-
Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew + Review of Trader Joe’s New Instant Cold Brew Coffee
‘Tis the season of pumpkin spice and admittedly while not PSL fans, we have been curious about Starbucks’ Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew. With Trader Joe’s recent release of its Instant Cold Brew Coffee and the fact that we made it to Friday and therefore deserve a treat, we decided to make Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew at home. While we love the Magical Cold Brew Coffee recipe we published here, we were intrigued by the concept of Trader Joe’s new reverse engineered instant cold brew that is freeze dried into crystals designed to be rehydrated. Cold brew that does not require 12+ hours of prep time?!?! I.e., cold brew on demand,…
-
COVID Halloween Plans
Unfortunately we will not be trick-or-treating this year due to COVID, but we promised Sam, Emma and Joe that we would come up with something for Halloween that is equally fun and candy-filled. Have you already made your Halloween plans? If not, check out our ideas below for some fun, safe and hopefully germ-free ways to celebrate Halloween this year. As an alternative to trick-or-treating, Sam, Emma and Joe (with Jack probably toddling along behind) will be hunting inside for treat-filled pumpkins with the lights dimmed and using flashlights to guide them. Mallory and I used Sharpies to draw jack-o-lantern faces on orange plastic Easter eggs in which to hide…
-
Fall-Themed School Lunch Ideas
Its Monday! And with Sam and Emma having gone back to in-person school last week, Monday means I have a whole week of school-lunch making ahead of me. At this point, you have probably figured out that we love a theme here at Lets Wine About It Sister and school lunches are no exception! Let me start by saying this post is in no way intended to inspire any sort of Mom-guilt. No person should feel any obligation to make elaborate-themed lunches. Getting you kids to school with a lunch everyday should in and of itself be applauded. So yes, I am sure many people will roll their eyes (my…
-
Surprise! We got a puppy!
On Monday afternoon, we surprised Sam and Emma with an 8-week-old, male English bulldog puppy! Name remains TBD. We want to let the kids choose (while retaining ultimate veto power) and since the puppy’s arrival was a complete surprise, we are giving Sam and Emma a few days to try out some names and see what sticks. After spending the past weekend in Suncadia, Ryan stayed over an extra night feigning a work trip to visit Boeing airplanes in Moses Lake. In truth, he was picking up the English bulldog puppy we found via an ad in the newspaper and I spent the better part of a week checking references…
-
Say Hello to October with Pumpkin Bars
October rolls around and all we want to eat is pumpkin! Yesterday being October 1st provided the perfect excuse to make our first pumpkin dessert of the season: Sue’s Pumpkin Bars. Our mom has been baking this pumpkin bar recipe for years which was originally given to her by our dear family friend Sue Teague. Sue, we (and Joe!) cannot thank you enough for sharing these. Each bite is not only delicious but just screams “fall is here”. We like to garnish these pumpkin bars with candy corn to make them extra festive. And really any excuse to have a bag of candy corn lying around the house is okay…
-
Harvest Bowls with Apple Cider Quinoa
My obsession with apple cider continues. Monday it was apple cider cocktails (you really have to try the margarita!) and today it is apple cider for dinner in the form of Harvest Bowls with apple cider quinoa and apple cider marinated chicken all topped with an apple cider vinaigrette. Yum! Doesn’t this meal just scream fall to you? We made these Harvest Bowls for dinner last night. Sam and Emma typically love when they get to serve themselves and pick what goes on their plates (in this case bowls). But, truth be told, the evening was not the fall-inspired, cozy and relaxing dinner I imagined when I meal-planned earlier in…
-
Apple Cider Cocktails
There are a lot of people who equate the start of the fall season with the return of the Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks. Not me! My favorite fall drink at Starbucks is steamed apple juice with whip cream. No, not Starbucks’ Caramel Apple Spice (steamed apple juice complemented with cinnamon syrup, whipped cream and a caramel sauce drizzle) which in my opinion is just too sweet, but plain steamed apple juice with a large dollop of whip cream. Fall leaf sprinkles optional. So good and in my opinion quintessentially fall! So now that I have committed fall sacrilege by admitting PSLs are just not my thing, I can tell…
-
Ryan’s Sunday Sauce with Bucatini Noodles
Apparently I am the sister that loves noodles and posting pasta recipes on Fridays. (For anyone that has spent time with Mallory and I, do not try and act too surprised!) Because here I am posting another pasta recipe on a Friday: Ryan’s Sunday Sauce with Bucatini Noodles. And if you haven’t yet had the opportunity, you should really check out our other Friday pasta posts for Salami Ragu and Mack’s Roasted Tomato Sauce. Have I inadvertently made pasta recipes on Fridays a thing? If we were forced to pick a favorite noodle in our house it would be bucatini. Bucatini is a thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through…
-
Blue Friday Football Bites
Sunday is the Seahawks’ first game of the 2020 NFL season and we are BIG Seahawks fans over here on Lets Wine About It Sister (okay, Ryan, Sam and Emma are big fans and I like football food). This week, we celebrated the kickoff of the 2020 NFL Season (see what I did there!) and the Seahawks’ upcoming game with an easy football-themed dinner. This year might be an interesting NFL season with no fans in the stands, but isn’t that a great reason to make it extra fun at home? Our football-themed dinner included vegetarian Instant Pot chili using this Pinch of Yum recipe (which unfortunately I would only…
-
Labor Day Menu Inspiration
Labor Day weekend and I have a complicated relationship. I mean, I love a three-day weekend as much as the next person, don’t get me wrong, but for me Labor Day represents, the last hurrah of summer, and no matter how much fun was had in June, July and August, I am just never ready for school to restart and long, warm days to come to an end. But, no matter my feelings on Labor Day, long weekends in and of themselves deserve to be celebrated with good food and drinks. To help everyone send summer off with a BANG, we have two fantastic Labor Day weekend menu recommendations for…
