We're Engaged!

Big news!  Howie and I got engaged on Friday night!  We are so unbelievably excited and have had a blast telling our closest family and friends/celebrating with these family and friends allll weekend long.  I think I've had more champagne in 2 days than I have in my entire life put together!

Sugar Cookies

If there's one holiday tradition that I couldn't live without, it would be decorating Christmas Sugar Cookies with my younger brother and my mom.  We've been doing it for as long as I can remember, and it's definitely evolved into my most cherished holiday memory, year after year.  We laugh, we make the biggest mess in our kitchen with sprinkles everywhere, we try to eat cookies when they're piping hot out of the oven and we play our Now That's What I Call Christmas CD from, ohhh probably 2001.  It's a total blast!

Holiday Shopping at the Cleveland Bazaar

Is your holiday shopping almost done?  If you haven't even made a dent in it (ahem, like me), be sure to check out the Cleveland Bazaar, an amazing indie craft show located in the 78th Street Studios that is happening this weekend only.  There's hundreds of super talented artists, food, drinks (a little liquid courage always helps you spend your money right?!), music and an eclectic, hipster crowd.  All of my favorite things!  I love how many Cleveland-based gifts some of the artists sell.  From funky jewelry to oil paintings of Terminal Tower to clocks made from reclaimed wood taken from demolished historic buildings around town, there's something for everybody.  I definitely got my history-loving, clock-collecting Grandpa that last gift from Rustbelt Reclamation for Christmas 2014 and he loved it.  So when is this happening?

Saturday: 10 am - 9 pm / Sunday: 10 am-6 pm @ The 78th Street Studios near Gordon Square
 (AND IT'S FREE, unlike The Flea which is apparently $5 admission now!)

See you there!  Probably tomorrow because I'm making my first turkey ever today for a Friendsmas dinner tonight.  A little intimidated but if it's super tasty like I'm hoping, expect a post for the recipe!

The Easiest Pie Crust

So you're the lucky one tasked with making the famous Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving dinner this year.  You could be lazy and pick one up at the grocery store.  Or you could be semi-ambitious and make the filling yourself and put it in a good old Pillsbury ready made crust.  Or you could just *gasp* make the pie and the crust yourself.  I swear on my life that this is the simplest pie crust ever - it's made with just 4 ingredients and is still super flaky.  The best part of all is that I consider it foolproof...in all the years I've made it, it's never once ripped on me while I was rolling it out.  Time to be the Turkey Day all-star in your family!

Bliss In A Bottle

Even though I love going out and exploring the Cleveland scene, there's just something beautiful about staying in when the temperature drops below fifty degrees.  Which is like every single day until May, right?  Ugh.  Instead of giving my Netflix and DVR some extra love last weekend, I decided to get together with a fabulous group of friends for a girls night in.  We laughed, we gossiped, we ate, we drank...it was a magical combination of things.  Especially when the eating and drinking part involved wine and chocolate.  And the flavor profiles of the wine and chocolate perfectly complemented one another.  Just wait.  The wine bottles were actually dipped in chocolate!

Do you hear church choirs singing and light shining down from above because you finally found heaven on Earth?  I sure do!  The handcrafted chocolate covered wine bottles made by Bliss in a Bottle are not only delicious, but stunning!  I couldn't think of a more perfect gift for the holidays, a birthday, a housewarming, a Saturday night in with the girls, any moment of time on any day of the week...

Apple Cinnamon Cranberry Bread

So I just came to the mind-shattering realization that Thanksgiving is 2 weeks away.  Where did the fall go??  Why haven't I started listening to Christmas music??  Just kidding about that last one.  I had you, didn't I?  The only thing I seem to be on top of this season is coming up with some ahhhh-mazing holiday recipes!  Like Apple Cinnamon Cranberry Bread.  Seriously though, the sweet apples, tangy cranberries and fresh orange zest combined with a heavenly brown sugar cinnamon mixture that caramelizes on top of the bread when you bake it in the oven...it's just perfect.  On top of how great it tastes, the bread is light enough that you can serve it for breakfast on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day and it will tie your guests over until the scrumptious dinner!

  Let the holiday season officially commence on the blog!

How to Perfectly Roast Chicken

Do you want to know something funny?  Well I think it's pretty funny at least.  It's that almost every single person I know assumes that since I have a food blog I make all sorts of elaborate recipes every single night of the week for dinner.  HAHA!  Newsflash - I'm only human and rely on chicken, hmmmmm, let me think about it...4 nights of the week.  Minimum.