Why I hate Google Reader.

1285 subscriptions. That is the amount of websites I am subscribed to in Google Reader.

This means that even if a fraction of them update on a daily basis, I can never really catch up without devoting a lot of time to speed clicking my way through them. I realized one day as I was doing my daily catch up that all this speed clicking was mindless, boring and not fulfilling. I had no real sense of who was writing these posts.

I came across a post by the lovely Whoorl a while back, ironically while I was reading her blog in Google Reader. She mentioned that she loved using 'the next button'. I was confused because the only next button I had ever heard of was the button you click in Google Reader to zip to the next unread post. This was not the same button. THIS button was a button you put in your internet toolbar, and when you clicked it, it would actually take you to the website of the next unread post of your google reader subscriptions.

Hmm...interesting. It would make the process longer, but you would actually be visiting the blog itself and seeing the beautiful designs that people have put so much work into. You would also (probably) see their profile picture in the sidebar, which puts a face to a name, and you would create an impression on their page that helps them support their blog if they run ads.

I decided to give it a try, to see if connecting with blogs and their authors was easier if I visited the actual website, even if the drawback was that it took more time.

At first I was a little annoyed at how long it took to get from one site to another, but I told myself I want to give this a chance and I told myself to stop being in such a hurry. I got into a groove, and I started exploring websites that I hadn't visited in ages. Sites that I didn't even realize I was subscribed to, because I had always just rushed through my reader and never visited the site.

The experience of actually visiting the websites, which are these authors homes, really floored me. At once I could feel the warmth of their designs, their smiling pictures in the sidebar, and I started to feel connected again to the people writing these posts. I actually felt happy to be visiting them, a far cry from how I felt every time I pulled up Google Reader and saw the giant number of unread blogs at the top, and would proceed to speed click my way through all of them.

I am in love with the next button. I do not see myself ever going back to reading blogs in a reader. It is too cold, void of any personality, and it disconnects me from my blogging friends.

Why I love Google Reader

Google Reader is not all bad, let me just get that out there. It is a great way to organize websites that you subscribe to. The ability to search through previously read posts makes it a giganto recipe index that you can search through when you are in the need for a specific recipe. Have a bunch of strawberries and don't know what to do with em? Pop over to Google Reader and search.

Another perk is that if a website doesn't offer full feeds (ahem), you don't have to worry about it. Heck, you probably won't even know about it, since you are visiting the actual site.

The Perfect Balance

Using both Google Reader for the search function and the next button for blog browsing has totally changed the way I as a blog reader connect with websites. It is the perfect balance between organization, search functions and interacting and connecting with the blog author and other visitors.

Should I also mention that it makes it easier to pin something on Pinterest? Since you are already on the page it is once less step in the process.

I use to pride myself in being able to zip through my giant list of subscriptions at super speeds, but no longer. I am in the process of removing a whole bunch of subscriptions to blogs that no longer resonate with me or that no longer post. There will always be thousands of blogs out there - you can never really catch them all. I would rather be subscribed to a reasonable amount, the blogs where my friends and my blog readers write at, or sites that are truly beautiful and inspiring.

So, what do you think? Are you willing to give the next button a try? 

I hope you do. It feels really good to see the faces behind the names. It feels good to be awed and inspired by all of the beautiful blog designs out there. It helps me be a better blogger and to improve my own website. I have come to love-to-hate Google Reader.

You might also like to read this post on the subject:

• If you read blogs, you should read this at Rage Against the Minivan

Better late than never 4th of July menu

You guys I am the absolute worst when it comes to making fun holiday food. I totally drop the ball, almost every single holiday. Ack! In any event, here are some delicious recipes to make for your friends and family this July 4th.

