Tis the season for baking some tasty holiday cookies! I took my basic shortbread recipe (one of my favorite buttery cookie recipes) from my cookbook and gave it a seasonal twist by dressing them up with chopped pistachios and dried cranberries. The red and green colors are perfectly on theme, and the sweet and savory flavors a delightful complement to the buttery cookies. Get the recipe below!
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As we gear up for the holidays, I took a trip to Christmas Tree Shops to gather some festive decorations and entertaining supplies. I brought my daughter and after we walked around the store and tested out every single nutcracker, I filled my cart up with the cutest holiday entertaining supplies! And while I was there, I was struck with inspiration for a fun gingerbread house decorating activity after seeing their contest flyers, which was a special way for us to kick off the Christmas holiday season while we were off from school and work for a few days after Thanksgiving.
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One of my favorite posts of the year — my annual Thanksgiving recipe round up! I’ve got 50 (!!) recipes from my archives with all of the tasty inspiration you need to get for cocktail hour, the best side dishes, sweet desserts, and all the advice you need to make every part of your holiday meal delicious. Scroll down to get inspired and build your Thanksgiving menu with fresh ideas: 
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My very Trader Joe’s inspired Thanksgiving recipe series wraps up today with an easy, no-bake, three-ingredient Thanksgiving dessert: Gingersnap Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifles! Using a layers of chopped up frozen pumpkin cheesecake, crushed ginger snap cookies and whipped cream I created a delightfully simple but flavor-packed trifle to serve for holiday guests. Get the how-to below!
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Continuing our Trader Joe’s Thanksgiving hacks series this week with another tasty, four-ingredient appetizer that’s just about as easy as pie to make: Cranberry Pecan Crostini! I took a ciabatta baguette (any baguette will do!), sliced it into rounds and arranged them on a baking sheet. Give them a little drizzle with olive oil and toast them up in the oven. When they’re golden brown, take them out and give them a dollop of cranberry sauce, a crumble of cranberry stilton cheese and finish them off with a few candied pecans – delicious!
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I love thinking up fun ways to get kids involved with holiday celebrations, like coloring in turkey crowns or this “cornucopia” snack mix, but I have to let you in on a little secret: the adults usually love these details just as much as the kids! I mixed up a batch of this snack mix – a spin on homemade Chex mix with some fun additions like candied peans, Reese’s pieces and pumpkin candies – and served it in big waffle cones to make it look like a cornucopia. They’re fun handheld treats for kids (and my husband, who loves this snack mix more than anyone!) — get the recipe below! 
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Mixing up a spiced, seasonal drink for my #domestikatehappyhour series that’s a perfect concoction to serve at Friendsgiving and Thanksgiving celebrations: a spiced whiskey sour! It’s got all the makings of a classic whisky sour, but with hints of fall flavor from fresh squeezed clementine citrus and a spiced simple syrup made with fragrant cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and chai tea. Get the recipe below and mix one up for your friends and family! 
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One of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes is a green bean casserole. I think it’s partially because it’s one of those dishes that we only eat at Thanksgiving, so every bite really tastes like the holiday. Last year I gave the classic version of the recipe a new twist with a French onion soup style green bean casserole, complete with melty cheese on top! This year, while brainstorming my Trader Joe’s Thanksgiving short cuts series, I decided to give my green bean casserole an appetizer makeover and bake the chopped up green beans with some condensed mushroom soup inside frozen puff pastry bites (side note: Trader Joe’s Frozen Puff Pastry is some of the best, it’s made with real butter so it gets that homemade flaky crust that’s hard to achieve with many store-bought brands!). After the warm, bubbly, green bean and mushroom-flavored pastry bites come out of the oven they get topped with the best part of the dish — the crunchy fried onions. Irresistible! Get the full recipe below for your Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving holiday celebrations. 
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Sharing an easy way to set the Thanksgiving table with Fancypants Baking Co’s adorable decorated cookies. I picked their turkey cookies, but there are lots of other seasonal shapes, like festive leaves, that you can pick to match your table décor. Grab some edible ink pens and scroll each guest’s name across the cookies, then use them as place cards at each table setting, or as a fun way to decorate the kids table!
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Gearing up for the holiday entertaining season has me digging into the blog archives for all of my favorite holiday cocktail recipes! Get your bar cart ready and your cocktail menu inspired with 10 of my favorite festive holiday drink recipes below — from big batch drinks and punch recipes, to sparkling sips and spiced seasonal cocktails, there’s something for everyone! 
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