All Posts By:

Brian

Celebrations/ Christmas/ DIY/ Side Dishes

DIY Faux Gingerbread Houses

November 30, 2022
DIY Faux Gingerbread House

A few weeks ago, an Etsy ad jumped into my Pinterest feed pushing a faux gingerbread house to me. These weren’t just any old gingerbread houses. These were dollhouse-sized replicas of historical homes. They were gorgeous and way out of my price range. But they gave me an idea. Can I make these in real life? And then I saw a video of someone making faux gingerbread houses on Pinterest.…

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All Recipes/ Dad Bakes Cookies/ Dessert

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

November 23, 2022
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

A previous version of this post for Chocolate Chip Cookies was published in June 2014. We took new photos and updated the recipe. Have you ever had some Pot Belly chocolate chip oatmeal cookies? Wow. Just wow. Soft, warm, and delicious. Not that our recipe would replace the real thing, I think I got this recipe close to Pot Belly’s. When we made our large chewy chocolate chip cookies, I thought they tasted…

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Celebrations/ Family Fun/ Halloween/ Parenting/ Side Dishes

Halloween Decorations and Costumes 2022

October 31, 2022
Halloween 2022

I cannot believe this is our fifth year celebrating Halloween as a family…and it’s Blair’s first Halloween! We (I) got so many new Halloween decorations to display around the house. This year, Liam was adamant about being Spider-Man. I did not put up a fight because that meant we could reuse his birthday costume. Lilies and Loafers has affiliate relationships, so we may get a small share of revenue from…

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All Recipes/ Autumn/ Cocktails

Apple Cider Mimosa Cocktail

October 30, 2022
Apple Cider Mimosa

This weekend, we caught up with a close friend over homemade brunch. We had fresh fruit, made sweet potato hash, pumpkin brioche french toast, and enjoyed an apple cider mimosa…or two. We have plenty of apple cider recipes on our blog: sangria, donuts, loaf cake, and margaritas. We might have more apple cider recipes than pumpkin! Surprisingly, we didn’t have one for an apple cider mimosa. Apple Cider Mimosa Let’s…

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Celebrations/ DIY/ Family Fun/ Halloween/ Parenting/ Side Dishes

Boo Baskets

October 29, 2022
Boo Baskets

What are Boo Baskets, you ask? They’re like Easter Baskets. Instead of a ‘bunny’ delivering them, a ‘ghost’ delivers these baskets. Boo Baskets are just another excuse to fill something up with candy and goodies to give to kids. This year, I was feeling extra festive and wanted to send my nephews and niece some goodies for Halloween. Target’s Halloween pails were only $1 and we found a lot of…

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DIY/ Family Fun/ Halloween/ Parenting/ Side Dishes

Fall Crafts for Kids

October 21, 2022
Fall Crafts for Kids

After the success of our summer crafts for kids, I needed to continue arts and crafts for Liam, but themed for the fall and Halloween. Our son has been loving the arts and crafts sessions we do on weekends, school holidays, and rainy days. We get to practice cutting, gluing, taping, and working our imaginations. But my main goal is for these projects to be fun. Here are some of…

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Halloween/ Side Dishes

Unboxing Halloween

October 14, 2022
Unboxing Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love the lead up to Halloween even more. I think it’s just the whole autumn vibe I love about this time of year: the cozy lattes, crisp and cool air, carving pumpkins, leaf colors etc. Oh, and the decorations. On our YouTube channel, we started a new series called Unboxing Halloween! Lilies and Loafers has affiliate relationships, so we may get a…

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All Recipes/ Celebrations/ Christmas/ Dessert/ Halloween

Ultimate Guide to Cookie Decorating

October 12, 2022
Ultimate Guide to Cookie Decorating

It’s been a few years since I started decorating sugar cookies for fun. From finding the best sugar cookie recipe to the best royal icing coloring gels, all my tips are scattered over a bunch of posts spanning different holidays. I’m always coming back to my own posts for recipes and tips, so I thought, “Why not put this all in one place?” So here’s my ultimate guide to cookie…