July 4th Menu

Drinks

Bourbon Mint Iced Tea
Pina Colada Slush
Apricot Coolers with Cherry Ice Cubes

Appetizers

Bacon and Tomato Dip
Pimiento Cheese and Crackers
Best Spinach Dip Ever

Sides

Bodacious Broccoli Salad
Shrimp Louis Pasta Salad
Corndog Muffins

Main Dish

Grilled Beer Brats
BBQ Chicken Pizza
Muffuletta Squish Sandwiches

Dessert

Rhubarb Pie
Banana Split Brownie Pizza
Grilled Bananas with Milk Chocolate

Cornflake-Crusted Baked Chicken

Pretty, right? (sarcasm) This is such an old picture...I really should update it. Maybe someday, but not today. Anyways, crunchy cornflake chicken! It is delicious, it is crunchy, it is better than breadcrumbs.

Chai & Chocolate Chai Concentrate

I'm stressed out. Super stressed. Stressed to the max. Stress can take a serious toll on your energy, and while I am a big fan of the morning and afternoon cup of coffee, it is nice to change the routine. A delicious alternative is to take a mug of black tea and add a spoonful (or two) of this chai concentrate.

White Chocolate Peanut Butter

Brace yourself. This is some seriously good eating. White Chocolate Peanut Butter and homemade Strawberry Freezer Jam. Easily the best PB&J I've ever had, and I'm willing to bet the best you've ever had too.

I mean, just look at the deliciousness. Are you ready to make some? Good because it is super simple.

Have you ever tried making homemade peanut butter? What are some creative flavors you would like to add?

Note: I am paranoid about storing this at room temperature, so I stick it in the fridge. It will keep for several weeks in the fridge, otherwise if you keep it at room temperature, I would say it will last one week, but you better keep an eye out for anything funky growing. Yuck, see that is why I store mine in the fridge!


White Chocolate Peanut Butter
Makes 3/4 cup

• 1 1/2 cups dry, roasted peanuts (I used salted)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/3 cup white chocolate chips/chunks/bars, melted

1. Add peanuts to a food processor and blend until a thick nut butter forms. Stream in oil and vanilla with the processor on, continuing to run it until the mixture is smooth. You can add more oil if needed, just do it in small increments.

2. Turn off processor, add melted chocolate, and turn processor back on. Blend until smooth.

Source: How Sweet It Is

Strawberry Summer Cake

Before I get to the recipe for this delicious Strawberry Summer Cake, I wanted to say thank you for all the feedback on my previous post. If you missed it I asked what you thought the ideal amount of posts per week was appropriate for a blog. I am still mulling it over. Jo-Anna sent me a great link from Will Work for Followers that addressed this very issue. Check it out here if you would like to see his answer for the ideal posting frequency. I was leaning towards trying out posting every other day, but after reading Dan's post I am still trying to decide if every day will be better for growing my blog. Who knows? I sure don't.

Anyways, on to the cake!

New poll for my readers: What is the ideal posting frequency?

There is a poll directly to the right that I would really appreciate you voting on. What I'm wondering is what you, the reader, thinks is the ideal amount of posts per week for a blog.

I'm worried that posting every day is too much for readers to keep up with. I'd love your feedback if you have any thoughts. Thank you!

Have you blogged a recipe from Jam Hands?

One thing that I would like to start doing is adding links to my posts to the bloggers who have made & blogged a recipe from Jam Hands. If you adapted the recipe that is fine too. You can leave a comment on the post itself, or let me know by emailing me. I'd love to add your links to send readers to your website as a thank you.  Have a good weekend everybody!

Homemade Maple Syrup

At my place there are a lot of nights where breakfast becomes dinner. Between having breakfast for breakfast, and breakfast for dinner, we tend to go through a lot of maple syrup. I wanted to try out a homemade syrup recipe, just a basic Maple to start. It turned out great and it was very simple to make.

No candy thermometers necessary, just stir continuously and pay attention to how it looks while it is boiling and it is as simple as that. It is cheap to make and you know exactly what ingredients are going into it. It is thinner than commercial syrups because it doesn't have corn syrup, but that is a good thing.

This recipe lends itself well to adding other flavorings, like raspberry or orange extracts. Onto the recipe!

