Welcome to the Hearth and Soul Link Party’s birthday! We are celebrating community this week – the community you have all helped to create here at Hearth and Soul.
The Hearth and Soul Link Party welcomes family friendly blog posts about anything to feed the soul. Things that feed the soul may include (but are not limited to) recipes, decorating, crafts, family, home, DIY, organization, travel, book reviews, the arts and self improvement.
Happy Birthday to the Hearth and Soul Link Party!
In October, I will celebrate my 19th blogging anniversary – can you believe it?! Hearth and Soul has been a part of my blogging journey for the last 11 years, first as a participant in June 2010 and a few months later as a host.
Happy 11th Birthday to Hearth and Soul! Whether you have been here from the beginning as I have, or you have joined along the way, I am so grateful to have you here as part of our friendly community. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support.
What’s Been Happening?
I’m working on some new projects and planning some more baking workshops. Please be sure you are a newsletter subscriber to be the first to hear about the latest.
My interview with the Wavemakers went really well, and I have had some very positive feedback. I thoroughly enjoyed sharing about home, family and how cooking can help bring joy into your life. Thanks to Angie, Sherril and the whole team! Some of you may know the Wavemakers from their participation in Hearth and Soul – another reason for celebrating community.
Royal Ascot went ahead last week with reduced numbers. Although I didn’t attend this year, Ladies’ Day reminded me of how a hat really can make an outfit. In collaboration with celebrity milliner, Katherine Elizabeth, I shared how to find the perfect hat.
In How To Choose A Hat That Is Perfect For You , Katherine and I share hints and tips to help you find a hat that makes you feel confident and your outfit look extra special.
I also featured two delicious seasonal desserts.
You won’t believe how easy my No Bake Orange Cheesecake recipe is! It makes a deliciously rich yet light, refreshing, and elegant dessert that is perfect for last minute entertaining.
Studded with fresh blackberries, this lightly spiced Blackberry Apple Cake recipe is topped with red-skinned apples baked to tender perfection. An easy glaze makes for an insta-worthy finish!
Thank you all for sharing your wonderful content!
Celebrating Community Featured Posts
Celebrating community featured posts from top left, clockwise:
Sharing our experiences is a great way of celebrating community. Shiju shares beautiful nature photographs from his blog Cranium Bolts. Based in Bangalore, Shiju specialises in photographs of birds – like this beautiful painted stork in his post A Refreshing Birdwalk.
When I was a teenager, I moved to a new home with my parents. Our neighbours brought a chocolate zucchini cake over to welcome us to the neighbourhood. It was a wonderful way of creating and celebrating community. This Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake from Niky at The House on Silverado really brought back memories. What a beautiful cake!
Patriotic holidays like VE Day, The 4th of July and Canada Day are a great way of celebrating community. Carol of Comfort Spring Station has a selection of Perfect Recipes for the 4th of July. I think the one above could be adapted for Canada Day too!
I have made many friends in the blogging community over the years and it’s always such a pleasure to meet online at events and workshops, and especially in real life! Pat of Mille Fiore Favoriti shares a visit with her blogging friend Carol and some of the beautiful scenery and historic sites they visited together in Meeting a Fellow Blogger in the Mountains.
On with the party!
The Hearth and Soul Link Party
- Please share the permalink to your blog post, and not to the home page of your blog. Please do not link to anything except blog posts.
- Linking your blog posts here means you consent to me sharing as many of them as I can on Pinterest, Twitter, and both my own Facebook page and The Hearth and Soul Facebook Page and featuring them on my blog with photographs from the post.
- By submitting a post to the link party here, you assert that you own the content and photographs and give me permission to share.
- It’s easier for me to publicise your posts if you have social media share buttons on your blog.
- There are buttons at the top and bottom of this post to help you bring Hearth and Soul to the attention of your friends and followers. I really appreciate it when you do!
I look forward to seeing what you will share this week. Have a wonderful week – Happy Summer!
Comments & Reviews
Hello April, Thank you for the feature. Delighted!
It’s a pleasure, Shiju! 🙂
You are a blogging veteran!
Congrats!
Thank you, Michele!
Oh wow, 19 years blogging. That is amazing, April 🙂
Thanks so much for hosting, I could just eat a slice of the cheesecake.
Thank you so much, Claire! 🙂
Two big birthdays! WOW! Congrats! I didn’t remember that Hearth and Soul has been around that long. Very cool!
