Garlic Parmesan Wings | Meet Me On Love Lane

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I am happy to be hosting today's TLC Book Tours stop for the newest book in the Hopeless Romantics series by Nina Bocci, Meet Me On Love Lane. I hadn't read the first book in the series, but fortunately I was offered a copy of that one, called On the Corner of Love and Hate, as well. I'm not here to review Book 1 today, but I will tell you that I devoured it from start to finish. I was sucked in to the small town of Hope Lake and its residents.

While Book 1 focused on Emma and Cooper, Book 2 introduces us to Charlotte, and brings some of On the Corner of Love and Hate's supporting characters to the front lines. While reading the first book isn't essential to enjoying the second, I highly recommend you start from the beginning to add more depth to your experience.

Author Guest Post & Book Tour Stop: Nina Bocci #MeetMeOnLoveLane

This is a guest post from author Nina Bocci and a TLC Book Tours stop.

The kitchen is a happy place for me, it always has been. Spending hours with my mom making homemade pasta, ravioli for the holidays and hundreds of classic cookies for Christmas and I’m thrilled to be passing these traditions onto my son as well. So, when I was drafting out the Hopeless Romantics series, it was crucial for it to be a solid part of each book.

Recipes inspired by the Thanksgiving movie, What's Cooking? | #FoodnFlix

There are tons of movies out there centered around Christmas, but there aren't a whole lot that feature that infamous Thanksgiving gathering. Forget the presents, this get-together is all about being thankful for the simple fact that we are all alive and together. But that also means differences; cultural, generational, political, moral - it all comes out of the woodwork in between jostling for oven space and rooting for your favorite football team.

Smoked Gouda & Sage Roasted Polenta | What's Cooking? #FoodnFlix

Thanksgiving is THE biggest food holiday in my family. It's such a huge part of what brings my family together with the menu planning and "passing out" assignments (not that it ever really changes - everybody has their specialty) and timing that never quite goes as planned, but works out anyway. It's about food and family and coming together and putting aside the things that make us different, keeping us distant and busy for much of the year...instead remembering our shared upbringing, memories both happy and painful...and celebrating the similarities and diversities that make us a family.

Crackling Pancake with Caramel-Clustered Blueberries | The Art of Escapism Cooking

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I'm happy to be hosting today's TLC Book Tours stop for the recently released cookbook by Mandy Lee (of Lady and Pups blog) called The Art of Escapism Cooking: A Survival Story, with Intensely Good Flavors. I'll start by saying that this book is not for the weak. It's thick and meaty; it dares you to spend time getting to know yourself, your kitchen, and some ingredients and methods that you may not be familiar with.

In the kitchen with What's Cooking? | #FoodnFlix

Well, it's officially November - my favorite month. It's my birthday month. And it's Thanksgiving for us here in the states, and that just happens to be my favorite meal of the entire year. Our family Thanksgiving meals are the stuff of legends (seriously, people tell stories of all the amazing food we make and serve that day). We, and especially me, spend weeks dreaming, planning, and preparing.

So, this month I'm combining that passion with my other passion - creating food based on movies (or tv or books or music). I'm hosting the November edition of our "food and a movie" club Food 'n Flix with a Thanksgiving-centric film called What's Cooking?!

Fester's 3-Week Anniversary Meatloaf | Addams Family Values #FoodnFlix

The Food 'n Flix club bloggers have scooched their chairs up to the Addams Family table this month, along with our host Kimberly from Coffee and Casseroles. There's no month more fitting than October to hang out with in the kitchen with one of my favorite families. Kimberly invited to watch either (or both) of the early 1990's films, The Addams Family or Addams Family Values. I watched both. Again.

(Freakin' Worth It) Apple Crumb Pie | Supernatural

Somehow how it's been a week already, which means it's time for another Supernatural Thursday, where I share recipes inspired Supernatural (which is currently airing its 15th and final season). I know you can't fault me for sharing another pie recipe, right? I mean, the more pie the better. Amiright?

Like last week, I'm pulling inspiration from the first season, this time episode 11, Scarecrow. Sam and Dean finally make contact with their dad when he calls them with an assignment.  They learn that each year, during the second week in April, a couple goes missing in the small town of Burkittsville, Indiana. The boys get into a fight over Dean's "blind faith" in John, and wind up going separate ways. Sam takes off as Dean goes to investigate.

