::GIVEAWAY CLOSED::
“When someone comes to your home and sits at your table and breaks bread with you, your relationship is forever changed.” -The Gathering of Friends, Volume One
I love that quote. It seems as if we have forgotten the beauty and importance of having meals together with family and friends, and The Gathering of Friends, Volume One and Two has reconfirmed my love of gatherings.
The Gathering of Friends Volume One, by Michelle Huxtable and Alyse Christensen, shares delicious recipes as well as ideas on decorating and shopping for successful breakfast, lunch or dinner gatherings. Different themed parties are organized throughout the book with ideas including “An Enchanted Evening”, “Autumn Gathering”, “Supper with Friends”, “An Afternoon with Friends” and “Cookie Friendz”. The decor and cuisine remind me of the ambiance of a bed and breakfast, which is warm and comforting. After each gathering theme there is a shopping list already provided! How nice is that? The book is also rectangular and spiral bound, so it’s perfect for putting for guests to sign and leave comments during the gathering!
The Gathering of Friends Volume Two, by Michelle Huxtable, is organized by weekly gatherings that suggests meals for each night of the week. As in the Volume One, the images are full of dressed up and plated tables with delicious recipes. In addition to the weekly gathering plans, The book also includes “Effortless Dishes”, “Savory Beginnings”, “Wholesome Soups from the Kitchen” and more. Some of my favorite recipes from this volume include Ginger Glazed Salmon, Sweet & Sour Chicken, and Potato Bacon Soup. After each week’s suggestions, a shopping list is included. I love that these books do the lists for us!
Please see my video so you can take a peek into the book yourself!
The Gathering of Friends, Volumes One & Two from Mom Spark on Vimeo.
The Gathering of Friends Volume One and Two are available at $29.95 each and would make a great holiday gift this year! You can purchase your copies at www.thegatheringoffriends.com. There is a special going on right now – buy three books and get one free!
I have also created a whrrl story that you can view here!
::GIVEAWAY::
We are giving away The Gathering of Friends Volumes 1 & 2 to one lucky winner! That’s right, two books to one winner!
::HOW TO ENTER::
- To enter this giveaway, please leave us a comment, telling us why sharing a meal with others is so important. Maybe share some of your special traditions or favorite meals to serve.
::EARN EXTRA ENTRIES::
You can earn extra entries by doing any or all of the following, leaving a comment for each:
- Become a subscriber of Mom Spark. Subscribe here. (mention in comment)
- Follow @MomSpark on Twitter.
- Leave a comment in our whrrl story. (mention in comment)
- Blog about this giveaway. (put link in comment)
- Tweet about this giveaway:
Just entered to win 2 The Gathering of Friends cookbooks, you should enter, too! http://clicky.me/4fs #giveaway #contest
Contest ends December 14, 2009 at midnight CST. USA & Canada residents only, please. Good luck!
DISCLOSURE – I was given The Gathering of Friends Volumes One & Two and financial compensation in return for this review, giveaway and promotion. My reviews and recommendations are always honest and true. Read Mom Spark’s full disclosure here.
About Mom Spark
Sharing a meal is so important because it is a great way to have intimate conversations with the people you love, or want to get to know better. Food and hearfelt talks just go hand in hand.
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The contact between people is so important. When sharing a meal with another you are intimately involved communicating. You want to share a meal with people you love most of the time to show your love through the cooking and the final product.
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We share dinner every night because it is the one time of the day when we can all sit together and enjoy each other’s company without distraction. We also try to keep one another healthy by preparing wholesome meals for us and the kids.
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Sharing a meal is such a great excuse to get people together! Everyone is so busy so we need excuses to stop and enjoy life. Good food and people are all we need for a great evening.
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I believe Fellowship begins in dining room, even Jesus took the time to sit and eat with his fellow disciples.
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Sharing meals is so important because food ALWAYS tastes better when it’s made by someone else!
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following on twitter (jkalstrup)
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tweeted here: http://twitter.com/jkalstrup/status/6446173969
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Sharing a meal together is important because it gives people time to reconnect and talk about the day without any outside disturbances.
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follow on twitter @5memb
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tweet http://twitter.com/5memb/status/6462067078
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Sharing meals is so fundamental, because it is a great way to connect with your loved ones, especially at the end of the day. Thanks!
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Sharing a meal is a great time to sit down and have meaningful conversations. Sometimes I get a little grossed out when people talk with their mouth full but,I get over it because I know that’s the nature of the situation. LOL
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I tweeted (lindalatina)
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rt’d contest
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Because I love to sit with my family and enjoy a good meal
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My family and I sit down together every night and eat dinner. It is so important because it gives us the time we nee dto slow down and really connect.
kristinpotpie@yahoo.com
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I follow you on Twitter – I am @kristinpotpie
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I tweeted http://twitter.com/kristinpotpie/status/6549906163
kristinpotpie@yahoo.com
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I think it is important because it gives the adults much needed interaction and it gives the kids a chance to learn propriety in a more “formal” setting.
Plus it’s fun!
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I subscribed to your feed. I am not sure why I didn’t before, I kept clicking over from Twitter!
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tweeted about the contest, too.
http://twitter.com/sassynsouthern/status/6549984734
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commented on the Whrrl story. (Lynsey Mitchell Pittman)
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great way to connect in a relaxed setting, can talk about almost anything over a meal
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I think there is a kind of bonding that you get when sharing a meal, especially a home-cooked one, that you don’t get from other time spent together. Eating together is somehow more personal.
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Sharing a meal is important as it creates a bond between others. It also brings you closer to the ones you love while being able to create new memories to share.
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I follow you on twitter – my twitter name is @thesweetmom
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Tweeted – http://twitter.com/thesweetmom/status/6639663003
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Sharing a meal with others is so important, especially today, where we have little “real” connection with people…so much is electronic (via phone, computer–texting, tweeting, FBing–and the art of conversation has been reduced to 140 characters or less.
)
We need to slow down…and enjoy…our family, friends…and food.
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I’m a subscriber.
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I follow on Twitter
@pippirose77
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I think its a wonderful time to sit and enjoy each other’s company. Life gets too busy
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I am a email subscriber
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It brings everyone together and its a perfect time to talk about the events of the day, thanks!
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sharing dinner with others,gives me a chance to hear what they have done, that day or night prior.makes me feel involved in thier lives.then I share with what I have done.you can hear a lot of things at a dinner table,then if you were to just plop down on a couch,to eat.the joking at the table,Id miss this the most,I think.
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Im following ontwitter..Kathryn20000<~~~~my username fortwitter/facebook/digg/stumble..I use same for most(not lazy-my meds really give me bad memories) bingo1575(at)comcast (dot)com
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Im signed up for newsletter Kathryn20000
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fan on facebook Kathryn20000
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I tweeted on twitter Kathryn20000<~~~~my username for facebook/myspace/digg/twitter is same
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I tweeted on twitter Kathryn20000
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I meant I follow on google friends Kathryn20000
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Im following on twitter-kathryn20000 blog
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It gives us time to really connect with each other.
ktgonyea at gmail.com
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I think family meals are so important because it brings everyone together and is a time where the main focus is on each other instead of other things that so often distract us.
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I subscribed to your blog via google
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Sharing a meal together is important because it keeps families together.
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Google reader subscriber. jelly15301@gmail.com
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GFC follower.
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sharing meals is important beacuse it brings families together and they are that way closer
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subscriber
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