Skip to content

A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

A lifestyle blog with a focus on my food adventures

With the state that the world is in right now, Easter is bound to look a little different this year. For us, I usually host a neighborhood Easter egg hunt. We have about 25 littles and 50 adults come together for an afternoon of fun. This year we had to cancel, but hopefully we will get to do it later this spring.

I put together some really simple Easter baskets this year, glad to not be going overboard. I added things that I could order online easily and tried to support local/small businesses whenever I could.

This top basket has a stuffed Jellycat bunny, some vanilla caramels from McCrea’s (they’re offering free shipping), chocolate bunnies on a tractor and on a motorcycle from Laughing Moon Chocolates in Vermont and flutter nutter bunnies from EHChocolatier (they’re offering curbside pickup if you’re local).

For my daughter I picked up this cute unicorn hooded towel from Pottery Barn Kids, because we are all about the unicorns these days (and the llama-corns and kitty-corns). I added in these cute ring dings from the Ring Ding Bar (they’re offering free shipping), my favorite bunny from Harbor Sweets, some sparkle sunglasses (you can never have too many pairs), some chocolate bunny pops from EHChocolatier, and some fun stationary (with stickers) from local shop Calliope Paperie.

Here’s a better look at those ring dings starting on top left and going clockwise:

Peanut Butter and Jelly: Peanut butter cream filling and raspberry jam schmear form the nutty nucleus of this snack cake that makes for a tastier (and tinier!) alternative for your lunch box.

Pistachio Raspberry: Savory and sweet meet in this delightful marriage of fruit and nut. Nutty pistachio cream filling and tangy raspberry jam sit within a sandwich of pistachio cake and green-tinted white chocolate.

Nutella: Chocolate cake and a dark chocolate shell encase a savory-sweet center of thick Nutella cream, choc-full of classic Ferrero flavor.

Red Velvet: A red chocolate shell and red velvet cake filled with tasty vanilla cream that’s as smooth as the surface that inspired it.

Strawberry Shortcake: Vanilla cake and pink-tinted white chocolate surround strawberry jam and strawberry cream filling.

Lemon: Lemon cake and white chocolate cream fill yell-tinted chocolate shell in this tantalizingly tart addition to snack cake canon!

Check out my post from last year for more inspiration!

What is your Easter going to look like this year?

Tags: , ,

Valentine’s Day may be over, but I love hearts all year round. Between working on our school Valentine cards, our crafts at home and our grazing boards for friends, we have been celebrating all month long.

When I have the time, I like to make things from scratch, but usually, because the littles are running all around the house, I take a few short cuts. For example – those cupcakes above? Made the cake from a box mix. Made the frosting from scratch because, I mean, let’s be honest, nothing is more important than the frosting!

These cookies I make from a sugar cookie recipe I got from a friend. I love them because they aren’t sweet, as some sugar cookies can be. The frosting is just confectioner’s sugar, milk and vanilla so it is SUPER sweet – but paired with the cookie (that isn’t sweet), it just works out to the right amount of sweetness.

I always stock up on sprinkles. Those cute ones on the cupcakes – the multi colored hearts – were a cute find at Michael’s. I love all things pink and red, but these were a refreshing change of pace. At Michael’s they have smaller $1 packets of sprinkles and you can always find some cute things at Home Goods.

I put together this cute grazing board for a play date: vanilla cupcakes, sugar cookies, M&M’s in Valentine colors, cinnamon hearts, gummy hearts and Starburst jelly bean hearts. Let’s not forget The Happy Chocolatier in the mix with their cubze – the fun messages inside just make me smile.

For play dates, I sometimes like to have one structured activity and then have some free time to play. My go to is decorating cookies. The kids could really care less what the cookies taste like, so if I’m in a rush, I just pick up a roll of cookies from the market and cut them out in fun shapes. I buy the frosting from a jar and divide them up into little cups to keep things from getting too messy. My secret trick is doing everything on either baking sheets or disposable aluminum plans (which work well because the kids can just take these home afterwards). I give each child a set of their own sprinkles – I put them in egg containers that I cut in half. It has been a hit at every play date!

One of my other favorite activities that we did this month was decorate mailboxes. My kids like to play “post office” all year round. I picked up these cute mailboxes at Target for $1. (Full disclosure, I made this one as a sample) The kids decorated them with stickers and fun washi tape. They had a great time writing each other letters and “delivering them” to friends.

