Almost every weekend this summer we seemed to be packing our bags to head out for the beach or the mountains or to visit family. We were constantly on the road! As autumn rolls in, I’m happy to see that the calendar has us staying much closer to home the next few weeks. It makes me excited for some cozy Sunday afternoons watching football on the couch, getting ready for Halloween festivities, and finding plenty of reasons to entertain family at home. And for all of those reasons to celebrate, I’ve been thinking about some tasty fall snacks to serve at home.
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Dinner is always a challenge, but recently I’ve been a little more frazzled getting a meal on the table. A certain toddler in my life may have something to with that? I’ve been trying to do a little bit of meal-prep on Sunday afternoons so that we have at least one meal in the fridge that we can use for lunches or a quick dinner for busy weeks. My favorite kind of meal-prep recipe is one that I can make once and use in a few different meals, and this flavor-packed garlic and herb turkey meatball recipe is one of them!
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I have been nursing a cough and a cold for over a week – the change of the seasons always gets me! Add to that a week of cool, rainy weather, and I’ve been gravitating all things cozy and comforting. Lots of tea, early bedtimes, and a craving for soup that I just couldn’t ignore. I’ve been thinking a lot about one soup in particular that I just couldn’t get out of my head – an amazingly balanced potato leek soup from a farm store near my parent’s house. I had it for lunch a few weeks back, and couldn’t get it out of my head. We ate it with crusty bread and slices of sharp herbed cheddar cheese and it was so flavorful. I knew I had to recreate it home – and decided to combine the best parts of this unforgettable lunch into one pot: a potato leek soup infused with those sharp cheddar and herb flavors.
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It’s been a whirlwind week, and it’s only Wednesday! I spent all of last week in New York for business (at the awesome Better Homes and Gardens Stylemaker Conference!) and for play (celebrating my sister’s engagement, yay!). I’ve been going a million miles a minute since, because on Monday my cookbook officially launched! It’s been absolutely surreal to see people sharing pictures of it online, hearing from friends and family that they’re flipping through it in their homes, and seeing it in a bookstore. All I can say is, WOW. While I catch my breath, I have a few new recipes, links, and updates to share!
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I feel very protective of my autumn weekends now. I try so very hard not to overschedule them so that we can enjoy quiet Sundays at home. I’m not much of a football person, but I do love the idea of hanging out with my family on the couch and eating tasty homemade food. The game is on in the background, but I’m really here for the lounging and the snacks. My husband got a smoker earlier this year, and we have been firing it up on weekends to make all kinds of slow-smoked dishes. One of my favorite things we’ve made on the smoker is pulled pork. It is full of flavor and moisture, and the outside gets the most delicious crispy bark.
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I had a perfect fall Sunday — we picked up some pumpkins for our porch, played outside with Jane, and watched football. During Jane’s nap time I had a few items on my to-do list that needed to get done, so of course I decided to procrastinate and do a little baking. That perfect autumn weather was calling me — it was so nice to turn on the oven without worrying about heating up out kitchen. I was craving something sweet and pumpkin-y, but had a bunch of too-ripe bananas that needed to be used up. So I tested a banana-pumpkin batter to make these tasty little muffins. They have the density of banana bread, a sticky moist texture from the sour cream, and all of the flavors of sweet pumpkin spice. Jane woke up from her nap and was delighted to find the results of my to do list procrastination, she gobbled up a muffin in minutes and was standing on her tippy toes to grab a second one off the counter. Get the full recipe below!
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Is there anything better on this earth than climbing into a freshly made bed with crisp, clean white sheets? I actually get giddy thinking about it; I always have the best sleep on that first night that clean sheets go on and they’re tucked neatly around me. As fall weather rolls in I always love making the bed with the new season in mind – adding on an extra blanket, giving our duvet cover a wash, and laying out some pretty throws for extra warmth at the foot of the bed.
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I picked up the most amazing herbed cheddar cheese at a local farm store this morning, and came right home with it and a loaf of bread to make myself some savory grilled cheeses and soup for lunch. I opened up the cheese and bread to just have a little taste, and completely abandoned my lunch plans. We had no need to make these tasty ingredients into anything else, they were perfect just the way they were. After my impromptu cheese-plate lunch, I thought I’d share some of my favorite tips for building a beautiful and balanced autumn cheese board. It’s one of my favorite tools for entertaining!
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I’m taking my show on the road to celebrate my new entertaining cookbook and will be popping up at some of my favorite bookstores and boutiques and libraries around New England for book signings, shopping events, and workshops. Find an up to date list of all of the events below. I hope to see you there!
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I sat down to write a different post today but was confronted with a bit of writers block. And then I went to tackle some other items on my to-do-list, and couldn’t quite decide where to start. My only next logical step was to go stand in front of the open refrigerator for 5 minutes, find a snack, and then make my way back to the computer for a little download of all of the stuff going on in my brain. A little bit of everything I’ve been reading, watching, and thinking about this week:
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