Roasted Veggies (for sharing) | 6 of Pentacles | #InternationalTarotDay (+ Giveaway)

Welcome to the International Tarot Day 2017 blog hop! Why today? Today is July 8th, or 7/8—and a typical tarot deck contains 78 cards (22 major arcana and 56 minor arcana). Each blogger participating will be featuring a single card per post, and you can find links to the previous and next card within each post, allowing you to make your way easily from start to finish of a traditional deck, if you so wish. The card I'm feauturing today is the 6 of Pentacles!

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Cinnamon Scones | The One That Got Away

Welcome to the TLC Book Tours stop for the debut novel by Leigh Himes called The One That Got Away!  I'll start by saying that I always love these kinds of stories...the "what if" stories. For example—would my life have turned out differently if I had said yes instead of no that one day 20 years ago? I actually think this is my first time reading one of these, so I'm basing my love on movies like The Family Man and a handful of made-for-tv movies.

Blood Red Strawberry Pie | Volver #FoodnFlix

Food, life, secrets, and death permeate the landscape of this month's Food 'n Flix pick, the 2006 Spanish flick, Volver (roughly translated as "to return" in English). The return to an unspoken secret...the return to life.

Vanishing Point | #TLCBookTours

Welcome to this TLC Book Tours stop for Vanishing Point by E.V. Legters, the story of Angela, a discontent housewife who strays. At it's most basic, Vanishing Point is a quick read, filled with bad decisions, a bleak outlook, and unlikable characters...but it's entirely relatable.

Fire Swamp Fireball Cocktail | The Princess Bride #FoodnFlix

I'm sliding in last minute with my submission for this month's Food 'n Flix club pick, The Princess Bride. I grew up with this 1987 film, based on the 1973 novel of the same name (which I haven't read yet, but will one of these days), so it's totally nostalgic for me, but the great thing about it is that it stands the test of time—my kids love it, too...and laugh out loud right alongside me.

Roasted Radishes | Signs and Seasons (cookbook review)

I'm pretty darn excited to be hosting a TLC Book Tours stop for the cookbook Signs & Seasons: Feed Your Sign the Food it Craves today! Between them, he wife and husband duo of artist Amy Zerner and astrologer Monte Farber have created so many amazing contributions to the spiritual and metaphysical world.

Egg Salad Sandwiches (and Cheap White Wine) | It Happens in the Hamptons

Today I'm featuring the novel, It Happens in the Hamptons, as part of TLC Book Tours stop. After reading the description/teaser for this book (below in the feature box), it sounded like it would make the perfect summer beach read. After reading the book itself, I hesitantly agree with my initial assessment. I say hesitantly because I think the teaser is a tad misleading. Here's why:

• The teaser calls George Katie's new boyfriend. In the story, it's more of a "let's see if this leads to boyfriend" status.
• The teaser implies that George takes Katie on his arm and shows her around in a whirlwind fashion. This never happens. A lot of what is seen of lavish events, country clubs, and haute couture fashions is not seen through Katie's eyes.
• I sort of get why they teased it as "upstairs-downstairs", but I think that description is a bit of a stretch.

Pimiento Cheese | The Hideaway

Welcome to the TLC Book Tours stop for the first novel by Lauren K. Denton, The Hideaway! Although bits and pieces (pun totally intended if you read this) of this story are set in New Orleans, the majority of it takes place in a charming little town in Alabama called Sweet Bay.

Yorkshire Pudding | I Found You

I'm so happy to be hosting another TLC Book Tours stop for author Lisa Jewell, this time with her latest novel, I Found You. You can check out my review of her book The Girls in the Garden here.

This is only the second book I've read by Jewell, but I really enjoy the style of her writing. She's not afraid to write flawed characters and messy situations, and she always keeps me guessing and questioning who I think "dunnit". I look forward to going back one of these days to read some of the things she wrote previous to my introduction to her.

Novel Destinations, a #TLCBookTours stop

Novel Destinations is a book written for those who truly love literature. For those who step out of their own lives and into the pages, awash in a world they've arrived in. Fortunately, this second edition of Novel Destinations helps people like me...people who ache to return to the haunting Gothic South that they've never physically been to, the cathedrals of Paris that only exist in their mind's eye, and the rowdy Burns Night Supper that lingers on their tongue...revisit and relive these experiences even when the cover is closed.

Your passport to literary adventure.

Turkish Stuffed Tomatoes (Domates Dolmasi) | A Touch of Spice #FoodnFlix

Our Food 'n Flix pick this month is a feast for the senses from start to finish both literally and figuratively, from the breast to the grave. A Touch of Spice is the story of Fanis, a half Greek, half Turkish boy who spends the first part of his childhood learning about the importance that food and spice hold in everyday life and decisions from his grandfather. But when political turmoil in Constantinople forces his family to move to his father's native Athens in 1964, Fanis desperately misses both his grandfather and his first (young) love.

Vanilla Black Tea Rice Pilaf

I tend to go through phases...phases where I can't get enough of eating a certain dish, sipping a certain drink, or using a certain ingredient. Lately, I've had tea on the brain. But when I say tea, I mean tea as a whole (as opposed to one certain variety), so that actually opens up a whole world of possibilities.

Wild Blueberry and Thyme Breakfast Sausage | #BonneMaman #SayItWithHomemade

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Bonne Maman. All opinions are my own.

Well, I think that spring has finally sprung in northwestern Indiana. There are tiny green buds on the trees and birds in all shapes and sizes are raising a ruckus outside of windows that have thrown open to air out a house desperately trying to shake off winter. Along with signs of rebirth and revitalization comes the time we celebrate and honor the women who (sometimes) birth, nurture, and raise us—otherwise known as mom!

Kinship of Clover (book tour guest post) | #KinshipofClover

This is a guest post from Ellen Meeropol, author of Kinship of Clover, and a Poetic Book Tours stop.

All roads lead to the kitchen, but when you’re writing a novel you may have no idea where the story will take you and your taste buds. You hope that the path will take you someplace new, someplace delicious.

That’s what happened to me with Kinship of Clover. I started with Jeremy, a college student who studies botany because he loves plants. In particular, he loves drawing plants. Jeremy grew up in an oddball cult; his family grew tea and most of their food in their backyard and greenhouse. So it didn’t surprise me when Jeremy became obsessed with disappearing plant species. What was surprising was that his imagination went into overdrive and he saw and felt endangered plants growing into his body.