Jessica Merchant's Blog, page 88
November 7, 2023
Tuesday Things.
1. I’m always up for a fried quesadilla.
2. Everyone seems to be decorating so early this year! And I don’t mean on social media. I mean, I can see neighbors christmas trees in the window and I am loving it.
3. On that same note, I am loving this calm christmas podcast. There is also a book that I listened to. But I really like the podcast since it comes to small doses.
4. All I want is for starbucks to bring back the eggnog latte.
5. Also!!! I am going to the Mariah Carey christmas concert in December. Um, does it get much better?
6. How to give gifts when everyone already buys everything they want.
7. One more holiday note: these awesome freezer sugar cookie cut outs are back at Target. I used these for cookie decorating parties last year and they are amazing.
8. Today is my birthday but honestly I will forever feel 17. Or 23. Or 27!
The post Tuesday Things. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.
November 6, 2023
Spiced Maple Brussels Sprouts Salad.
This maple brussels sprouts salad is a dreamy side dish for autumn or your Thanksgiving table. Shredded brussels, dried cherries, parmesan and toasted pine nuts are drizzled with a spiced maple vinaigrette. Delicious!
This is how I’ll be eating green for the rest of the season.
I mean, does anything sound more autumnal harvest than a spiced maple brussels sprouts salad?!
I think not.
This brussels salad is filled with dried cherries, toasted pine nuts, shaved parmesan and a delicious almost-drinkable maple vinaigrette that has a hint of fall flavor.
It’s crunchy and loaded with texture. And it makes an excellent complement to almost anything else on your Thanksgiving plate!
Side dishes are all the rage on Thanksgiving at our house. They are what I love the most. And while I will rarely stray from the classics, a good brussels sprouts dish can always fit in somewhere on the table.
Since I didn’t grow up eating brussels sprouts on Thanksgiving (my mom STILL can’t believe I like them), there is no traditional or classic dish for us to make.
Which I secretly love, because it means I can make all sorts of different brussels dishes to try. I’ve made an incredible brussels gratin before, many many brussels sprouts salads and even brussels fritters.
There are so many good options.
One of these reasons I love this salad is because it’s incredibly easy. You shave, shred or slice the brussels sprouts and that’s it – no cooking required. Plus, the entire salad tastes better as it sits. It marinates in the dressing and all bitterness and bite leave the brussels.
It’s also loaded with ingredients that most people enjoy.
We have:Toasted pine nuts. Though any other toasted nut you enjoy will work.
Dried cherries or cranberries.
Shaved parmesan.
And that’s it! It’s simple and easy, but very flavorful. (more…)
The post Spiced Maple Brussels Sprouts Salad. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.
November 5, 2023
A Week In The Life, Vol 45.
We’ve had such a full week!
Starting with Halloween and ending with this baby girl’s birthday!
Oh Monday I went into school for the kids’ Halloween parties. They were off on Tuesday for conferences!
Very excited for snow white.
Ran in and got Max a haircut. Why does he look 15!
Cutest boy.
We carved pumpkins.
Emilia designed hers and Max did the Mets… something.
I want to take a bite out of this cookie!
Trick or treating fun.
Cute enough to eat.
Woke up Wednesday to SNOW, which couldn’t have been more perfect. You know on Nov 1st, I am in full christmas mode.
My mom and I had a show to go to this week!
We saw The Wiz.
I had never seen the movie but the dancing, costumes, voices were so incredible! We loved it.
Jordan loves to stand on a kitchen stool and eat snacks.
Yay for apple season.
I worked the book fair at school all week. My dream!
Emilia’s birthday was yesterday, so she got to celebrate at school on Friday.
She picked this hot pink velvet dress to wear. I love her!
After school, we went bowling with friends for her birthday.
Cutest.
I started on a mermaid-ish balloon garland – it was not my favorite. And I love making them!
She woke up bright and early and threw on her leopard print before coming downstairs.
The sunrise was in full force for her.
Happiest, sweetest girl alive.
We had a very chill day at home – we’re having a party for her this upcoming Friday so it was nice to have a fun day at home.
