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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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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Summer time is my favorite. I love picking berries with my kids. Well, maybe the idea of picking berries with my kids. They usually get tired after picking three berries and I end up picking the rest of the tray while they run off into the field and I sweat off 800lbs in the 900 degree sun. Either way, one of our favorite places to pick berries is Autumn Hill Orchard. It is out in Groton, MA. They are not usually crowded, their berries are some of the best that we have tasted, and the people there are so friendly. They remember us from year to year, they are kind and super friendly. They have blueberries and raspberries, and new this year they have blackberries. They just started pick your own peaches and they have apricots and local honey for sale at their retail tent. In the fall they will have Concord grapes for sale. You will be able to pick your own apples in the fall and their views can’t be beat.

Autumn Hills Orchard

495 Chicopee Row, Groton, MA https://autumnhillsorchard.com/

And after picking, we always stop at Johnson’s Dairy Bar for a well deserved ice cream. My go to flavor is the peach raspberry.

Johnson’s Dairy Bar

164 Boston Road, Groton, MA https://www.johnsonsrestaurantanddairybar.com/

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We found these cute ice cream cone cups at the Dollar Store and used them two ways. The first was for end of the year teacher gifts for our younger staff members. I made these cute printables and attached them to the straw.

Next, I filled them with these little waffle cone bites snack and of course tied on a gift card to Trombetta’s in Marlborough so they can get a free ice cream over the summer!

The second way we used them was for birthday party favors. Same things inside, the waffle cone bites and a gift card, but we personalized the outside of the cones with the names of our friends using my Cricut. I got a ton of compliments on these by strangers who were having parties at the same place.

You can make these as expensive or as inexpensive as you’d like. You could make a basket with a box of cones, sauce, sprinkles and other fun candy toppings; you could make a basket with waffle cones, brownies, whipped cream and amarena cherries; even just get ingredients to make Coke floats! Sky is the limit with the creativity of this gift.

Ice cream cones: Dollar Tree

Waffle Cone Bites: TJ Maxx

Gift Cards: Trombetta’s

Tags: Homemade

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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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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!

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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 .

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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 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!

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Every time that we go to Belmont, I always like stopping in and grabbing an ice cream cone from Rancatore’s, no matter how cold it is. Rancatore’s was founded in 1985 by Joe Rancatore.  You may know Joe’s brother who owns Toscanini’s in Cambridge.

I love their sense of humor – see the “pine cone” on the right in the top photo. The service in Belmont is always top notch.

Flavors are seasonal – you can catch some of your fall favorites now like pumpkin, pumpkin hydrox, autumn spice, and butter pecan in store now.

I don’t think I ever realized it, but they also make ice cream cakes (duh). Two layers with a crumbled cookie crust, with your choice of hot fudge, butterscotch or raspberry puree. They decorate with whipped cream made from scratch in any design you can dream up.

Where is your go to ice cream spot?

Rancatore’s

36 Leonard Street, Belmont, MA

www.rancs.com

Hours of operation:

School year:

Sunday to Thursday   10 AM – 10 PM

Friday & Saturday   10 AM – 11 PM

Summer:

Every Day   10 AM – 11 PM

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I am always looking for a new place to try ice cream. Uhlman’s (pronounced yool-mens) is located in Westborough and they make delicious ice cream in small batches. (They are closed for the season, but keep them in mind for next year.) They are open from March to October, 11am – 8pm daily. So what do they have? Hard ice cream, soft ice cream, frozen yogurt, allergy friendly options, and no sugar added flavors.

Flavors like strawberry cheesecake, Milky Way, Oreo, green tea, ginger, coconut, mint Oreo, bubble gum, m&m, Cookie Monster, cake batter, heavenly hash, chocolate peanut butter cup, cherry vanilla, frozen pudding and pumpkin Oreo will be sure to tempt anyone you bring. Allergy friendly flavors include orange, raspberry, pineapple and lemon dole whip that is nut free, dairy free, gluten free and cholesterol free. No sugar added flavors include vanilla, black raspberry and coffee. Frozen yogurt comes in flavors like cappuccino crunch, coffee, Oreo, chocolate chip, mint chip and black raspberry chocolate chip. Strawberry cheesecake is a winner in my book so keep your eyes open for it next season.

