I get by with a little help from my friends

I just love reading about other people's culinary adventures. In fact, it amazes me how many hours I can spend reading other food blogs, salivating over marvelous pictures, chuckling at misadventures that remind me of my own, and gathering helpful hints about how to approach various breads or improve various baked goods.

One of my favorite things about being a part of this community is all of the delicious new dishes to try, especially when we're getting a little bored with the usual fare at home. My try-this! list has at least a bajillion recipes on it from other sites. Case in point: the past 24 hours.

Sally posted this recipe (from the Splendid Table) for Sweet Roasted Butternut Squash and Greens over Pasta a couple of weeks ago, which I immediately bookmarked and knew I had to try. That was dinner tonight: such unusual flavor combinations, with the sweetness of the squash, the bite of the lettuce, the saltiness of the cheese. Yum!

The first comment to Sally's post was from Anne Marie, with another link to the Splendid Table, and a recipe for Rainbow Peanut Noodles. I made that one last night for dinner. Oh my, was this recipe ever good! I'm a little sad that I only thought about getting it into my tummy and didn't think about grabbing the camera, because it was absolutely gorgeous with all of the bright summer colors. But only a little sad because it was so, so very tasty; I am positive it will be a weekly regular at our house from now on. And today at lunch, I forgot it was a cold salad and accidentally warmed my lunch portion in the microwave; it was awesome that way, too!

Finally, two days ago, Renee wrote a post about baking with her adorable daughter and making Aggression Cookies. Just had to try these with the little ones after work today. So much fun! And the cookies (and cookie dough) were quite a tasty treat! Hubby, the kiddos, and I all ate more than our fair share. We will be making these again (although this time I halved the recipe and gave each kiddo half of a half; next time, I'll quarter the recipe, and I still think it will be plenty!).

Our mise-en-place (notice two of everything: flour, oatmeal, softened butter, baking soda, and brown sugar):

Thanks, friends!