Ali's Notepad - June 24th, 2011

Woo it's Friday! Time for me to feature your awesome posts. If you would like to view my Pinterest board with pictures & links to of all of these projects, click here.

I'm in a blogging funk. Posting every day of the week is getting pretty tiring. I think I may have to tone it down a little bit. :<

I have such blogging guilt if I don't post every day. I wonder though if posting every day is too much for readers to keep up with. What do you guys think? Okay, on with the features!

Pictures are property of their respective websites

This Strawberry Cake looks so adorable. In fact I'll be making it today to use up the strawberries hanging out in my fridge. (@ Kitchen Therapy)

Zucchini Lasagna Cups look messy but so delicious. (@ A'lil Country Sugar)

One of my favorite blogs, Taylor Takes a Taste has two recent posts to check out if you are a food blogger. The three angles of photographing food and a post on making painted & stained wood backgrounds. (@ Taylor Takes a Taste)

Carrot Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting Trifle. Amazing! (@ From Cupboard to Cupboard)

These Shirley Temple Cupcakes sure are cute. (@ Siggy Spice)

Are you sick of bacon after a week of my bacon recipes? No? Good! Bacon Jam at Dinner with Julie. (@ Dinner with Julie)

A simple but delicious Cheesy Taco Pasta dish. (@ Lauren's Latest)

Oh man, does this Oreo Brownie Trifle look amazing or what? (@ Love from the Oven)

If you were featured here today and would like to grab a featured button, it is in the right hand sidebar. Linking up to Friday Favorite Finds.

Recipe Request - Spicy & Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

If you have a great recipe, lay it on me. I've got a bunch of raisins in the pantry and this is about the only way they will ever get eaten. Leave a comment with a link, the recipe itself, or let me know the name of what magazine/cookbook it came from and I can track it down. Thanks!

Caramel Bacon Rolls

As promised I have my recipe for the Caramel Bacon Rolls. If it is only two ingredients can it be considered a recipe? Probably not, but I'm doing it anyways.

I had already made the regular bacon cinnamon rolls a few times before and I figured I would try using a different flavor of rolls for my contribution to the bacon party. At first I was going to try orange, but at the last minute I decided to try caramel instead, to channel the candied bacon craze that is going on amongst the foodies. I thought it turned out delicious. I would still like to try the orange rolls next time.

Don't forget to submit your Summer drink recipes

It is finally Summertime for the majority of Jam Hands readers, and I thought it would be a great time  to put together a collection of our favorite refreshing Summer beverages. This is my way to feature your amazing blogs and hopefully bring new readers to all of your sites.

Please link up as many posts as you would like as long as they are a recipe for a refreshing Summer drink. You don't have to link back to me, but I sure would appreciate it if you did. There will be a link at the top of my blog to this post so if you want to come back and add more links later you are welcome to. Happy linking!

June Summertime Refreshing Drinks

The Bacon Party.

All righty. So someone had a birthday at my husband's work today, and birthday guy decided to celebrate himself by throwing a bacon party on his birthday. Genius, right? What guy wouldn't want to be showered with bacon treats. He got creativity points for his announcement:

The party announcement. Bonus points for including Kevin Bacon.

Normally my husband doesn't even tell me about the work parties until the day after so I have been not contributing food to the parties. This time around I got plenty of notice. You might have guessed that my contribution was the recipe from earlier today, the Bacon Cinnamon Rolls. I also made two batches of Caramel Bacon Rolls, which I thought were awesome. They have a great sweet and salty thing going on.

Bacon Cinnamon Rolls

My Caramel Bacon Rolls - Recipe on Wednesday!

I thought you might like to see the other treats that were brought in, after all bacon has been the big food trend the past year. Note: There is one last bacon item that was so terrifying that I am putting it under the "read more" section near the end of the post. It is just too scary!

Bacon Mac and Cheese

Jalapeno Bacon Poppers

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

Chicken Fried Bacon!

Pulled Bacon BBQ (9 pounds of bacon!)

