I don’t know about you, but daylight saving time hit me hard this year. Can someone remind me why we can’t just pick a time and stick with it all year ’round? I’m trying to wrap my head around it but since I gave up caffeine for Lent I’ve really been struggling these past few days and thinking about anything has been a struggle. Tiredness aside, it’s been a while since we’ve chatted and I wanted to stop in with another Crumbs post.
Besides, I have big news I’ve been wanting to share…
Meet Breha (pronounced “BRAY-uh”, and yes, that’s a sprinkle bandana she’s wearing).
After losing Leia last summer, our home was sorely missing a German Shepherd. I will always miss my Leia girl, but Zach and I decided that we were ready to welcome a new shepherd into the family and last weekend we brought home this fluffy, cuddly, flop-eared (for now!) ball of fur. She is now 9 weeks old, super smart (hardly any accidents in the house, already learning tricks, sleeping through the night) and sweet and she is the perfect fit for our family. She follows me around like a shadow and Zach and I are smitten.
I thought I’d summarize how each of the household members are doing with the new addition in a series of pictures…
Penny is doing great. She has been very good and very patient with her.
I think you can tell from Luke’s expression that he approves! A bite-y (she’s learning!), jumpy puppy is a bit much for a toddler, but we supervise closely and Luke likes giving her treats and petting her. When he can do so and avoid her teeth, that is.
I asked him yesterday if he liked the puppy and if he wanted to keep her and got an enthusiastic head nod, so I think that’s a good sign!
Saucy is intrigued, but extremely unimpressed. This “feral” cat always surprises me with her patience, Breha is much too excited about her right now, but as she grows older I think they’ll get along just fine.
There’s no picture of Breha with Colt because he is not very happy that we brought home a puppy. After having successfully fostered over 15 dogs/puppies with him previously (and having two of my sisters’ dogs stay with us last year), I’ve been surprised by how unhappy he’s been to have her here, he just does not like her being close to him at all. With careful supervision and slow introduction, we’re working on it and things are moving in the right direction.
Our household is a little extra crazy right now, but it’s worth it.
New E-book!
In other news, I just put out a new e-book! This one all about spring and Easter recipes.
As with my Christmas ebook, these are (almost) all recipes that are already on the blog, it’s just a collection of my springtime favorites that have been formatted to be easily printable, all in one place, and ad-free.
You can get your copy here.
You will also get an advanced look at the recipe below that I won’t be publishing until later this month…
Food bloggers like myself have been getting a LOT of backlash recently for sharing their “life stories” and for having ads in their blog posts. While I try to “stick to the recipe” and always write my posts trying to be as helpful as possible (my number one goal, I have it written on a sticky on my computer!), this is my personal blog and so bits of my life do spill over sometimes, though I try to hold them for posts like these.
As for ads, well the fact is that without ads I would not be able to even run this website and provide the free recipes that I do. I’m hoping that providing ad-free, life story-free ebooks for a small cost, maybe that will provide a happy medium for people who get upset about having to scroll or hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of these free recipes (which is obviously not you here reading this, or you wouldn’t be here, reading this 😉. I appreciate you!💜).
I also know some people just enjoy having the ebooks, which I totally get and am happy to provide them for you, too and appreciate everyone who buys one!
So that’s what’s been new around here recently! Let me know in the comments if you enjoy these posts because that makes all the difference on whether I will continue to share them or not.
Thanks for stopping in and chatting with me, and 10 brownie points to anyone who can guess how I picked Breha’s name 😉
If you want more puppy pics, make sure you’re following me on Instagram and check out my stories, there will be plenty (too many? Is that possible?) coming!
-Sam
Dani
Hey I love to read your Crumbs posts and about your personal life and the story behind the recipes etc…! That’s a large part of what makes food blogs interesting to follow I think!;)
Renee Ackley
Sam, congrats on your new furry family member – she is gorgeous. I would put up with hours worth of ads to see your recipes and I enjoy hearing your personal updates. Keep ’em all rolling as far as I am concerned!
Caron
I am from South Africa and absolutely love reading your blog, stories, family, recipes etc. I truly appreciate getting to know you and your family and really love your recipes – that is a blog after all. The adverts do not bother me at all, too busy reading and enjoying.
Take care and thank you for all your hard work in supplying us with amazing stories and recipes.
Lori Meyer
Thank you for the update. Your new puppy is gorgeous. I enjoy the updates and stories. Keep up the great work. Which is not easy to do during this crazy time in our lives.
Dayna
Also, is Breha from Star Wars?
doris (lady in Ga origanally from Md.
Hi Sam, love reading all your stories specially about pets. Tried some of your recipes and saved every email with recipes. getting ready for vacation to Manchester soon. Thanks for your good hard work.
Abbey
She is sooo cute! 😍😍😍I think Breha is the woman who adopted Princess Leia???? Thank you for this post!!!
Deb in SC
I love reading personal stuff about the blogger as they post recipes. I would much rather make a recipe from someone I kinda ‘know’, than just an anonymous person posting recipes. I like hearing about why you decided to make a particular thing, maybe what changes you made, what your personal audience likes or dislikes which made you change the recipe to suit you….really just anything. I’m sorry you’ve been getting backlash….those people need to buy cookbooks, or use ‘ALLRECIPES’ or some such.
Carmen
What a great, growing family! I enjoy your recipes so much.
Dayna
Love, love, love all your posts!!! Keep it up. I’m waiting patiently for your cookbook to come, but in the meantime, I’ve started my own “notebook” of all your recipes I use! Happy Spring to you and your family. Love your new addition!
Terry
So. No brownie points for me. As a relatively new subscriber to your site, I have absolutely NO idea why you chose the name Breha for that adorable puppy (as I obviously don’t know enough of the back story).
I DO like the personal snippets & photos included in the posts – they give us a sort of “behind the scenes” glimpse into your life & creative process.
And while I too detest the ads – I certainly understand they’re necessary in order for you to be able to run the site & provide us with all these great recipes free – of – charge.
Keep up the great work – stories & pics included!
Nancy Cheasley
Look at the size of those paws! She’s gonna be a big girl! There is nothing like a German Shepherd for sure. Soo smart. Btw..I’m 63 yes old and I cant believe I’ve been making scrambled eggs all wrong. Your method is perfect! Your boy is adorable. Love all your recipes.
Gina DeMarco
Good luck with your precious furbaby (furbabies)!! I absolutely LOVE GSD. Thank you for sharing!! God bless 🥰🥰
Laura
Thank you for the puppy pics. I am going through puppy/doggie withdrawal lately. We always had a couple of dogs and cats but as we aged and found losing our family members so difficult we decided not to add to the family. We did rescue a kitten who is spoiled rotten. Anyway, I appreciate your pictures and your stories. If I don’t have time to read the stories I just jump to the recipe. Enjoy all of your recipes and all of your tips and stories. Thank you!
Kassandra
Love reading all about you and your family!
Michele
I can’t wait for the book. I did purchase it but it didn’t download. Not sure what I did wrong! We tried two of your recipes last night…the worst ever choc. chip cookie recipe (OMG It was delicious!!) and Lasagna Soup which was amazing as well. I even have a child who doesn’t like lasagna (imagine!) and she liked it a lot.