Fruit Infused Water During our 9-hour car drive home from our holiday in the Outer Banks, we stopped about halfway to spend the night at a hotel. In hindsight, I think that our kiddos could have easily handled the entire trip in one day because we break it up into...
Fresh Margarita Recipe Every summer, wine, spirit and beer companies get closer and closer to perfecting a pre-mixed margarita. Even though it's not fresh, in a pinch, it is definitely passable. However, if you won't settle for anything less than a fresh margarita, I...
fresh squeezed orange juice | orange squeezer $7.16 on Amazon| I'll get to the fresh squeezed orange juice in about 500 words, bear with me because I need to grumble first. Is it just me, or have you noticed that "fresh" fruits and vegetables don't have any flavor...
Star Biscuits and Berries with Fresh Whipped Cream This is the kissing cousin to my favorite dessert, Strawberry Shortcake (photos and recipe here). As an aside, instead of traditional birthday cake, I made Strawberry Shortcake for my Mom's birthday celebration one...
How to grill pizza on a grill My family eats pizza about once a week. Most of the time, it is the frozen variety because it is super quick and easy and everyone loves it. When I have a little extra time on my hands, I like to make pizza and there is no better time...
Individual S'Mores Desserts Obviously, I can't get enough S'Mores! I wanted to share another alternative for serving S'Mores dessert for the July 4th holiday. If you missed the recipe for the delicious S'Mores Dip (yes, a dip!) click here. The idea behind this...
Best Guacamole Recipe Ever Are you ready for Cinco de Mayo? Whether you are staying home or going out, a Cinco de Mayo celebration is not complete without guacamole. Guacamole isn't difficult to make at all, the secret is using only the freshest ingredients and...
Pina Coladas Whenever we are on vacation I completely steer away from beer and wine in favor of something special. During our last vacation in Jamaica, the resort made a delicious variation of a Jamaican Sunrise consisting of three layers of frozen fruit juice...
Cobb Salad Lunch One Friday afternoon several years ago, a friend invited me and another mutual friend to lunch at her home. It was billed as a quick meal and it would be fair to say that no one anticipated that it was the beginning of something important. We...
Le Rouge Handmade Chocolates & Cafe You had me at "I'm a chocolate artisan." The center of my chocolate universe consists of Kit Kat Bars and whipped hot chocolate. Obviously very limited, but it was all about to change. I got a LinkedIn message from a woman...
Afternoon Tea Tradition My mother is British and she grew up drinking afternoon tea at a very young age. She carried on the tradition when she got married and had children, and I remember feeling very grown up when I was allowed to sit with "the ladies" and have a...
Healthy Kale and Berry Smoothie Making healthy smoothies in our home is a regular thing, we either make them in the morning for breakfast or as an afternoon snack. My kiddos love fruit (thankfully) and I want to introduce it to them in as many ways as possible. I'm...
Guys, have you ever wondered how to frost a rose? You have? Me too! I recently discovered cakes and cupcakes covered in the most glamorous pink roses at Alina's Patisserie in Connecticut. Several weeks ago, I was collaborating with Alina on a Red Carpet Cupcake for my...
Academy Awards Party Ideas Are you ready for the Oscars? We are! Hollywood's most glamorous evening, the 88th Annual Academy Awards will begin at 7:00pm on Sunday, February 28th on ABC. If you are thinking about hosting an Academy Awards party, I've assembled some...
How to make chocolate lollipops The Home & Leisure channel is one of my indulgences. Once our children are in bed for the evening, I love me some HGTV, Travel and basically all the food networks. I watch it all! A couple of months ago, I stumbled upon Ina Garten,...
Welcome to the second day of this week-long series on ideas and tips for hosting a fabulous Academy Awards Viewing Party! The Oscar theme this year is "We all dream in gold" so I brought it. I love bringing friends together and entertaining. In yesterday's post, I...
