I have a confession, I am obsessed with gift baskets and boxes. For every birthday, graduation and holiday present, I like to give a few items I think the person will love. This obsession started after I began celebrating Christmas with Brian’s family, almost eight years ago. Besides spending time with his family and eating a ton of food, I love the little gifts I would get in my socking. I loved…
John’s Marinated Steak: Cooking Through Cravings
July 12, 2017It’s summer. You know what that means? Beach, frozen margaritas (well, that’s all year round) and dining el fresco. However, we are unable to enjoy cooking food on the grill. Unless you have a terrace, city living is not the ideal place to live if you love to grill. Brian is a suburban boy and grew up with a large backyard and grill. So he’s missing out on grilling burgers…
Ms. Jackson’s Southern Potato Salad
July 11, 2017I’ve shared with you before that my love for cooking comes from my mother. My mother cooked almost every night. She would only take a break from cooking if we ordered pizza. Eating out was just something we never did; try booking a reservation for 10 people. All these years of cooking for 10 people and my mom jokes she doesn’t know how to make small amounts of food. Now,…
Perfect Seared Scallops and Warm Corn Salad: Cooking Through Cravings
June 21, 2017This seared scallops and corn salad dish was inspired by Chrissy Teigen’s cookbook, Cravings. 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. When I was younger, I was the pickiest eater. Brian will argue I am still that person. The food on my plate couldn’t touch one another. If…
How We Pulled Off a Surprise Going Away Party
April 24, 2017This post and party outfit are brought to you by our friends at Lovita & Co. “It’s not goodbye, it’s see you next weekend,” was the theme for my in-laws’ going away party. We planned this surprise bon voyage party because my in-laws moved to New Hampshire. With majority of the family still in Connecticut, including my sister-in-law, the family knows they’ll see my in-laws often. We didn’t want the party to…
Pepper’s Spicy Shrimp and Pasta: Cooking Through Cravings
April 19, 2017Here’s our experience making a dish from Chrissy’s mom, Pepper, in our ongoing journey through Cravings. We made this dish with spicy shrimp, the original recipe calls for clams. 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. Five years, that’s how long I’ve been at my current job. In junior year…
The One Thing You Need to Change Your Weekend Outfit
April 12, 2017This post and outfit is brought to you by our friends at Lovita & Co. Sundays for Brian and me mean long walks through Central Park, frozen yogurt, pizza, my favorite outfit and lots of laughs. We both work downtown, so on the weekends we stay local and avoid all touristy areas. The hustle and bustle of downtown can be draining and a break from that is much-needed on the weekends. Plus,…
A DIY Coffee Scrub for Your Mom
April 5, 2017Growing up with 7 siblings and one full bathroom had its challenges. We all had a some sort of shower caddy because there was no way all our products could be stored in the bathroom. What made the bathroom situation even more challenging was my mom’s love for soaps, body oils, scrubs, and the list goes on. For the last 27 years that I’ve known her, her love never strayed. Every…
Valentine’s Day DIY Card Craft for Kids
February 6, 2017My mom kept everything we made for her. It could have been the ugliest school craft, but she kept it. She didn’t have to, but she cherished our handmade crafts. Now, I see how special a handmade craft from your kids can be. My niece is a new big sister and she’s helping out around the house, well as much as a two-year-old can. As we let her mom and dad…
We can always count on our Food Network magazine subscription, the semi-random cookbooks we’ve inherited, Pinterest and our family for great recipes. However, it’s rare that we’ll go back to the magazine/book and continue to cook from it because most of the time, there’s only a handful of recipes we love. Looking at our cookbooks now, there were only one or two recipes that made us buy the book. Now, they just…
John Legend’s Fried Chicken Wings: Cooking Through Cravings
January 25, 2017Did anyone catch the game the other day? Good because you can fill me on what happened. If you haven’t guessed it, I am not a fan of football. But, I love “game day” food. I love a great dip, mozzarella stick and fried chicken wings. Although I’m not part of the 64% of Americans who watch football, I wanted to find a great appetizer to serve at my Super Bowl halftime…
January is National Hot Tea Month
January 4, 2017You learn a lot about someone when you start living with them and you either love or hate those things. Then you get married and you just learn to love the things you used to hate. I knew I loved Brian even more when I found out he shared my love for tea. We have a nightly ritual where we end every day on the couch reading, watching TV –…
Homemade Vegetable Dumplings
December 13, 2016The first time Brian and I made dumplings was with my friend, Christine. She came over to our apartment and made these delicious shrimp and ground meat dumplings for us. We reimagined this recipe and made vegetable dumplings! When Brian and I are out to eat, I will always try to order vegetable dumplings. One day, I may turn into a dumpling. Surprisingly, I’ve had a hard time finding a great place for dumplings in New…
Steak Bites: Cooking Through Cravings
December 7, 2016I cannot believe it’s already December! Where did this year go? Now that the holidays are here, we all need to find some amazing recipes for our guests. I highly recommend these delicious steak bites! A little something you may not know about me, is the first Christmas I ever celebrated was with Brian. I grew up in a Muslim household. Although I haven’t been practicing since I was nine, there were still a…
Chrissy’s Mac and Cheese Recipe: Cooking Through Cravings
November 16, 2016After that election, I think most of us (and yes, most, since Hillary won the popular vote) are in the need of a drink and some comfort food. Chrissy Teigen’s mac and cheese recipe was the first recipe we tried. However, I was waiting for the perfect time to blog about it. I know when I’m having a stressful week, my favorite dinner is a form of therapy. This mac and cheese recipe…
Fried Fish Sandwiches: Cooking Through Cravings
October 19, 2016I just celebrated my 27th birthday, I know I’m getting old. To celebrate we made some delicious fried fish sandwiches. Usually around my birthday I start dropping hints to my friends and family on what gift I would like. One of those gifts was Chrissy Teigen’s cookbook, Cravings. I woke up on the morning of my birthday only to be graced with Cravings from Brian. I flipped throw the cookbook that morning…