Happy Friday!

I love November because of the food. The weather is cooler, so cozy foods are in order. And it’s Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is the best food day of the year by a long shot!

I’ve been busy at Babble pulling together all kinds of fun recipe roundups and posts this week. I have to share the list of everything because there is some mighty delicious stuff in here!

• 25 Cozy Baked Pumpkin Treats
• 25 Pumpkin + Chocolate Recipes
• 25 Fantastic Gluten-Free Side Dishes for Thanksgiving
• 8 Tips for Making Thanksgiving Food Travel Friendly
• 14 Cranberry Drinks
• 25 Pizza Recipes Without Tomato Sauce
• 25 Savory Cranberry Recipes
• 25 Stuffed Pepper Recipes
• 8 Ways to Use a Can of Cranberry Sauce
• ‘Circle of Life’ Pork Tenderloin Recipe (A healthy and scrumptious recipe with “The Lion King” as inspiration.)
• Rafiki’s Green Salad (Another healthy recipe for “The Lion King” project, and it was really good, too!)

Phew! No wonder it was a busy week!

You know the drill – it’s show and tell and everyone is allowed to share! Share anything you like, whether it’s a fun link you found, a recipe, or just something from your life!

Happy Friday! We made it safely to Utah and are ready to cheer on the Stanford football team tomorrow! Since we’re traveling this week, I don’t have much to share. I didn’t post any music to Kitchen Tunage or write any TV posts. Tragic, huh?

For me Utah equals devilish eating. We’ve only been here for one morning and I already feel a sugar overload coming on. But how I am supposed to resist orange rolls and Belgian waffles and all-you-can-eat French toast? Good thing we’re only here for two days!

A few of my “Babbles” from this week:

• 25 Browned Butter Recipes (both savory and sweet and they all look divine!)
• 10 Popcorn + Chocolate recipes

Please share whatever you like! Links, things you did this week, anything!

How is it already Friday? I think I say that every week, but every week Friday’s arrival surprises me all over again!

My mother-in-law Pat mailed us a box of New England autumn, which arrived yesterday, complete with Macintosh apples, caramel apple kit, maple candies, New England-style hot dog buns (just for me!), and PRETTY LEAVES. This is the time of year when I really really really miss the east coast.

Here are my “Babbles” for the week:

• 7 Recipes to Make with Canned Foods in 30 minutes or Less!
• 9 Tastiest Canned Food Recipes
• Recipes that use applesauce and recipes that use oatmeal
• Peanut Butter and Banana Recipes Galore!

And in the world of TV (which is suddenly very busy!):

• The embarrassing state of my DVR last night (seriously, I can’t believe I am sharing this publicly for more reasons than I can count)
• Ahhhh, the end of Breaking Bad. SO satisfying.

Lastly, I love Jenny’s take on the government shutdown. Very uplifting and empowering. Also, much love to any of you out there who are not being paid right now as a result of the craziness. I am constantly thinking of you.

You know the drill! Show and tell time! Share whatever you want!

I can’t believe it’s already Friday and that Friday is almost over!

I spent my birthday morning on Wednesday watching lip-sync videos from Jimmy Fallon. They are pure awesome and Stephen Merchant is my new favorite person.

And if you haven’t seen this #hashtag video yet, hop to it. More pure awesome.

A few of my “Babbles” from the week:

• I pulled together a collection of miso recipes and every last one of them is beautiful. Be sure to check them out!
• And here is more snacking inspiration: 2-Minute Snacks and spooky Goblin’s Grub

Let’s talk TV for just a second:

• Do you watch Dexter? What did you think? Here are my final thoughts.
• The last episode of Breaking Bad is on Sunday. DYING to see how it all ends!
• I like Scandal, BUT…

As usual, everyone gets to share! Your turn!

Happy Friday!

Today I am making Owen’s birthday cake, which will be of The Little Blue Truck, his favorite book. Wish me luck, this design will be all my own! Hopefully I can turn this cute drawing into a cute cake!

My “babbles” this week:

• I had the chance to interview Ted Allen, of Queer Eye and Chopped fame. We chatted for 45 minutes and he was super easy to talk to – very fun!
• If you like gorgonzola cheese, be sure to click here!
• And, for autumn, oodles of delicious drinks with apples!

I am really liking this song Riptide by Vance Joy, a musician from Australia that I heard for the first time this week. It’s a great song. (Also, I just signed up for rdio and I think I might like it better than Spotify. We shall see!)

I am finally watching Scandal, hoping to get caught up by the season 3 premiere on October 3. I  had to rant and rave a bit about Olivia and the POTUS after what I watched last night. It is all sort of making me cuckoo.

Okay, bring it on, friends! Share what you’ve got, anything at all!

I cannot believe it’s Friday already! We have a fun weekend ahead. Our good friends Brandon and Wendy are in town with their kids, and my mom and sister come later today. It’s a party at the Maynard’s! As a result of the impending visitors, my house is spic and span clean. Feeling good!

Here are some of my “Babbles” from this week!

