Recycled IZZE Can Gift Tags

It's the most wonderful time of the year! And it's also the most expensive. That's why I like to save where I can and reuse items I already have at home as much as possible. Cans in the recycling bin? Here's how you turn them into the cutest holiday gift tags...

DIY Retro Wreath Ornaments!

Add some retro sparkle to your holiday with quick DIY wreath ornaments! The mod-inspired design could not be easier to make. They're perfect for trimming your tree or dressing up a gift! Push up your sleeves and get ready for some old-school art class fun...

2-Ingredient Peppermint Bark White Russian

Imagine a classic white Russian cocktail with a minty twist, inspired by the season's best candy-combo: peppermint bark! With only two ingredients, this cold and creamy crowd-pleaser will add serious cheer to your holiday without any fuss at all...

3-Ingredient Brown Sugar Cookies!

You know how much I love creating 3-ingredient recipes! This Christmas cookie season is no exception. If you have butter, flour and some brown sugar you're all set to bake these quick, nutty, buttery treats. Bonanza! 

GIVEAWAY! Fun & Festive Food Ornaments

Score some extra holiday cheer by spreading the Hey, EEP! love—it's easy. I'm hosting a fun and festive giveaway on the blog this week. The winner walks away with this kick-ass collection of festive food ornaments, plus a little extra flare from yours truly. Here's how you win...

1-Minute DIY Mini Sprinkle Ornaments!

 
Sprinkles make everything better. I mean, do remember these tea lights!? Or this manicure!? So obviously my instinct is to spread sprinkles all over our holiday decor this season...

Easiest Ever Christmas Cookie Decorating Idea—Modern Stamps!

Q: Have you gals made your Christmas cookies yet? I've done a TON of baking for work this week but haven't gotten around to making my own treats at home—whoops! I'm responsible for Christmas Eve cookies, so I need to hightail it this weekend. What have you made so far?

Quickie Christmas Cookie Makeover: Olive Oil Cutout Cookies—Two Ways!

Looking to shake up your sugar cookies this Christmas? I have just the thing for you! My co-cook at Good Housekeeping, Sherry, developed these Olive Oil Cutouts for the December '13 issue and I've been craving/making them ever since. 

5-Ingredient Sticky Toffee Monkey Bread—My Latest On Freutcake!

You may have spotted the teaser video for this 5-Ingredient Sticky Toffee Monkey Bread over the weekend. Well, huzzah! The big reveal is here: Head over to Leah Bergman's blog, Freutcake, for the full tale of my new favorite breakfast treat—the ooeiest, gooiest thing you can imagine! 

Easy Entertaining: My Easiest Ever Eggnog—3 Ingredients & No Raw Eggs!

Happy Friday, lovely friends!! I know we're all super busy right now, so I'll keep this short. After years of testing out eggnog recipes—and never finding one that I loved—I developed (literally) the easiest eggnog recipe ever for Good Housekeeping and I am obsessed with it!

Easy Entertaining: Slow-Cooker Peppermint Bark Hot Chocolate—LOVE!

Baby it's cold outside...here in New York City! I was going to hold off sharing my new Peppermint Bark Hot Chocolate recipe—one of the easy Christmas cocktails I developed for Good Housekeeping this year—but I feel like it's a cocoa kind of a day, right?

5-Ingredient Eggnog French Toast—My Latest Recipe On Freutcake!

Eggnog is one of my favorite seasonal grocery store staples. It's inexpensive, festive and completely multipurpose. Turn a carton into eggnog pudding, whisk a little into whipped cream or use it to make the super-easy batter for my Eggnog French Toast on Freutcake today! 

On The GHRI Blog: 31 No-Cook Appetizer Ideas!

Incase you missed it, here's a link to my latest post for the Good Housekeeping blog: 31 No-Cook Appetizer Ideas! I've been completely obsessed with flipping through our magazines and cookbooks from the 50s, 60s and 70s (they're all archived in the test kitchen office). You'll never guess what crazy (and surprisingly delicious!) appetizer recipes I dug up! Take a look, here. 

xo
Erin

How-To Make The Best Bûche de Noël Ever!

I made my first bûche in the seventh grade for our French class Christmas party. It was a disaster—cake wouldn't roll, burnt the meringue mushrooms, frosting melted. Ever since, the whole process has been super intimidating to me. That is until I found Martha's genoise recipe and manned the heck up! 

Cookie Decorating Tip: Decorate Christmas Cookies Anywhere!

 

Have you guys seen the December issue of Food Network Magazine? Besides it being totally gorgeous obviously, I learned a super helpful trick while creating the cookie gift tag on page 26 (below). It was summer and my schedule was jam-packed, so finding time to sit down and decorate Christmas cookies was difficult. My solution: Pack up plain cookies and royal icing in un-snipped pastry bags to take on the go. When I found time to decorate (during the downtime on a photo shoot), I just snipped the tips of the bags and piped on the embellishments. This would be a great way to bring decorating supplies to a cookie swap, right?! Or maybe to a school holiday party? Ooh! Or it could just be a fun, edible craft to pack for littles this time of year. What do you think? Are you stressing about cookie decorating, too?

Edible Gift Idea: Snowy Mini Almond Pound Cakes!

Hi there! How are you all holding up? I don't know about you but I've been stressing a bit about my gifting list. There are so many people I 'd like to give a little something to for the holidays but my present-buying-fund is already stretched thin! Edible gifts are the obvious answer but they can be kind of cheesy, right? I mean, how many times have you given/received cookie-mix-in-a-jar?! 

I'd rather get/give a little something that's simple, beautiful and really well made—like a treat you'd get as a parting gift at a très-chic restaurant here in NYC. These mini almond pound cakes come to mind. We made them for a big meeting here at the magazine but I think they'd be perfect as a little Christmas love token as well. What do you think?


ALMOND POUND CAKE 
Adapted from the Good Housekeeping Great Baking Cookbook 

2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
Sliced almonds and confectioners' sugar, for decorating (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 325˚. Grease and flour a 9-by-5-inch metal loaf pan (or grease small disposable loaf pans, as seen in the photo—about 5 per recipe). 
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Beat the butter with a mixer on medium speed until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until light and creamy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts. Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the flour mixture and beat until just combined.
3. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan; sprinkle sliced almond on top. Bake 1 hour or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a rack 10 minutes, then run a small knife around the sides of the pan to loosen and invert to remove. Cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

Gift Guide 2012: The Best Gifts for New Parents & Their Tinys!

1. Sophie The Giraffe / 2. Play Food Breakfast Set / 3. Crocheted Fox or French Bulldog Pillow 13" / 4. Graziella Fairisle Baby Cardigan / 5. Toy Race Car / 6. J.Crew Airplane Spoon / 7. Baby Fortune Cookie Booties / 8. Giggle Dot Baby Blanket / 9. Striped Mittens / 10. Wooden Toy Camera / 11. Baby Bunny Hat

On The GHRI Blog: DIY Christmas Ornaments From The Kitchen

Head on over to the Good Housekeeping Research Institute blog to sneak a peek at my latest post! I set out to make festive Christmas ornaments using only things from around the test kitchen. The result: 9 homemade ornaments you easily make at home (this paper towel pompom ornament might be my all-time fave)! Click here to see the rest...

Gift Guide 2012: The Best Hostess Gift Ideas!

1. herb napkin rings / 2. wooden serving board / 3. horn bottle opener /  4. You Rock candle / 5. squirrel match strike /6. A Privileged Life coffee table book / 7. Kiss The Cook cheese board / 8. pick up line coasters / 9. pink recipe box / 10. Talenti pistachio gelato