Put together this cute little plate last minute. A strawberry shortcake from Whole Foods, Linzer cookies from the Whole Foods bulk cookie bin, those cute vanilla and chocolate hearts are from Whole Foods too (sensing a pattern here?) Chocolate cubze from The Happy Chocolatier, and assorted heart candy from Priscilla Candy Shop in Concord (which by the way had some really good prices on candy).

I have a few rules in my house, one of them being, we NEVER do glitter. Let’s save that for school and let the teachers clean that up 🙂 But I kind of allowed it for this project. My kids had a BLAST making them. We started off with some self seal laminating sheets. We peeled back half of the sheet and put on our glitter directly to the sticky side – you can use glitter, or in this case, we tried out confetti. When we were done, we peeled off the second half of the paper and folded it over the confetti, making a 5×7 sheet. Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be perfect – ours had wrinkles in them! For the hearts, take two pieces of construction paper and fold in half. Cut out large hear and a smaller on inside. We taped the laminated confetti sheet to one side of the heart and then glued the other heart on top of it We left some of the hearts plain, but you could certainly embellish the construction paper with markers, stickers or washi tape. Punch a hole and add some string/ribbon and you have a fun Valentine you can hang in the window! Another idea, if you really can’t stand the idea of using glitter or confetti is tissue paper – find some cute heart paper or some pink striped paper and cut into thin strips! You can make this any time of year just by changing the heart into a circle or any other fun shape.

What are your favorite things to do for Valentine’s Day with your kids?

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Every year our neighborhood has an adults only holiday party. This year, we ended up hosting. Hosts provide the main dish and everyone else brings appetizers, sides and desserts potluck style. So what was on the menu? A 20lb whole turkey, a 5lb roast that we did in the Instant Pot and 10lbs of flank steak done on the grill outside. Pretty daunting for me since I’ve a) never cooked a turkey before and b) this was my first time using an Instant Pot.

This was my first time using my new oven and the turkey (which Leah (and her mom) helped me prep via FaceTime)) ended up taking a lot LESS time than it should have…ummm when have you EVER heard of a turkey taking less time?!!? NEVER! So sheer panic ensued and we had to ask a neighbor (read: good cook) to come over and help determine its actual readiness.

People brought their own beverages, but we set out a fun little bar. Hint water and Italian sodas, a few signature drinks – like the Dark and Stormy, and a mimosa bar with peach, orange and strawberry mixers.

Always important to have some non alcoholic beverages – and how cute are these sparkling grape juice options from Welch’s?

HUGE shout out to Whole Foods butcher department who walked me through cooking this beautiful winter warmer roast. The Instant Pot was a little intimidating at first, and I probably should have done a test run, but we were having party after party in December, and there just wasn’t any time.

We had some long tables set up for people who wanted to sit and eat dinner. I always like to have some sweet treats on the table – how cute are these little Lindt Snowmen?

Lindt also has these adorable seasonal truffles.

I love amaretti cookies during the holidays. They are beautifully wrapped and when the party is over I love crumbling them up and putting on things like mashed sweet potatoes or a bowl of ice cream. Not familiar with amaretti cookies? They are delicious Italian almond flavored cookies that are light and crunchy.

And how beautiful are these cookies by Bake?

Does your neighborhood have any fun traditions? Cookie Swaps, Yankee Swap, holiday parties, summer BBQ’s?

Tags: , , ,

I didn’t realize that if you are interested in a private Santa, you have to be on that in like…July. My good friend gave me the connect to her favorite Santa, and I was glad to get on the list – but when I got to him in September, the only days he had left were Thanksgiving and the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Clearly I will have him on speed dial for July for this coming year. He was wonderful – the 30 kids we had over had a ball. First, Santa knocked on the door and greeted everyone. Then, he came next to the tree and sang a few songs with the kids, read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, and then proceeded to hand out a present to each child (that their parents provided ahead of time). Watching the magic of Christmas through your child’s eyes is a pretty amazing thing.

Let’s take a step back. While guests were arriving and we were waiting for Santa to arrive, we had a table set up with crafts – make your own frames or wreaths and a cookie decorating station that went over well. What goes better together than Santa and sugar?!?

We kept the decorations pretty simple, picked up these amazing snowflakes from Paper Source and hung them from the ceiling to make a little winter wonderland. Didn’t hurt that I was able to get them at a steal of a price!

