Intro: In case you haven’t tried it, the Starbucks apple crisp macchiato is not like a traditional macchiato, but rather a latte macchiato (so it’s similar to a latte). It tastes like apples and cinnamon and is truly a delight. Their standard is usually made with oat milk, but if you are making your own at home you can use any milk you prefer.

Related: Love coffee drinks? Next up, try a homemade pumpkin cream cold brew, mocha, cappuccino, or an affogato. You can find even more recipes in our full Drinks archive.

Ingredients

• Espresso
• Milk – any percentage or an alternative like oat milk
• Apple crisp simple syrup (see recipe below)

You may also want caramel sauce to drizzle over the top, but it’s optional.

Directions

First, make the apple crisp simple syrup. In a small pot, combine the water, granulated white sugar, and brown sugar. Cook over medium heat, whisking until the sugar fully dissolves. Then add in the peeled and chopped apple slices and cinnamon stick. Continue to cook on low heat for another hour. Then cover the pot and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, strain the syrup from the apple slices and cinnamon stick. Now you have apple crisp simple syrup.

Brew two shots of espresso. Heat the milk and froth. If your espresso machine has a frothing wand, this will be simple, but if not you can use a milk frother or a frothing wand.

Add the syrup to your coffee mug. Then pour in the hot milk. Then pour the espresso shots through the frothed milk. Top with caramel sauce if using.

Tips for Making

• You don’t have to leave the apples and cinnamon stick soaking in the syrup overnight, but I do think it deepens the flavor.
• If you don’t want to throw the apples away, mash them up and you’ve got applesauce!
• Use any milk you prefer: whole, 2% milk, oat milk, soy milk, almond milk, etc.
• If you don’t want to make your own apple crisp simple syrup, you can use a store-bought apple syrup and a few pinches of cinnamon. I think the homemade syrup is worth the effort, but this is another option.

Home Espresso Makers:

We’ve tried many espresso makers over the years, and here are our favorites at different price points and skill levels:

• Cafe Automatic Espresso Machine – My current machine. It uses any whole beans, so if you use high quality beans you’ll get high quality espresso. It makes espresso shots automatically (no barista skills required) and includes a milk frothing wand to heat and froth milk. We’ve used this machine almost every day since we got it seven months ago and we love it! It comes in three colors.
• Stovetop Espresso – This is the cheapest way to make espresso at home. It’s more labor intensive and you will also need a way to grind your beans for best results. But, this is a classic method that works great when done well.
• Breville Barista Touch – We bought this for a good friend as a wedding gift once and they said they love it. It’s a higher end machine that you will need some barista skills to operate, but it’s an excellent home espresso maker.
• Nespresso Vertuo – For those who want an espresso maker that uses pods, this is my favorite. Depending what pod you use, it can make espresso or coffee.

Print

Apple Crisp Macchiato

Course Drinks

Cuisine American

Keyword apples, espresso, macchiato

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 1

Calories 249kcal

Author Emma Chapman

Ingredients

• 2 shots espresso
• 1 cup milk
• 1-2 tablespoons apple crisp syrup see recipe in notes
• 1 tablespoon caramel sauce optional

Instructions

• First, make the apple crisp simple syrup. In a small pot, combine the water, granulated white sugar, brown sugar. Cook over medium heat, whisking until the sugar fully dissolves. Then add in the peeled and chopped apple slices and cinnamon stick. Continue to cook on low heat for another hour. Then cover the pot and refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, strain the syrup from the apple slices and cinnamon stick. Now you have apple crisp simple syrup.
• Brew two shots of espresso.
• Heat the milk and froth. If your espresso machine has a frothing wand, this will be simple, but if not you can use a milk frother or a frothing wand.
• Add the syrup to your coffee mug. Then pour in the hot milk. Then pour the espresso shots through the frothed milk. Top with caramel sauce if using.

Notes

Apple Crisp Simple Syrup = 1 cup water, 1/2 cup granulated white sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 apples and 1 cinnamon stick. 

You don’t have to leave the apples and cinnamon stick soaking in the syrup overnight, but I do think it deepens the flavor.

If you don’t want to throw the apples away, mash them up and you’ve got applesauce!

Use any milk you prefer: whole, 2% milk, oat milk, soy milk, almond milk, etc.

If you don’t want to make your own apple crisp simple syrup, you can use a store-bought apple syrup and a few pinches of cinnamon. I think the homemade syrup is worth the effort, but this is another option.

Nutrition

Calories: 249kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 181mg | Potassium: 461mg | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 413IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 314mg | Iron: 1mg

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Show Notes:

Decor inspiration

New York apartment building

Fireplace was Elsie’s inspiration for her fireplace

Very dark carved wood everywhere!

Shag carpet in bedroom

Other cozy inspiration (fashion, food, drink or anything?)

Scrabble board

Rosemary’s dresses and outfits generally

Minnie’s colorful and wild patterns in her outfits

Witch book and bookstore

Rate 0-5 demon babies

Elsie – 5

Emma – 5

Miss an Episode? Get Caught Up!