Bacon Pecan Cheese Ball

Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Bacon Cookies

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

Bourbon Bacon Chex Mix

Okay, here it is, the food item that will give me nightmares:

Bacon Cinnamon Rolls

Oh yeah baby. Bacon Cinnamon Rolls. They are the perfect sweet and savory combination. If you want to fancy it up, you can of course make the cinnamon rolls from scratch, but I really like the Pillsbury Cinnabon style of canned cinnamon rolls, so I use those. You can use a good quality precooked bacon, or regular bacon. I like the precooked bacon from Costco personally.

Either way, you have to crisp up the bacon a bit before you add it to the cinnamon rolls. Use the microwave or cook them up in a pan. One reason I like the precooked bacon is I can nuke it for a minute and I'm ready to roll. I never cared much for standing over a skillet getting splattered by bacon grease. If your bacon is extra extra fatty be sure to trim it off.

In my experience when you add bacon to a roll like this, it takes a few extra minutes for the middle roll to cook though. Ovens vary, so make sure you take it out and test it to see if it needs extra time to bake. To test it, just pull out the pan, poke the middle roll gently with a spoon or random utensil, and if it is still doughy, it needs to bake longer.

The weekend where much was done.

You guys. I'm a woman on a mission. Check out what I made (and will blog about post haste)

• Chai Tea Concentrate 
• Chocolate Chai Tea Concentrate
• Homemade Maple Syrup
• Homemade Chocolate Syrup
• White Chocolate Peanut Butter
• Cinnamon and Raisin Peanut Butter
• Chocolate Fry Sauce (Totally crazy but it was good)

I still have to make a few things, including:

• Bacon Cinnamon Rolls (2 batches)
• Bacon Caramel Rolls (2 batches)
• Strawberry Freezer Jam
• Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Am I nuts? I have no idea what has gotten into me but it feels good to actually get stuff done on the weekend.  Recipes for all of this junk to come soon!

The Weekend Dish - June 19th, 2011

Welcome to The Weekend Dish! Sunday is our day to read a quick recap of what happened this week at Jam Hands. Also included is site news, a thank you to referring websites and the featured commenter. Thank you for visiting and making this site a great place to be.

Recipes this week at Jam Hands

• Chocolate Zucchini Bread
• Caramelized Peaches with Ice Cream
• Smothered Cajun Cube Steaks
• Shrimp Etouffee
• Sweet & Savory Spinach Salad

Thoughts and other stuff

• Monthly Recipe Collection - June Refreshing Summer Drinks
• Working at a restaurant - Cooking confessions & humiliations
• Ali's Notepad - June 17th, 2011

Site News

• The comment settings have been updated and it is no longer required to login to any sort of account to leave a comment.
• The results are in from my poll that ran for 2 weeks and......you guys hate kids! Haha, just kidding. It looks like most people aren't interested in kid crafts or activities, which is fine. It looks like most of you want to see more healthy recipes, sweet recipes, and blogging tutorials. I will do my best!
• We have 12 members in our first week at the Jam Hands & Friends community forums. I'd love it if you'd pop over and say hi. I am going to figure out a way to say thank you to members who are active in the community, perhaps by changing the featured commenter of the week to someone who has posted in the forums.Oh, also, funny clips of Leslie Knope are encouraged!
• I've been working on cleaning up the design of the website. I've gotten rid of a lot of elements, moved a few to the bottom of the site, and tweaked about a million things. I hope you like it.
• I've changed from full feeds to partial feeds. This only matters if you subscribe and read this site through a reader. Not all posts will have a partial feed. Basically only the recipe posts. You will still be able to see a picture of the recipes along with the introduction, but if you want the recipe you will have to click over to the site. Visiting the site directly helps me support this site, so I hope you don't mind too much. Besides, I've been working so hard to make the design look nice that I want you to see it. 

Top Referring Sites of the Week (in no particular order)
Thank you so much for all the visitors you sent my way!

• The DIY Showoff
• IHeartNaptime
• Between Naps on the Porch
• A Pretty Life in the Suburbs
• Joy in My Kitchen

Featured Commenter of the Week!
Would you like to be my featured commenter of the week? All you have to do is leave a comment sometime during the week and it could be you!
 
