I’ve got an easy little hack for dressing up a box of brownie mix to make a festive holiday treat! I start with my favorite boxed brownie mix (ghiradelli dark chocolate!) and make the batter as directed on the box. Then I bake the brownies about 3/4 of the way, and then take them out to add my own festive toppings like candy eyes, Reese’s Pieces, halloween sprinkles and candy corn. Then I place them back in the oven for the rest of the cooking time to set the toppings but not fully melt them. It’s one additional quick step to the brownie making process and the result is a fun and spooky dessert for your Halloween celebrations! 
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I love to mix up a signature drink when I entertain, and with the change of the seasons I’ve been adding to my cocktail repertoire with some fresh takes on classic recipes. Moscow mules are one of my favorite drinks for the fall, it’s a great in-between-drink when you’re done with summer but not quite ready to dive into the mulled wine territory. Moscow Mules have a bit of warmth and spice from the ginger beer and still feel crisp from the vodka and citrus. This version gets an extra boost of flavor from a homemade blackberry cardamom simple syrup, which smells just as good as it tastes from all of the fragrant flavor notes. Get the recipe below: 
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Roasted butternut squash is one of my favorite fall treats, it’s like an autumnal harvest in every single bite! I’ve wanted to try a stuffed version that turns this sweet and savory squash into an entree and packed to the brim with even more seasonal flavors. This recipe brings together fragrant shallots, crumbled sausage, mushrooms, Swiss chard and quinoa for a hearty addition to the butternut squash. You can also leave out the sausage to make it a meat-free dish, I think this would be a lovely dish for a vegetarian Thanksgiving! Get the full recipe below:
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I’ve been experimenting with cocktail shrubs lately and landed on the most delightfully fall-flavored concoction for this cocktail recipe. What exactly is a shrub? It’s a syrup made of a combination of fruits, aromatics, sugar, and vinegar. The version I made here has grated red apples (a nice way to use up all that apple-picking bounty!), apple cider vinegar, sugar, and the loose tea leaves from a chai tea bag. A few cinnamon sticks get added to the mixture for more spice, and then it hangs out in the fridge for a few days to let the flavors combine and become a syrup-y texture. Once the shrub is ready, you strain out the aromatics and combine it with bourbon and Prosecco for a sparkling, autumnal drink! Get the full recipe below:
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There is something so exciting about a simple recipe that works, and this one is as simple as it gets: just 5 ingredients and takes about 10 minutes from start to finish. These “homemade” Orange Cinnamon Glazed Donuts are made from store-bought flaky biscuit dough, stamped with a donut cutter, and quickly cooked in the air fryer. When they come out, they get a flavorful, buttery glaze with orange-cinnamon notes. It’s such a quick way to get a special fall-flavored treat on the table for breakfast. Get the easy recipe below: 
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A big, one-pot lobster bake is on my summer bucket list every year! This year, I got an awesome opportunity to take my one-pot lobster bake on the road and cook and style it up in Maine with my friend @JackieGreaney for the Vineyard Vines Fall catalog. My lobster bake recipe takes inspiration from the tradition and ingredients of a classic New England clambake, but differs a bit in the execution. Instead of digging a big pit in the sand, I layer all the ingredients in a large lobster pot that heats on a propane-fueled heating element and steams all the ingredients in much less time.
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I keep hearing the phrase “back to routine” repeated, as back-to-school season also means a different schedule for many of the grown-ups this fall. Whether you’re going back into an office or shifting your routine with kids back in school, I always find the first few weeks of September to be a re-setting period — it’s my New Years of the fall! With that comes a chance to start fresh and set myself up for success with good habits – like preparing healthy, smart lunches (the bar is low, since most days I’m grabbing a half-eaten PB&J slice of a toddler’s lunch plate!). A big hearty salad with crunchy Little Leaf Farms greens is one of my go-to options, and I thought I’d share a few ways that I keep lunch salads feeling new – a refresh to your salad routine!
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If there could be an official meal of summer 2021, this would be it: Eggplant Caprese! My garden has been producing eggplant like crazy this year, and with tomatoes also at their peak we have been eating this simple dish on repeat. I make crispy breaded eggplant and layer it with sliced juicy tomatoes, loads of fresh basil leaves, and tuck it all around a decadent burrata or fresh mozzarella. Season everything well with salt and pepper, the salt brings out even more flavor in the tomatoes – and give it a light drizzle of olive oil and good balsamic before serving. Summer perfection!
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A few weeks ago I shared a festive idea for serving a summery watermelon salad in paper cones with my friends at Little Leaf Farms. The entertaining idea was meant to be served to grown-ups, but 4-year old immediately saw that I was making something fun and asked to try a bite. I’m not one to turn down a toddler asking for a bite of a salad, so I handed her a cone and let her give it a whirl. It was a good reminder that switching up how we present food, and even make it fun, can spark some interest in our kids to try new things. It inspired me to come up with fresh ideas for how to add FUN (and crisp Little Leaf Farms greens!) into our meals.
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My garden is peaking right now with so many crunchy veggies and fresh, fragrant herbs. That late summer bounty inspired this tasty green-goddess inspired white bean and herb dip — it’s the perfect way to use up all of the fresh herbs that are spilling over my raised beds, and an ideal way to taste the fresh peppers, carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes with a dip into the savory, flavor-packed dip. The assembly is as simple as throwing it all in a food processor! Chill it before you serve it to let the garlic and herb notes deepen and the texture to thicken; serve it alongside crisp veggies and some fluffy pita bread! Get the full recipe below: 
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