June roses, wild & free, resilient, beautiful, with their delicate sweet fragrance, always take me back home, to the hills where I was raised and to memories of my father's strong, scarred, hard-working hands, presenting a freshly-picked bundle from the bushes in our pasture, where they faithfully bloomed every year, in time for my birthday.

So much of this memory parallels life…

My daughter recently celebrated her birthday, which reminded me of a little tradition I created for my kids when their birthday landed on a school day.

(This also seemed like the perfect opportunity to share one of my all-time favorite recipes with y’all!). Who doesn’t love biting into a sweet, fudgy, chocolate brownie?! But first, a bit of history & humor surrounding these treats..