This was an especially long holiday break – what felt like 30,303.948.505,404,980 days long. We didn’t go away and only had a few day things planned. Keep it simple. That’s what I kept telling myself. So on the one hand, vacation went by very quickly, but on the other hand, the days dragged on.

In the theme of keeping it simple, I wanted to show you our awesome console table, that we actually go a while ago, but just dressed up for the holidays. It’s from a company called Vinna Home and Kitchen and they have these amazing modern console tables. They can make your table in any number of stain colors and any variety of sizes. Home delivery was white glove and we couldn’t have been more satisfied with the customer service. We bought two to run the length of our couch.

With all the baking that I did this year for friends and teachers etc. I didn’t make cookies for Santa – we outsourced. Thanks Cookie Monstah for the assist! We left Santa with options!

Their Burlington location is a breeze to get to, and they have a great selection. I loved that they asked me when I was ordering if I wanted to put the peanut butter cookies in a separate box (even though I didn’t have allergies, I’m not sure I would have even thought of it if I were getting these as gifts – which I did get one box for friends as long as I was here!) And how cute is the artwork on the box by Elissa Surabian?!?! She is a local chalkboard artist, you may have seen her work around town!

Speaking of friends, for my best gal pals and neighbors, I picked up some of our favorite cookies. It’s a tradition that I get them gingerbread girls or boys from The Gingerbread Construction Co. and for a little glam I picked up these cute holiday gift sets by Essie.

In an effort to make alllll of the Christmas magic happen in such a short amount of time – here is a look at everyone’s “stockings”. We tried to do fewer presents this year, and more “experiences”. For example, we paired each big with a little and they got to go into the city to do a fun gingerbread house decorating event. One pair went to the Langham Hotel and one pair went to Eastern Standard Kitchen. Stay tuned to see how much fun we had there in another post.

Back to our “stockings”. We use Sea Bags bucket bags instead of a traditional stocking. I think it started from our apartment days when we didn’t actually have a mantel, but can’t actually remember. I feel like every year the ante is “upped” and just because it fits in a stocking doesn’t mean it should go in a stocking I mean, when I was a kid, it was like candy and toothbrushes, and now I look, and I am totally guilty of this, I’m putting in $30 Owala water bottles (insert eye roll). I mean, but at least they don’t leak in the kid’s backpacks, right?

So for the big we got an Owala, a fun Stanley key chain/ornament whatever, a gold bubble necklace from Anthropologie, books for her Yoto Box, a cute Caboodles kit because it reminded me of my childhood, and a Squishmallow mystery bag.

For the youngest we picked up a Bluey brush, a Squishmallow surprise mystery bag, some holiday nail stickers, a Yoto story, some fun glow in the dark bandaids from Welly, Squishmallow hair claws, a monogram necklace and some fun ooly metallic pens.

For our oldest, we picked out various boxes of sports cards, a bunch of new Yoto stories, some Burt’s Bees lip balm, and an autographed version of the new book, The Bletchley Riddle, by Ruta Sepetys.

Dad was pretty straightforward, a few bags of his favorite coffee beans, a new razor, and some hair putty. Things are almost as fun when you are a dad as when you are a mom…..almost.

And finally, for the other little, we picked up an Owala with a boot, a new Pokemon book and a little sweet treat. Not pictured were a few Beyblades that came in last minute!

Remember when this blog was about food?! Right, me too. Stopped in to Lola’s pre-Christmas week to get one of their amazing chocolate chip ricotta pies. Not going to lie, I also picked up some frozen meals to give as gifts. We all have that one “uncle” who can’t cook and gets take out every night of the week (oh, wait, that’s just us?) and we figured a weeks worth of home (just not my home) cooked meals would be a great way to start his new year off right! I picked up a few for us to throw in the freezer as well, because let’s be honest, after a huge ramp up and all the Christmas magic we moms are making, once Christmas is over, come December 26th, I know that at least I don’t want to do ANY cooking!