• Episode #205: Practical Magic – Comfort Rewatch
• Episode #204: Halloween Favorites
• Episode #203: Our Autumn Bucket Lists

Episode 206 Transcript:

Elsie: Here listening to the A Beautiful Mess podcast, your cozy comfort listen. This week, we are re-watching my favorite Halloween movie, Rosemary’s Baby, which was directed by Roman Polanski and stars Mia Farrow, my queen. Okay. So my exciting update for the week is today my ceilings are being painted in my living room. My living room is finally going to be decorated normally. We have lived in our home since June, and we have been working on it since February. And we’re finally going to be done with this phase. It was supposed to be like such a miniature, small phase one, and it really escalated. So yeah, I’m very excited. As soon as the paint dries, I’m going to put up the paper bats. And just kind of start, like, cozying in for the holidays. Like, a happy thing that happened is yesterday my husband came in and said that the color in the living room is my finest moment. I was so happy. 

Emma: That’s a good compliment. You know, I never thought about this, not to make this about me, but last year at this time I was finishing my house and just moving in, and I kind of missed, we were doing like the day before Halloween, so I kind of missed decorating for Halloween last year. So I like that you’re like, as soon as the paints dry, I’m putting up the bats. Like you’re not giving up on it. You’re like, it’s fine. It can be later than I wanted, I don’t care, I’m still doing it. And you’ve gotten like, your pumpkins out on your fence and different things too, but yeah, I get it. It is kinda like, when you have a lot of painting or a lot of wallpapering, you’re like, well I can’t put anything up on the walls, you know, for the season because it’s gonna be in the way.

Elsie: It’s honestly very easy to be like, I’ll do it next year, I don’t care, I give up. It is. It’s so tempting to just be like, you know what, fuck this, it’s not worth it. But I do think there’s something to it, to just like doing, even if it’s at the last minute, just like still having a little party and still, you know, having guests over and doing all the things that you would normally do, even if you’re renovating. Like you can’t let renovating rule your life or else it will just steal so many happy memories.

Emma: I mean, it’ll try and you’ve got to keep fighting back, right? 

Elsie: Yes. Okay, so I’m so excited. This week we are talking about Rosemary’s Baby, which is one of my favorite movies of all time. And I had this, like, hilarious DM exchange last week where I was talking about my Rosemary’s Baby fireplace. We’ll talk about this more later, but I made a replica fireplace in my bedroom. I’m, like, a huge nerd for this. I love it. It’s a passion for me, and it’s, it’s a big decor movie for me. Anyway, the DM was like, Rosemary’s Baby is your favorite movie? And I was like, yes. And they were like, why? Like, it just said, why? And I was like, well, I really like the decor and the vibes, and it’s just something I enjoy watching every Halloween. And they just wrote back, that’s a weird favorite movie to have. And I was like, okay. 

Emma: So this is someone you know? 

Elsie: No, it was just a DM from a random stranger. 

Emma: It’s wild to me you even answered this. Cause I am such a jerk, I would never, I would be like, oh, they just wrote why, I don’t know this person. I’m not writing back to this. 

Elsie: I don’t know why, sometimes I just feel like engaging, and sometimes I don’t. A lot of times I would ignore it, but this time I was like, I’m gonna explain to this stupid a why I like this movie that is my favorite movie.

Emma: You know what, I love this movie and I gotta evangelize about it. Now that I’ve seen it, I must say, this is worth watching. It’s great, especially for the decor and fashion. But it is also a weird story, which I didn’t even realize until we were at the end of the credits, that it was an IRA 11. It was an IRA 11 book, which I love Stepford Wives. I’m a huge fan. I’m low-key working on a fan fiction sequel to it, which you will never read because again, it’s fan fiction. It’s probably illegal for me to write that, but I’m just like such a fan. I love it so much. It’s just like, so anyway, and I felt like there were a lot of things in this movie, the story that I was like, yeah, I could see how he wrote Stepford Wives later. I see a lot of the themes that he liked to write about, you know, a lot about feminism, and you know, how women are treated and a lot of different similar themes. So anyway, this movie is very much worth watching. It’s not my favorite movie, but if someone was like, this is my favorite movie, I don’t feel a why, I’m like, I don’t know if you’ve seen it, if you feel like, why, because it’s like, it’s beautiful, the set design’s incredible, the fashion’s incredible, the story is weird as fuck and it’s quite the ride. Very interesting, very strange, it kind of jumps the shark for me at the end, but also it was made in like, the late ’60s, so you have to keep that in mind. It’s excellent, like, very worth a watch. And I’m not a horror movie person.

Elsie: I’m glad you liked it. Last night it was kind of late when we finished watching it, and we were really tired. Yeah, we had soup, and we had a friend over, and Emma’s husband just completely ghosted. I was very curious if you liked it, or if you were gonna, I can tell when you’re lying, so it sounds like it. 

Emma: Yeah, I think you can tell, I lie on here sometimes, but Elsie always knows.

Elsie: She lies about liking things because she doesn’t want to be mean.

Emma: You know, like people try really hard at something, you don’t want to, you know, but no, I really like this movie. It’s really good. I would definitely re-watch it. It’s a strange, weird movie, and it’s definitely old. But I feel like a lot of the problems with it kind of work with the story though, and what they’re trying to get at with it. So it sort of in a weird way still works. 

Elsie: Yes. So it’s from 1968. It’s like a beautiful, gorgeous New York apartment building, and they take like a historic building. The apartment was very dark, very like wood everywhere. This is one of my favorites and they just like to paint every inch of it white. And it’s always really satisfied me to see that because I really do see both sides. Like I love wood. And you know, now I have like my unpainted wood in my house. So I do defend, but I think that like so many people are so mean about painting wood, even wood that’s not beautiful and not special that when you see these like gorgeous New York apartments that are all like white ornate moldings and stuff like you have to realize that at one point those were dark wood and like somebody painted it and now it’s like glamorous and we love to see it. I don’t know. I think there’s definitely a defense for both and a time and a place for both, but this movie, it’s very satisfying. She just like straight up goes into view. An apartment is like, I think I’m going to paint everything white and then she does it and magic. 