Eddie blew up over 100 balloons and put them in her room for when she woke up.
They have been the highlight of the weekend.
Max had a flag football game!
We made a good old fashioned rainbow chip cake so we could sing.
She is our best sparkly girl. I couldn’t find my candles (thanks, moving) but this twisted gold taper candle was perfect and looked like a unicorn horn.
And now we’re into a new week! My birthday is this week. I’m totally putting the tree up!
The post A Week In The Life, Vol 45. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.
What To Eat This Week: 11/5/23.
I love all our meals this week!
What’s on your menu this week?!
What To Eat This Week
Blackened chicken salad with chipotle raspberry vinaigrette
Winter chickpea salad with smoked provolone
The post What To Eat This Week: 11/5/23. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.
November 4, 2023
Currently Crushing On.
November is here!
This week on the blog I shared this tomato soup pot pie with cheddar puff pastry. And we kicked off Thanksgiving 2023! Starting with a super easy roasted turkey breast with perfect gravy, all of my kitchen essentials that get me through the big holidays and cheesy herb slab biscuits.
I shared my October favorites! And you can find all my favorites for the sephora VIB sale here!
There’s a new weekly menu up and a peek at a week in our life.
The Everyday Dinners cookbook club is on fire! If you have a copy of the book, request to join the group. If not, get one here! We’re finishing up our summer cooking challenge. Ready to start on fall! It is such a wonderful community and an amazing place for recipe ideas.
xoxoxo
WHAT I’M LOVING THIS WEEKThis shrimp scampi looks incredible.
Green chili corn casserole. Yum!
Cute tortilla pinwheel tree for the holidays.
Gingerbread cupcakes! Here for it.
Craving this chicken pumpkin chili.
Brown butter pie crust. My mind is blown.
So are these pumpkin pie gingersnaps. Whoa.
Halloween candy monster cookies. Use up that candy!
This pumpkin french toast looks delish.
Pumpkin bread is the best too.
More pumpkin pasta for the win.
Grain free granola sounds wonderful.
The post Currently Crushing On. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.
November 3, 2023
Gruyere Herb Slab Biscuits.
Slab biscuits are so easy and delicious! Buttery biscuit dough is pressed into a pan and baked until golden and flakey and puffer. These stay fresh longer than traditional biscuits and are a great holiday side dish!
A buttery, flaky biscuit is making a grand entrance today.
These slab biscuits are cheesy and filled with fresh herbs, baked in one single dish until golden and puffy with a crunchy top. They are incredibly delicious.
Truly. I may never make biscuits another way again!
How on earth has it taken me this long to make slab biscuits? Aka, biscuits thrown in a 9×13 inch baking dish and baked, then sliced. Not sliced, then baked.
So easy! So buttery and flakey. And tall!
I’m coming at you today with another recipe in our Thanksgiving series. I’ve shared so many varieties of biscuits over the years. Traditional, savory, sweet, everything. And I find them incredibly easy to make, so I even make them often.
Eddie loves biscuits. Like, truly loves them.
However, it wasn’t until recently that I did this. I made the bon appetit cheesy spinach biscuits and fell completely head over heels.
To put my own spin on the slab biscuit, I add a lot of freshly grated gruyere cheese and tons of fresh herbs. Rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley. You can add whatever herbs you have and love! But I find that those particular ones tend to go well with the Thanksgiving flavors.
These biscuits use both buttermilk and sour cream – two of my favorite ingredients in any baked good. The end result is such a flakey, sky-high, flavorful biscuit with a tender crumb.
And I cannot stress how easy and foolproof they are. Throw them in a dish, bake, slice.
Done!
Here’s one of my favorite things about them. And this is important for Thanksgiving!
These are some of the best biscuits you can make ahead of time.
I find that to be the issue when it comes to making homemade bread products for Thanksgiving. Yes, I love anything homemade. But there are so many things going on in the oven on that specific day. Bread often takes a backseat. And sure, you can bake some the night before. But anything baked “day of” certainly tastes the freshest.
