Roe. I’ve got some fiction sprinkled in for book clubs and I’m listening to some non-fiction audiobooks, but I’m ready to buckle down and learn as the weather (hopefully) cools off.

Do you have seasons for reading?

I don’t have a rhythm for encouraging books, but I know when I need them. After I read a heavy book or when things in real life feel extra challenging, I can search out books that will soothe my soul and quiet my heart. Maybe you need that right now?

These books are ones I run to when I need hope, freedom, and lightness:

Embracing Weakness: The Unlikely Secret to Changing the World
By Shannon K. Evans

I like this one because it’s short and helpful. I don’t know if it’s just the Enneagram Eight in me, but I need the reminders that weakness isn’t an ugly word. There is a lot of beauty that can actually come from the weak pieces of us, and Evans reminds us that there is power in our weakness if we are followers of Jesus.

The Next Right Thing podcast
Okay, this is a podcast, but there’s a book too so I’m not cheating. I haven’t read the book (it’s on my Christmas list, if you’ve started shopping already…), but the podcast which inspired the book is so good I’m recommending it without reading it. Emily P. Freeman is thoughtful and wise. She doesn’t give you answers, but invites you into the questions so you can, on your own, find the way. There’s almost a therapy-level quiet and safety in her podcasts. Her voice is soothing and her stories always jar something in my heart. If you’re not buying any books this year and the library doesn’t have any of the ones I’m suggesting, just subscribe to this podcast for free and start exploring the archives (a new episode comes out most Mondays). I hope this will be encouraging for your heart.

If you are buying books right now, get this one and let me know how it feels: The Next Right Thing: A Simple, Soulful Practice for Making Decisions by Emily P. Freeman)

Everybody Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Unhappy People
By Bob Goff

Goff is a pleasure to read. His view of this world and life is so joy-filled that you can’t help but want what he has. (He has Jesus, but also an extra spark of something I can’t put my finger on.) I read Bob Goff when I want to remember what open arms can do. Not just because it’s fun, but because it points people to Jesus. His stories are unbelievable and exciting and push me outside my comfort zone in the nicest way possible.

Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace
By Anne Lamott

Often God doesn’t change my circumstances when I ask, He changes my heart. A lot of these books do that for me, but especially Small Victories by Anne Lamott. Beside her ability to craft a good sentence and a great story, I enjoy her reminders about how much grace is all around us if we just pay attention.

Let Me Feed You: Everyday Recipes Offering the Comfort of Home
By Rosie Daykin

Sometimes my heart needs quieted in the kitchen. Let Me Feed You is full of recipes that feel comfortable. I don’t like fussy recipes, things that require me to buy things I’ll never use again. I like cookbooks full of ingredients I normally have and with food my family will actually eat. Pretty pictures do not mean a successful dinner. But this one does it all: gorgeous photos and food the Graham girls devour. I like to borrow cookbooks from the library to try a few recipes before spending the money on them. This one passed the library test and I can’t wait to give it a home on my kitchen shelf. Sometimes what your soul needs is a messy kitchen with something warm in the oven and this book is perfect for that.

Simple Living for a Frantic World
By Brooke MCAlary

When things feel too loud in the world, I walk around my house and make a pile of things to donate to Goodwill. I can’t control the chaotic things outside my front door, but I can make sure my home doesn’t reflect it. I know this isn’t what everyone does, but when I feel extra twisty inside, I turn that energy outward to making my home more cozy. Simple Living for a Frantic World is about that task, about making our lives less full so we don’t get consumed by the world’s pace and energy. This book talks about schedules, boundaries, home, and creating a life we don’t want to escape from. I know what to do to make this happen, but I still enjoy hearing other people’s stories of real life balancing.