I saw where Warby Parker is doing virtual try-on of eyeglasses. People say it actually works! Wondering if the same could be done for hats. 😉
That Chocolate Zucchini Cake needs to be made gluten free and your cakes look wonderful as usual, April!
I’m linking up two Father’s Day appropriate posts/recipes, one remembering a fine Father’s Day with Mr. GFE and the other remembering my Dad.
Thanks for hosting and have a lovely celebration week, April!
Thank you, Shirley! I look forward to your posts. Father’s Day is such an emotional time as life moves on. You are definitely in my thoughts! Take care and have a lovely week, Shirley! (PS – I love the idea of a virtual try on for hats!)
Great features this week! Thanks for hosting each week – here to share another round of recipes from Homemade on a Weeknight!
Thank you so much for visiting and sharing, Estelle!
Oooh, I love hats! I’m off to check out that post.
Thank you, Barbara!
Congratulations on hosting such a wonderful party for 11 years! Although I didn’t find your blog until recently, I’m sure the party has been enjoyed by many bloggers and readers over the years.
Congratulations April, on 11 years of Hearth and Soul Link Party. I started blogging in July of 2010 and began coming to Hearth and Soul shortly thereafter and have been coming ever since. It has been a wonderful journey though these 11 years, thanks so much for keeping the party going, my friend!
Thank you so much, Miz Helen! I know we met through Hearth and Soul and I’m so grateful we did! Thank you for supporting the party all through the years, Miz Helen, and for your friendship too 🙂
Thank you so much, Sandra! I’m so pleased you did discover my blog and find Hearth and Soul. I always enjoy your posts!
19 years! Congratulations! And what a blessing to be hosting the linkup for 11 of them. Great recipes this week, as well.
Thank you, Donna! It really is a blessing 🙂
Hi April!
Happy Summer!
Thank you for featuring my post about meeting a fellow blogger friend! We had a fun day together!
Your appl blackberry cake looks amazing–I’m definitely adding that recipe to my collection.
You look very pretty in each and every hat! It is hard to pick a favorite but I think the red one in the bottom row was among my favorites.
Thanks for hosting every week!
pat
Hi Pat!
Happy Summer to you too! It’s a pleasure to feature your post. 🙂
Thank you for the compliment on my apple blackberry cake. Please let me know what you think it you make it. It is one I find really hard to resist.
Thank you also for your very kind words about the hats. Do you know the red one was one I didn’t buy – and I’ve now gone back to ask the milliner if she still has it!! I had chosen quite a few hats that day and let a bit guilty buying another one, but I wish I had snapped it up 🙂
Thank you so much for your support of Hearth and Soul!
April you are my hero – 19 years! that’s amazing and I hope you have another 19 years! Many thanks for including my 4th of July recipes with your fun features today. Hope your week is fabulous!
Thank you so much, Carol. What a lovely compliment! It’s a pleasure featuring your post. I hope your week is fabulous too!
You look so pretty in all of those hats April. The desserts all look so good and I bet taste delicious. I hope you have a nice week April.
Thank you so much, Julie! You are very kind! I hope you have a lovely week too 🙂
Two birthdays/anniversaries! I never knew both had been around for so long. Congrats! Thank you for hosting us all again! I brought by some Pineapple Coconut Popsicles – hopefully they’ll provide some refreshment with this heat. 🙂
Thank you so much, CJ! And please send some of that heat our way – it’s unseasonably cold here after a week of lovely summery temperatures 🙂
You look adorable in those hats! Thanks for hosting and enjoy your week!
Shelley
Thank you so much, Shelley! I hope you have a lovely week too.
Hi April! I was just reading your Egg Salad post and loved the sweet photo of your son with your parents. Sweltering here in Phoenix and praying for rain. As a result I shared some cold beverage recipes, including an Orange Julius copy cat. Hope everyone enjoys it!
Thank you so much, Helen! Oh dear, I will pray for rain for you too. I wish I could send you some of ours!! I used to love Orange Julius and we don’t have it over here, so I look forward to your recipe 🙂
I haven’t made a chocolate zucchini cake in forever! That looks delicious; as do all the yummies featured here.
I haven’t either, Joanne. I think I need to fix that!
Love the hats. Thanks for hosting and I hope that you have a wonderful week.
Thank you, Patrick! Hope you have had a great week, and that you have a lovely weekend.
April, I’m number 153 today with my recipe AND fab giveaway. Hope one of your lovely readers wins it! Loved your mom’s egg salad and your hats. Thank you for hosting.
I’ve shared your giveaway on Twitter, Jean! It really is a good one – and the recipe looks so delicious!