Emma: Well, I also think, and this maybe speaks to the time, but I also think speaks to the story of what this movie is about. It’s a moment where Rosemary’s character is really doing something that she wants to do and has some power. Because a lot of the movie, things are happening to her, and people are doing things to her. And she has no power over what’s happening to her, even the very ending I think is very much about that, which is interesting. But seeing her look at them, they show us the New York apartment before they move in, they’re viewing it with the owner of the building or the guy who is the manager of the building, you know, this old guy showing them the buildings like an old lady lived here and they’re looking at the closets and looking at all of it. And she’s kind of talking about some things she would do. And then you see as they’ve moved in, not right when they move in because they have this cute scene where they’re like eat on the floor like you do when you first buy a house or an apartment. It’s really cute. But then you see everything that she does. She paints everything. She puts up wallpaper. You know, and it just looks completely different in a lot of ways. And it looks beautiful. And to me, it’s this moment of like Rosemary’s character having choices and power about her surroundings, which some people would maybe trivialize, but I think that’s a mistake because I actually think that’s an area that women throughout history did have some choices in power at times that maybe we didn’t have others like even when we weren’t allowed to vote. A lot of times we were allowed to decorate our houses, you know, and so I think it’s a really cool thing, and if you don’t like painting wood, that’s fine, whatever you can have your opinions on that. But For the story of this movie, I actually really love seeing what she does with her apartment because I think it’s like a moment of seeing Rosemary have choices.

Elsie: Yeah, it is completely magical. And from just like a strict design standpoint, it’s one of my favorite combinations ’cause it’s like a historic building, just like very ornate, like carved wood everywhere with all, you know, since it was in 1968. All mid-century, everything for like, the furniture, the record player, the table, the lighting. And it just turns out so cute. It’s iconic. And I’m glad you liked it, cause it’s one of the reasons why I like to rewatch it so much is that I find the interior, it’s like one of those spaces where you notice something different every single time. 

Emma: Yeah, absolutely. And I kind of loved all of her choices, even though I wouldn’t necessarily decorate my space like that. Not even just the, you know, I don’t live in a New York apartment and it’s not 1968, but just, they just aren’t necessarily like the colors I would pick or this or that, but I pretty much love everything except for the headboard, which I’m sure we’ll talk about. And they also have this kind of shag carpet in their bedroom that looks cozy, but it also looks like it would get worn in a way that I would not want that carpet, but that’s more of a time thing the headboard though is unforgivable. But that’s the only thing in the whole apartment that’s unforgivable. 

Elsie: Yeah It is a real New York City apartment I can’t remember what the name of the real one is you can google it very easily. So if you want to just like take a picture in front of it when you’re in New York 100 percent you can do that. I’ve never done it, but someday I will it’s very cool. Also, there is an older couple, there are the other main characters in the movie who are like the next door across the hall neighbors. And they have also an equally big, amazing apartment, but it’s decorated, you know, like the old people’s way. And it’s amazing as well. It’s a treat for the eyes. And then it was immediately like, you should make the vodka blush cocktail for the blog. 

Emma: Now it will be our dinner party that we talked about in the last episode. 

Elsie: That’s a good one. Yeah. There’s a lot of just like, I don’t know. I guess I watched it so many times. There’s always like one or two new things to notice every time you watch it. Lots of cozy inspiration. And I have a thing I was just talking to our friend Donnie Rogers Jr. about this. I have a thing for ’70s and ’60s movies set in New York City. Like if I had a time machine, I would go to 60s, 70s New York City. That’s one of my first stops. I just like love it. It is the place. And there’s, I mean, there’s so many different versions of New York throughout the years that would be fun to visit. 

Emma: They have a lot of scenes in this movie too, where different characters are out on the street, either, like, using a payphone or getting into a taxi or, like, waiting for a friend outside of a building, you know, things like that, and it’s beautiful. New York’s beautiful. It goes through a few seasons because we go through an entire pregnancy in this movie. But like we see it at Christmas time, we see kind of like a spring look and then like summer when they’re like, it’s so hot and she’s about to have the baby then. And yeah, it makes New York very, you kind of get to see New York in all the seasons of 1968. I guess it would have been 1967 when they were filming. I don’t know.

Elsie: It’s wonderful. Okay. So what were some of our other cozy inspirations? I think the Scrabble board. I will never play Scrabble without thinking of Rosemary’s Baby. It’s just a little bit ingrained. I want to like make the words all of them, which is every single time I get out Scrabble tiles, and I just like can’t help myself. There’s lots of food and drinks, and she is always using a Chemex to make coffee, I noticed in the mornings, and then I’m like, oh my gosh, I need to get back on my Chemex, like, just kind of like everything she does. 

Emma: I use a Chemex every day, and I felt really cool when I saw her doing it. I was like, yes, I use a Chemex too, I’m awesome, like, Rosemary.

Elsie: I have a little dinner party. 

Emma: Yeah, with her young friends, as she says, because their neighbors are like older. And everyone’s dressed really cool. One character has these really disco ball-looking earrings and they’re really pretty, which is a sparkly, fun party. But that would be another thing if the fashion in this movie was so fun. All of Rosemary’s outfits are adorable and she is very pregnant throughout some of the movies, but it’s a lot of, it’s not a shift dress, but what would you call it? It’s like you could wear it not pregnant. It’s like kind of short and your belly could just get big or small and you could wear it. I don’t know what to call it. 

