This year has been trying. However, there have been moments of levity. Growing up, we used to have family over for a whole day of baking a few weekends before Christmas. My Nana would bring over a pile of index cards with handwritten recipes and we would sift through them to find our favorite desserts. This year, I had a Zoom baking day with family and we all made some…
Homemade Pumpkin Purée for Pumpkin Pie
November 4, 2020Last year, I attempted to make my own pumpkin purée for pumpkin pie with a regular carving pumpkin. Big mistake, huge. It was stringy, and not at all what I was expecting. I didn’t realize you’re supposed to use certain types of pumpkins, like sugar pumpkins, to make purée. This year, however, was a success. Trying to find a sugar pumpkin was a little bit harder than I anticipated however,…
While Halloween this year will look a little different, we were not going to let it getaway. This year, we transformed our son into Corduroy and took some photos. Corduroy is a bear who once lived in the toy department of a big store. Day after day he waited with all the other animals and dolls for someone to come along and take him home. Corduroy, 1968 Fatima’s favorite book…
Halloween Cookies 2020
October 21, 2020Last year, I showed off some great Halloween sugar cookies. This year, I wanted to get a little fancy and use some of the letter cookie cutters I purchased over the summer. I had much loftier goals in mind, but I’m really happy with how these Halloween cookies came out this year. The secret to a really good sugar cookie comes down two things. The first, the recipe. I’ve been…
Family-Friendly Halloween activities to do this weekend
October 16, 2020We’re halfway through October and Halloween is right around the corner! We’ve been getting into the spooky szn through some baking, crafting, and spontaneous Monster Mash dance parties. This weekend, we’re heading out for some leaf peeping and pumpkin picking. If you’re looking to get into the holiday spirit, here are some activities you can do right now! Pumpkin Picking for the ‘gram…or to carve Get in some fresh air,…
Pumpkin Pop Tarts
October 14, 2020Another October, another pumpkin recipe in the books. You know we love pop tarts. Last month, we walked you through how we made brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts. This time, I tackled pumpkin pop tarts. If you have a pie dough recipe you love, go for it. Otherwise, already-made pie dough is completely OK. We used that for the brown sugar pop tarts and these pumpkin ones. I don’t want…
Spooky Chocolate Cake with Meringue Ghosts
October 7, 2020Spooky? Check. Cute? Check. Delicious? Check, check, check! This boo-tiful cake is a fun Halloween treat to make this month. Just pick your favorite chocolate cake and top with the cutest meringue ghosts. Up until this point in my life, I have avoided meringue. Not sure why, but probably due to the unknown. When it comes to desserts, I prefer sweet, chocolate, and/or frosting. So when it came to making…
Homemade Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts
September 30, 2020Pop tarts bring me back to my school days. Strawberry pop tarts were my jam (pun intended). However, brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts were my #2 favorite. I loved toasting them long enough so the non-frosted parts were just about to turn golden brown. I’d pick the sides off, eat them first, let the pop tart cool, and then eat the rest. I know, I’m a weirdo. When Fatima was…
When I asked Fatima what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday, she did not hesitate to say ‘cheesecake’. Well, maybe there was some hesitation as she figured out what kind of cheesecake. And that’s how we landed on an Oreo cheesecake for her birthday cake. This cheesecake is one of my favorite recipes. It’s one of the only recipes I found that did not require a water bath…
While summer officially ends in a few weeks, the unofficial end to summer has always been Labor Day. Well, maybe in today’s world it’s when the PSL returns. This summer, we’ve closed the season with a staycation that included a trip to the Bronx Zoo, ice cream, and tie-dye! Growing up, I loved having that one last weekend at the lake house before school ramped up. One summer, about a…
All the letter boards from Lilies and Loafers.…
We’ve hit the five-month mark of working from home. No one said this was going to be easy. In fact, it seems like all the people in school who took on the work for your group projects are the ones now doing it again for the pandemic, and we are tired. This is not over because you’re over it. And please arrest the cops that killed Breonna Taylor. It was a…
This summer has been H-O-T, HOT. No one asked for this. The one, very small smidge of a silver lining in this pandemic has been not having to commute to work. I loved having a no-commute summer while I was parental leave. I have not missed traveling in the heat. To combat the return of the heat over the weekend, I took some of our favorite cocktails and turned them…
Our boozy popsicles were a lot of fun to make. These huckleberry lemonade popsicles are based on one of our favorite summer cocktails. For more boozy popsicles, check out this post! Heads up! You’ll want to make these the day before. The popsicles should sit in the fridge for about 12 hours to set. In need of a popsicle maker? Here’s the one we have!…
Our boozy popsicles were a lot of fun to make. These watermelon basil margarita popsicles are based on one of our favorite margaritas. To be honest, this one is my favorite. For more boozy popsicles, check out this post! Heads up! You’ll want to make these the day before. The popsicles should sit in the fridge for about 12 hours to set. In need of a popsicle maker? Here’s the…
Our boozy popsicles were a lot of fun to make. We whipped up these strawberry lemonade rosé popsicles after seeing some leftover rosé in the fridge. For more boozy popsicles, check out this post! Heads up! You’ll want to make these the day before. The popsicles should sit in the fridge for about 12 hours to set. In need of a popsicle maker? Here’s the one we have!…