Cozy Minimalist Home: More Style, Less Stuff
By Myquillyn Smith

One way I balance the world’s pace is by making home a soft place to land. We’re not home as much as I would like in the fall, but when we do stumble through the back door, you better believe it feels cozy. Cozy Minimalist Home isn’t about stripping the house bare, but quieting rooms so they feel like rest when you’re in them. I grabbed this book as soon as it was released and spent the next two weeks walking around my house taking things off of walls, shelves, and surfaces. Less stuff out meant less stuff to manage. Then I let it sit to see if I missed what I had taken away. Spoiler: I didn’t. And my rooms felt like they could breathe, like there was more space to live. If you’re in a season that feels full and overwhelming, this book will help you quiet your home so you can regain some balance.

Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Living
By Shauna Niequist

Do you have a book you return to when you don’t know what to read? Or when you need a reset? Cold Tangerines is that for me. I’ve read this book countless times in the 10+ years I’ve had it. For me, it opened my eyes to a style of writing and storytelling I didn’t know people were allowed to do. I bought this at a bookstore on a college campus in Louisville, Kentucky right after Chris and I were married. I devoured it. It became a way for me to center myself, remind myself why words matter, and how good words can connect us to others. This is probably not Niequist’s best writing. It is her first published collection of essays and she’s grown and evolved a lot since then, but I still love this book more than the others because of who I was when I discovered it. (Also, if I let you borrow this, please kindly return it. I miss it.)

Do you have a favorite good-for-your-soul book? Do you have seasons for reading different genres? Tell me all your book thoughts please.

*DISCLOSURE: affiliate links used.

The only zucchini bread recipe you’ll ever need.

Heaven is a freezer full of zucchini bread.

It’s in the Bible, somewhere in Song of Solomon, I think. A freezer full of zucchini bread with a good helping of banana bread too.

I make banana bread year round. I live in Indiana where we can’t grow bananas so there’s not really a season to banana bread. But zucchinis? We can do those. We can grow them. We can grow them by the bucket full.

Zucchini challenge accepted.

Yesterday I shared some of the ways I’m using zucchini (and other stuff I’m growing in my garden this summer). But this zucchini bread recipe deserves its own post.

It’s really good.
It needs your full attention.
Let us begin.

Zucchini Bread
-Ingredients:
cinnamon
sugar
salt
flour
soda
baking powder
eggs
vegetable oil
2-3 zucchinis, depending on size
vanilla

-Combine dry ingredients in a bowl:
3 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 cups flour
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder

-In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil

-Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients

-Then add:
3 cups zucchini (thinly shredded or use a food processor to finely chop; I don’t want to see or taste chunks of zucchini.)
1 tsp. vanilla

-Split into 2 loaf pans

-Bake @ 350 for 1 hour (check to make sure the middle is done with a toothpick before removing; this is a dense bread and takes a while to bake)

Eat this warm out of the oven slathered in butter and slide the other loaf in the freeze for winter. You’ll be so thankful you did.


I’m pretty loyal to the above recipe, *but* if I make any other bread with my precious zucchinis, it is chocolate zucchini bread.

I know. Chocolate makes everything better.

I’ve got some freshly-picked zukes on my counter right now, and I’m going to make this bread for the weekend: double chocolate zucchini bread.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE.

Bonus bread: Like I said, I make banana bread all the time, but shockingly, I don’t really eat it. It’s not that I dislike it (it’s really good! *pats self of back*), it’s just not what I would pick to eat if I wanted bread or sugar. I’ve made this chocolate swirl banana bread a few times from Skinnytaste and really like it. I don’t make it in the slow cooker–just follow the oven instructions. I’m way more likely to eat banana bread when it has chocolate in it.

Overflowing gardens

I’m feeding my family from the ground this summer.

Sure, it might be saving me some money on my grocery bill each week, but more importantly, it’s feeding my soul.

Jenny Uglow says, “We might think we are nurturing our garden, but of course, it’s our garden that is nurturing us.”

And I am here to say amen.

Mornings spent pulling weeds and plucking ripe cherry tomatoes off the vine. Evenings spent watering my beds as I processing my day and my heart.

