Brian T. Marquis

All Recipes/ Birthday/ Dad Bakes Cookies/ Dessert/ Family Fun/ Parenting

Moon Cake: Two the Moon

May 27, 2020

A themed birthday party has to have a themed cake. Although quarantine shifted our plans, I still wanted to tackle this cake. Our son’s second birthday was themed Two the Moon, so what better cake than to have a moon cake! I never met a boxed cake I didn’t like. In the off chance I have, it was 100% the baker’s fault :). When it comes to planning a party, the…

May 27, 2020 By Brian

Birthday/ DIY/ Family Fun/ Parenting/ Side Dishes

DIY Rocket Backpack: Two the Moon

May 26, 2020

I have decided that for every birthday, my kids will have a themed photoshoot. They’ll make great memories to look back on and this way we get family portraits out of it! This year’s birthday theme was Two the Moon. For our son’s portraits, I crafted this DIY rocket backpack so he could land on the moon! Because my wife and I are crazy planners, we ended with six of these backpacks…

May 26, 2020 By Brian

#LoveSummer/ All Recipes/ Appetizers/ Margaritas

Tequila Lime Shrimp with Margarita Pipettes

May 23, 2020

Make the star appetizer of your gathering, these Tequila Lime Shrimp with Margarita Pipettes! On a crisp and overcast October day, we gathered at a mansion in Connecticut for our last wedding in 2019. For the record, that feels like an eternity ago. It was a quintessential New England fall day. Up until this point, we had attended four other weddings and this was our wedding season finale. Cocktail hour…

May 23, 2020 By Brian

#LoveSummer/ All Recipes/ Dessert/ Family Fun/ Snacks

Dole Whip: Disney’s Not-So-Secret Secret Recipe

May 4, 2020

May the Fourth be with you! To celebrate Star Wars Day, we made Disney’s Dole Whip! It was the perfect weekend to try this recipe out. After weekends of damp and cold weather, this weekend was much needed (which challenged social distancing). We had a feeling it would be difficult to take a walk around the neighborhood with a toddler who refuses to wear a mask. So we took early…

May 4, 2020 By Brian

All Recipes/ Celebrations/ Dad Bakes Cookies/ Dessert/ Family Fun/ Parenting/ Snacks

Mini Cadbury Egg Kissed Pretzels

April 3, 2020

Hey you, we see you. Thanks for finding us. Right now, we are (by “we” I mean “the world”) going through something really awful. We’re all feeling something: stressed, upset, anxious, isolated, and a million other emotions all at once. You’re not alone. No, really, we want you to know that. While we may not be able to enjoy the physical presence of our friends, family, and neighbors right now,…

April 3, 2020 By Brian

All Recipes/ Breakfast and Brunch/ Lunch and Dinner

Breakfast Pizza for Brunch

January 1, 2020

When ‘breakfast for dinner’ gets boring try making a savory breakfast pizza for brunch. You can make this with homemade, bagged, or the stuff in the can. We prefer the bagged pizza dough for a more authentic experience, however, we made this pizza (three times) with Pillsbury pizza dough in the can. It was the easiest option since we were busy making other sides. If you’re coming from an old…

January 1, 2020 By Brian

All Recipes/ Celebrations/ Christmas/ Dad Bakes Cookies/ Snacks

Holiday Chex Mix with Truffle Seasoned Salt

December 25, 2019

I always looked forward to Christmas day with my extended family because it meant a box of homemade Chex mix from my aunt Linda was waiting for us. We celebrate Christmas with my mom’s side of the family on Christmas Eve and my dad’s side on Christmas Day. My aunt Jean usually hosts Christmas Day, so all of the non-locals ship their packages to her house. My aunt Linda, who…

December 25, 2019 By Brian

Celebrations/ Christmas/ Family Fun/ Parenting/ Side Dishes

Merry Christmas 2019

December 25, 2019

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! Santa didn’t take all of his cookies!…

December 25, 2019 By Brian

All Recipes/ Celebrations/ Christmas/ Dad Bakes Cookies

Gingerbread Cake

December 21, 2019

When I saw Starbucks was not bringing back their gingerbread latte this year, I died. Well, that clearly didn’t happen. I died a little inside. When November 1st shows up, you can’t find a pumpkin latte anywhere. Suddenly, it’s out of stock and redacted with tape on the holiday menu boards. How am I supposed to enjoy the holiday season without a holiday latte? This decision by Starbucks left me thirsty for…

