It’s Brownie Time – Ride for Family Homelessness Day 1

Dancing DeerSo, there’s a lot going on in this blog post today. Let’s start with:

Dancing Deer Brownies (@DancingDeer) Tagged Me

First and foremost, I was tagged to talk about comfort food and home. Which you know I think I might just be able to do! But I’ll get to that in a second.

Dancing Deer Tagged Me For a Good Cause

Dancing Deer CEO Trish Karter is going to be riding her bike 1,500 miles from Atlanta to Boston in order to raise awareness for family homelessness, in particular this cause (see: http://tinyurl.com/dzynh5). She’ll also be recording stories from the women she meets along the way asking them about their experiences. One question she’ll ask them are what foods remind them of home.

And I Get to Eat Brownies

I could not be more excited that for the next two weeks, I am going to be writing about Dancing Deer brownies everyday and doing what I can to help raise awareness about family homelessness.

Then Share The Recipes With You

Dancing Deer was great. They gave me more brownies and cookies than I have ever seen in my life, so stay tuned for some recipes made from some of the most AMAZING brownies, cookies, and cake in the world. (Seriously, I’m not just saying that.) We’ll be featuring brownies baked in phyllo, ice cream sandwiches, brownie ice cream, trifles, and who knows what else I have up my sleeve.

Even better, all the recipes are made from cooked brownies which means no baking for people like me!! Cooked brownies FTW.

Okay, with that said, I’ve been tagged and it’s a sacred obligation.

Foods that Remind Me of Home.

More than anything, the food that reminds me of home is Cincinnati-style chili. If you don’t know what that means, apparently Cincinnati started what you might know as chili mac, or taking macaroni or spaghetti noodles and covering them with meaty chili, cheese, and raw onions.

Let it be known that for years, I despised Cincinnati-style chili. And I blame my father.

See, at first I liked it just fine, but as a young boy, WE NEVER HAD SPAGHETTI WITH MARINARA AT HOME. We only had spaghetti topped with chili. I would beg my father to make regular spaghetti… but no. It had to be chili. And half the time it was chili from a can.

(At this point I’d like to thank Dancing Deer for dredging up painful childhood memories. ;))

So fast forward a few years to my adulthood. See, when you fly back from Columbus, OH to Kansas City, MO you have a layover in Cincinnati that is usually long enough to grab dinner. A very tired me is in search of dinner when I happen to come across a giant mural that reads “Cincinnati Style Chili” with a hunger-inducing image of a big steaming bowl of noodles, chili, cheese and onions. And I start to drool.

At that point, all I can think about are all the great times I’d had as a kid eating Cincinnati-style chili with my Dad. I guess sometimes travel delirium makes it so you only remember the good times. And there for a few minutes in a busy airport after I’d been traveling for several days, I knew that I had found a little piece of home a nice person could serve me in a bowl.

With that being said, I still vow to never serve Cincinnati-style chili in my own home, but at least I have something to look forward to when next I travel.

And I Choose to Tag

Okay you Stupendous Seven, here’s who I am going to tag:

  1. Anna Bassham www.shoesmitten.com @ShoeSmitten
  2. Kristin www.dineanddish.net @DineAndDish
  3. Gourmet Girl www.gourmetgirlmagazine.com @TheGourmetGirl
  4. Cook Local www.cooklocal.com @CookLocal
  5. Anne Coleman www.cookingwithanne.blogspot.com @Anniepooh
  6. Rachel Ferrucci touchd.net @RachelFerruci
  7. Courtney Ferrucci cferrucci.blogspot.com @cferrucci

**And the rules**
Link your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.
* Share what food reminds you of home
* Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
* Let them know that they’ve been tagged
*Please Copy and paste the description below:
Dancing Deer’s Sweet Home Initiative raises money for scholarships to help educate homeless women and end family homelessness. As a part oft his initiative, our CEO, Trish Karter, will be riding her bike 1,500 miles from Atlanta to Boston visiting family shelters in each city to raise awareness about this cause (see: http://tinyurl.com/dzynh5 ). She’ll also be recording stories from the women she meets along the way asking them about their experiences. One question she’ll ask them are what foods remind them of home.

Good luck! Now, come back tomorrow for my first recipe. You won’t regret it!

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