Yesterday I spent over an hour in the noon heat pulling out dead vines and trimming dying leaves. It was good, dirty work, and I could not think of anywhere else I wanted to be.

Last year was my first year gardening with two garden boxes from the rental house we were renovating. Once the season was over, Chris built me two more boxes, bigger than the first two.

In May, I planted zucchinis, cucumbers, yellow squash, green peppers, beefsteak tomatoes, cherry and grape tomatoes, jalapenos, basil, Italian parsley, icebox watermelons, and pumpkins.

When we returned from our 4th of July trip, the garden was ready for its first harvest. I’ve been filling bowls and buckets of produce every few days since then. Sometimes as I’m gathering my veggies, I imagine the Israelite’s wonder at first setting sights on the land of milk and honey, and I wonder if I’m getting a small glimpse of it.

I am overflowing with food.

We are eating as much as we can; I freeze or preserve what we can’t. And even then, I go to every friend’s house, Bible studies, or family gathering with armfuls of veggies to share.

If you’ve seen me this summer, I’ve tried to give you cherry tomatoes and yellow squash. This winter, we’ll eat pesto chicken and chips and salsa once a week.

Where our property line ends, rows of corn begin. By the end of July, we are cocooned in our backyard, surrounded by green trees and tall stalks. Our backyard feels like its own world, safe and still. I say thank you out loud at least once a day for this house, this land, this legacy.

This post is self-serving, to be honest. When my garden beds overflow, I forget all the things I planned to make in the spring. Why did I think I needed so many green pepper plants? What do you do with yellow squash? Do I even like tomatoes?

But then I get to work, refusing to let a single slice of zucchini or jalapeno go to waste. Here’s what I’m doing with my garden hauls this year:

-For dinner, I’ll halve small tomatoes, coat them in olive oil, salt, and garlic powder, then roast for 20-25 at 425 degrees. We’ll eat them straight off the pan before they’re cool, but you can also top any meat you’re serving, put them on homemade pizza, or toss them with some pasta. (I could eat these roasted tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, and some warm pasta for dinner every single night.)

-I’ve also been dehydrating cherry and grape tomatoes in the oven. Store them in the fridge in a jar with olive oil and garlic cloves then eat with pasta, bread, crackers, or a fork right out of the jar. They’d be good (and pretty) added to a charcuterie board too. (Side note: for breakfast this morning, I had buttered toast topped with a fried egg and these sun-dried tomatoes. I stopped at two slices of this delicious toast, but it was a huge exercise in self-control.)

-An Instagram follower shared a tomato confit recipe with me; this is not the recipe I used, but it’s identical except I didn’t use rosemary. I’m storing these in the fridge in a giant Bell jar and using it all the time. This link has a whole list of ways to use the confit. (Also, saying words like “confit” makes me feel professional and adult-ish. It will probably make you feel the same way. Try it.)

–Southern squash casserole with yellow squash. Listen, I have a husband who does not like casseroles. He has a lot of childhood trauma, some serious and some not-very-serious. This casserole issue falls on the serious side. But if you have yellow squash, make this recipe please. I’d describe it as really similar to a cheesy potato casserole. It’s decadent and delicious. I love it. The first time I made it, I planned it to be the main dish in a weekday dinner. That was a mistake; it’s a good side, not a main course. It would be a good substitute for a starchy side or with bacon and eggs in the morning. Plus, you get to crumble saltine crackers on top of it just like your grandma used to do to everything so you just KNOW this is gonna be good.

–Pickled jalapenos! I was drowning in jalapenos last summer and made these as a last-ditch effort to not throw them away. But then we ate them and realized we had not been living our best lives with the store-bought jalapenos. Make these to top hot dogs, tacos, hamburgers, nachos, whatever your heart desires, but you’ll never go back to the rubbery jarred jalapenos from the grocery store.