Marianne at SugarFoot Designs. SugarFoot Designs is a beautiful blog that has a little bit of everything - party planning, recipes, DIY, Muffin Monday, and a new Friday Finds "Have You Seen It?" weekly feature. Marianne decided to start a blog after she had found helpful posts on blogs while planning a bridal shower for her cousin. Blogging is contagious, there is no doubt about it.

Be sure to check out her posts for this cute construction themed party, a Summer party celebrating two engagements and two babies, how to get your child to pick up their toys, and a cowboy/cowgirl party for kids. Thank you so much for being a reader and commenting Marianne.

That's all for now. Have a great week and thank you for visiting! -Ali

Sweet & Savory Spinach Salad

My mom made this salad a lot while we were growing up. She made the dressing from scratch, but you can save some time and buy a bottle of poppy seed dressing instead. I don't know what it is about the combination of spinach and poppy seed dressing, but it is oh so good.

Ali’s Notepad – June 17th, 2011

Woo it's Friday! Time for me to feature your awesome posts. If you would like to view my Pinterest board with pictures & links to of all of these projects, click here.

Pictures are property of their respective websites

If you love sweet and salty treats check out this Chocolate Pretzel Fudge at Eat At Home.

This DIY Milk Glass tutorial at Homespun with Love is awesome! Turn icky vases into beautiful faux milk glass.

Check out this seriously cute Penguin Party at Crafts by Holly. That cake is adorable!

The Easiest No-Sew Pennant Banner Ever at A Pretty Life in the Suburbs. The name of the post says it all. So sweet.

Last night I made this tasty recipe for Cherry Dump Cake from Cooking with Carrie. Although I cut down the butter by half, it was still delicious.

In Between Laundry has a post on how to make Orange Dreamsicle Sugar Scrub. It almost looks good enough to eat.

I’m tempted to make these Maple Bacon Cupcakes from The Parkers. Wow they look tasty!

This drawing of Ron Swanson at Jade Illustrates is inspired by the Parks and Recreation TV show is the coolest thing I saw all week long. If you haven’t watched the show you need to get caught up on it on Netflix or Hulu.

These 10 Tips for New Bloggers at Southern Hospitality are a great read, both for new bloggers and veterans alike.

Crescent Roll Hot Bacon Poppers at From the Aisle to Aloha. Mmmmmmm. That sums it up.

If you were featured here today and would like to grab a featured button, it is in the right hand sidebar.

Shrimp Etouffee

Like I mentioned a couple days ago, I'm on a Cajun kick. I have always wanted to try shrimp etouffee, which it turns out is delicious! There are apparently two schools of thought on etouffee. Some believe that it should not have a tomato component, while others say it should. My mom made this for dinner a few weeks back and she went with the tomatoes. I made a corn spoon bread to go with it and while it was edible, it wasn't as good as my cornbread supreme.

Working at a restaurant- Cooking confessions & humiliations

We have been talking about our food confessions. A lot of them involve snarfing down way too much food. Or hiding the good food from our family, so we can snarf it later. Hah!

Today I wanted to share a few embarrassing cooking confessions that all occurred while I was working in a restaurant many years ago. Normally in the kitchen you might start off washing dishes, and I did, but since we were short handed I only had about 20 minutes at that station before moving on to the pantry. The pantry is basically the cold line - you prepare salads and desserts. Since this restaurant was slightly upscale, there was a ton of prep work to be done for each dish.

I started each day by taking stock of what vegetables, fruits and nuts were low in stock, and prepped them. Then I made the salad dressings from scratch. Then I moved on to making the croutons, which I inevitably burned since I would forget to set a timer. After the basics were done, I made whipped butter, piped it into rosettes onto parchment paper, and got those ready for the waiters to serve with the fresh bread.