Elsie: A loose-fitting 60s dress. I don’t know what you call it, like an apron dress maybe? 

Emma: Yeah, something like that. It’s like kind of like fits your shoulders and your arms, but then it’s kind of loose. So you really could wear it like throughout a pregnancy or it’s kind of just a style. At any rate, just Google it. She has really cute, cute, cute outfits. 

Elsie: I always buy a dress with sleeves and like collars, like a white Peter Pan collar, is Rosemary’s baby dress to me. And I will always buy it every time I see one, probably forever. It’s like kind of the thing in my closet and I think that’s part of where it comes from. It’s just like such an iconic. It’s like before the Adams family, you know, it’s like that, it’s like a Wednesday Adams dress before there was Wednesday Adams. 

Emma: Yes. I also really like the older couple, the neighbors, I can’t remember the character’s name. 

Elsie: Minnie. 

Emma: Yes. Minnie’s, outfits are really fun too, because they’re very colorful and have wild patterns. And I just think they’re really fun. 

Elsie: She’s bringing the pure joy with her outfits. Like, she’s got, like, eye shadow like my daughter wears. 

Emma: Yes, so much blue eye shadow. Yeah, I don’t know who won best supporting actress this year, but I hope this woman was up for it at least if she didn’t win because I thought she was so good in this movie, kind of like hilarious, like truly very funny performance. But it’s also it’s a horror movie. It’s Rosemary’s baby. And I also was like, oh, I know people like this. Oh, I know some old ladies who say those kinds of things it just felt like so relatable and real, but also like a hilarious comedic performance. Like I just loved it. I thought she was so excellent.

Elsie: It was incredible. Yeah. I love her style, her voice, kind of everything about her. She’s such an icon. She’s a nude scene. She does the most for this movie. 

Emma: Everyone kind of has a nude scene. It’s a wild movie. 

Elsie: Yeah, and as far as, like, how satanic is Rosemary’s Baby, it’s pretty satanic, okay? Like, it has a devil, like, having a sex scene with a woman.

Emma: It’s a rape scene. 

Elsie: It’s bad, it’s bad, yeah. But also, it is pretend. And so, like, I don’t know, it just doesn’t have, to me, like, a scary feeling. Like, I have gotten a lot of messages that people don’t like that I say Rosemary’s Baby isn’t scary. But I just mean it’s not scary in a traditional horror movie way. It’s disturbing, maybe, is how I would put it. 

Emma: Yeah, I would say it’s very disturbing. 

Elsie: It’s in your head, it’s creepy. I wouldn’t say it’s scary. There’s like no part in the movie where you jump, right? So it’s just different types of feelings, like, I know there were parts where you and Trey, who were watching it for the first time, were kind of like, eh, like that kind of feeling.

Emma: There are parts where they really show, like, a doctor putting a needle into her arm, which, again, not necessarily a scary thing, like, I’ve had doctors put needles in my arm many times. Especially when I was pregnant, but it is creepy in this movie because of the story. And also I think the filmmakers are trying to make it a little disturbing. They know what genre they’re making. So, you know, there’s a lot of things like that. There is a rape scene where the woman is drugged, Rosemary’s drugged. That’s obviously very disturbing, but I also think the way they show it is very arty and it’s meant to be like, you know, what’s happening, but it’s, it’s not graphic.

Elsie: It doesn’t feel real, at all. 

Emma: Yeah, and it’s not supposed to because you’re kind of like, Rosemary’s like, did that happen? You know, she’s been drugged. So I think they’re kind of playing with that. So it’s very much like a psychological horror thriller. So it’s definitely scary but not like a Saw movie not like a movie where, like, things jump out at you all the time.

Elsie: Yeah. 70s horror movies are my favorite. They have their own, like, way of being. They’re usually very quiet. They’re usually very slow. And then something about them is so much worse than anything you would see in a movie now. And that’s how I would describe a lot of them, and I think this kind of fits. This is actually kind of on the soft side, though, of all the 70s horror movies I’ve seen. It’s just a little bit, like, not so horrible. But it’s not appropriate for children. It has stuff in it that if you’re very sensitive towards, like, Satan or something, then you probably wouldn’t want to watch it.

Emma: Yeah, I mean, it also has a rape scene where a woman’s drugged, so that would definitely be something a lot of people wouldn’t want to watch. Totally understandable. But I do think for the story, it’s really interesting.

Elsie: I think they make it very campy. Like, they make the Satan rituals kind of adorable, in an old-timey way.

Emma: It feels very Satanic Panic from the 90s, like the way we thought of witches and Wicca then, you know? Like, very silly. Yes. Okay. Someone’s playing the flute, like, just like an accountant-looking guy, stuff like that. Where you’re like, okay, Satan’s baby, Rosemary Satan’s baby at the end is in this little crib that’s like got all this black tulle. And the little mobile that’s hanging above him is like an upside-down cross. So it’s like, ooh, it’s like they bought it from Hot Topic. You know what I mean? So there’s a lot of things like that in it too. 

Elsie: That is the perfect description. You just nailed it. You just, you just nailed it.