-Fresh vegetables with ranch dip. Is this common sense? Probably, but I need to give you a tip that will change your life. First of all, do not come at my garden bounty with your bottled ranch dressing. That is insulting. You can make your own buttermilk ranch if you have the time and patience, but I do not. I buy a container of sour cream and TWO packages of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix. Don’t do just one, that’s the downfall of most ranch dips–not enough seasoning. Double up, don’t ask questions, just do it. Double the ranch season packet to one container of sour cream. If you don’t think ranch dip can change your life, we could never be friends in real life. (Confession: my husband doesn’t like ranch dip or dressing. It is only through the grace of God we’ve held on this long.)

-I’ve never grown onions before. I don’t know if you can in Indiana, but I think the effort does not equal the output so I buy them from the store. But I do grow almost everything else I need for salsa: green peppers, tomatoes, jalapenos, and cilantro. Just chop it all up and dump it in there. There’s really no wrong way to do it. If you have a lime, squeeze it in too. Add a lot more salt than you think you need. Add garlic and then eat it. I’ve been freezing salsa to eat once the garden is done; throw the salsa in the Crockpot with some chicken, pour some in your fall chili. There’s no wrong way, really.

-Loads of zucchini become: bread! using the recipe I’ll share tomorrow. (I just tried to type it out here, and it was a disaster so I need to make the recipe its own post.) Cake! I was at a cookout on Sunday where someone made chocolate cake using zucchini bread. I was cautious about eating it because when I’m eating cake, I don’t want it to be ruined with something healthy, but it was actually really good. So now I’m on board with zucchini chocolate cake and going to try this recipe soon. (Don’t click on that link if you’re craving sugar. The pictures of the cake might actually kill you.) A side dish! I love chopping up zucchini, onions, and yellow squash and grilling it or sauteing it. It’s the perfect summer side for any meal.

-I planted three basil plants this spring in preparation for loads of pesto-making. I follow this recipe loosely, but don’t use nuts. I really just like the basil, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and olive oil, but you can do whatever you want. I make a huge batch of it, put it in ice cube trays, freeze it, then pop the frozen cubes into a large ziplock baggies. All winter I’ll throw a couple cubes in recipes or thaw for a dipping sauce whenever I need it. (I grew an obnoxious amount of Italian parsley this summer and you can also make pesto with parsley. Sometimes I do half basil, half parsley to use upwhat I have.)

-I’m also blanching lots of green peppers and jalapenos. I’ve made jalapeno poppers for a few meals, but I want to save some for football season so I’ve cored and sliced them, given them a quick cook in boiling water, then popped them in the freeze so I can fill them with meat and cheese on a Sunday afternoon in the winter.

-Chili bags: I’m sure there’s a better name for that, but I’m too lazy to think much about it. I filled quart freezer bags with diced tomatoes (cherry or grape), green peppers, and a few jalapenos then put them in the freezer so I can pull out a bag, dump it in a pot for chili or any other soup I’m making. Freezing the veggies without blanching tends to make them a little mushy when they’re thawed, but for chili or soup, I’m not too concerned about it. (These bags would also work for taco meat or Crockpot chicken.)

-My girls will eat a whole fresh cucumber at dinner, so I don’t really need to do anything else with them, but my aunt shared her Thai cucumber salad recipe with me last summer, and I love making/eating it. [In a bowl, combine: 1/3 cup rice vinegar, 2 Tbsp. sugar, 1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil, 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Mix and set it aside. Then chop 2 large cucumbers, 3 green onions, and 1/4 cup peanuts and combine to the dressing mixture. Coat and let it sit for about an hour so everything melds together.] I love that salad as a side or on top of pork. It might even be delicious on a hamburger.

-I’m waiting on a bunch of almost-ripe beefsteak tomatoes to make a huge batch of pizza sauce and freeze. That will be my biggest undertaking to date; 20 pounds of tomatoes and lots of simmering. Prayers are appreciated.