Since we were home all vacation, we picked up quite a few friend’s mail. One of those perks was that they brought us home treats from their travels – and these beauties were some of the favorites from Standard Baking Company in Portland, ME.

Since I was baking so many cookies this year, I thought that maybe some people would be feeling like they were getting too many cookies this season (I mean, personally I NEVER feel that way….but maybe some people do). I figured I would try making cookie dough for friends. This way, they could make cookies when it was convenient for them. They could pull them out of the freezer and make one or make them all. So I found this great easy recipe by Melissa, from Design, Eat, Repeat and made her Freezer Cookie Dough. Super big hit. Some friends made them right away, some waited to make fresh cookies on Christmas, and some saved for later! I have made so many batches since, and keep them in my freezer – I grab when the kids are running out the door to play dates and I have nothing to bring – and it has saved the day in many instances! Here is the best part, you melt the butter, so no mixer required! Customize for the holidays using holiday m&m’s or even try and use that left over holiday candy as mix ins!

By the time I got around to making these cupcakes I don’t want to even tell you how many sticks of butter I had gone through already… but had to change things up from making so many cookies! I pick up sprinkles from every place I go – I even got these cute sugar snowflakes from Market Basket!

I love homemade gifts. I love seeing what people choose to give, or what their strong suits are. I love the thought and care that goes into something home made.Peppermint chocolate was a popular choice this year, which is totally up my alley. 10/10.

Our other neighbor brought us these adorable candy cane cookies and hot cocoa cookies, complete with full sized marshmallows. I applaud anything that you have to make two colors of dough for…I’m a strictly one bowl or it’s too much work kind of gal!

One friend brought us TWO boxes of cookies, maybe because we have so many people in our family Don’t see me complaining though! The chocolate s’mores cookies were #1 with the kids. I think the exact quote was, “the marshmallows are perfectly cooked” and “we should invite them over for s’mores one time”.I mean, that was perfect because that distracted them from the other cookies haha. Anything with jelly is A+ in my book, but also, cut out cookies impress me, because, again, that extra step goes a long way! Extra points for the fancy divider in the box, way above and beyond.

Teacher gifts were basically Girl Scout cookies this year, but to the extra special ones, we gave a little something more, and I’m not talking about the corny puns. But we couldn’t just give a gift card, so these cute treasure boxes we had from Bullseye’s Playground at Target filled with Lindt chocolate, a gift card and a tag saying, “you’re a treasure” were just enough to brighten a few days! Top off with a classic ribbon and a little sparkle.

I do also love a good Chex Mix, and this year was no different. Made a large batch, although had to do it solo this year, Isabelle was not around to do the bag shaking! Silly easy to make and a crowd favorite. Put in a cute tin or tie up with a pretty bow in a cellophane bag and you have a great little holiday treat.

Speaking of gift giving, one of my go to gifts I love to give people with kids is a gingerbread cookie making kit. Wilson Farms sells these plain cookies on packs of 2, and icing in fun colors. I pick up bright colored candy and add to a fun basket, throw in some tissue or paper shred and VIOLA! Simple and fun holiday gift for the whole family that will get them a whole 5 minutes of peace. OK, maybe 3. And yes, that is the viral CVS nutcracker in the background that I got 40% off with a coupon

No holiday would be complete without a stop to Clear Flour Bread. I used to live in Brookline and have really good memories of all the delicious things they had during the holidays (and all the delicious smells). So we lucked out one day, when the weather was not too cold and the line was not too long, and picked up these delicious treats. Not shown are the four loaves of bread we also bought

And to end this post, a look at what we did for our holiday cookie box. We went very kid friendly this year. Although my son’s friend told me that he was very upset that I did not put the Pillsbury slice and bake Christmas tree cookies in the box. Way to keep me humble my friend, and on my toes. I’ll keep that in mind for next year! So getting back to this year.