Emma: So I will say my favorite part of the movie, my very favorite thing is the very end. I just think there’s such good storytelling where Rosemary has had the baby. It’s Satan’s baby. She’s discovered, that they told her at first that the babies died, but she doesn’t really believe them because she knows they’ve been messing with her this whole time. And she’s right, the baby is not dead. And they seemed likely to just steal the baby. Yeah, she kind of thought they were going to steal the baby, and then they did. She didn’t know that it was Satan’s baby though, so then she figures out that the baby’s still alive, she finds the baby, she sees the baby, and they don’t show it to us in the movie as an audience member, but from her reaction, you know that the baby looks half like Satan. So whatever that is, like she’s like, it’s eyes, you know, so something’s going on with the baby’s eyes. We don’t know. 

Elsie: Then she says, you should see his feet. 

Emma: Oh, yeah, it’s a hilarious movie. But my favorite thing is, that she’s at first kind of repulsed. She didn’t realize it was Satan’s baby. And now she knows this, she has this information. And the main bad guy, the old man who’s the neighbor, he’s like, maybe you should raise the baby, Rosemary. It is your child. And she didn’t want this baby like she wanted a baby, but she’s been raped. She was drugged and raped. 

Elsie: She’s just finding that out too, for the first time.

Emma: So she’s a victim in so many ways in this movie. But now she sees the baby that she’s had with her rapist, the devil. And they’re like, why don’t you raise the baby, just think about it. And then someone’s like rocking the baby’s cradle too hard, and she’s like, Hey, you’re rocking the baby’s cradle too hard. And she goes over and starts rocking the cradle. And that’s kind of where the movie is ending. It does imply that she’s gonna raise the baby. And it’s this moment where, I love her performance, because you kind of see it on her face, where she’s like, kind of realizing I do love this baby, and I do want to be its mother. I feel the pull, but also it is the devil’s child, and she’s raised Catholic, and she’s obviously really torn about all of those things, too. I feel like it’s this thing in the story where there’s this tension of like, she’s almost like trapped by love. And it’s just really complicated, and I think really beautiful, and I think her performance in that scene is so good, and I just think that whole idea is very interesting and extremely tragic, and there’s just a lot there. You know, also, like, as a mom, and I think even if you’re not a mom, you could understand this, like, I kind of get it, where you’re like, oh like, I don’t, I think I would do it too, I guess. But it would completely change the course of your life because now, you know? Anyway, I just think it’s interesting and obviously it’s fantastical. There is no devil. This is a ridiculous movie but it’s also kind of beautiful and interesting and I just love that part. I love that it ends that way I think it speaks to such strong storytelling and interesting things to me. I rarely come away from a horror movie not that I watch that many where I’m like really thinking about it. You know what I mean? Like a lot of times, I feel like they’re meant to kind of just scare you and that’s the fun part. It’s thrilling. It’s like a rollercoaster ride and then it’s over and that’s it. But this one I’m like, oh, this one think about like, what does it mean to be a parent? What does it mean to be a victim? This kind of like role of love in our life and how it could expand in ways that maybe it’s going to harm us, but we, we just want it anyway. And I don’t know, there’s just kind of a lot there. And I’m like, that’s. Interesting. I was not expecting to think that much from this movie, but it’s really good. 

Elsie: Oh, nice. Yeah, I definitely feel like every time I watch it, there’s some new thing. Okay, so if you didn’t know, Rosemary’s Baby is also a book by Ira Levin. It is very play-by-play, almost the same as the movie, which I feel would never happen now. I’ve never ever read a book that was that close to a movie before. Any other time, it’s very similar, and I listened to the audiobook, and Mia Farrow also read the audiobook. So, if you enjoy audiobooks and you just want to read them for fun, I would definitely recommend it. I think I remember it was somewhat of a short book. But yeah, it was nice. It was definitely fun. And there is a sequel called Son of Rosemary, which I haven’t read yet, but I feel like kind of is on the list. 

Emma: Yeah, I’m, I’m interested. I’m like, that’s going to be one hell of a toddler. 

Elsie: I’m so glad you liked it because I was pretty sure you were going to hate it. Emma and I kind of, like, diverge on this subject of our interests.

Emma: I’m not really a horror movie person, yeah, and Elsie’s seen, like, all of them. So, it’s, yeah. But I like action movies, and you’re like, eh, you’re not really into them. 

Elsie: I think action movies are my most boring torture. Yeah. Bruce Willis who? I mean, like, I love Bruce Willis in The Fifth Element only.

Emma: I mean, yeah, that’s a banger, for sure. 

Elsie: Anyways, okay, so any more cozy inspiration, I talked about the audiobook. There’s lots of food. It shows a little bit of New York City, not a ton, but it shows New York City at Christmas in the sixties, which is everything. Shows them decorating an apartment, which is everything. I love the witch book. I love the bookstore. I love the suitcase. 

Emma: It really is a beautiful movie. I mean, I think if you wanted to cut out the, you know, getting drugged, and raped scene. 

Elsie: You can easily fast forward through that part if you’re like, I don’t want to watch. 

Emma: Yeah, I think if you cut that part out and then also there’s a scene where, well, there’s this character who allegedly jumps from the building, although it seems from the movie we’re supposed to be unclear if she jumped or if something else happened. But they kind of show her body on the ground and it’s very bloody and I’d cut that too if you’re like, I don’t want to see gory.

Elsie: But I don’t know why we’re trying to teach people how to make Rosemary’s Baby into a Disney Plus movie. It’s okay. 

Emma: It’s not a Disney Plus movie. 

