Blog

You likely have to get Halloween candy on your list of stuff to do this weekend, and we thought we'd help you out. After taking an anonymous poll of the team, we feel very confident that you should stock up on the following and prepare yourself to be the most popular house on the block:

Kit Kat. Gimme a break! No, seriously.

Twix. Thus named after combining the words "twin" and "stix.” Twicks must not have gone over well in focus groups.

Reese's Pieces Peanut Butter Cups. C’mon, they’re even ET’s favorite!

Baby Ruth. Well, we are in Red Sox land.

Butterfinger. Created by the same guy behind Baby Ruth. Inside joke?

Skittles. Think you can beat the 16.13 seconds record to open a bag of Skittles and sort them by color?

Tootsie Roll. Roughly 740 tootsie rolls get made per second; that’s more than 60 million a day!

Candy Corn. Hmmm … votes for this one are still being disputed.

Joking aside, this is a pretty strong line up when it comes to Halloween candy. I'm lucky there was any of it left after placing a bag of it behind my desk earlier this week! If you're still not convinced by our top picks, then can we at least steer you away from some questionable choices? Let's at least agree to say no to pennies, toothbrushes, and the dreaded orange circus peanuts.

And with that, we wish you a treat-filled Halloween!!

Read more

I LOVE lunch! It is my favorite meal of the day. I even look forward to the ritual of making school lunches for my boys every morning. I know that this may put me in the minority but I truly find it fun and enjoyable. When I go grocery shopping with the boys, I ask for their input. We almost always pick some sort of melon, and they love choosing the type of crackers they'll have for the week (they're 3 .5 and 1.5 years old, so this is still a big deal). The part I like is figuring out how to make a yummy lunch fit into the five compartments of their awesome lunchboxes (we use Yumbox). I try to switch it up a little throughout the week. Here are a few examples of lunches I've packed recently.

LUNCHBOX IDEA #1. Cream cheese and jelly roll-up sandwich, shredded cheese, strawberries, red peppers, salami

LUNCHBOX IDEA #2. Cantaloupe, kiwi, colby jack (aka two-tone) cheese, oyster crackers, salami, and roasted pumpkin seeds

LUNCHBOX IDEA #3. Cream and cheese and honey roll-up sandwich, yellow watermelon, mini goldfish crackers, apple slices with cinnamon (to mask the brown!), cucumbers, and mini chocolate chips

LUNCHBOX IDEA #4. Kiwi, shredded cheese, cucumbers, oyster crackers, salami

LUNCHBOX IDEA #5. Honeydew, cucumbers, mini goldfish crackers, cream cheese + jelly sandwich, hard boiled egg, and mini chocolate chips

They both get really excited about their lunches and ask to look at them in the morning. Sometimes, if they don’t end up eating everything at school, the leftovers turn into an after-school snack!

As you can tell, I'm a huge fan of the bento-style lunchbox. I find it makes planning easy (think five tiny sections to fill up) while adding a creative twist to lunch-making. If you’re stuck on lunches for your kiddos, you might want to give it a try. Happy packing!

Read more

It's that time of year again: football is back! And fall is just around the corner meaning that it's time to evaluate my sweatshirt collection, get some leaf peeping on the calendar, and enjoy the perfect September weather. As if September wasn't awesome enough, it's also National Guacamole Day tomorrow!

Here at the office we welcomed September with a tortilla chip taste test. Each of us have tried and true favorites we love to pair with salsa, hummus, and of course guacamole! My favorite guacamole recipe, courtesy of Alton Brown, boasts wonderful flavor (thank you, cumin!) and quite the kick (use a whole jalapeno for extra spice!). I whipped up a batch and we put it to the test against a range of chips.

Among the offerings we had the usual suspects, some more exotic offerings as well as blue, flax sprinkled mystery chip randomly chosen from the snack aisle at Target. After much (blind) snacking and deliberating we each cast three votes for our favorites.

Here are the results: La Niña was the winner which maybe shouldn't be a surprise, considering that it's the most authentic tortilla chip and complimented the guacamole perfectly! But then Tostitos Hint of Lime and Garden of Eatin' Red Hot Blues were the other favorites, proving that we love flavor and spice! 

Read more

As September unfolds, the hot and humid days we love complaining about are becoming a thing of the past. Cue the cool nights, hordes of students on the train, and the changing foliage. Clearly, this means one thing—FOOTBALL SEASON IS HERE. You thought I was going to say fall, right? As much as I love breathing in the crisp air that begs a soft, weathered sweatshirt, I will be leaf peeping in between games and my sweatshirt will probably have a team logo on it! 

My roommate Hannah says I’m a bonafide football nerd and she might be right: my day planner is filled with the kickoff times for the Oregon Ducks, NY Giants, Tennessee Titans and Philadelphia Eagles. Whew! Of course, game day wouldn’t be complete without two things—gear and snacks! I have plenty of gear, including a personalized Giants jersey (as shown in the image above of me at the Giants and Washington Red Skins game), and this year I’ve decided to perfect the art of making guacamole.

Thanks to Alton Brown’s recipe, I think I’ve done just that! The flavors are perfectly balanced without sacrificing spice and the cumin compliments the heat. So next time you’re hosting a game day party, try this one out!

Alton Brown's Homemade Guacamole Recipe

Ingredients
3 medium ripe Hass avocados, halved and pitted (peel removed)
1 medium lime
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 small Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped (sadly, I forgot to get cilantro but no one seemed to notice that it was missing!)
1 tablespoon jalapeno, minced

Instructions
Place the avocado pulp and lime juice in a large mixing bowl and toss to combine. Add the salt, cumin and cayenne and mash using a potato masher, leaving some larger chunks for texture. Add the onion, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro and jalapeno and stir to combine. Lay plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole and allow to sit at room temperature for 2 hours before serving.

(image: enjoy!)

Read more

On the 4th of July, is there anything more delicious (or American, really) than blueberry crisp? Add a “dollop” (love that word) of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream and you’re in fruity-crispy heaven. I thought I would share a simple recipe that would be perfect for the upcoming holiday or any summer gathering really. I especially like this recipe because there are no fancy ingredients and you come out with a delicious crowd-pleaser with just 15 minutes of prep time (followed by 30 minutes of baking time). I love to bake but who wants to toil away in a hot kitchen while everyone else is kicking back and enjoying the day?

Download and print out the blueberry crisp recipe here. I’ve also included a blank printable recipe card for your own recipe keeping. Have a happy 4th of July, and GOOOO USA Women’s Soccer!

Read more