Chocolate M&M Cookies by Cooking with Karli

Sparkling Shortbread Cookies by E2 Bakes Brooklyn

Holiday colored Rice Krispie Treats

Sugar Cookies drizzled with chocolate and dressed up with holiday sprinkles

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How to gain ten pounds in a month Give me all things peppermint! Trader Joe’s makes their Hold the Cone in a limited holiday peppermint flavor, Crescent Ridge offers their peppermint stick Holiday Cridgewich ice cream sandwiches, New City Micro Creamery offers holiday peppermint stick ice cream pies and Trombetta’s also offers a peppermint stick ice cream pie!

Hot chocolate bombs, love them or hate them? Personally, don’t love them, but the kids adore them. One of these days I think I will try my hand at make our own, they look easy enough to make…

Right now we are in to the cutest beaded necklaces. Found these on Etsy, how fun are those glitter Mickey beads?

I love a good dessert board. Are they even a thing anymore? Samplers will always be a thing in my book! This fun holiday themed dessert board is perfect for a hot cocoa themed night in. Some marshmallows, some dippers, mug toppers, and crunchy cookies to put your cocoa over the top.

I also love a good shelfie. Here are some of our favorite holiday reads:

Twas the Night Before Christmas, Illustrated by Mr. Boddington

5 More Sleeps ‘Til Christmas By Jimmy Fallon a fun rhyming book counting down the sleeps until Santa’s arrival.

Together by Heather Stricker A story of a boy who visits Santa, and tells him that instead of presents, he wants to spend time with his family, and enjoy their family traditions.

Christmas baking is in full swing – cupcakes are top on the list. Let’s get out all the different sprinkles and have at it!

One of my kid’s favorite things of the season is my childhood neighbor makes these reindeer brownies and delivers them to us every year. They gobble them up!

And no baking season would be complete without sprinle cookies. Made with massive amounts of butter and cream cheese, these are melt in your mouth delicious with just a hint of almond flavor. They have the right amount of crunch on the outside and yet remind me of a childhood bakery. What are some of your fondest holiday baking memories?

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Now that Thanksgiving is over, I am in FULL holiday mode. Tree is up, shopping has already begun, and, let’s be honest, is almost done, and we are in baking M.O.D.E!

Chex mix is a go to in this house, you can make it big batch and is super fun to package up and give to friends and neighbors. I’ve put it on here before, but here is the recipe in case you’ve missed it:

• 1c butter
• 1 1/2c brown sugar
• 1/2c light corn syrup
• 1 (14oz) box of Rice Chex
• 1tsp baking soda
• 1tsp vanilla
• 1c m&ms

In a small saucepan, heat butter, brown sugar and corn syrup to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla.

In a brown paper bag, add caramel mixture over cereal and shake. Place in microwave for 2 minutes and shake again. Repeat. Pour mix onto wax paper to cool and add in m&ms.

If you wan to get those cute Utz pretzels in holiday shapes, you should probably have bought them already, or they are gone….but there are so many other cute choices and variations that you can make here.

Cookie swaps and edible gifts are my go to as well. I usually make sprinkle cookies, a chocolate chip of some sort, and a few cut and bake varieties or no bake choices, just to keep things simple. What are your favorite cookies?

My least favorite to make are cutout cookies, they are time consuming – but they are so cute! And chocolate covered Oreos are also a fun treat to make, and oh so easy when you have a silicone mold.

One of my favorite things to do is decorate my outdoor planters. Red berries add just the right pop of color, and I love the different textures the greens give. I chose these with the help of my friends over at Trombetta’s in Marlborough. They have something for everyone, at all price points, whether you want to design something yourself, or if you want to get a predesigned pop to drop into your planters.

While you’re there don’t forget about wreaths and trees!

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We have been driving past Ziggy and Sons Donuts for years now and the timing has never been right to stop in. So one day we figured we would make the trip to Salem just to try out the food. Salem might be a place harder to find parking than the city of Boston! We circled the block a few times before we grabbed a spot of the street and ran in just before they closed. They are a no frills, old school kind of place, which I kind of love. They are the longest running bakery/donut shop in Salem, a family run business, operating for the last 59 years!

Ziggy and Sons has donuts and a variety of other baked goods – we had to try out their turnovers, apple and raspberry. You can find them at 2 Essex St in Salem. Check out their Facebook page.