But these biscuits!! Oh my gosh. (more…)
The post Gruyere Herb Slab Biscuits. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.
November 2, 2023
October Favorites.
A peek at everything I loved in October 2023!
FOODPolar blood orange cranberry seltzer. I found this at Target – it’s a new winter flavor. And delicious!!
Barebells salty peanut protein bar. I dislike most protein bars but oh man, this one is just so good. Chewy and crisp.
HOMESerena & Lily step stools. I LOVE these stools. I now have four of them in the house. I wish I could find an amazon equivalent but I haven’t yet. These are so beautiful in person and look pretty in the house. Everyone loves them and the kids can easily move them too.
Drawer organizers. These are making my life so much easier when I’m organizing the kids (and my!) clothes. Why haven’t I been using these forever?!
Loaf cake keeper. We make tons of banana bread, pumpkin bread and more. Perfect way to store it.
OXO cereal dispenser. Emilia loves cereal and milk. Jordan does too. They eat cheerios everyday! I bought this for her when we moved and it’s the highlight of her morning. It makes things easy for me too, haha.
BEAUTYFenty holograph gloss bomb crystal. I love all the fenty glosses and this one is gorgeous. The prettiest holographic sparkle!
DHC cleansing oil. I’ve been searching for the best cleansing oil since MAC reformulated theirs. I love this one so much!
CosRX snail mucin. This is doing incredible things for my very dehydrated skin!
FASHIONGap faux leather puffer vest. I can’t get over how much I love this. It is so lightweight, it’s fleece inside and SO warm. I got the chocolate brown color because I’m into everything dark brown right now.
Amazon half zip sweater. This is almost identical to the varley version that I have. I can’t even tell them apart. I love it!
A new day party mini tote bags. I found these in store in Target and fell in love with them. They are all SO cute. Very mini and perfect for the holiday season.
A new day brown boots. Speaking of brown, these boots are amazing! They look so sharp and nice. And they are very comfortable!
Ugg ultra mini platform. I’ve mentioned these a million times but I love them. I don’t care how ugly they are. They are so comfortable and I adore the platform.
MEDIAMrs. Nash’s Ashes. Favorite favorite favorite of the month. I can’t get over how much I loved this book!
Page kindle covers. I fell in love with these kindle covers – seeing them online doesn’t even do them justice. They have an almost shimmery sheen to them in person. I love them.
1989, Taylor’s version. 1989 is my favorite album of Taylor Swift’s and I love her new version of it. We’ve been listening nonstop.
KIDSYoto card case. I’ve mentioned before how much Emilia loves her yoto mini. She listens to it daily. I got this to hold them on her nightstand and it’s perfect.
Simple modern kids tumbler. I love simple modern so much more than stanley – they don’t leak at all, they are sleeker, lighter and more. I bought Max and Emilia the kids’ versions and they are too cute.
Wimmelbook – Diggers at work. These have been our favorite books for years – almost like a where’s waldo type book. They just released this one and I got it for Jordan for Christmas. He is going to flip!
[none of this is sponsored, i just love to tell you what i love every month! there are a few general affiliate links above! xo]
The post October Favorites. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.
My 2023 Thanksgiving Kitchen Essentials! Everything You Need To Prepare For The Holiday.
Welcome to my 2023 thanksgiving kitchen essentials guide! This includes everything you need to make the holiday come together easily without stress. Includes favorite recipes, my go-to products that I have an use and more!
I am so, so excited to bring you my annual HowSweetEats Thanksgiving series this week! Along with alllll the Thanksgiving kitchen essentials.
Because I LOVE celebrating this holiday! Over the next week I’ll be sharing a bunch of new recipes with you, but in the meantime, let’s get prepared.
These are things that I use to make the big meal happen. I LOVE cooking Thanksgiving. It’s actually enjoyable for me, because it’s familiar recipes (no testing, no photography, nothing!) and brings such nostalgic vibes to the day. Since cooking is my job, the meal also comes easy to me, so I can tell you EXACTLY what you need in your kitchen. I’ve tried every kitchen gadget alive. There are what I recommend.