We had a few grazing boards – this savory plate had brie, Harbison cheese (the round soft cheese in the middle – which I got for a steal at Trader Joe’s), blue cheese, honey from our hive out back, dried apricots, raspberries, green grapes, spicy soppressata, truffle salami, candied oranges, wasabi peas and Babybel cheese that had some fun Christmas cutouts (just use mini cutters and gently press through on the red wax).

This sweet board featured green cubze from Happy Chocolatier, Christmas tree cookies from Roche Bros. (they are my favorite and they can be found in the bulk cookie case), home made chocolate covered Oreos, white chocolate pretzel drops from Sukker & Sweet, gingerbread men from Trader Joe’s, peppermint truffles from Lindt, the green balls at the top were watermelon gumballs and the green balls on the bottom were mints from Sukker & Sweet.

I had this wonderful idea that I would make these gingerbread trees and make them into a 3D forest on a platter. Got a great pan and the quickbread mix from Williams Sonoma, but they didn’t bake up flat and I didn’t have time to trim each one, so we had them flat on a plate and sprinkled them with powdered sugar. Not what I had envisioned, but no one was the wiser…and they still tasted delicious.

I always like to have beverages for little hands, and I hate to do juice boxes – so Hint graciously gifted us some of their kid’s fruity water which was a big hit – they come in flavors like apple, watermelon, cherry and blackberry.

Once Santa had left, the presents had been opened, the kid’s bellies had been filled with pizza and snacks, it was time to go home. We sent each kiddo home with a holiday cracker (which I ALWAYS stock up on at the end of the year when they are on sale for 50% off – it’s always a good idea to plan ahead). My kids just love popping them and hearing the sound, I think it they were empty, they wouldn’t even notice. 🙂

We also sent them home with these adorable cookies from Tuesday Spoon Baking Company. Lisa is located in Sudbury, MA and she makes individual cookies that she drops at Duck Soup, but also takes custom orders. How adorable are these pickup trucks with trees in the back. Not only are they beautifully decorated but they TASTE delicious too.

Tags: , , , ,

Don’t worry mom, not my baby.

We ended 2019 with a whirlwind of parties. We went right from Thanksgiving to a baby shower, then a kid’s holiday party with Santa, a neighborhood adults only party where I cooked for 40 people, Christmas Eve with the cousins and Christmas Day with good friends. I needed most of January to recover.

We have one of the best neighborhoods – summer block parties, holiday parties, Thirsty Thursdays – I couldn’t ask for a better community for my kids to grow up in. So, when our new neighbor found out she was having a baby, I wanted to give back and host – since the other ladies of the neighborhood were kind enough to throw me a shower (for my third no less).

I hosted with another young mom/friend in the neighborhood and she loves a good theme for a party. We decided to go with blue and gold.

I had been waiting for just the right moment to order macarons from Mac Lab, an amazing bakery in Georgia. These geode macarons come in a variety of colors and are almost to pretty to eat. They are mailed individually wrapped, so you don’t have to worry about them breaking in the mail. The gold macarons are hand painted and are coffee flavored.

I’m a big fan of candy boards – just a fun thing for the guest to pick at while they are gathered around the kitchen island. This time I chose blue rock candy lollipops, blue fruit slices, Jelly Belly jelly beans in a few different colors, sour laces, blue cubze by Happy Chocolatier and prosecco balls from Sukker & Sweet.

While the candy bar is fun, I wanted guests to be able to take home soem treats too – so I added some Lindt chocolates to the table as well. The sequin runner was from amazon and I made the baby letters using wooden letters from Michaels, spray adhesive, scrapbook paper and an exacto knife.

My friend who made the cake also made these delicious chocolate covered pretzels. They’re my absolute favorite!

Don’t worry, we did have real food at the shower as well. Keeping with the board theme, I went to my favorite cheese shop in Wellesley, Wasik’s, to pick up some things for the charcuterie board. We went with a Bavarian Blue from Germany, a Brie de Lyon from France (cow cheese) and Ossau – Iraty from France, a sheep milk cheese. I added blueberries, mixed olives, spicy soppressata, truffle salami, dried apricots, raincoast crisp crackers, and Effie’s Oatcakes.

I love edible (or drinkable) favors for parties. We went with LaMarca prosecco, blue and gold paper straws attache with some cute blue heart washi tape.

5 Things to Bring in Your Hospital Bag

I packed all of my things in a Sea Bag XL tote, it was big enough to hold all of my things and if it got dirty, you just wipe it down – no muss, no fuss!

