With a sustained chill in the air, leaves on the lawn, and the shift to shorter days, we’re craving soups. Read on for a round-up of our fall soup recipes and a short list of our favorite soup-making gadgets.
How are you handling the news lately? It’s a bit much, isn’t it?
I typed this post, added a few images and realized that it looks like it’s sponsored by the Morning Brew. Ha! It’s definitely not, but I do want you to sign up for this news service. Read on to see why. Continue reading
On Tuesday Sarah shared a Halloween appetizer. Yesterday I shared a well-wrapped main dish, and today we’re sharing the dessert that’s sure to make your little trick-or-treaters squirm giggle.
The focus of this Cooking with Kids post is all on the decorating, and in this post we give you sources for all of our fun supplies (including the spider cupcake holders!). Kids LOVE decorating treats, and Halloween is the perfect time to let them go wild. Make it spooky, creepy, silly, cute. It definitely doesn’t have to be perfect. And that’s what makes this project such a hit with big and little people.
I like to plan projects for us to do throughout the season, some more time and energy intensive than others. Decorating spider cupcakes purposefully falls on the easier side. It’s something that you could do on an afternoon when you want to add a little bit of Halloween excitement (and sugar!) to their day.
Fall has been feeling really special this year. I think it’s due to a magical combination of beautiful weather, kids that are SO excited about Halloween, and having the time for special trips like our recent visit to the pumpkin patch.
It definitely helps that I’ve been making all soups in my favorite pumpkin cocotte (that’d be a fancy word for Dutch oven). The mushroom quinoa soup above comes from Easy Soups From Scratch with Quick Breads to Match. If you’re looking for a kitchen gift for someone, you can’t go wrong with that pot+cookbook combo.
If you don’t have the pumpkin pot or the soup book, we recommend this old fall favorite: veggie and sausage gratin in a pumpkin! You can find that tasty recipe here.
And the next time you’re making soup or gratin for dinner, pick up a beeswax candle-making kit. You’ll have just enough time to roll candles while everything is simmering. And dinner will feel extra special the moment you light those candles.
What are you enjoying this fall? Any favorite books we should know about? xo
Welcome November!
How are you feeling? There are so many things that can overwhelm us at this time of year. The shorter days and longer nights, the colder and grayer daylight hours, the anxiety of the holiday-packed months ahead. Should I go on?
Yet on the flip-side, there are so many things that have me excited to wake up every day. At this time of year, I anticipate spending more time inside. I look forward to lighting candles, cozy dinners, and longer dark evenings spent being creative.
Knowing the transition to winter can be particularly tough we make a concerted effort to embrace the good and face the challenges head-on.
This morning we shared a few favorite fair trade brands. Really we’re using that term as a catch all – kind of how society treats the word organic when it comes to food. By fair trade we mean companies not only providing fair wages, but also doing other great things like honest sourcing, impeccable waste removal, or B-corp certification.
Now we’re back with our comfiest picks for the season. You may remember these images from a couple years ago and while we like to keep it fresh here, Kate and I both realized we would still pick the same exact fall favorites. We don’t buy excessively, instead we choose items we truly love. Pieces that are timeless, work well in most situations, and are made with quality in mind. How do we know these pieces are timeless? All but two of the links still work four years after the original publication of this post! Bam.
See those clogs on Kate’s pic? She’s had them for ages and recently replaced the sole. That’s the kind of quality we’re looking for when we make new purchases. We buy items we love and cherish for years – I actually wrote a piece for another website all about my affinity for great clothing and gear.
As you can see, Kate’s outfit is a little more appropriate for the outdoors while mine would work well under a big fuzzy blanket. Details below!
Sarah wasn’t lying when she mentioned that July’s her favorite month. And mine too, for all of the same reasons!
In my mind, July is everything summer. It’s cannon balls in swimming pools, muggy nights filled with the sounds of cicadas and the glow of lightning bugs. It’s tomato and mayo sandwiches for lunch, followed by California burgers and corn on the cob (fresh from the garden!) for dinner.
Those are the memories seared into my brain, and I’m hoping to create some of the same for the boys. And on that front I think we’re off to a great start. Right now the boys are coated in sand, sunscreen, and lake water. If that’s not July, then I don’t know what is.
I’m so excited for summer with the boys. They are 2 and 4 years old, and I can already tell that this is going to be a really active summer for us. From the moment they wake up until they pass out, we’re riding bikes, playing in the baby pool on the back porch, and going for hikes in the woods. All that time outside in the sun requires good gear, and a dip or two in the water to cool off. So, below we’re sharing our favorite sun and water gear, because the two go together like peanut butter and jelly (obviously).
It’s the middle of summer, food is at its freshest, and the livin’ is easy, or at least it should be.
There’s nothing we love more at this time of year than the intense flavors and colors of fresh fruits, and there’s no easier way to enjoy them than to just throw them in whatever you’re making. Need some ideas? That’s why we’re here.
Last week I put some fresh raspberries and cherries in my mojito – smashing them up just a bit in the bottom of the glass before adding the rest of the ingredients.
Serve cubed watermelon with mint for a refreshing treat on a hot day. If you like that combo, you’ll love our watermelon mojitos!
And if your garden’s still overflowing with mint, make some aqua frescas.
Add fresh figs and blueberries to your mocktails (or cocktails!).
Throw watermelon and blueberries in your smoothies with a tea-based twist.
What about watermelon in your gazpacho?!
Any ripe berry would go well in these yogurt-based popsicles. These lemon pops are another refreshing option.
Yesterday Alex asked to bake a cake (nothing makes my heart melt faster than his request to do something in the kitchen!). He wanted a cake with “a blue middle and red paint on the frosting”. I let him add some food coloring to our batter, but then transformed his idea for red paint into a splattering of berries and their juices across the top. This is a basic yellow cake with our favorite coconut milk buttercream (scroll down).
Summer, and particularly July, is such a special time of year for us, and nothing tastes more like summer than perfectly ripe fruit; it’s pure midsummer magic. If you can get your hands on some, especially if you have the chance to get out there and pick berries, do two things : 1. eat as much as you can while picking, and 2. do something creative and special with the leftovers. You won’t regret it! xo
Just popping in to share some of our favorite tea accessories with you. Most are perfect for a pair of tea drinkin’ fools. XO
If your valentine loves tea, start by simply buying them their favorite blend (or the luxury blend that’s a splurge) and give it to them in a beautiful storage tin.
We love this electric kettle for our tea, coffee, and hot chocolate needs. There are a variety of cute designs out there, but if you know a tea aficionado, get them 
Thinking about flowers for Valentine’s Day? This poppy drink cover
These Numi organic blossoming tea sets with a glass steeper pot make the sweetest gift too.
For someone who loves lose-leaf tea, an infuser is always useful. Win them over with this pixelated heart infuser.
Valentine’s Day = chocolate + tea. AMIRITE? We’re excited about these matcha dark chocolate bars from a company that’s working hard to produce chocolate with high ethical and environmental standards.
Can’t find a tea-flavored chocolate bar in your market? Try infusing their cup of hot cocoa with tea.
Serve your sweet their tea (or infused cocoa) on these beautiful marble coasters or this marble tray.
How about something for their apartment? A simple tea print for the wall? Or you can go for the absurd.
There are so many great mugs out there, we had to do a little round-up:
Tea on the go is our favorite. How nice is it to open a steaming jar in the middle of a meeting or class? Pick up some biodegradable Tea filter bags