Wendigo Hunting M&M's Trail Mix | Supernatural

Welcome to another Supernatural Thursday, in which I share recipes inspired by the show Supernatural. This week I'm heading way back to a time before our boys voices were deep and husky, and the hunt to find their dad had only just begun. Season 1, Episode 2 (Wendigo) finds Sam and Dean posing as park rangers in order to look into the disappearance of campers in the woods at Blackwater Ridge in Colorado...thinking that perhaps John may have been there.

Banana Coconut Cream Pie | Supernatural

Okay friends, today is the day. I'm filled with excitement and a little bit of sadness in anticipation of what will be the final season premier of the show that's been my constant favorite since its inception in 2005, Supernatural. I know I'm the only one. There are legions of fans out there who are just as invested as I, who live and breathe Sam, Dean, Cass, Crowley, Bobby, John, Ellen, Jo, Lucifer, Rowena, Kevin, Jack...

Spike's Onion Blossom Thing Petals | Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I almost burnt the house down in an attempt to make "blooming onion things". It was entirely my fault. I was in a hurry and wasn't thinking. In short, I used a pot that was far too small ("oh, this is the perfect size for this onion!"). I filled it with oil. I brought that oil to 375° F. I proceeded to lower a battered onion into that oil. That oil all poured over the edge of the pot and onto the flame underneath the pot.

Triple Apple Pie | O Brother, Where Art Thou? #FoodnFlix

This month for Food 'n Flix we watched the 2000 Coen brothers film, O Brother, Where Art Thou?  Set in rural Mississippi during the Great Depression, it's full of Grammy-award winning catchy folk tunes (I bought the cd way back when and can still sing all the songs right along with the movie), and scenes from the American South.

But did you know that it's also loosely based on The Odyssey by Homer? You know, the one that kids around the nation dread reading in school. I think that I'd heard that before, but had forgotten until our host for this month, Debra from Eliot's Eats, reminded us in her Food 'n Flix invitation. So, not only did I go back in to watch the film for the first time in years with an eye towards the food, but also on the lookout for references from the epic poem. And boy did I find lots of both!

Michelle's "Funny" Scones | Derry Girls

Set in the 1990's in Northern Ireland, Derry Girls is one of my absolute favorite shows on Netflix right. Although I know there's a good bit of nostalgia involved in those feelings since I was high school age in the early 90's, there's more to it. Not only do I eat it up, so does my (almost 17 year old) teenage daughter. And while she's a bit of an old soul, she's definitely a modern child...and she finds it just as funny as I do. But also, it's heartwarming and inclusive and highlights the value of family and friends.

If you haven't seen it, there's currently 2 seasons. Each season is only 6 episodes (British shows, am I right!?). Each episode is only about 20 minutes long. So technically, each season is about the length of an average movie. You could binge both seasons in the time it would take you to watch a couple of movies. I can wait for you to catch up, if you want. Go ahead.

Caramelized Onion Tartlets | Charmed

I'm excited to be joining my friend Kimberly from Coffee and Casseroles today to bring you another of our self-imposed challenges. This month we're creating recipes from a series that I've been meaning to cook from for many, many years - Charmed! We left it up in the air as to which version we'd use (the original or the reboot); both have all sorts of inspiration if you're paying attention.

Bantha Milk Popsicles (Blue Milk) | #FoodnFlix

As a child of the 80's, I have an affinity for the "original three" Star Wars movies. And Ewoks. All of the kids on the street had Star Wars action figures, and since we all had a lot of the same ones, we had an easy way of knowing whose was whose...we each chose a specific nailpolish color, and painted to bottom of each of our figures feet with that color. It was simple, but genius (looking back). It allowed us to spread out and conquer the galaxy together, no matter whose porch we were playing on. And then we could simply check the bottoms of the feet to be sure we packed up our Darth Vader or C3PO cases with our own toys.

Lavender, Bay & Anise Infused Gin | #FoodnFlix

This month the Food 'n Flix club has been watching and creating recipes inspired by the movie, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. In the US, you can watch the film, chosen by this month's host Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla, on Netflix. Though it's been on my tbr list for a while now, I haven't yet read the book (by the same name) that this movie was created from. So, anything I mention in this post will be solely based on the movie adaptation.

