Thank You For A Perfect Weekend!

It has been a hard year for so many of us. In one way or another, we have all been anxious, stressed, confused and afraid by the events of this year.

That’s why this weekend has been an absolute joy for us! Thank you all for a perfect perfect weekend! WordPress bloggers and writers and all those who joined us for the weekend have made us forget so many of our worries and look forward to great times ahead.

For our final post, we are featuring the PICNIC creations of our 2019 STAR BAKER, Sheree, the creator of View from the Back. Sheree certainly knows how to picnic!!! This is the post she published sharing with us the contents of her PICNIC basket:

The Great Bloggers’ Bake-Off 2020: Part II

And you really do need to visit Sheree’s post…there are so many amazing PICNIC snacks…I did not know which to show in this post! I hope you had chance to see Sheree’s STAR BAKER (2019) interview. If not, head on over, it is great!

Catching Up With Sheree – Our Star Baker From 2019

What a great day! What amazing BAKES and PICNIC creations. We have seen some outstanding talent and we have drooled throughout the parade of photos sent in by our superb bloggers.

I want to say a few THANK YOUS to some very special bloggers who behind the scenes have been supporting THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF 2020 SUMMER PICNIC to make it something very special. The first person I would like to thank is:

Bee Halton, the creator of 🐝 The Bee Writes….

Last year Bee was one of our wonderful bakers who made a beautiful sandwich cake (last year’s themed challenge). Bee is not only a very strong and inspiring woman (and if you follow her posts, you know exactly what I am talking about) with a heart of gold, but she is also a wonderfully supportive blogger. Bee – thank you so much for reblogging our promotional posts and drumming up support for this year’s GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF. We appreciate all that you have done! We send you so much love ❤

In addition I would like to thank our special guest contributors who both wrote stunning poems for this weekend. Our special guests were Puman, the creator of paeansunpluggedblog and Kristian, the creator of Tales from the mind of Kristian, two of our great WordPress force of creative writers. We love your work.

Thank you also to the WORD OF THE DAY hosts – we loved that you chose CAKE for your WOTD on Saturday!! We loved seeing the creative posts from the many great bloggers out there who were inspired by this theme!

We are super grateful for all of the bloggers who have supported this weekend by viewing, liking, commenting on the posts featuring our amazing BLOGGERS who submitted photographs, and thank you so much for visiting their sites and making blogging connections! That is what this awesome BLOGGING PARTY has been about – contributing to a fabulous BLOGGING community!

We would also like to thank Jim Adams, the creator of A Unique Title For Me, the host of  the hugely popular SONG-LYRIC-SUNDAY, who very kindly chose a baking/picnic theme for SLS. He has helped to make THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF even more of a party all day on Sunday!

I would also like to thank Jeanne, the creator of A Jeanne in the Kitchen, who is just the right person to handle the judging – I think Gary and I are agreed that we would not know where to start with choosing a STAR BAKER! Jeanne has a huge task this year. What an amazing array of BAKES and PICNIC creations. After this post, you won’t hear another word from me about THE BAKE-OFF until after Jeanne has revealed who the 2020 STAR BAKER will be – it’s so exciting!!!!!!

Special thanks go to Gary, aka bereavedandbeingasingleparent, who last year had the idea of holding a BAKE-OFF FOR BLOGGERS. We have been so impressed to see Gary take on extraordinary BAKING challenges in his own kitchen which quite frankly we are still trying to come to terms with – apologies to any who were offended by the Soufflé. I am so glad that Gary had this idea to begin with…and it is such a joy to work along with him on throwing the most awesome BLOGGING PARTY on WordPress!!!

And then there is Jack! Now…I have two reasons to thank Jack. First of all because all weekend he has been looking after me! He has been making me drinks (he went out and bought a watermelon so he could make Ribana’s watermelon cocktail!) and he made me a summer fruits salad too! He injured himself trying to recreate a Choco Lava Mug Cake, so I had to play nurse yesterday afternoon. (Hee hee, in a wholesome way!) I am so glad he has been willing to keep me company while I was glued to my laptop all weekend.

Secondly, because some months ago, when I told Jack that I had been planning for THE 2020 GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF, but then the coronavirus seemed to wreak havoc everywhere, I was worried it might not be possible this year (because we could not find flour, eggs or baking powder at the supermarket)…Jack thought about and said, “why don’t you open it up so that anyone who cannot bake, can still make something foodie?” Jack suggested a PICNIC theme, just like the grand finale PICNIC they have on The Great British Bake-Off. As soon as I said it, I knew he had been a clever monkey!!!

Lastly, we want to say a gigantic…

THANK YOU

…to all of the GREAT BLOGGERS who were busy in their kitchens BAKING and making PICNIC treats! We are absolutely thrilled with the array of photos we received, and totally stoked that so many of you took part! You are all THE BEST!!! I know some of you have had huge health challenges of your own recently. I also know from your own blogging posts that many of you have lost loved ones during this year’s pandemic and may have been anxious and stressed about finances and the safety of your family during recent months. We are so glad you took some time out to get involved in THE BAKE-OFF…it is overwhelming to see the PICNIC FEAST you all helped put together.

Thank you for making THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF 2020 SUMMER PICNIC such a spectacular weekend!!!!!!! We are so proud of you! Remember this important rule essential in blogging and in life in general:

“IN A WORLD WHERE YOU CAN CHOOSE TO BE ANYTHING YOU WANT – BE KIND!!!”

Sorry about all the teasing Gary!! You are awesome!!!