What made it quite the workout was the fact that our freezer and refrigerator were at the bottom of the building and I had to hustle my butt up and down the stairs all day long, carrying stainless steel pans full of ingredients. When the kitchen is 110+ degrees in the Summer and you are sprinting down flights of stairs, believe me, it can get to be a workout. You tend to linger a few minutes longer in the walk in refrigerator than necessary just to cool down your body.

I guess I should say a word or two about the chef. The one real positive that I can say about him is that he gave me a job when I was about 18 and had no kitchen experience other than home cooking. That was very nice of him. Other than that, he was kind of a creep. Being a chef is, I imagine, very stressful and difficult. It takes strong personalities to do the job. Unfortunately his personality was that of condescension, hotheadedness and sarcasm. He was all smiles and charm during the interview, but once I got to work, it all changed.


Basically this was my dream job, working in a 'real' kitchen (and starting at the bottom was just fine with me), and I think he knew it and very quickly started to treat me like crap because I was too nice. Being a female in a mostly male kitchen is hard. Don't let anyone tell you different on that. You have to have a thick skin to deal with all of the extra criticism, and having thick skin is something I've never been good at. I should also state that while plenty of times I deserved the criticism, there were also twice as many times that he made it a point to humiliate me, ridicule me, and generally try his best to be an awful human being.

Working in a kitchen is also physically very hard. You know how employees are supposed to be guaranteed breaks during the day? Yeah, that doesn't fly in a kitchen. You work hard for 14 hour shifts, in 100+ degree kitchen, and you consider yourself lucky if you get a single 5 minute break to catch your breath during your shift.

So that is all to say, when I messed up in front of him and the other cooks, it was humiliating. Totally mortifying. I'd try to laugh it off and focus on the task at hand, but I still have pangs of embarrassment when I think back on it. Like the time when I:

• Threw out the hearts (the insides) of the romaine lettuce, the very best part, because I thought the 'heart' of any lettuce was bitter and not meant to be eaten. The chef stood staring down at the trash can, a whole bunch of romaine hearts looking back up at him, and he proceeded to chew me out in front of the line cooks. (Of course, he should have)
• Took far too much time washing each strawberry by hand instead of rinsing the entire (huge) carton at once, utilizing the clear carton they came in, which has holes in the bottom, and works great as a colander. He proceeded to chew me out in front of the line cooks. (Of course, he should have)
• While cutting up a pear for a complex salad tower (yes, a salad tower!), I sliced off the side of my thumb. Normally you would wrap it up, throw on a rubber glove, and get back to work. This cut was so bad I spent the entire night in the back of the kitchen, holding it up high above my head and applying pressure while it refused to stop bleeding. So humiliating!
• I locked myself in the sub zero freezer at the bottom of the building, which could have killed me. This was an old hotel that the restaurant was in, and if you made the mistake of letting the HEAVY door to the sub zero close behind you, you weren't guaranteed to be able to open it to get out. I was locked in there for about 45 minutes freezing my butt off, with no phone of course. When they say sub zero, they mean it! Luckily after a while a line cook walked by the adjoining room, I banged on the door and he heard me and freed me. I never made that mistake again.
• Finally, the straw that broke the camels back. The final incident before I quit. There was a big wedding we were catering, and I had the most boring task of rolling up a truck load of deli meat and arranging it on a giant mirrored serving dish. This thing was several feet across, and thin as a piece of mirror. It took forever to roll up all that meat, and I was hustling. Right in front of me, the chef pulled aside a line cook and loudly made fun of how long it was taking me to finish the task, then laughed at me.
  I was so pissed off, and I told myself tonight I would quit. I didn't want to let him get to me, but I'd had enough. Want to know the best part? As he and another cook were moving this giant piece of glass to the basement to refrigerate it, the weight of ALL of that deli meat broke the mirror, and it all came crashing down the stairway. Karma baby!

Looking back on it, I really wish I hadn't quit. I let a creep get under my skin and I quit a job that I really, really loved. Very shortly after I quit, so did the chef! Which makes me think he had some issues going on in his real life that perhaps he was taking out on me, but I'll never know. Since then, they have relocated and renamed the restaurant, completely reworked the menu, and I hope the environment there has chilled out a bit. When I look back on it now, as hard as it was and for all the crap I put up with, I miss it so much, and I'm thankful that I had the opportunity the take a peek into the restaurant industry.