-In the fall, my aunt’s garden next door will be wild with delicata squash. I could eat a whole pan of it roasted with sesame oil and a little salt. But I also made this delicata squash and sausage gratin last year, and it was delicious. I’m already dreaming of a cool October evening with the windows open and this in the oven.

I think my first harvest of icebox watermelons will be ready next week, and my pumpkins are starting to grow. I can’t wait to see what they look like in October.

Gardening has been such a pleasant, enjoyable surprise for me. Never in a million years did I think this is something I would do or love. But now, if we happen to cross paths during the warm months, I’m going to update you on my garden growth and dirt moisture levels. Perhaps we will discuss bugs and how much sun we had yesterday.

It’s who I am now.

“I grow plants for many reasons: to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty, or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow.” -David Hobson

all the sweets for Christmas

There’s nothing better than a weekend of baking as the holidays approach. I know some would disagree, but those are not my people.

At Christmas I love feeding people sweets. I love buying holiday containers, filling them with sugary treats, and dropping them off on the porches of my friends. I love showing up to holiday parties with a boxes of baked goods. I love eating cookies in December like it is my job.

If this is also your jam, I present to you my favorite ways to fill a holiday goodie box:
(I’m sure you have your own go-tos because this is not a new idea. I’m just sharing mine because they’re better than yours. Just kidding. I’m sure yours are good-ish.)

Chocolate Chip Cookies
No, not just any chocolate chip cookie. You have to make THESE cookies. Don’t change the recipe, don’t do any substitutions. Add as much air as possible to the wet ingredients and then just mix the least amount of times as possible as you add the dry ingredients. Semi-sweet chocolate chips only. Listen, I don’t know many things but I know chocolate chip cookies. Do this recipe, bake them until they’re just barely done, and the people will never be the same.

This is a very powerful cookie. Please be careful with your new power.

(The next three treats are where the girls get in on the action. Dipping things in chocolate is a gift from God. Amen.)

Chocolate-Dipped Pretzel Rods
Buy a few bags of pretzel rods because you don’t realize how many are broken until you specifically need unbroken ones for chocolate-dipped pretzel rods. Plus, there might be some snacking while you dip. There is no such thing as too many sprinkles, so hoard them all year long for this sprinkle party.

Chocolate-Dipped Oreos
Speaking of sprinkle party, we’re dipping Oreos in chocolate and throwing sprinkles on them too. I do both chocolate and white chocolate, but the white chocolate are normally the first to go. No one can turn down an Oreo; adding in more chocolate cannot be wrong. (We’ve done this multiple ways: with sticks to look like lollipops, half dipping, and full dipping. Do whatever your heart desires.)

Rolo Pretzels
I don’t think you can go wrong with salt and chocolate so I throw in some Rolo pretzels to fill in the empty spots in the cookie box.

Sugar cookies
I know everyone has their favorite recipe (or store-bought cookie dough), but I’m going to need you to make this one. Before I share it, please know I’m not a fan of buying a vat of lard (also known as shortening), but you’re going to need to, and it will work out wonderfully.

Cream:
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs

Combine in a separate bowl:
2 and 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Combine wet and dry ingredients. Cover dough and let it chill in the fridge for at least one hour (overnight is best). Roll out to 1/4 in. thickness, cut into shapes, and bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. They’ll burn fast so pay attention. The thicker the dough the softer they end up so don’t make them too thin. Double the recipe if you want more cookies, don’t make the dough thinner. Then cool and ice with your favorite icing.

That’s it. I’ve done other random cookies (like these white chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies) when I’ve been feeling extra, but these are my standbys. Find a cute cookie box or container and start packing! Just as I’m closing the box of sweets, I like to throw in candy cane Kisses. Because what this package needs is just a little more chocolate.

Happy baking!

 

P.S. If you’re feeling extra festive, throw in a mini loaf of this banana bread (always do the vinegar/milk substitute for the buttermilk, please and thank you), and make this zesty Chex Mix too.