Hollywood's most glamorous evening, the 88th Annual Academy Awards will begin at 7:00pm on Sunday, February 28th on ABC. If you are thinking about hosting an Academy Awards party, I've assembled some ideas and tips that will help inspire you! And don't think that you...
Maybe someday I will tell you about the boy I followed to Hawaii after college, but it's not for today's post. What I do want to share with you about Hawaii is that it was the first place I ate Japanese Gyoza, also known as "pot stickers" which are actually...
Crispy Brussels Sprouts {Crispy Brussels Sprouts Recipe from Connecticut in Style} I've often wondered if the reason people don't like certain foods is simply due to the fact that they haven't been cooked correctly. When my husband and I first started dating, I would...
{Trader Joe's Broccoli Slaw and Kale Salad with Grilled Chicken} I'd like to introduce you to my latest lunch addiction. Meet Trader Joe's $3.99 Broccoli Slaw and Kale Salad with Grilled Chicken. It is a bright and colorful salad that covers a lot of important food...
All-in-one meals make sense to me. Especially when the flavor combinations pair really well like ham, cheese and eggs. They remind me of farm to table food. Ham, cheese and egg cups is a great twist on breakfast. I used sliced ham for these cups, but partially-cooked...
Perhaps there is no greater time of year than Christmas to continue old traditions. Baking cookies and making gingerbread houses are some of my treasured holiday traditions. Every year I challenge myself to experiment with a new design or style. I've been on a "gold...
Healthy After School Snack from Connecticut in Style I enjoy making healthy after school snacks for my children, Jackson and Catherine. We really like smoothies consisting of fresh berries, organic whole milk and yogurt. But, I've found that when winter is upon us,...
As you all know, chocolate and mint are a classic flavor combination. I think I was first introduced to it via Andes Crème de Menthe Thins and then the Girl Scouts of America eclipsed them with the best cookie ever. Thin Mints (Tip: Thin Mints preserve fabulously in...
Balducci's Food Lover's Market {burrata +basil + crisps + balsamic glaze = heaven} Have you ever eaten something so delicious that you can't get it out of your mind? It happened to me several weeks ago when the kind folks at Balducci's invited me to their Westport, CT...
Life's too short not to eat cake, at least once in a while. But we totally indulged in Halloween sweets and treats and on top of that, our son got the biggest candy "haul" ever. He and his friends (and extremely fun parent chaperones) must have walked miles filling...
Happy Friday! Where we live, the kiddos in our community Trick or Treat on Halloween night, regardless of the day of the week. Most of the time, there's school the next morning which means that the fun has to end at a reasonable hour. There's something special about...
I don't know many people that are a fan of spiders, but if these little guys don't make your Halloween guests smile, I don't know what will. I found these chocolate spiders at Balducci's in Westport, Connecticut and I knew that I needed to find a way to use them for...
Today is National Dessert Day! In honor of the occasion, I've put together a round-up of my favorite desserts. I bake what I love to eat the most, so in this list there are several recipes that I have made. I actually took a stab at ordering them in priority from my...
I love apple crisp. Even the name sounds delicious! Last night, my husband brought a business associate over for dinner and thankfully, he gave me plenty of notice so I could prepare. I knew I was going to make pork chops and I immediately thought of a dessert with...
Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking with David White, Executive Chef at Vespa restaurant in Westport, Connecticut. He was selected as one of the 2015 Innovative Chefs for the Greenwich WINE+FOOD Festival where he will participate by bringing his unique style to...
I'm so excited to have the opportunity to attend the fifth annual Greenwich WINE+FOOD Festival this year! The festival begins on Wednesday, September 23 and ends on Saturday evening, September 26th. The lineup of celebrity chefs, entertainment and events is simply...
Gifts for the Traveling Man You may be wondering what milk and cookies has to do with a traveling man. Here's the story. Today is my husband's birthday (Happy Birthday honey!) and instead of a traditional birthday cake, he got his favorite chocolate chip cookies. The...