Every night after a grueling day in the kitchen, I'd put the top down on my red convertible (this was before I was a mommy with a mommy car), put Pink Floyd in the CD player, and drive home under the bright moon and stars. I had put my entire heart and body into making it through each day, and I was so happy.

Have you ever worked in a profession kitchen before? How were your experiences in the kitchen?

Smothered Cajun Cube Steaks (Aka Smothered Swiss Steaks)

I've been on a serious Cajun kick lately. Anything and everything Cajun, yes please, give me more. I have a huge playlist of Cajun & Zydeco music (some of it is even sung in French), recipes in my recipe box, and a bunch of new food blogs, like Cajunlicious, Cajun Delights, Real Cajun Cooking, that I am subscribed to.

I'm a happy girl living vicariously though these websites. (Go check out those sites, by the way, they rock! If you know of any other great Cajun sites, please leave a comment with the address)

I wanted to try out a few recipes that normally I'd never try. I'd had Shrimp and Crawdad Po'Boys before and an amazing bread pudding, but that was about it. Those were items that I'd ordered from a great little restaurant in Montana of all places (warning, music on site), so I hadn't even tried cooking anything I would consider Cajun.

The first dish I made was a Smothered Cajun Cube Steak Dish, which is also known as Smothered Swiss Steak. I don't really care for that name, though, because if you aren't familiar with the dish it just makes you think it is covered in cheese, which it isn't. The Swiss in Swiss Steak is the term used to describe the way the meat is tenderized.

Caramelized Peaches with Ice Cream

I'm feeling uninspired today. I have been sitting here a while, trying to think of an interesting way to introduce this dessert, but it just isn't coming. Here is what you need to know: Peaches are delicious. Roasting peaches in the oven brings out a delicious flavor that is perfect for a light Summer dessert. If you would like to lighten it up you can substitute sorbet for ice cream. I think I'll stick with ice cream though.

Secret Recipe Club - Chocolate Zucchini Bread

I have a deep love for zucchini breads of all kinds. I make them all the time. Up until recently my favorite had been a coconut zucchini bread (recipe another time, ahem), but my top spot has now been replaced by the ultimate, the best, most amazing (according to Ali) Chocolate Zucchini Bread. 

The Weekend Dish - June 12th, 2011

Welcome to The Weekend Dish! Sunday is our day to read a quick recap of what happened this week at Jam Hands. Also included is site news, a thank you to referring websites and the featured commenter. Thank you for visiting and making this site a great place to be.

Recipes this week at Jam Hands

• Retro Hawaiian Chicken Haystacks Two Ways
• Raspberry Caramels
• Smokey Marinated Drumsticks
• Flat Bread Taco Supreme

Thoughts and other stuff

• How to see what posts from your website have been pinned on Pinterest
• My baby boy turned 2!
• Ali's Notepad June 10th, 2011
• Blogging Round Table Discussion - Is it wrong to post recipes?

Site News

• If you host a weekly or monthly linky party, please feel free to add your button to my giant compilation of link parties.
• There is only 3 days left to vote on the poll in the right hand sidebar. I am pretty surprised at the vote results so far. Be sure to vote to let me know what type of posts you'd like to read at Jam Hands. Your feedback helps me make this site better.
• We now have a Jam Hands & Friends Community page! *Happy dance* Come join us and make new friends. You are welcome to start topics of any sort. It doesn't have to be food related. Anything goes, the only rules are 1) No spammy stuff and 2) be nice.
• I created a special board over at my Pinterest account featuring all of the 'Ali's Notepad' featured posts. There is also a new button box in the sidebar so if you were featured and would like to add a button to your site, it is there for ya.

Top Referring Sites of the Week (in no particular order)Thank you so much for all of the visitors you sent my way.

