Oh boy, it’s a big day at Domestikatedlife headquarters! We have two big milestones happening today — Jane started her first day of preschool this morning (queue the tears — mine, not hers!), and today is the one year anniversary of my cookbook being published! It’s sort of like both of my babies have grown up — and with most large emotional changes in my life, I’m dealing with it by turning to comfort food, ha. I was totally feeling some warm, cozy, fall-cooking this week as we kicked off the month of October and decided to experiment with a new autumnal twist on a classic chili recipe. 
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Please note: This post was created in collaboration with Chase Freedom Unlimited. All opinions, images and content are my own.
I’m continuing to work on my “be a better baker challenge” in collaboration with my friends at Chase Freedom Unlimited. The project has been going on for a few months now, and I’ve learned a lot so far — practice makes perfect! One of the biggest takeaways that I’ve had as I tackle each new step working towards my goal, is that motivation (particularly on a warm summer day!) and inspiration can be my two biggest challenges. I have found that I get the best results when I’m feeling excited, motivated, and inspired by the baking challenge in front of me.
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September has been a blur! I have been on the go for weddings (my sister got married last weekend!) and parties (you have to see the camp-themed bachelorette we threw!), in the midst of our first two weeks of potty training (send wine!!) and deep in lots of fun work projects (get excited for the holiday season!!). I sort of feel like I’ve barely been able to catch my breath, and October is winding up to be just as full of work and play. I love sitting down to write these download posts because it feels like unloading all of the little updates I have to share — and I have lots of them today. New recipes, Halloween ideas, lots of books I’ve been reading, and a few fun fall finds! And before you scroll down to read more, I have a favor to ask! I’ve been nominated by Saveur Magazine as a finalist for the Best Entertaining Blog 2019 — I would love your vote! Click here to vote daily! 
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Have you seen that funny meme about how adulthood is just taking everything you love and replacing it with cauliflower? It makes me laugh every time I see it because I feel like I have cauliflower’ed so many recipes – from cauliflower gnocchi to cauliflower mashed potatoes from cauliflower stir-fry to cauliflower stuffed peppers. You would think I would be done with it, but I have one more to add to the mix, this new recipe for cauliflower stuffed shells. The thing about cauliflower is that it can take on so many different flavors, and in this recipe it’s sautéed with lots of garlic before being folded into a ricotta cheese mixture. It gets totally hidden in garlic and cheese, in fact I served this to my family recently and no one knew the cauliflower was in there. So sneaky and so tasty – get the recipe below!
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When I hosted my sister’s bachelorette we were lucky to stay the weekend at a beautiful Airbnb in upstate New York. The biggest perk (besides a lovely pool and picturesque yard) was that there was a big kitchen and plenty of space for us to eat and entertain at the house. When I hear the phrase “bachelorette party” I always instantly groan at the idea of having to juggle a dozen women ordering at restaurants 3x a day. Even under the best circumstances, it’s a lot of work to organize and move that many people out of the house and get everyone fed! Planning some easy meals that we could make (or serve) at the house took so much pressure off the weekend celebrations, and this bagel brunch was a perfect solution for kicking off the day, and featured some simple DIY elements that I made with customized Chinet® Cut Crystal cups.
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One of my very favorite parts about holiday cooking is having all of those tasty leftovers stacked up in the fridge after a party. My friends at Family Circle Magazine asked me to create a holiday recipe with Eggland’s Best Eggs for the October issue of the magazine, and I couldn’t wait to share this easy breakfast recipe made up of many of those delicious holiday leftovers, topped with a perfectly cooked fried egg! 
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Things are looking spooky around here as I gather some new ideas for Halloween! I had the opportunity to work on this fun project with Family Circle Magazine and Sugar In The Raw and share a few fun ways to make the holiday both scary and sweet as you plan for Halloween parties. There are lots of ideas — like dying Sugar In The Raw with gel food coloring to make a crystal rimmed punch glass, or sprinkling puff pastry squares with Sugar In The Raw to make spider-egg-appetizers — featured in this month’s issue of Family Circle Magazine. Scroll down for some more inspiration, and see all the tips in the October issue on stands now! 
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This past weekend we celebrated my little sister’s bachelorette with a festive getaway to Rhinebeck, NY. It was the most fun I have had in a long time, thanks to a very lovely group of girls and a bride who requested a weekend of “relaxation, yoga pants and eating” (we were all on board with her plans!). We hit all of those items and more during our stay upstate — starting at a gorgeous Airbnb country farmhouse — and I had to share a few of my favorite details from the weekend!
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My love for grazing boards is boundless, and they’re one of my very favorite entertaining tricks to wow guests! They also happen to be one of my favorite tricks for getting my picky toddler to eat well. I probably get asked for “snacks” about 40 times a day by Jane — one of our biggest food challenges is that she would much rather eat snacks than meals. Instead of having this ongoing battle over snacks, I have embraced it and made a kid-friendly snack spread that rivals some of my best grown-up grazing boards, with the help of a few of my favorite Cascadian Farm ingredients.
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Please note: This post is created in partnership with Christmas Tree Shops andThat!. All opinions, images and content are my own, thank you for supporting brands that support this site.
I know some people love to hang onto summer forever, but fall is my absolute favorite New England season. I’m feeling all of the cooler weather, leaves changing, sweater-wearing kind of days ahead. So when my friends at Christmas Tree Shops andThat! invited me to see all that’s new in their stores for fall I was super excited! The shelves were stocked with tons of new items, as always, and got me really inspired for the season ahead. 
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