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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My favorite way to use Thanksgiving leftovers is this tasty, savory, layered pie with all of the best holiday flavors packed inside. It’s usually a fun way to reimagine the aftermath of the big feast, filling a pie crust with layers of stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, turkey and cranberry sauce. This year, I thought I’d make it before Thanksgiving with the help of some of my favorite Trader Joe’s shortcuts — I grabbed frozen pie dough and mashed potatoes, jars of gravy and cranberry sauce, and a box of their cornbread stuffing mix — those quick little Trader Joe’s hacks made for quick work of assembling this recipe. It would be a perfect dish to bring to a Friendsgiving celebration! Get the recipe below:
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Mixing up an apple cider margarita for fall festivities! It’s an autumnal twist on the classic margarita, bringing in some sweetness from the apple cider and the signature cinnamon sugar rim around the edge of glass tastes just like fall with each and every sip. Get the recipe below: 
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I’ve never been a pumpkin spice latte gal, but a plate of pumpkin ravioli? Sign me up. Pumpkin muffins? I’ll have several. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin beer, pumpkin butter? Yes please, yes please! Below I’ve pulled together 10 of my favorite pumpkin recipes from my archives to get you in the pumpkin season spirit, and bonus, enjoy tasty round up of my favorite pumpkin beers too! 
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I’m getting ready to host our annual Halloween gathering in a few weeks and there is no place better in my opinion than Christmas Tree Shops to gather Halloween decorations! I visited my local Christmas Tree Shops to hunt for the perfect pieces to pull together a Halloween bar cart and was instantly struck with inspiration for my décor theme after stumbling on all their seasonal spooky collections!
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