I didn’t really grow up a huge football fan, but when I moved to Boston for college I began to see a lot of the appeal. The winters here are cold, and hibernating with your friends and family on the couch on a Sunday afternoon to watch the game is a pretty nice way to spend your day. Also: football snacks. Yea, it’s the snacks really sold me on the whole football thing. I’m always looking for new treat ideas to bring to family and friend’s houses when we’re over for a Sunday afternoon hang, and that’s where the idea for these football marshmallows came from. The recipe is in the new issue of Family Circle Magazine on stands now! 
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I think that post-holiday brain must be a real medical condition, because I totally have it. I’m on a constant mission to reduce food waste in our house and use up ingredients we have on hand in the fridge when I’m meal-planning. This week, we had leftover roasted chicken in the fridge and I thought about how tasty it would be with some pasta, brussels sprouts, and a squeeze of lemon juice. YUM. I started jotting the recipe idea down and got to cooking. When the meal was ready I moved it over to the window to take a few pictures so that I could share here on the blog. Then I dished it up into a few small bowls for us to eat for lunch. As I took the first tasty bite, it occurred to me: I never put the chicken in the pan! I blame it on this terrible post-holiday brain, it’s really the worst.
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Is it okay to have cupcakes for breakfast? If you’re celebrating the holidays (all month long, like me), then yes, you absolutely can. I’ve had a box of Trader Joe’s pumpkin bread mix in my cabinet for the past few weeks, and the other day when I was hunting for something to indulge my holiday sweet tooth I got an idea! I decided to make the pumpkin bread batter and bake it into muffin tins. It’s a sweet and spiced bread that came out nearly cupcake-like.
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I am so incredibly excited to get our Christmas tree this year. Since it’s Jane’s first Christmas, it’s like I’m experiencing the holidays for the first time too. You should have seen her eyes widen when we walked down the holiday decorations aisle at the store the other day, and she saw all of the trees and lights and giant blow-up lawn decorations. She was in complete awe. I know these moments of childhood holiday magic can be fleeting, so I’m determined to start new traditions right away and take advantage of this time when the holidays have that extra special sparkle.
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Can I make a secret holiday confession? Until this year, I never tried eggnog before! It’s almost ridiculous, considering how much I love a holiday-themed drink, that I waited this long to finally try it. My friends at Hood shared some of their eggnog with me to try and it was delicious; I’ve clearly been missing out on this sweet and delectable seasonal drink. Once I tried my first sip, I realized I better do my research and get to the bottom of the best (and creative!) ways to serve this drink at the holidays so that I can make sure the rest of my friends and family don’t miss out like I did for so long.
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As if I didn’t already love dip enough, stick it in a bread bowl and I’m on cloud nine. I thought it would be fun for the holidays to put a new spin on this dip and bread bowl combination and found an easy way to make my own bread “wreath” to wrap around a bowl of Heluva Good! Dips. This is a holiday entertaining DIY for those who are short on time but still want to put something extra special out during this season for guests.
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As the holiday season starts off, I love dusting off the entertaining skills and brainstorming new ways to celebrate with family, food and drinks! When I’m coming up with new recipe ideas, I always like to start with in-season ingredients. Around Thanksgiving and into the Christmas season, there is nothing tastier (and local to my area!) than using cranberries in recipes. I’ve found countless ways to add them into my entertaining mix in the past and continue to find new ideas for incorporating them into drinks, appetizers and décor.
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Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, because it’s all about two of my most loved things: family and food. The actual Thanksgiving dinner is such a treat, but to be honest, I love the leftovers the day after (who am I kidding, sometimes that evening!) even more. In fact, getting creative with Thanksgiving leftovers has become a bit of a sport for me – I love the challenge of creating something delicious and new with them. 
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Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I’m so excited for stuffing and mashed potatoes and green bean casserole and family and football! Did you notice I didn’t say turkey? It’s funny how this giant bird is the centerpiece of Thanksgiving dinner, but truthfully, it’s not my favorite part of the meal – I’ll take the side dishes over the bird any day! Roasting a turkey is quite the job, I’ve done it a few times before and it takes time and patience and lots of crossed fingers to ensure it comes out just right.
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A few weeks back I polled my instagram followers and asked what they wanted to see more of this holiday season, recipes or DIYs? The response was almost 50/50 and I have great news, today’s blog post is an easy holiday recipe and makes a simple DIY gift too: Chocolate Ginger Snap Dipped Marshmallows! 