Zesty Chex Mix
3 cups of each cereal (rice, wheat, corn Chex)
8 Tbsp. melted butter or margarine
3 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp. seasoned salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder

*add in nuts, pretzels, etc. as you prefer. We don’t like nuts in it, but pretzel sticks are a must.
*Heat the over to 250 degrees. Spread the mixture on a baking sheet baking for 60 minutes total, taking it out every 15 minutes to stir. (You can also microwave instead of baking, do 3-4 rounds of five minutes, stirring the bowl in between.) Cool on newspaper. This is salty and bold, if you’re going to be in someone’s face or on a first date in a few days, skip this one for now. We’re addicted to it, but it’s not for the weak.

 


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Enneagram dinner

I know you’ve heard about the Enneagram by now. And not just from me, but a million other people, blogs, Instagram posts, podcasts, and print medias.

But I’m not done with it yet.

There’s still learning and work and discussing and refining to do as I learn more about how I was made and how I can get back to healthy. I hope by now you’ve done a little research or reading about the Enneagram too. Sure, a quick internet test is a good place to start, but don’t leave it there. Also, don’t take that result as the end-all, be-all. It takes time to learn your number. It takes time to understand your true motivation and hurts. But take an Enneagram test and then start exploring.

Just don’t leave it there.

Last Christmas when my First Thursday friends and I did our annual Favorite Things gift exchange, everyone got a copy of The Road Back to You by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile plus the accompanying study guide. My friend Jessi and I were already knee-deep in the Enneagram, and we wanted everyone else to join us.

Most people were on board right away, excited to read the book and see what all the hype was about. One friend (*ahem* JENNIFER), lets us know all the time she only reads smut novels and anything for self-reflection or personal growth is a no-go. I would kindly and lovingly respond to that like this: if you refuse to read any book that proposes to make you a better, healthier version of yourself, you might be the exact person who needs to read it the most.

There, I said it. Moving on.

In the spring, I asked everyone to read the book and do the study. I also shared this online test with them as a great resource to use in their Enneagram research. Again, not the only tool you should use, but a good supplemental one.

As our May gathering approached, I volunteered to host dinner. I asked everyone to be done with the book and study guide by then and come to dinner with a food item to share that represents their number. We had already shared our numbers in a prior conversation, but this was OFFICIAL BOOK CLUB TIME. Everyone wore number tags (instead of name tags) and arrived bearing a food with some take–serious, funny, a stretch, literal, figurative–on their Enneagram number.

(Before I share how dinner went, I need to tell you how great my friends are. I come up with some crazy and weird ideas for us at our monthly dates. Remember when I had everyone write love notes to each other for Valentine’s Day? Years ago when I first suggested we do a Christmas gift exchange, I’m sure everyone rolled their eyes, but all these years later, for most of us, it’s our favorite holiday party. At a dinner recently, I started an argument on how to put on a bra then shared it on Instagram with a few thousand friends and no one batted an eye. So while my friends–some of them who have put up with me since kindergarten–complain and make fun of me for my annoying ideas, they also jump in without hesitation. In high school, that might have gotten us into trouble, but now as thirty-somethings, most of my ideas center around food and books and traveling.)

Dinner was so great. I put together a meat and cheese spread, because I was really feeling those this winter and spring. Plus, I didn’t want us to starve when everyone arrived with desserts. But that was not my Enneagram food. I’ll share that in a second.

Because I love a good book discussion, we centered the discussion on these three things: 1.) the food we prepared and how it represents our number, 2.) one Enneagram trait you felt hit the nail on the head, and 3.) one trait you felt didn’t fit you well.

Then we got to chime in with our observations or questions. It was such a fun evening. There was lots of laughing, a little crying, some truth-telling, and then more laughing.

