MAY 2013 KITCHEN NOTES & NEWS

Dear Kitchen Friends,

It’s May and I’m ready to spend more time in my garden which has been sorely neglected over these winter months. All the more reason to have something easy and on hand in the kitchen so I can spend more time outdoor

• Our May FBK Photo Challenge is … FUN! Yup, this month’s FBK Photo Challenge is our most fun one yet. I’m challenging Kitchen Friends to forget the Amish Friendship Bread of the past to come up with one for the future … in other words, get creative with your 1 cup of starter! Instead of loaves, cakes and muffins, try scones, biscotti, cookies, cinnamon rolls, biscuits, pancakes, or whatever else comes to mind. We have a bunch of recipes for you to try from, or come up with one of your own.We had 26 (wow!) entries for our April Photo Challenge of Spices and Nuts. I’ve decided that there’s no way I can choose the winner, so I’ll be turning to our FBK community to help make the decision. Leave a comment and vote for your top 3 favorite photos (in order of your top favorites)! Voting is from May 1-May 10. I’ll tally up on May 11. Participants may vote as well, and it’s okay if you vote for yourself. Spread the word and let people know your photo is in the running!

>> Vote for the April Photo Challenge winner now.
>> Enter the May Photo Challenge now.

• New Recipes! We added several new Amish Friendship Bread recipes in April. Newsletter subscribers, check your email for your monthly newsletter password with the links to the new recipes.

>> Go to the password-protected sneak peek new recipes page here.
>> Subscribe to our spam-free newsletter here.

• Book News. The Avalon Ladies Scrapbooking Society, the second novel in the Friendship Bread series, is now available on audio! Still haven’t read or heard the first book? Check them out at a bookstore near you, or online at Barnes & Noble or Amazon. Download the audio from Audible.com.

>> Listen to an excerpt for Friendship Bread here.
>> Listen to an excerpt for The Avalon Ladies Scrapbooking Society here.

• Interested in becoming a Virtual Kitchen Assistant (VKA)? We have some new Amish Friendship Bread recipes and we’re looking for a few home bakers to test them for us. In exchange for testing the recipe and sending us 5 photos of the finished bread, we’ll thank you with a $10 Amazon gift card. Best of all, you get to share and eat the bread in the end! Email me at fbkitchen {at} gmail {dot} com if this sounds like fun and something you’d like to do. We ask that VKAs bake the recipe within two weeks of accepting an assignment, so make sure you have your starter ready!

>> Learn more about becoming a Virtual Kitchen Assistant here.

• Please vote! We’re deciding on the cover art for our first official e-publication, Quick & Easy Amish Friendship Bread Recipes. Please leave a comment telling us your favorite below!
  
• Accepting Amish Friendship Bread stories for an upcoming e-book publication! Have a good story to tell about Amish Friendship Bread and how it came into your life? We’re now accepting submissions for YOUR Amish Friendship Bread stories for an upcoming e-book publication, Stories from the Kitchen. We’re looking for funny, uplifting and heartwarming stories about how Amish Friendship Bread came into your life, led to a new or renewed friendship, or a funny starter or bread incident that will make us laugh.

>> Submit your story here.

• Darien in Honolulu, Hawaii. I’ll be in Honolulu, Hawaii on May 18-19 for the 2013 Hawaii Book & Music Festival. I’ll be speaking and signing copies of my novels on Sunday at 2:00 pm, and I’d love to meet you if you happen to be there.

See you in the Kitchen!