  1. Phone Charger: Seems obvious, but buy an extra one to just leave in your bag so you don’t have to race around looking for it when you go into labor. While you’re at it, download some shows to binge watch while you’re at the hospital!
  2. Snacks: There will be moments when you get hungry and the cafeteria isn’t serving meals – and all the nurses station has is saltine crackers. But also, line up those friends to bring in sushi or cheese or whatever you’ve been craving for after your delivery!
  3. Your Own Towel: When we got married, the woman who helped us register told me I HAD to get the bath sheets – you know, those enormous towels that you can only put on in the washer? Never used it…until I had a baby. The towel that they provided was like…the size of a face cloth…and that’s not what you need right after you’ve given birth.
  4. The Most Luxurious Bath Products You Can Find: That first shower after you have given birth, for me, was life changing. I think I stood in the shower for a good hour, probably using up all of the hot water. I turn to look for soap and they have one of those hand dispensers with that “hospital smelling” soap in it. Trust me, enjoy this moment with the nicest smelling things you can find.
  5. Clothes: Bring that cute matching outfit for you and the baby for that Instagram photo, but bring a couple of extra outfits for the baby. Also, bring clothes that you don’t mind throwing away…because after giving birth, things can get messy.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. I was provided samples of Eastern Standard Provisions Co. pretzels and salts. As always, all opinions are my own.

Eastern Standard Provisions Pretzels

October means fall is here. Think sweater weather, football games and Oktoberfest. Bring on the beer and pretzels. Eastern Standard Provisions Co. makes artisanal pretzels with all natural ingredients. They come in the mail SUPER fresh – ready to eat that day (or throw in the freezer if you’re saving them for a later date). The pretzels come in a variety of shapes and sizes, pictured here is the Wheelhouse (left), Slidepiece (top right) and the Turnbuckle (bottom right). They have a larger size of the Wheelhouse, called the Topknot and a larger version of the Slidepiece, called Fourseam. I have to say that I liked the sidepiece and the turnbuckles the best.

Custom Salt and Sugar

I might be one of those weird people who actually likes pretzels plain. More times than not, I just like a hint of salt. So if you’re a purist, Eastern Standard Provisions Co. has traditional pretzel salt. Feeling a little more saucy? Try the chili lime salt or the truffle salt. Sugar your thing? Try the French Toast sugar or the raspberry lime sugar. 1oz. packages of these salts and sugars will be available on the website soon!

The pretzels are hand rolled and once you get them, you just need to brush with a little butter (or olive oil or water) and sprinkle with your topping of choice. The bigger pretzels can take up to 20 minutes to bake, and the smaller ones can take as 3 minutes to heat up.

Pretzel Ice Cream Sandwich

I love a good sweet and salty combo, so I put together this fun ice cream sandwich. Cook up the pretzel according to the directions. I topped this one with the French Toast sugar (and let me tell you, we put this on anything we could get our hands on it was THAT good). Slice Slidepiece in half. To get ice cream to perfectly fit inside the bun, we sliced some vanilla ice cream with a knife and then cut the perfect circle out with a cookie cutter. Place on pretzel and roll in your favorite sprinkles. Salty and sweet perfection in…4 bites.

For more information on how to get your own delicious pretzels, visit Eastern Standard Provisions Co.’s website here.

Tags: ,

Mystic Aquarium

Sponsored Post: I worked with Cross Sound Ferry, who graciously gifted us round trip travel tickets. As always, all opinions are my own.

I had been wanting to take the kids to the Mystic Aquarium all summer, and we finally went last weekend. We couldn’t have asked for better weather all weekend. So we piled up the car with our 8,000 bags, the stroller, the pack and play, snacks for the ride and floaties for the pool. We survived the 2 hour road trip with a promise of stopping halfway for some munchkins!

The aquarium was our main reason for going to Mystic. We arrived Friday, late morning, and headed straight there. You can bring your own lunch – they have tables outside for you to eat at, or they have a restaurant where you can find the usual suspects: pizza, chicken fingers, etc. After filling our bellies, and making new friends with a very friendly duck, we went on to explore the aquarium. My kids loved the Beluga whales, one of them was particularly photogenic! We looked at penguins, jellyfish, touched string rays, and even caught a sea lion show (get there early for a front row seat and you will be able to get up close and personal with them when the show starts!). We bought our tickets ahead of time to get the best prices!

