Hi, I’m Summer. Quick note before we get into the formal stuff:
Running a blog costs money — hosting, photography gear, ingredient testing, plugins, the works — and a few small income streams keep the lights on so I can keep publishing free recipes and calculators. The big ones are display ads, affiliate links, and the occasional brand partnership. None of these change what I write about or which products I recommend. If I link to something, it’s because I believe it’s genuinely useful — either from my own experience, careful research, or both. When I haven’t personally tested something, I’ll tell you.
Here’s the formal breakdown of how each of those works, in keeping with the FTC’s guidelines on disclosure.
1. Affiliate Links
Some posts on this Site contain affiliate links. This means that when you click a link and make a purchase from a third-party retailer (such as Amazon, Walmart, or other partner programs), Summer & Cinnamon may earn a small commission — at no additional cost to you.
You pay the same price you would pay otherwise. The retailer pays us a small percentage as a referral fee.
Programs we participate in include:
- Amazon Associates Program
- Other affiliate networks and individual brand partnerships we may join from time to time
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Our recommendation standard:
We only link to products we believe are genuinely useful — based on our own experience, careful research, or both. A commission opportunity never determines what we recommend; quality and usefulness do.
When we link to a product we haven’t personally tested, we’ll say so within the post. If a product stops being worth recommending, the link comes down.
2. Display Advertising
This Site is monetized in part through third-party display advertising. Ad networks place ads on our pages and pay us based on impressions and clicks.
We do not directly select which ads appear on any given page — that’s handled by the ad network based on the visitor, the page content, and the advertiser’s targeting. Ad content is the responsibility of the advertiser, not Summer & Cinnamon.
For details on how advertising cookies and data collection work on this Site, please see our Privacy Policy.
3. Sponsored Content and Brand Partnerships
From time to time, Summer & Cinnamon may publish sponsored posts, recipes developed in partnership with a brand, or content featuring products that were provided to us at no cost (“gifted products”).
When this happens, we will clearly disclose the relationship at the top of the post, in line with FTC endorsement guidelines. Disclosure language will vary by post but may include:
- “This post is sponsored by [Brand].”
- “This recipe was developed in partnership with [Brand].”
- “[Brand] provided the used in this post.”
- “Thank you to [Brand] for sponsoring this content.”
Our partnership standard:
We only accept partnerships with brands and products that fit our family-friendly values and that we would genuinely use ourselves. Even in sponsored content, opinions are honest and our own. If something doesn’t work as advertised, we’ll say so — or we won’t publish the post.
4. Product Reviews
When we review a product, the review reflects our honest experience using it. This is true whether the product was:
- Purchased by us at full price
- Received as a gift from a brand or PR firm
- Provided for review purposes
- Part of a paid sponsorship
If a product was provided free or as part of a paid arrangement, we will disclose that clearly within the review.
5. Email Newsletter
When you subscribe to our newsletter, you may receive emails that include:
- New recipes and party planning content
- Roundups of our most popular posts
- Affiliate links to products we use and recommend
- Occasional sponsored content (clearly disclosed)
You can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of any email. For more on how we handle your email address, see our Privacy Policy.
6. AI and Content Creation Disclosure
Summer & Cinnamon is built on real expertise — Summer’s background as an events professional, hands-on recipe testing, and catering math that’s been verified against multiple sources. That foundation is human, and it always will be.
To help run the site efficiently, we use AI tools as a writing and technical assistant — for drafting, editing, formatting, building the code behind our calculators, and synthesizing research. This is the same way many professional writers, developers, and publishers work in 2026: AI handles the heavy lifting on drafts and technical work, a human expert directs, verifies, and owns the result.
What that looks like in practice:
- Recipes: Every recipe is tested in Summer’s kitchen before publication. AI may help draft the post around the recipe, but the recipe itself — what works, what doesn’t, the tips, the substitutions — comes from real cooking.
- Calculators: The portion logic, formulas, and number ranges are built on catering experience and verified against multiple authoritative sources. AI assists with the code that powers each calculator. Every number is checked before it goes live.
- Party planning guides: The strategy, the structure, the recommendations, and the judgment calls reflect Summer’s events background. AI assists with drafting and organizing the content around that expertise.
- Editorial direction: What we publish, how we publish it, our voice, and our standards are 100% human decisions.
What we don’t do:
- Publish recipes we haven’t tested
- Publish numbers, portions, or quantities without verifying them against trusted sources
- Use AI to fabricate experiences, reviews, or testimonials
- Publish anything without human review
If you ever spot something that doesn’t add up — a number that seems off, a recipe step that doesn’t work, anything — please tell us. We’d rather fix it than leave it.
7. Recipe and Calculator Accuracy
We take accuracy seriously. Recipes are tested in our own kitchen. Calculators are built on Summer’s events background and industry catering research, and the numbers are verified against multiple authoritative sources before they go live.
That said, results in your kitchen may vary based on ovens, ingredients, altitudes, and equipment, and portion needs vary based on guests, occasion, and other variables. Our content is provided for informational and planning purposes — see our Terms of Service for the full disclaimer.
8. Editorial Independence
Sponsorships, affiliate relationships, and advertising do not influence the editorial direction of the Site. We choose topics based on what readers are searching for, what we genuinely want to share, and what fits the Summer & Cinnamon brand of family-friendly comfort food and party planning. Period.
9. Questions
If you have questions about any disclosure on this Site, the relationship behind a specific post, or our partnership process, please reach out through our Contact page and we’ll be happy to clarify.
Thanks for trusting us with your kitchen and your party planning. We don’t take that lightly.
— Summer