With school starting soon, today's post is about the snacks and lunches that I pack for my children. However, before you read any further, this is my disclaimer: I am not a certified nutritionist. I'm a Mom that wants her kiddos to eat well balanced meals. Yes, we try...
One of the many reasons I love summer is the extra time I have with my kiddos. In the summer months when school is out, everything slows down and starts later. I especially love the lazy mornings because my children sleep a little longer, my husband and I can enjoy a...
Papaya and Lime Snack CT in Style, a Connecticut-based lifestyle blog serving up Papaya and fresh lime juice! Papaya and Lime Snack Growing up on a tropical island was sublime. Fruits like mangoes, bananas and pawpaws (papaya) were an everyday staple and we...
Next to authentic strawberry shortcakes with fresh whipped cream, peach cobbler is my favorite dessert. I wanted to share a link to my favorite recipe Fresh Southern Peach Cobbler. I think it is best served warm with vanilla ice cream, Enjoy! Combine the...
I was a Barista. The summer before I went to Penn State, I worked in a really unique place in Westport, Connecticut that was a combination of a dry goods and fresh produce store, charcuterie, restaurant and espresso bar. I got the early morning shift working the...
As with all great recipes, the one I have for peanut butter cookies is one that has been handed down through the generations. Mrs. Dot's Peanut Butter Cookie recipe has been in my family for many years. The 3x5 index recipe card is stained with butter, but the bright...
In honor of the July 4th weekend I made a classic blueberry pie with a patriotic theme. Blueberry pie just happens to be my husband's favorite dessert so I know he's looking forward to this. I modified the Blueberry Pie recipe from The Silver Palate cookbook, by...
About five years ago, I got hooked on cupcakes. Not from eating them, but from watching Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. Prior to Cupcake Wars I only had the garden variety type - yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I watched in amazement as these bakers made Salted...
I love everything about Ginger. I love the spice. I love Ginger Snap Cookies. I love making Gingerbread Houses. I love my friend Kim's homemade Ginger Lemonade. I love saying the word. You get my drift. One of the desserts that I have on Christmas Day is Bobby Flay's...
CT in Style - A Connecticut-based lifestyle blog - Erica O'Brien cakes It's the first day of June and I am already daydreaming about all the glorious weddings that will take place this month. The brides-to-be have been in planning mode to ensure every detail is...
Mornings in my home are pure chaos. From 7:00am-8:20am we are changing diapers, feeding two kids, making school lunch, checking homework, showering, dressing, getting one kid on the bus and the other to nursery school. For a couple years straight, almost every...
I love anything that has lemon in it, especially cake. I have a fabulous recipe for lemon cake from my childhood in Jamaica, but it requires lemon jello mix and I didn't have any so I ended up trying out a new recipe. It calls for fresh lemon juice and lemon...
The best prosecco wine I've always loved champagne, but it was one of those wines that was saved for special occasions only. Then one day a friend offered to bring prosecco to a party I was hosting and my world of sparkling wine opened and I have never looked...
Recently, a friend and I went to The Stand juice company located in Fairfield, Connecticut. The Stand is a strictly organic company that serves a variety of juices, smoothies, sandwiches and salads - click here for their full menu. I love a good salad, but at heart, I...
Bruschetta is one of my "go-to" appetizers. We usually have all the ingredients at any given time since they are so basic to our pantry. I make this when we are entertaining friends or when it is just my family hanging out on a Friday or Saturday night....
How to use a French Press It is always such a treat to have freshly brewed coffee when you are dining out. Every once and awhile I will come across a small cafe that serves coffee using the French press method. I always appreciate the difference in the way the coffee...
Connecticut in Style Favorite Restaurants This weekend, my husband and I are meeting some friends for dinner at the Little Barn, one of my favorite restaurants in Westport, Connecticut. There are so many great restaurants up and down the Connecticut coast, but...