This movie takes place during WWII, on the German Military occupied island of Guernsey, in the year 1946. The military had commandeered most of the residents food, leaving them with not much more than potatoes and ingenuity. One night, a group is caught out past curfew in good spirits, bellies full from gin and a secret meal of roast pig. As the soldiers grill them, they come up with a name for their "illegal assembly" on the fly, calling themselves members of the "Literary [...and drunkenly added...] Potato Peel Pie Society".

Glazed Spam & Rice | Always Be My Maybe

Today I'm sharing a ridiculously easy recipe inspired by the Netflix original movie, Always Be My Maybe. It's so simple that I almost feel silly sharing it, but that's kind of the point of this post, since I'm joining my friend Kimberly from Coffee and Casseroles in another of our self-appointed just-for-fun challenges. Everybody has those days (weeks...months...) when they're lacking in funds, right? Well, since we were both feeling that pain, we decided our current project would be to pick a movie...any movie...and create a dish that uses either rice or ramen, since both are inexpensive (and I pretty much always have them in my pantry, anyway).

But then Kimberly suggested we also try making the dish cost $5 or less. So, in the end, our challenge was to create a movie-inspired dish that cost $5 or less per serving and included either rice or ramen noodles.

Dean's Awesome Egg White Omelets | Supernatural

Although Dean's breakfast style is more Pig 'n a Poke than cutting carbs, the Mark of Cain has forced him to change his eating habits. He's been getting a lot more green and a lot less fat into his diet with meals like Kale Wraps and Egg White Omelets, aka the Breakfast of Champions for dorks (like Sam). And while Sam looks pleasantly surprised as he declares them “awesome”,  Dean's face reveals my exact thoughts on eating plain egg whites. Because really, there’s nothing quite as flavorless.

That situation is easily remedied by the addition of a bold, FLAVORFUL…but still healthy…filling. I mean, if Dean can eat stomach kale, he might even enjoy my favorite member of the leafy greens family - collards! Throw a little turkey sausage in there, and I think he might even eat this once that pesky mark is removed for good.

Recipes inspired by This Beautiful Fantastic | #FoodnFlix

This month I hosted Food 'n Flix with a bit of an obscure (I think) movie choice. Fun, quirky, heartwarming, and filled with beautiful inspiration in both the garden and the kitchen...we created recipes inspired by the film This Beautiful Fantastic!

I think this is a film that invites you to explore your imagination and aspire to more, but in doing so, don't forget to open your eyes to what you already have. You might find that that is exactly the combination that you need in your life.

I believe that this was everybody else's first time seeing (and even hearing of) This Beautiful Fantastic, and I love that most of them enjoyed it very much. If you've never seen it, check out the trailer, then scroll down to see what everybody brought to the garden party this month!

A Beautiful Fantastic Eton Mess | #FoodnFlix

Bella likes things "just so"; she likes order, and is terrified by the "unpredictability of nature and flora in particular". She has a routine and it both makes her nervous and sparks something curious inside her when that routine goes off-track. Her obsessive issues stem from being abandoned as a child, and subsequently raised by ducks. Okay, not really. She was raised by nuns.

In this month's Food 'n Flix pick, This Beautiful Fantastic, Bella's tidy little solitary world changes when her somewhat grumpy older neighbor Alfie starts hounding her about the "eco-apocalypse" of a garden that she's created between their houses.

Pig 'N A Poke | Supernatural

"Rise and shine Sammy!"

So, you know what's funny? Not funny ha-ha, but funny curious? I've shared tons and tons of recipes, talked about almost as many books, movies, and tv shows, and mentioned bits and pieces of my everyday life here on the blog over the past 7+ years, and yet, I've never featured many of the most constant parts of my life.

One example—the recipe for the one pasta dish that will please every single member of my family, every single time I make it. I know it's because I usually wind up making it later in the day once all of the natural light has faded, therefore I don't wind up taking any photos. I always think "next time" to myself.

In the kitchen with This Beautiful Fantastic | #FoodnFlix!

I can hardly believe I'm about to say this, but...happy June! Somehow 6 months have passed since I've shared a new post (or even opened a computer for that matter). In that time frame (back in February), All Roads Lead to the Kitchen turned 10 years old! Life changes a lot in 10 years. Like anything does over time, this blog has gone through some peaks and some lulls. I'm extremely grateful for all of those times, and to everybody who has checked on me while the blog has been quiet. One of those people is an old blogging buddy, Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla who has been holding down the fort over at my other blog space, Food 'n Flix (which celebrates 9 years this coming September!).