Next stop on our list, A&J King Artisan Bakers. This carb lovers dream serves the best breads in town along with sandwiches, handcrafted drinks and the most beautiful pastries you’ve ever seen. Brownie, pinwheel danish, sticky bun, sweet and savory, they have you covered. Just as a side note, try their Kouign Amann. There are very few bakeries that make these, so I try them where ever I see them. Pronounced “Queen Amahn”, it is dough, and butter with sugar…similar to a puff pastry. The sugar gets caramelized…it’s delicious. Sandwiches and drinks can be picked up from their cafe, located at 48 Central Street in downtown Salem. They have another location located at 139 Boston Street, but they do not serve sandwiches and drinks there. Check out their website here.

My next pick is Dairy Witch for ice cream sundaes. Open seasonally, they have drool worthy weekly sundae specials. You can get hard or soft ice cream, sherbet or sorbet. They’re open 7 days a week during the peak season – check them out at 117 Boston Street in Salem.

With multiple locations to choose from, Holy Cow ice cream gives you plenty of chances to try their award winning ice cream. They have catchy names like Corner Piece (Brown butter chocolate ice cream mixed with homemade crispy brownie corner pieces) and Easy Peazy (Lemon curd ice cream loaded with house made lemon bars, and fun flavors like cereal milk or brown butter cornbread. They even have vegan flavors such as vegan cookie butter or vegan pumpkin oreo. Check their website for the most current flavors. Check them out next to Salem Willows, 181 Fort Ave or just over the line in Peabody at 86 Andover Street.

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This was a Halloween for the books! We must have boo’d every kid in town. The kids were so excited. Just seeing their faces and hearing them laugh made it all worth it. We were so busy that we managed to carve pumpkins the night before Halloween! EEK!

One of our favorite spots to get Halloween treats is Heirloom in Weston. How cute is their dirt cake?

With all the boo baskets we did, I almost forgot to boo my own kids I like to reuse the baskets from year to year, so I kept the same pumpkin jelly baskets I bought from Target. For my oldest, I added Bonaparte Falls Apart, some spooky shost cookies from Rustic Bakery, assorted fancy treats from Sugarfina, some cute pumpkin and skeleton notepads, a “boo” straw, Meri Meri party crackers and a Tops Malibu sparkler wand.

For #3, we did Gustavo the Shy Ghost, a new trick or treat reusable bag from Target, fancy milk chocolate skeleton chocolates from Harbor Sweets, the only candy corn I like – in notepad form, a “boo straw”, some football cards, Meri Meri crackers, and some skeleton sticky notes. Not shown was the glow in the dark ghost NeeDoh.

I love all things mummy and anything that involves candy eyes. Do you prefer the cupcakes plain?….

…or frosted?

The Dollar Store coffins are such a cute way to dress up a little Halloween candy for a “boo”. We added a few fun treats like a “poison” bottle from the Bullseye playground and a Halloween bracelet to round out the fun!

Getting a boo is almost as fun as delivering one! Our neighbors dropped off this cutie pumpkin…while our animals of children raced out and “caught” them mid front lawn!

Another fun boo that we put together were these skeleton hand glasses we found at the Dollar Store, that we filled with some candy, vinyl ghost stickers for those water bottles, and a Meri Meri spider surprise ball!

I always like to try out one new recipe a season, and this holiday I did the Halloween M&M cookies from Cooking with Karli. Super easy to make, these dark chocolate cookies with Halloween colored M&M’s were a crowd favorite!

Another boo that we did were home made Rice Krispie treats, dressed up with Halloween colored sprinkles. Something a little special and different than those bags of candy!

I came across these super cute witch cauldron brownie bites on Instagram, and thought they would be so cute to make. Popped a few in a fun box and surprised a few friends with them one night!

Cupcakes are kind of my thing, so I was busy working on making different iterations – How fun are these orange frosted ones with skeleton and fang rings?

I’m not usually a cupcake topper kind of gal, but these Meri Meri ones and Day of the Dead ones are pretty fun!

