Recipe: Soft Snickerdoodle Cookies

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It's Christmastime! AKA baking season. AKA my favorite time of the year.

If you've had enough of chocolate chip cookies (whaaat), run out of peanut butter (the horror!), and one of your little cookie monsters balks at oatmeal, here's the perfect solution:



Melt in your mouth, pillowy soft snickerdoodle cookies that delight your tongue with buttery, cinnamon-sugary goodness. These cookies bake soft, stay soft, and are the kind of cookies that disappear at the party in the first ten minutes.

They're also super easy and pretty quick to make! Without further ado, here's the recipe.

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How to Celebrate the First Advent

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The first Advent is already this Sunday, November 27!

On years like this one, when Advent comes early, it always feels like we go straight from feasting on turkey and pecan pie to going full-on Christmas. I'm not complaining!

I've always celebrated Advent and loved it. It was an especially big deal to my mom, because she's German and the Germans do Adventszeit right. The thing that first comes to mind for me about Advent is the Adventskranz!

My mom always made ours herself, but you can buy them if you don't have much time or aren't so crafty. It's traditionally a wreath with four candles - one for each Sunday of Advent. One candle stands for hope, one for love, one for joy, and one for peace. You light one candle each Sunday and try to live that virtue even more that day!

By Jasmine

So tomorrow, the first Sunday of Advent, is all about honoring hope. People who celebrate (as I plan to again this year, after having the lowest key Christmas ever last year) will light a candle (traditionally purple, thought white, gold, and red are also common) - the Candle of Hope, also known as the Candle of Prophecy.

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Five Foods to Celebrate St. Patrick's Day!

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St. Patrick's Day is just around the bend!

I am 0% Irish, but holidays are fun. Especially when you can dress up and make festive foods! Here are five fun recipes from the blogosphere for St. Patrick's Day. I can't wait to try some of them!

1) Angela's Green Velvet Cheesecake Bars

Are you a fan of red velvet flavored desserts (or do you know someone who is)? This is a fun alternative that's perfect for the holiday and still delicious! It's a great option if you're having friends over for tea!

...please tell me I'm not the only twenty-something year old who enjoys afternoon tea. Tea is the new clubbing! Yes? Yes!

2) Amy's Mint Chip Sugar Cookies

Mint and chocolate are great flavors to combine any time of the year and a favorite of many, but they're absolutely perfect or St. Patrick's Day! 

These are super cute if you want to make a little gift that's easy to hand out to friends (or colleagues or teachers) on St. Patrick's Day. Just put a few cooled cookies in a clear plastic bag and tie it with a cute green ribbon for an adorable little appreciation gift for those who make you smile all year long!

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Recipe: Better than Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

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I grew up in a suburb in North Carolina, so when the weather wasn't great outside, there were no good movies playing in the theaters, and our mothers were all tired out by one too many sleepovers, the fun thing to do with friends was go to the mall!

I tend to have sensory memory of things, so when I think back to those pre-teen afternoons spent walking around the mall, laughing, trying on clothes, and talking about anything and everything, I especially remember the sounds and smells (and, to a lesser extent, sights) of the mall.

Other than the amazing warm, sweet smell by the mall cookie shop during the holidays and the strong floral scent by the Bath & Bodyworks store, one of the smells that stands out the most is the buttery, spicy, sweet smell by the Cinnabon shop!

I was always more of an ice cream or cookies girl when it came to dessert, and more of a cereal or bread girl when it came to breakfast, so I'm not sure if I ever bought anything from the Cinnabon. I certainly remember enjoying the smell, however, so I was thrilled when I got to make cinnamon rolls for a roommate's potluck!

Pre-frosting, but don't worry - I frosted them!

Not only did these cinnamon rolls get rave reviews from his coworkers (not a single roll remained after the potluck) but our apartment smelled like a Cinnabon for hours!

The recipe is easy to make, sure to please, and both a lot more budget-friendly and brings you a lot closer to your food than a trip to a Cinnabon would, so enjoy!

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Recipe: Caribbean Coconut Bread

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There are so many wonderful reasons to eat coconut oil - it has been proven to improve cholesterol profiles, may reduce heart disease risk, is great for your hair and skin health, may help reduce dangerous abdominal fat, and an improve immunity.

