It’s become my own personal tradition to bake gingerbread cookies for friends and family during the holidays. I’m not a big fan of the thin, super hard and crunchy gingerbread cookies you can get from the stores and bakeries, so my recipe is made sure they turn out soft and chewy. I’ve kept this recipe a secret for years thinking one day I should sell these and become a billionaire, well, not all dreams come true! I featured this recipe in my Halloween Skeleton Cookies, too, if you want to see a scary-fun version of these. Make these and let me know if you enjoyed them. Gingerbread Cookies (makes about…

Thanksgiving leftovers are the best, so this morning I turned mine into brunch. I made a Thanksgiving Leftovers Eggs Benedict! But first, a little about my Thanksgiving so far. This year I celebrate Thanksgiving twice, once with a dinner for two on Thanksgiving, and the second time on the weekend after with the whole family at Ma’s house. So for Thanksgiving dinner I only had to cook for two people. I got lucky when I headed to the store hours before the actual dinner to get the turkey breast.. There were only thighs and wings left, and the rest was frozen, with thaw time being 1-3 days. I didn’t have…

Chicago may still feel like early spring (70s in November? What?) but the truth is simple, the holidays are just around the corner, and we all know the “foodie” on our shopping lists is the hardest person to shop for. So, I rounded up the ultimate holiday gift guide for any kind of the Chicago foodie. For The Brunch Squad No matter if your brunch squad is just a 2 person affair, or a whole group of 10, everybody will love a good gift card to spend on Mimosas. Kanela Breakfast Club (multiple locations, including the trendy Streeterville and Old Town) offers a great gift card deal this season: spend $100…

Added a shot of Cold Spell “Intense Mint Whiskey” in my eggnog today and it was life changing. Everyone loved it and it got me thinking.. aside from the traditional rum, what makes your eggnog stand out?

Every woman needs to master at least two dinner recipes in case she ever gets to host a party. This roasted lemon chicken recipe came from a silly book, believe it or not, and I only tried making it to see if it was a joke last Thanksgiving. Turns out, this recipe was as serious as it was delicious, and very easy, too! Read on for the recipe.   A photo posted by ivy (@inivyshead) on Dec 25, 2015 at 1:44pm PST Ingredients: 1 whole chicken cinnamon 2 organic lemons 1 small tin of candied lemons 1 onion 2 Tbs soy sauce fresh rosemary, tied in a bunch (not in…

Boo! It’s Halloween, let’s bake some Halloween Cookies! I took my favorite recipe for spice cookies which I make every Christmas and turned them into skeleton gingerbread men for the ultimate Halloween treat. Look! I had a super cute Vine of these, but then Vine went kaput so a pic has to do.. (like my Day of the Dead fella?) A photo posted by ivy (@inivyshead) on Oct 31, 2015 at 7:50am PDT Alright, let’s just get right to it. Here’s my recipe, just a heads up, you’re going to need a scale. Ingredients: 50ml Orange Juice (about 4 Tbs) 140g brown sugar 50g honey 2 T water 150g unsalted…

I have to admit, I forgot today was World Nutella Day but thanks to the interwebs and hashtags I’m all caught up. Not that I wasn’t prepared, of course. All you need is a spoon. No spoon? Use your fingers. I won’t tell! 😉