• Between Naps on the Porch
• Skip to My Lou
• A Pretty Life in the Suburbs
• A Bowl Full of Lemons
• Today's Creative Blog
• Romantic Home

Featured Commenter of the Week!
Would you like to be my featured commenter of the week? All you have to do is leave a comment sometime during the week and it could be you!

Miranda at Mangoes and Chutney. Miranda shares her love of food at her website, Mangoes and Chutney. Along with hosting a weekly link up, Fat Camp Friday, she blogs during the week to share delicious creations that have come out of her kitchen. She also posts her monthly menu plans, her quest for the perfect mac and cheese, and she has a regular spot on her blog to showcase other food bloggers. She shares the love, in other words. That is my favorite kind of blogger. 

Be sure to check out her recipes for Coconut Curry Shrimp, Mango Curry Chicken, and (oh boy) Brownie Cheesecake with Chocolate Drizzle. Thank you so much for being a reader and commenting Miranda.

Big Honkin' Quick Update.

You guys! All right, I might break my rule of not using excessive exclamation points, but I am just excited right now. I was farting around blog land and I came across this amazing site that allows you to set up a forum (aka a "community") that is embedded within your blog.

If you are staring at your screen blankly right now, wondering what that means, it means that it is built in into my blog so you just click the "Forums" link up above and it will transform the current page into the forums. Where you then can come say hi to me. Or yell at me. Or ask me questions.

Oh, but get this! Not only is it a community forums where you can say hi, and post stuff like any other forum, they also have a live discussion option. So if I am sitting there with a giant alcoholic beverage watching Trueblood and you want to come say hi and make snarky/fun comments about the show, you can! Isn't that cool?

Also, a perk for you is that after you become a member, your most current blog posts will be featured on the welcome page of the community. Hoorah for exposure, right?

What are you waiting for? Go check it out! Since I just launched it today I am sitting in there all alone with my adult beverage with no one to talk to. Don't make me be that girl.

You do have to set up a little profile if you haven't done it before with the blogfrog site, but, the cool thing is if you visit another blog that has their forums hosted by blogfrog, you wont have to register again (I hate that). Just use your login info, join the community, and wha-bam! You are set to go.

I hope to see you in there. Bring your own beverage of choice.

Flat Bread Taco Supreme

Taco time! If you love tacos but are getting tired of the same old flour tortilla, give this recipe for Flat Bread Taco Supreme a try. For a time saver it utilizes canned biscuit dough that is dry cooked in a pan until browned. If making dough from scratch is your thing, by all means feel free to Google a recipe, but dough is one thing I don't have much patience for, not to mention my oven is possessed by the devil, so I either buy my bread products or buy raw/frozen dough.

Blogging Round Table Discussion: Is it wrong to post recipes?

Food bloggers and the recipes they post. I have seen the topic brought up regarding posting recipes from published cookbooks or magazines and that bloggers have been 'strongly advised' to remove any recipes from their blog lest they face 'further action.'

What is new to me, however, is the thought that it is a faux paux to post a recipe, even with adaptions, that comes from another blog. This is assuming they even give credit back to the original posted. Instead, you should only link back to the website.

What do you think?

I have to say, while I am of the 'to each her own' line of thinking, the longer I mulled over this, the more confused I became. Why put your recipes on the internet if you are going to become so upset when someone posts it on their blog?

To clarify, this is not when someone steals your photographs or a recipe and says "This is MY photo, this is MY recipe that I created." This is when someone says, here is a recipe from such and such blog, here are my adaptions, ta-da.

I do not subscribe to food blogs that are photo's only, with no links to a recipe. I just don't see the point of it. Furthermore, if I want to see photo's only with no recipe attached, I'll just go browse Pinterest. Hehe.

I am of the opinion that if you are that upset that someone loved your recipe enough to blog about it, give you a link back and credit you as the recipe creator, you should probably say "Thank you, thank you!" Better yet, write yourself a cookbook and stop posting recipes online.

Okay, your turn. Do you agree with this train of thought? Why or why not?