A quick bread baked with Ojio raw organic coconut oil as the fat, instead of butter or traditional vegetable oil, makes a wonderful switch-up from the traditional banana bread!

We're all getting back into the swing of things at work now, after the lovely Christmas holiday break, and sometimes this time of year can give us a bit of the post-vacation blues. While this bread is not quite as good as a Caribbean vacation (who wouldn't love to go to the Bahamas?) it tastes like the bakery-fresh coconut loaves you could find all over by the beaches!!

Read on for the recipe for my Caribbean Coconut Bread, made with healthy fat-rich coconut oil!

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Review: Honey Ridge Farms Artisan Honeys

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Where has 2015 gone? I can hardly believe that there are only a few short years until the new year!

2015 has been a wonderful year, full of growth, new career developments, new relationships, old creative passions in new ways, and a wonderful abundance of adventure, travel, good times with loved ones, and learning, I'm excited to see what 2016 brings!

One of the New Year's Eve traditions that I find really cute is the tradition of eating honey to herald in a sweet new year. I love honey, so any reason to eat it is good with me!

This year, I'm going for a gourmet spin with the honey I will give my loved ones and enjoy myself on Christmas Eve.



Honey Ridge Farms has a variety of absolutely delicious gourmet honey products that are perfect to start 2016 off on the right foot - or really for any morning!

The unique flavors of honey cremes include blackberry, clover, lavender, lemon, raspberry, coconut, blood orange, lemon lavender, and my personal favorite, spiced. Honey Creme spiced is the perfect festive blend of warming spices that, paired with the sweetness of the creamy honey, makes for a treat perfect for the holiday season!

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Recipe: Chewy Chococonut Cookies

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Everyone loves a good chocolate chip cookie, but sometimes you want to mix it up a bit. If you've had enough plain chocolate chip cookies this holiday season, check these out!

These chewy Chococonut cookies might be a bit of a tongue twister, but the flavors of the dark chocolate chunks and the chewy shredded coconut compliment each other brilliantly and make these a great change from the typical chocolate chip cookie!

They're big, soft, chewy cookies, like the kind you get from the cookie bakeries or carts at the mall. Without further ado, here's the quick and easy recipe! No dough chilling required.

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3 Healthy Habits To Start Right Now

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The holidays aren't always the healthiest time of the year for many of us and that's totally fine. There's no need to be a Grinch and forgo all the special holiday treats that only come once a year.

That said, there is no reason to make things harder on ourselves for when January resolution fever rolls around by completely ignoring the importance of healthy living during the holidays. Completely ignoring our physical well-being for an entire holiday season leads to feeling pretty awful when all the sleepless nights of holiday parties and running on sugar and fumes are over.

It's all about the balance!

Here are three simple, healthy habits that you don't need to wait for the new year to adopt. Get in the habit now and you'll start the new year feeling much better than otherwise - maybe even good enough that you can focus on career or personal resolutions instead of health ones!

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Top Seven Tips for Taking 'Me' Time This Holiday Season!

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The holiday season is my absolute favorite time of the year and the absolute best time to make special memories with friends and family and all your loved ones. I have family Christmas memories from over a decade ago that I still treasure more than anything else!

Being reunited with loved ones is such an amazing feeling!

That said, many of us can find that the holidays can get a bit hectic. That's no fun! It's all about striking the ideal balance between participating in the festivities and taking some much needed, and equally enjoyable.

Read on for my top seven tips for taking some precious 'me' time this holiday season!

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Recipe: Ooey Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

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I love trying out all sorts of different cookie recipes and cookies around the holidays. There are so many fun varieties! 

But when it comes down to it, you can't beat the nostalgic appeal of the classic chocolate chip cookie around Christmastime. 

This is the only chocolate chip cookie recipe I use anymore! The cookies are amazing and everyone loves them.

Everyone.

Read on for the recipe. You'll be glad that you did!

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Healthy Holiday Hacks: Top 5 Tips to Handle Never-Ending Days + A GIVEAWAY!

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I love the holidays! Everything sparkles, people smile more, and there's a general sense of happiness, community, and togetherness that is (sadly) not as pronounced during the rest of the year.

Also, decorations!

