Celebrations Archives | Lilies and Loafers

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/ 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/ Autumn/ Dad Bakes Cookies/ Dessert/ Halloween

Black Chocolate Cake

October 31, 2019

When Fatima saw this black chocolate cake in the October issue of Food Network Magazine, she said, “oh my gosh, we need to make this.” I looked at the ingredients and figured out where to get black cocoa powder. Black cocoa powder is not as easy to find as I thought. Living in New York City, there are specialty bake shops everywhere. However, only one shop had this in stock,…

October 31, 2019 By Brian

All Recipes/ Autumn/ Breakfast and Brunch/ Comfort Food/ Dad Bakes Cookies/ Dessert

Apple Cider Donuts

October 30, 2019

I love apple cider donuts. Usually, by now I’ve had at least a dozen however, I’ve had zero. I haven’t been able to get up to some of our favorite spots in Westchester and I haven’t found a local spot that sells quality apple cider donuts. When I saw BonAppetit tweet about their ‘best’ apple cider donuts, I knew I had to make them myself. They were delicious. However, I…

October 30, 2019 By Brian

DIY/ Halloween/ Side Dishes

Pumpkin Carving and Preserving

October 29, 2019

When we bought pumpkins a few weeks ago, I was too eager to wait to carve them. I had been looking up various ways to preserve pumpkins, so I thought I’d try a few pumpkin carving and preserving methods since we had a while before Halloween. Ideally, you should wait to carve pumpkins a few days before Halloween or when you want them to look their best; a day before…

October 29, 2019 By Brian

DIY/ Halloween/ Side Dishes

Family Halloween Costumes: The Wizard of Oz

October 23, 2019

This year, we did not know what to do for our Halloween costumes. We had a shortlist of ideas. However, when we were in Marshalls, we saw this lion costume and had to let Liam try it on. He just stood there, looking at us and then ran off. This tiny human was running around Marshalls in this lion costume. That’s when I was sold. He. Is. THE CUTEST. Lion.…

October 23, 2019 By Brian

All Recipes/ Celebrations/ Dad Bakes Cookies/ Dessert/ Halloween

Halloween Sugar Cookies

October 16, 2019

When it comes to decorating cookies, I am no artist. However, in the last year, I’ve been learning how to decorate and work with royal icing. It started last year when I made my first batch of Halloween sugar cookies. I didn’t realize how long the icing would take to set and I was impatient about photographing my first royal icing experience. Right after I snapped this photo, I moved…

October 16, 2019 By Brian

All Recipes/ Autumn/ Dad Bakes Cookies/ Dessert

Pumpkin Spice Icebox Cake

October 9, 2019

OK. Like, OMG. Ummm. When we made the ginger-spiced icebox cake, we started on a path down a rabbit hole of different icebox cake varieties. That cake will always be my favorite. The level of spice was perfect. It tasted like Christmas. However, this pumpkin spice icebox cake may have just dethroned the ginger cake. There are so many reasons to love fall: pumpkins, leaves, the weather, apple picking, and…

October 9, 2019 By Brian

Autumn/ DIY/ Side Dishes/ Sponsored

Falling into the Fall Mood

October 6, 2019

The first few weekends of fall are some of my favorite times of the season. No matter how hot or cold it is outside, we start decorating on the first weekend of Fall. I usually bake a loaf of pumpkin bread, apple pie, sweet potato pie, or pumpkin pie. However, the first thing we do is light up all the fall-scented candles. There’s nothing that gets us into the fall…

October 6, 2019 By Brian

All Recipes/ Autumn/ Beverages

Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa

October 5, 2019

My favorite time to drink hot cocoa is after a day playing in the snow. Yes, I jumped a whole season, but just read me out. A cup of hot cocoa felt like the perfect reward after a long day in the bitter cold. I’ve been so anxious for cooler weather, and after today’s chilly day, a cup of pumpkin spice hot cocoa was the perfect ending. After a big…

October 5, 2019 By Brian

All Recipes/ Autumn/ Comfort Food/ Snacks

Homemade Kettle Corn

October 4, 2019

We somehow managed to survive without a microwave for three years. When we moved into our old apartment, it wasn’t until two weeks later that we discovered we didn’t have a microwave. We’ve never been big microwave people, so it wasn’t a huge issue. However, it meant no microwavable popcorn. In our last month at that place, we finally made popcorn on the stove. It was glorious. Since then, we’ve been…

October 4, 2019 By Brian

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