Lighthouse Bakery

After the aquarium, we checked into our hotel and went exploring. I always like to check out the local shops and bakeries in any city we travel to. Before dinner we went to the Lighthouse Bakery, a little bit tucked away from the main road. There weren’t a ton of options since it was late in the day, but we walked away with some very delicious treats, including tiramisu (not pictured) and some AMAZING raspberry bars.

Engine Room

Dinner came from a recommendation from a friend, the Engine Room. They weren’t accepting reservations that evening, but we went early and didn’t have to wait for a table. They have a cute little patio out front if the weather is nice, and high top tables and high top booths inside. The decor was definitely Instagram-worthy, the service was friendly, and the food was delicious. I wanted one of everything on the menu and could have definitely come here two days in a row. Everything was flavorful and we walked out full!

They have a kids menu that includes: Grilled Cheese, Chicken Tenders, Cheeseburger, Hot Dog, Mac and Cheese and Pasta with Butter. I was afraid that the kids weren’t going to like the Mac and Cheese, because they really only like Annie’s, and this was house made, but they licked their plates clean. That should say something to you right there.

After dinner we walked around a bit to work off dinner. There were a bunch of cute shops that we walked by (that were all closed), that I will have to visit on another trip here. FYI, we could have used one more day in Mystic, just to visit shops and wander around town.

Shops to stop at next time include: Trove, Mystic Sweet Shop, Fat Face, Sea Bags, and the Candy Shop (to name a few). Vault Coffee Roasters was also on my list, and if you go on Saturday or Sunday at 8am you can catch the Deviant Donuts pop up!

Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream Company

Even though we were stuffed from dinner, there is always room for dessert. We stopped into Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream for a little treat. It’s hard to tell what the kids enjoyed more, hanging out at the drawbridge or having ice cream. I tried the white pistachio and strawberry ice creams, both were very tasty. Other original flavors include: Mystic Mud, Chocolate Chambord, Lemon Chocolate Kiss, Chocolate Mint Oreo, Seaport Salty Swirl, and Mystic Turtle to name a few. They also make shakes, smoothies, and New York egg creams!

Hotel Breakfast

We decided to stay at the Hampton Inn, right near the aquarium. The hotels in the area were pretty booked, as Mystic gets a lot of overflow when there are shows at the casinos. We weren’t planning on staying at the hotel except to sleep and swim, so it didn’t really matter where we stayed as long as the rooms were quiet and clean (which they were). Pools are key with our kiddos to tire them out 😉 . Breakfast was included, so we filled up on waffles, eggs and yogurt before we packed up for our day trip to Long Island.

Cross Sound Ferry

We picked up the Cross Sound ferry in New London, about a 10-15 minute drive from Mystic. We arrived about 30 minutes early to get our tickets and square away things since we were driving our car aboard. My kids were super excited about the idea of driving a car onto a boat! The process was smooth and everyone was loaded on quickly. It was a beautiful morning to be out on the water. I always love taking boats places when we can – another favorite thing is taking the water taxi in New York. The boat had upper and lower decks, so it wasn’t super crowded anywhere. There is a snack stand on board in case you get hungry, with plenty of tables both inside and out. The kids loved exploring all the decks of the ferry, we didn’t even have to break into our bag of tricks to keep them occupied. The ferry takes about an hour and 20 minutes, while the passenger only high speed ferry takes about 40 minutes.

Side Note: Cross Sound Ferry also offers a wonderful lighthouse cruise. Read more about it here.

Blue Duck Bakery

If you’re traveling with kids, you know that they get hungry about every 12 seconds. I know for a fact that at school they have ONE snack between when I drop them off and when they have lunch, so how come whenever they are with me all day, they are hungry for snacks 8,000,000 times a day?!?! But in our house, being hangry is a REAL THING, so we stopped into Blue Duck Bakery for a treat (note: the kids had a muffin, I didn’t feed them cookies first thing in the morning. Although, truth be told, it has happened on occasion in our house). There were a lot of delicious cookies and pastries, top choices of ours included the sour cherry danish and the Linzer cookies.

There is also another coffee shop next to the carousel, across the street from the Blue Duck, Aldo’s Coffee Company .

Greenport Carousel

The carousel was a big draw for my kids – they could have stayed here all day and their afternoon would have been complete. The carousel is located in a beautiful park with lots of grass for the kids to play on, and it overlooks the water.

The carousel is 100 years old and it is open year round. In season it is open daily and off season it is open on the weekends. The carousel features 36 horses, and while it says that you can grab rings (like the one on Martha’s Vineyard), it was not working when we were there.