I know people like to whine about Christmas decorations going up too early and Christmas carols playing on repeat everywhere from the day after Thanksgiving on, but I love all of that!

What I don't love is the hectic that can sometimes be associated with the holidays. No one likes feeling stressed out, but sometimes the happiness of the holiday season can be tainted by hectic back-to-back scheduling.

Read on for my top five tips to survive those inevitable never-ending days without turning into a stressed-out Grinch!

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Recipe: Impossibly Delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Happy holidays! Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year and while I go hard all December, I already start prep back in September.

By prep, I mean I start listening to Christmas music, planning Christmas presents, testing recipes, and watching Christmas movies.

Thanks to my obsessive extensive preparation, this Christmas chocolate chip cookie is the absolute best chocolate chip cookie recipe out there. I've tried so many, I know what I'm talking about!

I love to make the dough for these the night before and then bake them shortly before serving, because they look great after the dough has been chilled and they taste amazing warm and fresh from the oven.

Read on for the recipe!

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Top Five Tips for A Healthy Holiday Season

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Who else can't believe we're already a full week into December?

Since the holiday season is clearly in full swing by today (though, let's be real, I've been watching Christmas movies and listening to my (six) favorite Christmas Pandora stations since October) I have teamed up with goodnessknows to put together a list of my top five tips for a healthy holiday season. Let's be healthy and happy this holiday season!

1) Be gentle with yourself.

This one comes first on the list, because it's so important. Especially in NYC, where everyone is so high-powered and high-strung and ambitious, being unnecessarily strict with ourselves isn't a rarity. Whether it's expecting ourselves to be perfect nutritionally, or throw the perfect party, or stick perfectly to our fitness goals, or prepare the perfect holiday dinner, all that perfection is very unhealthy!

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Review: Nibble Chocolate

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It's December, so I'm officially in all-Christmas, all-the-time mode! AKA I'm incredibly happy and loving my favorite month of the year.

Today I want to share a great stocking stuffer for your chocoholic, health-conscious, and/or foodie loved ones!

Nibble Chocolate is organic, made with just two ingredients (organic cocoa beans and organic cane sugar) and hand-crafted in San Diego California!

Forget about GMOs, artificial flavors, chemicals, or anything else that you wouldn't want in your chocolate (or your body). Nibble Chocolate proves you don't need any of that to make delicious chocolate!

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Recipe: Peppermint (Extra) Nice Cream

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Christmas is, hands-down, the best time of the year. Ice cream (and especially plantbased nice cream, for anyone with lactose issues, an interest in healthy eating, or just a fondness for delicious food) is one of the best desserts ever.

They're a match made in heaven!



This peppermint nice cream is festive, creamy, sweet, and absolutely scrumptiously Christmassy! Since Christmas is an extra nice time of year, it's only fitting that this nice cream is extra nice, too.

It's not only delicious and made of healthy fruit, but it also delivers the greens that a lot of us tend to neglect over the holidays, as well as satiating protein to keep us healthy and full of even energy all season long. 

Vega Protein & Greens vanilla powder provides lots of plantbased protein and an extra dose of greens, making this extra nice cream just the sort of thing you'll need to power through marathon ice skating, present-wrapping, and Christmas caroling sessions this holiday season.

If you're a fan of chocolate peppermint bark, use the Vega Protein & Greens chocolate powder in your nice cream instead. It works just as well, but makes for a delicious chocolate-peppermint treat!

It's easy to make and healthy enough to have as a breakfast, snack, or nutritious dessert all holiday season long! Read on for the yummy, festive recipe.

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Recipe: Irresistible Cheesy Bread

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It's that time of year! Happy (almost) Thanksgiving, everyone!

While a lot of us host Thanksgiving celebrations, or celebrate a family Thanksgiving at home, it is also not uncommon to attend a Thanksgiving dinner that someone else is hosting. My family is strewn all around the world and the same is true for many of my fellow New Yorkers!

Attending someone else's Thanksgiving dinner can be a lot of fun. You get to dress up, spend time with some awesome people, and not have the stress of hosting the dinner yourself. That said, it's important to be a good guest. Definitely bring with a host gift and/or a contribution to the dinner!

