SHARING MY FAMILY SECRETS {LINK PARTY}

I have a friend who does a blog series each Sunday where she posts photos and recipes of their family's favorite foods. The subject of a recent Sunday post was cinnamon rolls. Photo after photo of gorgeous, icing-covered, gooey cinnamon rolls. I was hungry. The rolls looked delicious. I WANTED this recipe. As I eagerly scrolled down to check out the recipe for these beautiful creations, I was horrified to read this sentence:

"I promised to never share this recipe so I'm not going to post it, but these cinnamon rolls are a family favorite that we all enjoy!" First, I was crushed. I wanted that recipe!

Then, I was annoyed. Why had she posted all of those pictures, and gotten me so excited about cinnamon rolls, and then specifically not shared the recipe?

So, I called her. Without even saying hello, I greeted her with: "You know you just broke the cardinal rule of food blogging, right? Posting gorgeous pictures of delicious food and not sharing the recipe?!"

She went on to explain that she and her aunt had worked hard to develop the recipe, and that her aunt doesn't share recipes.

Doesn't share recipes? Who doesn't share recipes?!?

And then I remembered a time when I didn't want to share a recipe.

I have a recipe for my mom's pumpkin cookies. They're amazing. The cookie is light and cake-like, and they are topped with a yummy caramel frosting. My little cookies developed quite a following among my friends. And then the day came when someone asked me for the recipe.

Now, normally, I'm a recipe-sharer (The more good food in the world, the better!). But in this case, I was surprised to find I didn't want to share the cookie recipe with anyone. They were MY cookies. People came to ME for those cookies. I wanted to be the ONLY SOURCE of the cookies. Besides, what if I gave the recipe to someone and they ruined the cookies? What if they messed up the frosting, or, heaven forbid, changed the recipe and did something completely crazy like put chocolate chips in them?

So, I did.

Sharing something doesn't mean that I lose what I've shared. Even if it is something I have worked hard on. If anything, what I share will be magnified. If something makes us happy, it might make someone else happy, so we should share it.

Recipes. Jokes. Favorite songs. Art. Sewing tips. Insights. The Gospel.

In honor of sharing, I'm sharing my pumpkin cookie recipe with you (and you can even add chocolate chips if you want. I've heard it's a delicious substitution). Visit my blog for the recipe.

What will you share today?

Do you love finding & sharing fabulous new ideas, projects, and products?  If so, join our March Link Party & share something YOU LOVE and be entered to win Our Best Bites cookbook! The winner will be announced this Friday.  

Here's how to participate:

1. SHARE something that makes you happy on your blog.  As Macy suggested, this could be recipes, jokes, favorite songs, art, sewing tips, insight, the Gospel, or ANYTHING else that brings you joy.
2. Make sure your post includes a link back to this story on TOFW.com. Just copy and paste the code in the text box below in your HTML editor.

3. Click on the text below that says "Click here to enter" and fill out the information (your name, the address of your post, and a thumbnail image of what you shared). Your thumbnail will display below and will direct everyone who clicks on it back to your blog.

We can't wait to see all the wonderful things YOU will share!