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All Recipes/ Celebrations/ Dessert/ Halloween

Halloween Dirt Cups

October 10, 2022
Halloween Dirt Cups

Did you watch Hocus Pocus 2? That weekend it came out was fall perfection, minus the rain. To celebrate the sequel, we went over to our friend’s house for a viewing party. For dessert, we brought cute and spooky Halloween dirt cups. I can’t remember the last time I made Oreo dirt cups. Literal decades. Yes, plural. This was one of my favorite Halloween desserts growing up. You typically layer crushed…

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DIY/ Family Fun/ Parenting/ Side Dishes

Six Summer Crafts for Kids

September 14, 2022
Summer Crafts for Kids

Liam loves arts and crafts. Throughout last year’s school year, he brought home so many crafts. We didn’t know what to do with all of them. So when camp ended a few weeks ago, we wanted his days between camp and the start of the new school year to remain structured. So in addition to reading his favorite books, writing in his workbooks, and three-thirty p.m. movies, I held art…

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DIY/ Family Fun/ Millennial and Parents/ Parenting/ Side Dishes

Gallery Wall for Preschool Artwork

September 7, 2022
Gallery Wall

We are a family who celebrates everything. The first time using the potty. The first time sleeping in your own bed all night. The first time sleeping in your own bed consistently at night. Your first art project. Fatima and I want our kids to be proud of themselves; to find that inner motivation to keep going. When Liam brought home his first art project from school, we hung it…

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Cooking Through Cravings/ Side Dishes

Pan-Seared Fish with Brown Butter: Cooking Through Cravings

September 2, 2022
Pan-seared fish

When we first moved to Manhattan over a decade ago, my wife and I would eat pasta and meatballs a few times a week. It was a cheap, easy meal and allowed us to splurge on an occasional fish dish. Today, we are much more thoughtful and balanced in our meal prep. We like to have at least one meat, one fish, and one vegetarian dish every week. Salmon is…

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All Recipes/ Comfort Food/ Lunch and Dinner/ Vegetarian

Fried Fish Tacos with Avocado Salsa and Chipotle Tartar Sauce

August 18, 2022
Fried Fish Tacos

It’s been a minute since we had some tacos. Since we had these tacos from Cravings and these delicious tacos, we’ve been trying to find the next iteration of fried fish tacos. I think we found them. Lilies and Loafers has affiliate relationships, so we may get a small share of revenue from your purchases. Items are sold by the retailer, not by Lilies and Loafers. These tacos are back…

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Cooking Through Full Plate/ Side Dishes

Cooking Through The Full Plate

August 3, 2022
The Full Plate

We cooked through Cravings, Cravings: Hungry for More, and Cravings: All Together. In order to diversify our collection of celebrity cookbooks, we thought we should try someone new. Now we are cooking through Ayesha Curry’s The Full Plate. Lilies and Loafers has affiliate relationships, so we may get a small share of revenue from your purchases. Items are sold by the retailer, not by Lilies and Loafers. Guess what? Ayesha Curry CAN cook. Why…

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Cooking Through Cravings/ Side Dishes

Cooking Through Cravings: All Together

July 27, 2022
Cravings All Together

Maybe you’ve been following us as we cook through Cravings? Maybe through the second cookbook? Maybe this is the first you’re hearing about this? That’s ok! We’re here to discuss Chrissy Teigen’s thrid book, Cravings: All Together. Lilies and Loafers has affiliate relationships, so we may get a small share of revenue from your purchases. Items are sold by the retailer, not by Lilies and Loafers. We’ve loved cooking through…

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Blogging and Small Business/ Side Dishes

A Decade of Blogging

July 6, 2022

Welp, we missed last year’s 10-year Blogiversary. But it’s never too late to celebrate, right? It’s been more than a decade of blogging for us. So much has happened for us over the last 11 years and we are so thankful for your support. Six thousand photos, seven hundred blog posts, two name changes, several logo iterations, five different kitchens, and three podcast series later, Lilies and Loafers continues to…

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