But what if you know nothing about how to pick a good wine (guilty) and dessert has already been claimed, so you can't bring along an award-winning pecan pie or my classic pumpkin pie? Never fear!

A side dish (or appetizer, depending on how off-schedule the turkey roasting itself is running) is always appreciated.

A dinner bread is especially appreciated, because if it doesn't get eaten at the actual dinner, your hosts can use it for their post-Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches!

This irresistible cheesy bread is a real winner. Everyone always loves it, it's pretty easy to make, the strongly flavored asiago cheese makes it a slightly gourmet (or at the very least, grown up) tasting bread, and asiago cheese is the only ingredient that you may not already have in your kitchen!

Read on for the yummy recipe!

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Choose This, Not That: Holiday Edition!

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It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas Thanksgiving!

Okay - it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, too.

But I'm trying to restrain myself from going too nuts (Christmas carols 24/7, decorations all over the place, daily Christmas baking, searching for the perfect gifts for all my loved ones, and just generally being a holly jolly elf) until Black Friday. It's a tradition for me to try to exercise a teeny-tiny bit of self-control until that hotly-anticipated Friday when I can dial it up to 95% and then December 1, when I can go 100% Christmas nuts.

I don't even participate in Black Friday shopping, but I'm always really excited for the day because it means Christmas is approaching!

Anyway, the holiday season is a time of indulgence. Holiday indulgences are wonderful and I firmly believe in taking part, but over-indulgence doesn't feel good and doesn't do anyhting to increase our enjoyment of the season - quite the opposite, in fact!

Go for the indulgence on the big days and when you really want them, but when you're just looking for a bit of a festive feeling, try a healthy swap! Read on for three healthy holiday swaps that I recommend!

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Recipe: Can't-Fail Creamed Corn

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Creamed corn is an American staple side dish. I've babysat kids before who wouldn't touch any vegetable (including regular cooked corn or corn on the cob) but went crazy for my creamed corn. 

While it's important to encourage picky eaters to get a variety of vegetables in their diet (I have posted about ways to do so, sneakily and not-so-sneakily!) it's great to also have a veggie side option that you don't have to convince or trick them into enjoying. This creamed corn fits the bill!

While corn is often under-appreciated as a vegetable, there are actually a lot of great reasons to enjoy corn! 

Corn is rich in vitamins A, B, and E, as well as a wide variety of minerals, including magnesium, zinc, phosphorous, manganese, and so on. It is in high in satiating, digestion-regulating fiber, contains antioxidants that have been linked to reduced rates of cancer and Alzheimer's, reduces cholesterol absorption in the body, promotes good bone health, and helps prevent anemia.

Satisfied that you want corn on your dinner table? Great! Then read on for the recipe for my creamed corn - you'll have plates scraped clean!

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Review: Bella Viva Orchards Gift Boxes

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The holidays are just around the bend and with the holidays comes the gifting season. While many of us think of the December holidays (in particular Christmas) as the main gifting days, and I'm among those who feel that way, Thanksgiving is also a gifting holiday if you're attending someone else's holiday dinner!

Throwing a Thanksgiving dinner takes a lot of time and effort. Showing your appreciation for your host's efforts by bringing along a thoughtful gift is not only a nice thing to do, but also encourages your host to continue hosting future Thanksgivings. 

My favorite thoughtful host/hostess gifts for Thanksgiving are gifts that are relevant to the dinner. Bringing a healthy, delicious, and prettily packaged option for pre-dinner munchies is thoughtful and helps your hosts out. I really like the Bella Viva Orchards Organic Gift Crate as that perfect present!

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Recipe: German Honey Cookies

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I'm half-German and absolutely love so many things about Germany - the landscape, the people, the culture, the music, the organization, the country overall, and (of course) the food!

Food is a huge part of culture and it's a great way to take little staycations to far-away places without leaving your kitchen. So you can all enjoy a little piece of Germany in your homes, here's a recipe for traditional Germany honey cookies!

These cookies are essentially the basic 'milk and cookies' cookie. They're simple, sweet, pair perfectly fresh from the oven with a cool glass of milk, and are beloved by children and adults alike. They're also quite simple to make and use only fairly basic pantry ingredients for the most part, so there's no reason not to give them a try.

Happy food-venturing!

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