There is two hour street parking right across the street from the park and public restrooms nearby.

Crazy Beans

Staying out all day can be tricky. One of my kiddos still takes naps – so when we got to lunchtime, there was an EPIC meltdown (to end all meltdowns). I took the other kids for lunch at Crazy Beans, a very family friendly place, while my husband handled the tantrum outside. Crazy Beans can get very busy (and the tips are cash only), so make sure to get there early.

There were so many cute shops right in town that I would have loved to check out, but didn’t have time due to said EPIC meltdown. Here are a few places I’ll check out next time: Goldberg’s Famous Bagels, Flavors Dessert Cafe, Kate’s Cheese Co., Sweet Indulgences, and Hampton Chocolate Company.

Side (kind of funny) story: when we came out from lunch, kiddo #1 was still having a meltdown. I carried him over my shoulder kicking and screaming, because we were way past the point of no return (if you have kids, you know just what I’m talking about). Now, you know that when your kid is having a meltdown in public, the last thing you want to do is have to deal with strangers who are a) trying to ‘cheer your child up’, b) trying to tell you a personal story about their own kids when they were young, c) trying to tell you that you should enjoy the kids while they are young because they grow up so fast, etc. or d) just trying to talk to you in general while you are trying to deal with your screaming child. An older man came up to me and said, “I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you if you were kidnapping this child…” and proceeded to just stand there are stare at me. Ummm….yes, if I was indeed kidnapping my child, I would have totally marched him down Main Street where hundreds of people could see me and I would totally admit it to you when you asked me just now. Meanwhile, my husband, who is Caucasian, walked up and the man takes one look at him and say, “oh, you’re together, ok then” and proceeded to walk away.

North Fork Doughnut Co.

So after we get the kids into the car, we decide to drive around to see if we can get them to nap in the car (and avoid any more meltdowns). We drive by some amazing looking farm stands and an insane amount of vineyards. A few years back I came to Greenport and did a little vineyard trip with some girlfriends. If you come without kids, you may want to check them out – see more about my previous trip here. We drove by an old pickup truck with the bed overflowing with ripe tomatoes, a place selling fresh roadside oysters and there were more charming places than I could count.

We just drove down Main Street to see where it would take us, and happened upon North Fork Doughnut Company. I ran in while the kids were snoozing and picked up a half dozen for the road. How cute are these handmade doughnuts? They’re made with local ingredients, so just another reason to love them more.

The glazed and the cinnamon sugar doughnuts were delicious classics – fluffy and light. The Samoa tasted almost exactly like those delicious cookies, the closest I’ve tasted so far. The apple fritter just tasted like fall, delicious and sweet. The black raspberry jam filled doughnut did not disappoint, and they didn’t skimp on the jam.

When I was growing up, we didn’t have sugar cereal, except for special occasions. I loved Frosted Flakes and Apple Jacks (but only the orange ones – not the green ones). Fruity Pebbles were never my thing, but I bought one just for fun (it would look good in photos). The glaze on the cereal doughnut was delicious and I actually liked the Fruity Pebbles, well done!

Greenport Creamery

After naps in the car, we head back into town and have some ice cream and one last ride on the carousel. We stopped at Greenport Creamery for a cone and I had just enough time to pick up a vintage bag from Sea Bags.

Cross Sound Ferry

After a full (and eventful) day on Long Island, we took the ferry from Orient Point back to New London. We took a different boat, so the kids were again, happy to explore.

Did you know that the ferry offers a rewards program? They also have casino packages if you are coming from the Long Island side – your choice, Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods.

Cross Sound Ferry

There is something so calming about being on the water. The evening boat ride was exactly what we needed at the end of the day. When we arrived back in New London, we were off the boat in under 10 minutes after we docked – perfect timing to grab a quick bite to eat for dinner.

Mystic Diner

Another friend had recommended the Mystic Diner. It was just what you would imagine it to look like on the inside and very family friendly. Let me just say three words: BREAKFAST. ALL. DAY. Either that or just skip straight over dinner and have pie!

Looking for pet friendly restaurants in Mystic, try Sea View Snack Bar, a cute outdoor clam shack with picnic tables that overlook Mystic Harbor. You might also try Pizetta, Pink Basil or Dog Watch Mystic.

Hotel Pool

We had the pool to ourselves Sunday morning and got all our energy out before our car ride home. The good news is that the hotel is right near the ramp for the highway, gas stations, the aquarium and bonus, there’s a Dunks right next door!