December 21, 2019 By Brian

Celebrations/ Christmas/ DIY

Winter Wreath DIY

December 18, 2019

Nothing says the holidays like a house decked out in decorations and Christmas music on full blast. But then the holidays are over and it all abruptly goes back into hiding—unless you’re my family and it’s Valentine’s Day before the last Christmas decoration is put away. However, this DIY Winter Wreath is here for you until the first day of spring—or until Memorial Day. When I get inspired to do…

December 18, 2019 By Brian

All Recipes/ Celebrations/ Christmas/ Margaritas

Cinnamon-Spiced Pomegranate Margaritas

December 11, 2019

Not sure if I’m sick of food from Thanksgiving, but I’ve had no interest in 1. cooking and 2. eating. The ‘no-eating’ part pairs nicely with margaritas—sarcasm! The only pomegranate margaritas we have are frozen, and I have no desire to wake up my son with the blender. It felt like I needed to throw together a holiday cocktail that wasn’t frozen. That’s how these cinnamon-spiced pomegranate margaritas were born.…

December 11, 2019 By Brian

All Recipes/ Beverages/ Healthy Living

Kale Super Smoothie

November 27, 2019

Thanksgiving is upon us and most of us will enjoy turkey, a bunch of savory side dishes, and pie. I think I love next-day Thanksgiving food more than day-of. I love chilled apple or pumpkin pie for breakfast, turkey sandwiches layered with sides for lunch, and constant snacking on Brussels sprouts, greens, and butternut squash, and other sides all day. But soon the leftovers are no more and the feeling…

November 27, 2019 By Brian

All Recipes/ Autumn/ Garden Thyme/ Thanksgiving

Butternut Squash with Roasted Garlic and Thyme.

November 24, 2019

On one of my parents’ visits, we made them Ina’s skillet roast chicken, rice and beans, and this butternut squash. To be honest, this was my first time roasting any squash. I like squash, but Fatima doesn’t, so we’ve just stayed away. However, we welcomed squash back in our lives so we could feed it to our son. At least, I’ll have someone to share my butternut squash with. When…

November 24, 2019 By Brian

#LoveSummer/ All Recipes/ Appetizers/ Healthy Living/ Lunch and Dinner

Everything Snap Peas

November 24, 2019

This past summer’s Food Network magazine was on point. Not only did we find the blueberry basil iced tea, but we found this everything snap peas recipe. One may ask, what is the “everything” in everything snap peas? It’s everything seasoning like what you’d find on an everything bagel! Trader Joes has an “everything but the bagel” seasoning and it’s fantastic! Snap and sugar snap peas are frequent sides at…

November 24, 2019 By Brian

All Recipes/ Breakfast and Brunch/ Comfort Food

Roasted Garlic and Rosemary Smash Browns

November 24, 2019

When we were in Vegas for Céline Dion last spring, we had breakfast at a really cute place in the Mirage called Pantry. This place was so good, we ate there twice. I had chicken and waffles, Fatima had French toast, and we shared a side of smash browns. The smash browns were exactly what we needed at breakfast. Our flight the night before had been delayed and we landed…

November 24, 2019 By Brian

Side Dishes

Five Favorite Things: November 2019

November 1, 2019

Five Favorite Things two days in a row?? Yes! Usually, our Five Favorite Things posts are recaps of the month. However, we’re going to switch it up and tell you about what we’re looking forward to throughout the month in addition to other things we love! In terms of food, we’re going to come down from our sugar high of October and get back to comfort food. Thanksgiving is going to…

November 1, 2019 By Brian

Older Posts

Newer Posts

Lilies and Loafers contains sidebar and in-post advertising in addition to some contextual affiliate links. An affiliate link means that if you click through and purchase an item, we may receive a commission on the sale. Commissions are built into the retail price, and you will never pay more than retail price for that item. Advertising is not part of our content decisions unless a post or giveaway is sponsored. Sponsored content will always be noted. Our opinions are always our own. Learn more here.