Chocolate covered pretzels are so fun to make, and I love the Utz pretzel rods. There are so many combinations you can make, and I even made some that said “boo”.

Finding new uses for old things, I reused these old McDonald’s Happy Meal Boo Buckets to give cookies to friends and neighbors this year.

Cider Donuts are only my thing if they are hot and just out of the oven. These pumpkin donuts from Tougas Farm, however, weren’t too shabby! And how cute is this mini bottle brush Halloween tree from Migration Goods?

Rice Krispie Treats are even more fun when you get the orange Rice Krispies….

And last, but not least, how cute are these sugar cookies from Wilson Farm?

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We have been busy boo-ing since October 1st over at our house! Halloween 2024 has kicked off with a bang! Boo baskets, Halloween baked goods, you name it, we are ALL IN! I love these cute “oh snap” cupcake wrappers from Home Goods and Meri Meri witch cupcake toppers.

Chocolate covered Oreos can either be hand dipped or made in a silicone mold. Add some candy eyes and pipe with chocolate to make them look like mummies.

I picked up these cute cat cups at the Bullseye playground a while back thinking I was going to use them as birthday party favors, but they ended up being even better for Halloween. I used my Cricut to personalize each cup with friends’ names and filled them with fun things like Meri Meri surprise balls, flashing rings, vampire teeth, vinyl ghost stickers and of course, a little bit of candy! Big hit with the third grade girl gang!

Orang Rice Krispie treats were a big hit for boo-ing this year and so easy to make in big batches. We covered with fun colored spinkles and put in Halloween themed cellophane bags.

Using those same sprinkles, we also made chocolate covered pretzels. They travel really well and make for excellent boo-ing. They usually fit about 5 to a bag.

Some of our friends with littles got boo baskets this year from us filled paint your own pumpkin supplies: mini pumpkins, mondo llama paint from Target, pumpkin surprise balls, and a small bag of candy. A fun idea to keep the kids busy for five minutes and when you don’t want to go overboard on the sweets.

For some of the bigger families, we did larger baskets with skeleton coffins from the Dollar Store, filled with candy, light up rings and popper toys, Meri Meri spider surprise balls, glow bracelets from the Dollar Store, a fun honeycomb spider card from Papyrus, Halloween stickers from the Paper Source and the wooden tokens got friends one free Italian ice from Ye Olde Farmstand in Sudbury. They serve Richie’s Italian Ice and have over 20 flavors. You can mix and match, and in my opinion, the best part is that they ask you which flavor you want on top!! New flavors for next season are black cherry and key lime – we can’t wait!! Hurry in, the close November 1st for the season, but will open back up again in the spring.

What’s in your “Boo Basket?”

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Minus the dressing up, Halloween might be my favorite holiday – I mean all the treats and eats make my heart go pitter patter. I put together this eight pack of cupcakes for friends: the pink reminded me of brains, a classic jelly pumpkin, Butterfinger skull, candy eyeballs, black and orange non pareil sprinkles, a Halloween orange colored cream Oreo, Halloween colored crystal sugar sprinkles, and pastel fall pumpkin spinkles.

I whipped up some classic chocolate chip cookies and then topped them with these Pillsbury ready to bake ghost sugar cookies to make a “best of both worls’d” cookie. The kids gobbled these up in seconds flat.

A Halloween favorite is always the spider donuts from Dunkin.

Another cupcake set with cute cupcake wrappers and fun Meri Meri toppers.

Rice Krispie treats are always more fun when you use orange Rice Krispies….and when you top them with fun Halloween themed sprinkles.

And if you’re looking for a little bit of an elevated treat, for your sophisticated adult palate, head over to Heirloom in Weston for these cute homemade Oreo sandwich cookies. Drop a note in the comments about what your favorite holiday is!

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Every year for the kids, I get them one “fancy” cake (read: professional), and then one cake that I make. My son has been very in to making paper airplanes, so naturally, I made him paper airplane cake toppers. I Googled some colorful maps, printed them out and carefully folded them into small planes. I glued them onto toothpicks, and viola! Simple, yet fun.

