Cherish Every Moment Cookbook Project

I had an email from Candice back in October when we were in the middle of my flooded house situation and spontaneous home remodel. (for more info on that read my post And the Rain Came Down)

She wrote:
hi there, My name is Candice Sonke and I was just looking at your website. My son was born June 7th of this year at 22 weeks gestational age, after 129 days in the hospital we just took him home (in October). He is a miracle. I have since started collecting the stories of others who have spent any amount of time in an NICU, along with a recipe to put together a cook book of hope.

I recently expanded the invitation to parents who have also lost a child due to premature birth. So I ...would like to invite you to also participate. I am in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and am working along side the IWK foundation to raise money for the Neonatal unit in Halifax NS. I hope you would be interested, feel free to also expand this invite to your family, and friends who may have also been touched by a premature baby.

If you have any questions please contact me by email pink262@hotmail.com or on facebook. I have a facebook page dedicated to premature babies called "Cherish Every Moment".

I look forward to hearing from you.
Candice Sonke

proud mom of Aidan-John Michael Quilty born 22 weeks 1lb 9 oz.

I responded in this way;

I appreciate your invitation to join your project. It sounds wonderful. But I wonder if I really fit- Gabriel had died before he was born, and then we were induced. I don't know if that is exactly the kind of inspirational story you are looking for,it is really kind of a downer. Let me know if you'd still like us to be involved.

and had this kind reply:
You know, every story is important for people to hear, no experience is more important than another. I think that your story while it may not be inspiring in the sense that most people would expect, it may help families to really see how blessed that they have been to have a healthy child. Its really your call, I do have families whose children have passed away sending in there stories for just that reason.

I appreciate Candice including us in her project. If you'd like to share your child's story with her contact her by email on on her facebook group Cherish Every Moment.

Good luck with your cookbook, Candice!

Speaking of recipes, I don't particularly like to cook but for New Years Eve I wanted to do something special for my family. I tried an elaborate recipe for Monkey Bread that used yeast and it was a total failure! Here is my old tried and true recipe (compliments of the good folks over at Pillsbury):

Monkey Bread
2 cans refrigerated biscuits
1/2c sugar
1t cinnamon
1 c brown sugar
3/4 c butter or margarine, melted
1/2 c chopped walnuts and/or raisins if desired

Heat oven to 350. Lightly grease a bundt pan with cooking spray. In large plastic bag mix white sugar and cinnamon. Cut biscuits into quarters, place in bag and shake to coat. Arrange in pan adding raisins and walnuts among biscuit pieces. In small bown, mix brown sugar and butter, pour over all. Bake 28- 32 mintues until golden brown. Cool in pan 10 minutes, turn upside down onto serving plate. Pull apart to serve; serve warm.