Li’s Bakeshop

There were two bakeries that I wanted to check out before we left Mystic. The first was Li’s Bake Shop. This is the kind of bakery that reminds of you things your grandmother used to make (nostalgic baking). You can taste the love (and butter) in every bite. The buckeye brownie was my favorite – but you can’t go wrong here. Also pictured: whoopie pie, chocolate chip cookie, Mystic cookie, peanut butter cookie, croissant and lemon bar.

Sift Bake Shop

Sift Bake Shop reminds me of Paris. Adults turn into children as they drool over towers of pastries behind the glass. They have a large picture window so you can see the pastry chefs mixing up all the delicious treats in the back. The picture above does not do that sticky bun justice. It is big enough to share, but trust me, you aren’t going to want to. That caramel and pecan topping will make you think you’ve died and gone to heaven. I love macarons, not to be confused with macaroons, and these ones were just perfect. The shell had a little bit of a bite to them, but they melted in your mouth. We tried vanilla, pistachio, Meyer lemon and key lime.

So that was our weekend in Mystic. We stopped in RI on our way home to see if they had my favorite jam, but we were too late in the season. We will have to come back earlier in the season next year!

Tell me all your favorite things to do in Mystic, CT!

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Knead Doughnuts

We love to head down to Providence to the zoo, so I was excited when my friend Ziggy suggested meeting at Knead Doughnuts for a little snack before the day started.

I met Ziggy when I was working in PR downtown. He’s one of those people that you feel lucky to know – a kind heart, a sharp wit, and you just feel happy when you’re hanging out. I went to his wedding, and we have kids around the same age.

Knead Doughnuts

I had heard about Knead Doughnuts before, but when Ziggy mentioned this location had better parking than the downtown location, I was sold. FYI they have three locations: Downtown at 32 Custom House St, West End at 56 Cromwell and on the East Side at 135 Elmgrove Ave.

Knead Doughnuts

They have so many delicious choices, it was hard to pick just one. So we didn’t. We took home a dozen just to sample each and every flavor. They have old fashioned, cake and brioche style doughnuts. I like to get a glazed doughnut just for a baseline. There is nowhere to hide with a glazed doughnut, if it’s not good, you’ll be able to tell. This one happened to have THE most delicious vanilla bean glaze, not too sweet, and the texture was just right. I couldn’t wait to get home and try the other flavors. Make sure to check out their website to see their most current menu offerings.

Knead Doughnuts

The best part was that in the back there was this cute little doughnut shop play area for the kiddos. How cute is this?

Roger Williams Zoo

After getting sugared up, we headed out to the zoo to see some animals. Super fun day with good friends. Head over the the Roger Williams Zoo website for more information or to plan your visit.

Tags: , ,

PVDonuts

Leah, Kim and I hopped in the car for a little road trip to Providence, RI. Providence is just about an hour away from Boston, and there are TONS of cute places to eat.

First stop, PVDonuts. Their handmade donuts are over the top delicious and cute to boot. Check out their Instagram page to see the rotating monthly menu. The line can get long, so if you know you’re going to make a stop there, I suggest ordering ahead, you don’t have to wait in line (go straight to the side counter)! There’s a link in their Instagram bio to help you place an order.

It was insane just how many boxes of donuts we piled into Leah’s car, but it sure smelled delicious!

Rebelle Artisan Bagels

Now that we had our sweets in hand, on to the savory. We have all seen those amazing Instagram photos of bagels stacked high on sticks, and we wanted to see them (and taste them) for ourselves. Rebelle Artisan Bagels hand rolls and boils their bagels. Stop in for one of their delicious egg and cheese sandwiches. Their breakfast sammie is a spinach, pepper and onion frittata with cheddar and bacon and their Spanish tortilla is a pesto and onions frittata with chorizo and manchego cheese. How could you go wrong with either?!

Yoleni’s

We headed into Downtown Providence to check out Yoleni’s, a wonderful Greek marketplace, similar to Eataly but on a much smaller scale. They have over 800 Greek products (we loved the tea and the honey), an amazing dried fruit and nut display case and a restaurant where you can get the MOST delicious authentic Greek yogurt. (we had ours with sour cherry!!!) Make sure to try some of their freshly baked savory pitas while you are there.

We needed to take a little break from eating, so we took a short walk over to Craftland, a great shop to pick up some gifts from local artists.