I highly suggest getting these things NOW (like, today) so you have them in time and aren’t scrambling a day before or even the day of, when life is rushed and items are sold out. As I made this list, I went through and actually bought the items I had to repurchase for the holiday. In the next week or so I’ll share my Thanksgiving timeline, and I honestly use the entire week to prep, which makes it super easy. Not all day, every day, but I do certain things every single day to make the actual holiday stress-free and much simpler. Many of these tools below help!
Also, my huge Thanksgiving recipe guide is right here, but I wanted to list a few traditional favorites below that I always make. These are the absolute BEST if you’re looking to add a classic to your list.
Turkey Stock (I make this every year for gravy. It is a GAME CHANGER.)
Butter and White Wine Drenched Turkey
Grilled Turkey (we grill or smoke a second turkey, always)
How Sweet Eats Mashed Potatoes
Vanilla Bourbon Cranberry Sauce
Pumpkin Dream Cupcakes with Espresso Frosting
While practically EVERYTHING gets used in my kitchen on Thanksgiving (and the week prior!), these are the ones that I can’t live without. The meal has to happen with these things! The below are all the items that I use in my kitchen – so they are personally tested by me! (more…)
The post My 2023 Thanksgiving Kitchen Essentials! Everything You Need To Prepare For The Holiday. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.
November 1, 2023
Easy Roasted Turkey Breast with Perfect-Every-Time Gravy.
This easy roasted turkey breast can be the star of the show on Thanksgiving. It’s also simple enough to make any night of the week! Slathered with a spiced butter rub, it’s roasted to perfection and served with the best gravy ever.
It’s the official howsweeteats Thanksgiving kickoff!!
This is my favorite month of the year. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I pride myself on being ridiculously prepared! We’re talking great tried and true recipes, a beautiful table set up, little favors for guests, desserts and more. The whole shebang!
I love eating the meal and preparing the meal. I don’t even mind cleaning up from the meal.
Because I’ve been doing this for so long, I don’t find Thanksgiving to be stressful. It’s an incredible added bonus of my job this time of year. There have been many days where I’ve made and photographed 15 recipes at one time (hello, cookbook shoots!). So making a Thanksgiving dinner for loved ones is enjoyable for me – I find it relaxing and fun. Plus, I know most of the recipes by heart.
When I make Thanksgiving dinner for my family, I rarely stray from the traditional meal. That is what we all want and crave: classic, traditional dishes. Over the years I’ve shared a slew of recipes that have modern twists, and this year I’ll do the same. I like to look at these as my “friendsgiving” dishes. I make them if we’re going to a special friendsgiving, or if I really want to introduce everyone to one dish. Just one!
The thing that almost always remains the same is my turkey. You just can’t beat the butter and herb roasted turkey (originally based on Martha Stewart’s recipe) – crispy skin, juicy, tender turkey and meat that is flavorful and never dry. (more…)
The post Easy Roasted Turkey Breast with Perfect-Every-Time Gravy. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.
October 31, 2023
Tuesday Things.
1. This looks like the best pumpkin bread ever.
2. Out of all the things I lost while packing… I can’t find our dinner plates! I got rid of old ones, bought new ones and now can’t find them anywhere.
3. I also lost one of the kids’ socks and underwear and didn’t find them until yesterday. Where? In the dresser drawers they were originally in!
4. How to get things done.
5. So I’m thisclose to putting up my tree tomorrow.
6. And I am so excited for all the holiday books! Christmas everything please. Also, I listened to the Britney memoir and oh man. It was gut wrenching.
7. Speaking of, our school book fair is this week and it is the highlight of the month. The book fair instantly transports me into elementary school again.
8. TV things!! I watched Pain Hustlers on netflix and thought it was pretty good. Also still loving The Morning Show.
9. The types of clothes you can declutter. I love this! I’ve been in major declutter mode since moving.
The post Tuesday Things. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.
Jessica Merchant's Blog
- Jessica Merchant's profile
- 53 followers