Elsie: It is what it is. I defend it as a comfort rewatch. This is my official statement. I defend it because of the interiors. So help me God, amen. 

Emma: I feel like it’s kind of like described when you have like a hero and you’re, like a real person hero and you’re like I love this person for these reasons and then someone will come at you with, yeah but did you know that they also this and it’s like yeah, they’re human, you know And I’m like, well, this movie is like really cool. And also it has some problems. Did you hear us mention the director? Like there are some problems right? Like there are some things that I would not defend, but I don’t think that necessarily means you have to throw the whole thing away. I mean, I just thought it was a very interesting film. One of the more interesting ones I’ve seen in a while. And I really enjoyed myself, but I wouldn’t defend everything about it. I mean, my lord, who would do that with any movie of all except for Knives Out? 

Elsie: Yeah, Knives Out is our perfect angel. Okay, so let’s do some trivia. According to Mia Farrow, the scenes where Rosemary walks in front of traffic were spontaneous and genuine. That is upsetting. Roman Polanski is reported to have told her that, quote, nobody will hit a pregnant woman. The scene was successfully shot with Farah walking into real traffic and Polanski following operating a handheld camera since he was the only one willing to do it.

Emma: I don’t know how to feel about that. 

Elsie: That makes him seem like an ass.

Emma: That’s the thing. Yeah. Okay. He is, but this movie is beautiful.

Elsie: We are renouncing Roman Polanski if you didn’t notice. So he’s renounced. 

Emma: Okay, next trivia. Mia Farah actually ate raw liver for the scene of the movie, despite being a vegetarian at the time.

Elsie: What? 

Emma: Ugh. I feel like she really committed.

Elsie: I thought it was like really dark red jello or something. 

Emma: It’s kind of black, I think.

Elsie: It is a very disgusting scene. 

Emma: A very disgusting scene. They show a scene, too, where she just, like, very quickly sears a steak and eats it, which, is more normal. That’s not how I eat my steak, personally. But, you know, people do that. That’s a thing. 

Elsie: I love her so much. She did the most for this movie. She’s also been to Vidal Sassoon for this movie. But that is, like, the most iconic haircut. 

Emma: She looks like Twiggy. It’s like a very 60s.

Elsie: She’s so pretty, yeah. Like, I can talk all day about how much I think she’s the most beautiful woman of all time. 

Emma: And clearly an extremely committed actress, clearly. 

Elsie: During the telephone booth scene, Mia Farrow can be seen mouthing numbers as she dials Dr. Hill’s office on the rotary telephone, specifically 477 turned upside down spells H E L L. Hell. Okay, I don’t think they needed that, but that’s a nice touch. 

Emma: Yeah, I like it. It’s kind of like when you’re in school and you do that calculator thing and it spells out boob or something. Can you tell I was really good at math? I was really paying attention in school. Okay, next one. William Castle, who is the producer of Rosemary’s Baby, later became convinced the film was cursed. Shortly after production, he suffered gallstones to such a severe extent that he required surgery. As he recovered from that illness, Rosemary’s Baby composer, Krzysztof Komita suffered an accidental fall that led to a coma, and eventually, his death. Awful. Then, in the summer of 1969, actor Sharon Tate, Polanski’s wife, was famously murdered by the Manson family. We all know about that one. For Castle, it all added up. The story of Rosemary’s Baby was happening in real life. Witches, all of them, were casting their spell, and I was becoming one of the principal players, he later recalled. I don’t know why he’s lumping in Sharon Tate, because other than being married to Polanski, wasn’t a part of this production, as far as I know.

Elsie: I feel like other people died and he just got gallstones and he was making it a little bit about himself. 

Emma: I mean, I understand having a phase in life where you feel like a lot of bad things are happening all around you. Like, I think we’ve all gone through seasons like that, but I don’t really know.

Elsie: I don’t know, but it probably just added to the success of the movie at the time, or the movie’s, like, reputation at the time, I’m sure it was very controversial. Like, Emma and I grew up in the Harry Potter being banned era. And my heart could not take the things people probably said about Rosemary’s Baby in 1968 and 1969 and stuff.

Emma: Well, I doubt I would have watched it as a kid. Yeah. Whereas I was reading Harry Potter as a kid. 

Elsie: I bet the church people were really upset. 

Emma: I mean, they still are, I imagine.

Elsie: Okay, send us an email and let us know. Rosemary’s Baby starts off with a pan shot that ends on the Dakota. A building with a rather rich and ominous history in New York City. So I guess that’s what the real building is called. It was the city’s first true luxury apartment complex when it was built in 1884. That’s really cool. Based on a design by Henry J. Herdenburg, who created the Plaza Hotel. Whoa! This is cool. Over the years, it has attracted a plethora of wealthy celebrities from Lauren Bacall to Judy Garland. It gained notoriety for the death of John Lennon, who was murdered right outside the front of the building. In fact, the death of the character Terry in the film takes place eerily close to where Lennon was killed. That is interesting and disturbing. I’m glad that they picked a haunted building though, because I do think it fits. 

Emma: Yeah, it does fit, because a lot of haunty things are happening in this movie.

Elsie: Plus, when you bring that on a filming look, like it’ll always be the Rosemary’s Baby building now too. So it’s like they weren’t really bringing any more creepy vibes onto something that was already like, we’re done. 

Emma: Yeah. It is strange though, like to think about a city like New York and for like one building to have lots of different things, you know what I mean? Because you’re like, it’s such a big city. 