• Reminiscing on favorite snacks from my childhood to get inspiration for feeding my own kids!
• Musings on why I think Norma Bates would totally dig my chicken pot pie recipe.
• I gathered together 15 fig recipes that look divine!
• If you’re looking for fall appetizer recipes, look no further! I found appetizers featuring apples and appetizers featuring pumpkin!

Nate had me watch a documentary called The Crash Reel this week and it was fantastic. Click here to read more about it. Everyone should see it, especially parents and teens/young adults who play sports.

Dexter and Breaking Bad are both killing me right now. In a good way. Mostly. (I think I may have increased blood pressure by the time these shows are done.)

The very first song that I posted on Kitchen Tunage was from this totally cool music video by a Norwegian singer. It wasn’t on Spotify so I couldn’t ever listen to it except if I put the video on. I discovered this week that it’s now available on Spotify! Woohoo! (I think I might be the only person in the world who cares about this, but I am really excited!) Also, I am once again posting almost daily on the music blog, so the playlist keeps getting better and is keeping me great company when I cook!

Enough rambling from me (man, I’m talkative today!). Please share anything you’d like! Your own blog posts, stuff you found this week that you love, whatever!

Friday Show and Tell time!

On Babble this week I pulled together some truly scrumptious recipe roundups:

• It’s apple season! Here are 25 ways to enjoy apples for breakfast.
• My obsession with chocolate chip cookies continues, this time I went out to find healthier versions of this classic favorite.
• And the absolute yummiest collection I’ve put together to date: 25 peanut butter + chocolate recipes. ‘Nuff said.

Have you seen the new Mumford & Sons video for Hopeless Wanderer? If you haven’t, make sure you do! Click here to see the video. I promise you’ll like it, whether you’re a fan of the band or not. And, if you’re not a Mumford fan, you will be after the video.

That’s all I’ve got this week! Oh, well, unless you were wondering who the Maynards gave votes to for SYTYCD…I had to throw a few votes Amy’s way, but, in the end, we threw our support behind Jasmine. Honestly, though, I’ll be happy for either girl to win. When it comes to the guys – Fik-Shun all the way! That gagnam style solo? Genius!

Everyone’s invited to participate in Show and Tell! Share anything you would like!

How is it Friday already?!

I have some fun things to share with you today for Show and Tell!

In TV: I have no idea who I am going to vote for on SYTYCD! I know, stressful stuff. Also, Nate and I finally got caught up on Dexter.

In Music: I am getting back in the groove of adding songs to Kitchen Tunage. Vacation is over, time to get serious about my kitchen playlist!

On Babble: I put together a post with 7 yummy snacks your kids won’t trade away. (There are some good ones in there!)

Make a comment, get a vaccine for a child in need: My friend Kristen wrote a post on her blog as part of Blogust in support of Shot at Life. The post is beautifully written and if you make a comment, a child in need will get a vaccine! Hop to it!

Lastly, I made Magic Peanut Butter Middles last night. These cookies require a little love and effort, but they are totally worth it. Definitely a good recipe to revisit!

I’ll be here on Sunday with my weekly menu, but I still wish you all a happy holiday weekend! And, as usual, please share with us – anything you want! It’s Show and Tell!

Happy Friday! Actually, for me it’s UNhappy Friday because it’s our last day on the Cape. Back to real life in just two days!

Okay, Show and Tell time!

Have you heard Frank Turner’s music? We’re kind of loving it around here.

Breaking Bad is back! I am SUPER excited for this last handful of episodes. Also, I am on Team Hank. How about you?

I pulled together a round up of bacon desserts on Babble today. I’m still not convinced of this crazy fad, but every last one of the pictures in this collection of recipes makes me want to dive right in. Hmmmm….

I also rounded up 10 recipes for 10 different types of fish.

Oh, and lemongrass recipes. I really love lemongrass.

Check out our fun Mexican-themed family night we did with Grandma Phyllis!

And don’t miss these 10 tips I shared for staying healthy even when the busy school year starts. (I employed some of these techniques while traveling the last few weeks and we did pretty darn good!)

PHEW. For being on vacation, I’ve been busy. I need another vacation!

Remember, you can Show and Tell, too! Show us what you got!

Happy Friday! It’s pouring rain here in New Hampshire and I am LOVING EVERY SECOND. (I think I’ve been in California too long!)

A scene from “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.” (Lionsgate)

Have you heard the latest news regarding Catching Fire? It’s pretty cool, check it out! Maybe I’m the only one who thinks it’s awesome because I’m kind of obsessed with all things Hunger Games. I mean, I didn’t dress up when I saw the movie or anything, but I was there opening night. November can’t come soon enough! At least the music is coming out soon!

Like peaches? Like mason jars? You’re welcome.

Like fried rice? You’re welcome. (P.S. Why have I never thought of making homemade fried rice until now? It’s such a great way to use up leftover, sort-of-dried-out rice!)

Have a dutch oven? You’re welcome.

Also, please tell me you’ve been following The Baby Bachelor? If not, go spend 15 minutes on YouTube, there are five episodes total. And now there is “secret footage” from the Bachelorett tying it all together. Go Wesley!

Have a great weekend! And, as always, if you have something to share, please do! Stuff from your own blogs, stuff you found on the Internet, random interesting news…it’s all fair game!