Two annoucements and a request for feedback

I rarely write a post without a recipe, but I wanted to share two things as well as get some feedback from me readers on something else. So please excuse my diverting from all things foodie related.

Firstly, I got a puppy! Her name is Stella, she is a puggle and adorable! Here's her first photo:

She's settling in at home and at work quite well and is training as well as can be expected for a 7 week old puppy.

The next announcement is....I placed in a recipe contest! I entered the Safeway Cheese Champions Recipe contest and was chosen for publication in their Cheese Champions Cookbook that will be sold at Safeway stores in mid-July. I didn't win the big prize which was a trip to Napa, but am excited to be published somewhere other than here! Keep an eye out for the book in your local Safeway mid summer. The recipe I won with is my Raspberry Mascarpone French Toast Strata, which is so very tasty, please try it and let me know what you think!

In an effort to continue to learn about blogging and improve upon this blog that I started on a whim almost a year ago, I decided to do an exercise called "31 Days to Build a Better Blog." (or 31DBBB) Every day for 31 days I will receive and email from Darren (the guy who runs it) with a lesson and an exercise that is designed to help further develop and improve my blog. I will not often post 31DBBB specific posts, but I would really love some feedback on this first exercise and I figured who better to ask than my readers. My new friend and fellow food blogger Tania over at Love Big Bake Often is my buddy in 31DBBB, hopefully we'll be able to help motivate each other! Definitely check out her site, he food looks delish and her boys are ADORABLE!

Our first assignment is to write an "elevator pitch." It's what we call in film the logline, a quick 1-2 sentence description of your blog, something you could easily tell someone in an elevator. It should convey or at least hint at you purpose, goals, and target (if there is a specific one) while also having some personality. There are often longer and shorter versions of it, I came up with two completely different versions that I like and decided to incorporate both into my blog. Please take a look and let me know what you think. The first is the new tagline in my header:

"The recipes and musings of a 30-something foodie who thinks food and life should be spicy and sweet."

The second I have used as a re-written description:

"Piccante Dolce is a collection of recipes borrowed, adapted and/or created in the spirit of all things spicy & sweet. It was born out of my love of cooking and a desire to share with family, friends and other foodies. "

Basically I question if I need both and wonder which one does a better job at describing my blog and me. Thoughts?? Please post what you think here or shoot me an email piccantedolce [at] gmail [dot] com. Thanks!