Elsie: It’s true. Probably every building has dozens of interesting, scary, and beautiful in every kind of story because it’s such a historic place. We’re just not used to that. 

Emma: Plus, I mean, the Arconians had like three deaths in it already, and they’re going to have another season of Only Murders in the Building, so there’ll be another death.

Elsie: I seriously knew you were going to bring up Only Murders in the Building, and I, okay, I will say, I fucking love Only Murders in the Building. I don’t think we’ll ever talk about it on the podcast, but I love it. And Steve Martin is daddy, and like, we will always support him forever.

Emma: Yeah. And I want every sweater and outfit that Selena Gomez wears, I’m like, sign me up. 

Elsie: And Martin Short is funny, and anyone else who writes an article about how he’s not can go straight to hell. 

Emma: Go to hell. He’s hilarious. Okay. Mia Farrow’s iconic pixie cut became a popular hairstyle after the movie’s release. Following the release of Rosemary’s Baby, Mia Farrow’s short and stylish haircut gained widespread popularity and became known as the Rosemary’s Baby cut. Which is great because in the movie, everyone’s like, what did you do to your hair? 

Elsie: Yeah, but I mean, to be fair to Mia Farrow, it was her most iconic, like haircut era. And that is like when in her, like, I’m Mary Frank Sinatra era was I think right after this movie. So, it was gorgeous, and Emma and I both had pixie cuts in high school. And it’s not for everyone, okay? 

Emma: It did not look as good as hers, yeah. 

Elsie: It’s not for everyone. It’s, sadly, Jeremy said he had a dream that I shaved my head and it looked good, and I was like, oh, Jeremy, that is such a sweet, generous dream.

Emma: Yeah, I feel like I’ve seen your hair short and don’t do it. 

Elsie: This is the right amount of hair for me, right? Maximum. 

Emma: I know. I always do want to chop my hair a little bit though when I see things, you know, like movies and stuff. And I’m like, no, don’t do it. Don’t do it. You’ve done it. 

Elsie: I honestly just want to like be Mia Farrow for a day. I love her. Rate this movie from zero to five Demon Babies. Five out of five demon babies. 

Emma: I’m also gonna give it 5 Demon Babies because the sets are gorgeous, the costumes are gorgeous, and I think the story is a 10, but I love that author, so I’m already a fangirl. 

Elsie: It is good, and yeah, if anyone thinks it shouldn’t be a comfort rewatch, just give it a chance one time. Just do it for us. 

Emma: It also doesn’t have to be for you. I don’t really give a fuck. 

Elsie: Remember us, the creators of the Knives Out fantastical era. We will not do you wrong, okay? 

Emma: I mean, I don’t think this movie’s for everyone. I do think Knives Out is for everyone. But I don’t think this one is. I think it’s pretty arty and it has some pretty harsh themes. And some people just don’t want to deal with that, and I think that’s fine. But it’s a beautiful movie. Alright, now it is time for a joke, or a fact, or maybe a meditation with our dear friend, Nova. 

Elsie: Hey Nova, what do you have for us this week? 

Nova: A joke. 

Elsie: A joke? Okay. 

Nova: How does a chicken stay fit? 

Elsie: How? 

Nova: Egg-ercise.

Elsie: That’s wonderful. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening. You can submit questions at [email protected] or call our voicemail anytime at 417-893-0011. Next week, we will be back with our annual ghost stories episode.

1. Just bought these cute slippers for working from home. I’m usually just in socks or bare feet a lot of the time, but it’s gotten cold lately and the room my home office is in for some reason is the coldest room in our house.

2. Just finished reading What You Wish For and I really enjoyed it. It’s pretty light on the romance, but heavy on the life lessons. It was a delight and reminded me to reach for joy everyday.

3. Next up, I’m reading Small Town, Big Magic. Feels like a good fit for this season (witches!).

4. I’ve been painting our sunroom. It’s taken me about two weeks because I do it in 1-2 hour increments after our son’s bedtime on nights I’m not totally exhausted. Ha. Anyway, the color is Farrow & Ball ‘Salon Drab 290’ (same as our dining room) and I bought this rug to go in the space as a kind of “hooray, you painted” present to myself.

5. We usually just have a quilt on our bed during the warmer months, but now that it’s cold the thicker comforters have made their way out of the closet! I also decided to buy this one as the color felt like the perfect fit in our bedroom.

6. I pre-ordered Dolly Parton Behind the Seams and it came in the mail this week! It’s a beautiful, big coffee table book that has soooo many epic photos of her performance outfits from over her career. It’s super inspiring.

7. No link but I recently went thrifting with my mom and niece. I ended up finding a sweater for myself and a sweater for Oscar. They don’t match, but they were both cute and in great condition. And I must say, I love thrifting things for my son. I’ve been an avid thrifter since middle school, so it feels like it’s come full circle getting things for my 2-year-old now.

8. Still very much in love with this throw blanket.

9. I’m really into the new Goosebumps series. I’ve been watching it on Hulu, but I think it’s on Disney+ as well. It’s pretty scary (not suitable for young kids) but if you watch a trailer you can get a sense of the scary level.

10. After recording our Rosemary’s Baby podcast episode (out tomorrow), I promptly ordered every Ira Levin book on Thriftbooks.com that I could find because it turns out I am a fangirl.

P.S. Here are some recent posts in case you missed them!