Bucktown

Next stop, lunch. Save room. Seriously. It might not look like much on the outside, but the food here at Bucktown is outstanding! We were lucky enough to hang out with Ashley, one of the owners while we ate. This young chef has talent beyond her years, bringing you delicious comfort food from her family’s recipes.

Bucktown

Make sure to bring some friends with you so you can try one of everything. Not to be missed are the chicken biscuit and the hush puppies. They have seafood plates, fish sandwiches, and fried green tomatoes on the menu too (to name a few things). Stop over on Monday nights from 5pm-10pm for $1 oysters and beer and wine specials. And good news for Bostonians, they are planning a second location in Mission Hill.

Waffle Providence

Barely able to move, we stopped back downtown to pick up some sweets for the road. First stop, Waffle Providence, who specializes in Liege waffles. There waffles are decadent on their own, with their brioche dough and pearl sugar, but you can get them with any number of sweet (or savory) toppings. Build your own from their extensive list of toppings or get one with a scoop of ice cream from The Ice Cream Machine.

Just around the corner is Knead Doughnuts. I had visited their other location with my friend Ziggy, so I didn’t pick up any doughnuts here this time. A more extensive post on them coming later this week.

If you’re heading to Providence, and it’s not a Sunday or a Monday (because they’re closed), make sure to stop by and try Ellie’s – they have some of the most delicious cakes and treats.

Where are your favorite spots in Providence?

Tags: , , ,

Sponsored Post: This post is a paid collaboration with Nellie’s Free Range Eggs. As always, opinions are my own.

Is this healthy for you? A question that we hear frequently in our house these days. Ever since my kids started to go to school, they come home saying things like, “John’s mom gives him Doritos every day at lunch, how come we can’t have them?” My answer, “Go live at John’s house…” I’d like to think that we are a middle of the road kind of family – my kids eat veggies and fruits with every meal and yet, sometimes I let them have ice-cream before lunch….

We have been talking a bit about proteins and carbohydrates, and how if we don’t eat a good breakfast, we will be hungry later in the day. Protein gives you fuel to get through your day. I have one really good eater, and one that is just recently becoming a bit more adventurous. A staple in my house has always been eggs. They are quick and easy to make, and my dad lets the kids help make them, so that instantly makes them awesome in our house. Everybody can agree on scrambled eggs, but we are slowly trying other styles.

For breakfast, we tried baseball eggs on a bagel sliver (basically a quarter of a bagel). The adults had it with Sriracha and the kids had it with ketchup. We made them with yolks and without. The kids thought that having a “baseball” for breakfast was pretty cool.

(Top right) I made some egg salad and put it in a cute baseball helmet – the kids could decide if they wanted it as a lettuce wrap or if they wanted it on bread. Super easy to make ahead for lunch at home.

(Middle right) We tried “toad in a hole” with my best (read: sad) attempt at making a baseball glove out of brown bread. We added a little fruit on the side and yes, my children won’t eat a thing if it is touching another thing on the plate. Are your kids like that too?

(Bottom right) Egg salad sandwiches with baseball cheese. I bought slices of cheddar cheese and used a baseball bat cookie cutter to make them into cool shapes. You could use any shape that makes your kid happy. I also used those mini babybel cheeses and made them into baseballs. I get in a rut at school because lunches are already hard for me, and then add on no peanuts, tree nuts or coconut in their meals. I’ll admit, there were many days in a row where I just sent my kids to school with cold pizza.

(Middle bottom) We rarely have bagels in the house, but when we do, I buy them from Stop and Shop pre sliced. Each bagel is sliced into four pieces, you’re still getting the delicious bagel, but cutting those calories (and carbohydrates) down significantly. I am not a huge fan of cream cheese, but I have these great memories as a kid of visiting my grandparents in New York and my grandma would always have Temp Tee cream cheese (and pink grapefruits). So I put a little schmear on a bagel for the kids with some peppers to make it look like a baseball. Super easy, super cute.

So what’s with all the baseball themed eggs you ask? The Red Sox just named Nellie’s Free Range Eggs the official egg of the Red Sox. Nellie’s eggs are certified humane. What does that mean? The hens have room to run in fields, have a more diverse diet and are in general healthier. How can you tell they are healthier? Their deep gold color of the yolks of their eggs. And let me tell you, it’s instantly noticeable when you crack open that first Nellie’s egg.

For more information about Nellie’s Free Range Eggs, click here.

Tags: , , ,