A simple two layer vanilla cake with vanilla frosting and Oreo crumbles in the middle.

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I first came across the Cookie Monstah truck in 2013 (!!), pre kids, when I was working downtown. These days, they have expanded to brick and mortar locations in Danvers, Swampscott, Burlington and (just recently) Needham. Aaaaannnnnd, their truck is back on the Greenway, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

They have over 20 flavors of cookies and the cookie ice cream sandwich combinations are endless! Above is the “Slim Shady” – vanilla ice cream sandwiched inside two m&m cookies. Order off the menu or make a custom creation of your own. They’ve even expanded to “quakes”, cookies and ice cream blended together to hit the spot this summer!

A favorite in our house is the “Peanut Buttah Blast” – Reese’s cookies with Reese’s peanut butter cup ice cream. All the cookies are made from scratch, using the finest ingredients, and the ice cream is from Richardson’s. How can you go wrong?

Back in the height of the pandemic, when people weren’t having parties, our neighbor graciously surprised us with a socially distant baby shower, complete with a visit from the Cookie Monstah truck. Such a fun idea! People can stop by and grab one to go and wave hello, or sit outside (socially distant) and enjoy some ice cream on the front lawn – perfect for all comfort levels.

For more information on the Cookie Monstah truck, click here. Make sure to sign up or their loyalty program too!

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Finish this sentence: “You know you’re a mom when…”

Mine is when you pick up your own birthday cake. Since this was a big birthday for me, I decided to go big or go home. That means, not just one cake, but three. And my husband came through with a cake as well, even if it was a few days late (better late than never).

Every month, Blackbird has different flavor cake in addition to the standard vanilla and chocolate. They claim that it serves 2-4 people, but in this case, I made my own suggestion that it was really a single serving! I mean, it did say “personal sized”. This one was two vanilla doughnuts with house made jam and vanilla buttercream frosting. AMAZING. I could have eaten this alone in my closet and it would have been my best birthday ever. I think I was smart enough to make a homemade cake as a decoy cake – the kids ate that one and I had this one to myself…

Blackbird Doughnuts Locations in South End, Fenway, Harvard Square, Beacon Hill, Brighton and Newton Centre

Order cakes online through the catering menu.

This is the pie of my dreams: the party pie sampler from Elm Street Sweets, a sister bakery to the Rosebud in Somerville. They hibernated over the winter, because it just wasn’t feasible to keep it open, but I’ve got my fingers crossed that it re-opens. The pie is 9″ and has two pieces of cookie dough brownie pie, two pieces of cookies n’ cream pie and two pieces of peanut butter fudge pie.

Elm Street Sweets Pickup at The Rosebud in Somerville or Posto in Bedford

Next up, New City Microcreamery in Hudson, MA. I love this ice cream cake because it actually has CAKE in it. Make sure to plan ahead if you want a customized cake, three days ahead actually. They do have pre made cakes in the freezer should you need one last minute. Choose up to two different kinds of ice cream and one “funk”. We went with the mint chip and the chocolate chip cookie dough. Cakes come in three sizes: 6, 8 or 10 inch – we went with the 6″.

New City Microcreamery 29 Main Street, Hudson, MA

I first fell in love with Milk Bar when I went to New York a million years ago. Their now called “Milk Bar Pie” is one of my all time favorites. I was also in love with their corn cookies. You used to be able to buy the mix and make them at home. The ones at the store in Harvard Square are good, they just aren’t the same as I remember. Side note, you can buy Milk Bar truffle crumb cakes at Target, and they will definitely tide your craving over. Back to the cake: 6″ will feed 8-12. Its three tiers of rainbow flecked vanilla birthday cake with birthday frosting, crunchy birthday crumbs and of course, rainbow sprinkles. My husband gets brownie points for this one!

Milk Bar Boston location at 3 Brattle Street in Cambridge but they ship!

So tell me, have you ever picked up your own birthday cake(s)?

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