First, full disclosure.  I didn’t remember to take a picture of my gifted bread this week.  I was so bummed because I think it turned out rather lovely. However, I did remember to take a picture of the unwrapped dress rehearsal bread (see to the left).

For this week’s giveaway, I wanted to do something a little different and try something I hadn’t before.  My love of no-knead bread is well documented at this point–and will likely continue on unabated. But this week, I really wanted to create a new version of my favorite bread and somehow I got to thinking about walnuts and figs.  Maybe it is not the most spring-like of pairings, but peas and rhubarb didn’t seem to make a lot of sense. I am also a sucker for a savory-sweet combo, and a bread with that bent is definitely going to capture my attention, so I gave it a whirl and really liked how well it turned out: Walnut Fig Bread.  I think you will too.

I find myself looking forward to these giveaways each week in lots of different ways.  I suppose the most obvious part is the delivery.  I really enjoy watching the delivery unfold, however it does and then getting to reflect afterward.  This week was a fun giveaway in that I got to do it at a party, mid-week.  That may not feel like a revelation to some, but with two kids in school, two working parents, sports, after-school activities and all the other demands of a modern life, the chance to attend a purely fun event in the middle of the week is a bit shocking.  (Teenage me just rolled her eyes, but she can just be quiet as she has much to learn about the joys of adult responsibility, raising a family, and wearing skirts that are a little much longer.)

I think my desire to do a new little twist on my usual favorite bread was definitely inspired by my intended recipient, and that I was getting to see her at her fabulous mid-week party. This week’s giveaway was to a person who I have long admired but have gotten to know more and more over the past few years.  As I have gotten to know her, a few things stand out.  First, she is one of the warmest people I have ever met. And second, she has a quiet genuineness about how she lives her life and who she is that is…refreshing? Enviable? Inspiring? Yes, that is it, or rather, they all are it. She is comfortable in her own skin and knows who she is. She is authentically her.

From the very minute she opened her door (she gasped–delighted to just see ME!), she welcomed me into a small party of friends, some known, and some as yet unknown. It was a delightful evening where I got to meet, to learn, to connect with people I wouldn’t normally get to meet in the middle of the week, all brought together by my friend living her authentic life.  

I left the party energized not only because I had spent time with my inspiring friend, but also because I got out of my normal routine. It was just a typical middle of the week sort of day and all the normal things had happened, work, school, homework, dinner plans.  Yet it was decidedly different in a way that was refreshing and worth repeating.  For me, I think taking something familiar and giving it a new twist might just be the best way to do this thing called life…so take that teenage me.