Jessi, a Two, brought a pasta salad. She explained when deciding what to make, she immediately thought about what Chris Graham would want and then tried to allow enough time to whip up lasagna. Jessi is a helper, obviously, and wanted to make sure the one adult in the house not invited to the Enneagram dinner had something good to eat. She eventually went with a well-loved pasta salad she makes because it would feed us and then the leftovers, which get better after sitting in the fridge for a day or two, would take care of her family too. Twos LOVE to care for others and it made me laugh to hear Jessi explain her choice and never even consider what she might like to eat. Twos, man.

Our friend Jessica, at the time of our dinner, thought she was a Two also. She brought a huge variety bag of Ghirardelli chocolates knowing everyone loved chocolate and could find at least one kind they liked in the bag. It’s important to note Jessica is on the keto diet so she couldn’t technically eat any of the chocolates, but Twos forget to take care of themselves so it made sense. (Jessica has since realized through more study, she’s a Three, not a Two.)

Melissa is a Four, the Individualist. Fours are creative and feel all the feelings. They are also highly critical of themselves which fits perfectly with the elaborate fruit pizza Melissa brought. It’s not an easy or quick recipe and the minute she revealed it, she had to point out all the flaws and then take out her phone and show us the sugar cookie fail she had before she got it right. Fours think they can never be good enough but the fruit pizza was perfect and so is really-hard-on-herself Melissa.

My friend Heather is a Six. Sixes are committed, practical, and chronic worriers. So she brought a healthy bowl of fruit for our dinner–she wanted to make sure we had something nutritious and dependable. Heather was concerned we would eat too much junk food, and she wanted to follow the rules so she went with fruit. (This makes me laugh because it’s so perfect for Heather’s personality. Love it.)

Next is my friend, Krissy, and she’s a Seven. Sevens are fun, spontaneous, and adventurous. They have packed calendars and are always on the lookout for the next adventure or fun time which makes the charcuterie board she brought so fitting. Krissy said when she went shopping, she couldn’t commit to just one thing because there were too many good choices so she just bought everything she saw that looked good and threw it on a platter. This was also done last minute because Sevens don’t have time to plan what they’ll need ahead of time because that’s not fun.

Since I’m going in numerical order, I’m next. We’ve discussed before that I’m an Eight. Eights are very black and white and can come off as cold if you don’t know them well. Obviously, I picked the most flattering traits to focus on–so I went with Oreo milkshakes. Black and white cookies for our tendencies and ice cream because we can seem cold. Throw all that stuff in the mixer, add a splash of milk, and you’ve got yourself a sweet treat representative of an Enneagram Eight. Which is a good overall lesson: Eights can seem too much sometimes, but if you give us a little time and let us soften, we are a great after-school snack. (Didn’t see that coming, did you??)

And last but not least is Jennifer our resident Nine. Nines are pleasant, diplomatic, and accommodating. (Side note: I’m married to a Nine.) It tickles me to write that list out, because as the date of our dinner approached, Jennifer tried to get each girl’s favorite cupcake so she could go to a well-loved bakery in town and get what each of us wanted. She was taking requests to make all of us happy and was going to DRIVE ACROSS THE CITY to buy them for us. That’s a Nine, guys. Here to keep the peace, here to do whatever we want to please us. But since we all know her well enough to say knock it off, Jenny, that’s too much effort, she brought a decadent cheesy potato dish overflowing with bacon and love in the form of carbs and fat. She knows everyone loves bacon and cheese and this was the second best option to make sure we all loved what she made us. NINES! They make really good food and are here for requests.

Oh man, I loved this dinner–I loved hearing why everyone brought their food, I loved the discussions we had about our favorite parts about ourselves, and what we would like to work on. I always look forward to sitting around a table once a month with these girls, and this book club did not disappoint.

Are you into the Enneagram? Gather some fellow Enneagram nerds and do an Enneagram dinner. It’s a silly, fun way to learn about each other and starts a lot of great conversations. Promise.

 


If you need your own girls’ club–and I believe you do–here’s a good place to start.

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