Sweet Life: August 2025 🌻🍞


πŸ’Œ Hello Baking Buddy!

Can you believe it's already August? The air is still warm, the tomatoes are ripe on the vine, and our gardens are overflowing with summer goodness. Whether you're savoring the last few days of summer break or prepping for back-to-school season, I've got just the treats to brighten your month.

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What's Inside:

  • Garden fresh recipes using veggies and herbs
  • Back-to-school recipes
  • Most popular recipes on the blog
  • $100,000 Giveaway you won't want to miss!

πŸ₯’ Using Summer Veggies & Herbs 🌿

Celebrate the peak of zucchini, tomato, and fresh herb season with these easy, flavorful recipes:

🌿 Caprese Salad with Fresh Pesto: This easy salad comes together in less than 10 minutes. It makes a stunning snack or appetizer that's so easy to make. We've been using Trader Joe's mozzarella for this lately and it's amazing.

🌿 Our Go-To Recipe for Fresh Pesto: A delicious basic recipe for pesto made with fresh basil leaves, garlic, cheese, pine nuts, and olive oil.

πŸ… Greek Salad with Tomato, Cucumber, and Olives: Full of fresh garden produce, this feta greek salad with olives is made perfect with a tangy red wine greek vinaigrette. Best when served with delicious crusty bread.

🍞 Thin and Crispy Foccacia Bread: Pairs well with soups and salads.

πŸ… Chunky Gazpacho Soup: Chilled tomato soup, similar to salsa. Utilizes all of my garden ingredients perfectly.

πŸ₯’ Maple Nut Zucchini Bread: Moist and sweet, this zucchini bread is made with yogurt, maple syrup, and walnuts for a nutty crunch. I love that it uses one whole zucchini too! This bread tastes like pancakes and pairs well with a cup of morning coffee.

Here's what we've been making on repeat lately:

​Lemon Cilantro Pasta: A refreshing pasta dish flavored with garlic, olive oil, fresh cilantro (or parsley if that's what you have), plenty of lemon, and Parmesan cheese. Add your favorite protein: salmon, shrimp, chicken, or simply use chickpea pasta for a protein-packed vegetarian, gluten-free option!


πŸ“š Back-to-School Baking πŸŽ’

Ease the transition from summer fun to school days with these easy, kid-friendly recipes:

  • ​Granola Bars: Customizable and versatile recipe. Perfect for on-the-go snacking.
  • ​Peanut Butter Energy Bites: A no-bake treat that's nutritious, delicious, and refined sugar free.
  • ​Easy No Knead Bread: No kneading, no stand mixer, no starter, and only 4 ingredients. It's a foolproof recipe for everyone, but especially busy parents who love baking from scratch. Great for toast or sandwiches!

Trending Flavors...

With over 400,000 views 🀯 on our recipes last month, here's our 7 most popular recipes:

πŸ‹ Classic Lemon Tart​
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🍊 Mom's Orange Cake
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πŸ“ Individual No-Bake Cheesecake​​
🍫 Chocolate Pancakes​
πŸŽ‰ Soft Funfetti Cookies​
πŸ‹ Lemon Muffins with Lemon Drizzle​
πŸ• The Best Homemade Pizza Dough​​


🌱 Locally Grown 🌍

With so many fresh fruits and vegetables in season right now, here's your friendly reminder to be more sustainable by using locally sourced ingredients or growing your own.

Buying food directly from a farmer at your local farmer's market is one small way to support your community, your body, and the planet.

This year we've planted...

  • 12 Tomato Plants
  • 3 Pepper Plants
  • 4 Cabbages
  • 4 Broccoli
  • 6 Squash
  • Sweet Pea Vines
  • Corn
  • Bunching Onions
  • Flowers like zinnias, bachelor buttons, nasturtium, poppies, chamomile, and marigolds. Some of these are edible and create a stunning pop of color to any dish!
  • Countless herbs like chives, parsley, basil, cilantro, rosemary, dill, and oregano.

We get our plants from our favorite local greenhouse, Garten Marketplatz, and our favorite local seed company, Driftless Seeds.


πŸ’΅ The $100,000 Giveaway you won't want to miss!

I'm honestly shocked they're doing this.

I've used Caraway products in my kitchen for years and swear by the stainless steel pots and pans and all of their bakeware.

>>> Make Your Dream Kitchen A Reality!

This summer, Caraway is transforming everyday shopping into the chance of a lifetime. With the Dream Kitchen Giveaway, they’re inviting customers to reimagine their kitchens with the opportunity to win a $100,000+ kitchen makeover, featuring every Caraway product, design services, and more.

At the heart of this campaign is Caraway's belief that your home should be a place of comfort, health, and inspiration. By pairing purchase-powered entries with an unforgettable grand prize, they’re creating excitement and rewarding customers who already believe in better, non-toxic living.

>>> Grand Prize

A Kitchen Upgrade Like No Other:

  • Full kitchen remodel, inclusive of top of the line appliances and every Caraway product that exists today (& everything Caraway creates for the next 2 years)
  • Interior design consultation & partnership
  • Free premium meal kit subscription for a year
  • OR win $100,000 in cash

>>> How It Works

Every $1 spent on Caraway's website equals 1 point into the Dream Kitchen Giveaway. That means any purchase made during the promotional period (now through August 31st) automatically gets you into the draw.

The more you shop, the more chances you have to win!

​SHOP NOW until August 31st to be entered. (Psst... the loaf pans make perfect gifts for the holidays, too!)

P.S. Check out these Baking Jams (Spotify Playlist): Pump up the volume while you bake (or do dishes) with my curated playlist of upbeat sweet songs to groove to in the kitchen. From "Sugar" by Maroon 5 to "Sweet Pea" by Amos Lee, these tunes will make your baking even more enjoyable!

artist
Sweet Jams for Baking β€’ Step...
Sugar β€’ Maroon 5
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