Bread with the Brisels

  Book #1: "Meant to Be" by Emily Giffin I was super excited to start the month of June with reading this book! This novel by Emily Giffin was released on May 31st and has all of the elements of the Emily Giffin books I love: romance, a little bit of steam, and an intriguing storyline from multiple perspectives. This book follows the romance of Cate and Joe. Joe comes from a very prominent family (think Kennedy family), and Cate was raised seeing pictures of Joe on magazine covers and has an interesting family dynamic. Everything seemed perfect in their relationship (so much so that I wondered how I was only 67% finished when the book) until a secret from Cate's past is unearthed and challenges her. Joe struggles with his identity as well, but is absolutely smitten with Cate, and determined to make their relationship succeed. This was an excellent book that was a little deeper than her novels typically go, but I really enjoyed it. It's very different from her novels &

My dad LOVES Banana Cream Pie. I generally make it around his birthday, Father's Day, and Easter. I made this particular variation on Easter this year and my mom had a leftover piece the next day for dessert. She texted me this message: "I don't even like banana cream pie and this is the best piece of pie I've ever tasted." Make this pie for your next family gathering and you'll be the new family favorite. :)  Banana Cream Pie  Preparation Time: 20-30 minutes     Serves: 8 servings Ingredients:  1 1/2 sleeves of honey graham crackers 6 T butter, melted  1 small box of instant vanilla pudding mix  1 cup milk (skim works fine)  1 can of sweetened condensed milk  1 tub of Cool Whip topping, thawed  2-3 bananas  Directions: In a food processor, pulse the 1 1/2 sleeves of honey graham crackers until finely ground. Add in melted butter and pulse until the mixture resembles sand.  Press mixture into a pie pan, pressing the mixture firmly into place along the bottom o