They offer ready made and made to order ice cream cakes – YUM!! Looking forward to next summer already.

There are a few picnic tables to eat your ice cream at, as well as some grassy areas for the kids to burn off some energy before getting back in the car. They have some cows on property that are always fun to look at as well. If you go in the afternoon, they have lunch time hot dog specials!

Uhlman’s is a cash only shop, but there is an ATM on site. Their prices are very reasonable and have appropriate sized kids ice creams

Uhlman’s Ice Cream

232 East Main Street, Westborough, MA

https://www.uhlmansicecream.com

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After apple picking one day we decided to find something casual and quick. I hadn’t been to Hudson Creamery since I was little girl so it was nice to visit with my kiddos. The small shop offers 30 flavors of ice cream (hard ice cream only) and a variety of lunch options. They have a few tables located inside for those wanted to get out of the sun. They offer items such as hamburgers, cheeseburgers, grilled cheese, hot dogs and lobster rolls. Portions are generous in size and prices are affordable.  Ice cream is available in flavors such as cotton candy, Oreo cookie, rocky road, toffee crunch, totally turtle, coffee heath bar and cookie dough.

The burgers were tasty and the ice cream was very creamy.

Service was friendly, but a little on the slow side. Parking is available in the lot out front and they accept all major credit cards. Open 7 days a week.

Hudson is really starting to explode – with Medusa Brewing Co., Rail Trail Flatbread Co., New City Microcreamery, and all the cute shops on Main Street. I remember when there was nothing but Bar Lunch on the block (there is a throwback for all you Hudson natives!). If you’re in the neighborhood – stop by and play the piano outside Avidia Bank, stop in for some delicious cheese from Katie at Mullahy’s (63 Main Street), or even visit the Farmers’ market (June – Oct) every Tuesday (4pm-7pm) at the Town Hall (78 Main Street).

Hudson Creamery

418 Main Street, Hudson, MA

www.hudsoncreamery.net 

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Our family went down with summer colds this past weekend, so we took it easy. I’m throwing it back to a fun thing we did in July for my Tuesday Water Cooler post this week. We hit the tail end of blueberry season (July) and the beginning of peach season (August) at Sunshine Farm on a Saturday morning before it got too hot. Located in Sherborn, this is a great place to pick your own fruit with the family. Stop in at the farmstand and let them know what you want to pick. We paid for peaches by the bag and the blueberries were pay by weight. We drove our car down a ways to the blueberry field, but you have to walk a bit further to get to the peaches. There were plenty of ripe berries – my kids had a blast – it was their first time picking their own fruit. The blueberries were a bit tart, but we made a massive amount of Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins when we got home!

It was starting to get really toasty after the first hour, but we walked over to pick our bag of peaches. We had the whole area to ourselves and Sunshine Farm had the biggest peaches I have EVER SEEN! I mean, literally the size of softballs. They were perfectly sweet and delicious, it was hard to tell which we liked better, picking peaches or the blueberries. For me, this was really THE season for peaches!!

So obviously you can’t head to Sunshine Farm to pick blueberries or peaches (although they were still picking as of September 8th), but they are doing pick your own apples. They have Macs, Gala, Cortland, Macouns and Honey Crisps available. The farmstand is open 9am – 6pm and ice cream is open from noon until 8pm.

The farm also offers full season and summer share CSA packages. The 23 week full season starts June 14th and runs to November 18th. It’s $920 but you can sign up now until March 31st and save $70. Summer season starts on June 14th and runs through September 30th. It’s $640 but if you sign up now until March 31st, it is $600.

Where is your favorite farm to do u-pick?

Sunshine Farm

41 Kendall Ave. Sherborn, MA

http://sunshinefarmma.com/

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