• Made this tomato soup recipe for soup night with friends and it was a hit!
• You need to make these stuffed mushrooms. Yum!
• Whoa! 30 No-Carve Pumpkin Decorating Ideas – kid friendly too
• Last week’s 10 Things Sunday with Elsie

I know you might be thinking, “How hard is it to combine orange juice and vodka?” But listen, the proportions of this drink matter a lot. It’s good to learn to make even the simplest drink properly. Not following a recipe can lead to overserving, which is not ideal ever, but especially not at brunch.

More brunch cocktails: Irish Coffee, Bloody Mary, Peach Bellini, Aperol Spritz.

Ingredients

• Orange Juice – Freshly squeezed or your favorite store-bought variety.
• Vodka – Choose a high quality, unflavored vodka.
• Orange Slices – For garnish. I think they add a special something.

How To Make Orange Juice

• Use a hand press to juice each orange, cut into halves.
• Try a glass citrus squeezer to juice each half of an orange slice by hand.
• For a quicker option, try an electric citrus juicer.

Directions

Begin by gathering your ingredients including orange juice, vodka, ice, orange slices and a collins glass for serving.

Fill your glass with ice and add two ounces of vodka to the ice. Top it off with orange juice and give it a nice stir.

To garnish, I placed some thin cut orange slices into the outer edges of the drink, and the ice holds them in place.

Serve immediately.

Tips for Making

• Try a flavored vodka for added flavor. I recommend trying citrus cherry or vanilla (if you enjoy a creamsicle flavor).
• If you would like to add a little sweetness, try adding some grenadine syrup or simple syrup. Start with half an ounce and add more until you are happy with the flavor.
• Lighten up the flavor of drink by adding half orange juice and half club soda or ginger ale to your drink.
• If you’re not an orange juice fan, try this recipe with different juices: cranberry, mango and pineapple are all delicious options.

History

This drink is said to have originated during the World War II era as soldiers, unable to find whiskey, mixed various liquors with orange juice to make them more enjoyable. Another origin story states that auto workers in the United States began adding vodka to their orange juice and using a screwdriver to mix it. We’ll never know for sure how this drink was invented, but these amusing origin stories always make me smile.

What we know for sure is that in the 1950s and ’60s vodka began to gain popularity in the U.S. and brands like Smirnoff used the Screwdriver recipe in ads to further popularize their spirits. Their efforts were met with enormous success as we fast forward more than 50 years to see this cocktail is still one of the most well known of all time.

More brunch recipes to try:

• Small Batch Cinnamon Rolls
• Biscuits and Gravy Casserole
• Coffee Smoothie
• The Best Fruit Salad
• 50+ Healthy Breakfast Ideas

FAQ

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Screwdriver Drink

Course Breakfast, Drinks

Cuisine American

Keyword screwdriver

Prep Time 2 minutes minutes

Servings 1 cocktail

Calories 180kcal

Author Elsie Larson

Equipment

• 1 collins glass

Ingredients

• 1½ ounces Vodka
• 5 ounces Orange Juice
• 3 Orange Slices

Instructions

• Begin by gathering your ingredients including orange juice, vodka, ice, orange slices and a collins glass for serving.
• Fill your glass with ice and add two ounces of vodka to the ice. Top it off with orange juice and give it a nice stir.
• To garnish, I placed some thin cut orange slices into the outer edges of the drink, and the ice holds them in place.
• Serve immediately.

Notes

• Try a flavored vodka for added flavor. I recommend trying citrus cherry or vanilla (if you enjoy a creamsicle flavor).
• If you would like to add a little sweetness, try adding some grenadine syrup or simple syrup. Start with half an ounce and add more until you are happy with the flavor.
• Lighten up the flavor of drink by adding half orange juice and half club soda or ginger ale to your drink.
• If you’re not an orange juice fan, try this recipe with different juices: cranberry, mango and pineapple are all delicious options.

Nutrition

Calories: 180kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 0.3g | Saturated Fat: 0.04g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 2mg | Potassium: 355mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 371IU | Vitamin C: 92mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 0.3mg

We make a lot of pumpkin desserts at my house, especially this time of year. But these pumpkin bars are a great option to make for a party or take to a potluck dinner. They are simple and foolproof, but still a showstopping dessert that everyone will love.

Related: Love easy pumpkin treats? Next up, try easy pumpkin cookies with glaze, pumpkin muffins, or chocolate chip pumpkin cookies.

I

Ingredients

• Pumpkin
• Granulated white sugar
• Brown sugar
• Vegetable or canola oil
• Eggs
• Vanilla extract
• All-purpose flour
• Pumpkin pie spice
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Butter
• Cream cheese
• Powdered sugar – also called confectioners’ sugar

Directions

In a large bowl, stir together the pumpkin puree, granulated white sugar, brown sugar, and oil. Then stir in the eggs and vanilla extract. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until no dry flour is still visible.

Butter or spray (with nonstick cooking spray) a 9×13 baking pan. Then spoon the batter in an even layer.

Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 26-28 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean (no gooey batter on the toothpick). Allow the cake to fully cool before adding frosting.

To make the frosting, cream together the softened butter and softened cream cheese. Then incorporate the vanilla extract and powdered sugar (confectioners’ sugar). Spread the frosting over the cooled cake.

Tips & Substitutions

• I prefer to crack my eggs into a small bowl before adding the mix. I do this in case I have any small shell pieces, then I can easily scoop them out with a larger egg shell piece.
• If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice and don’t want to make it, then for this recipe I would recommend substituting it with 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon ginger.
• Do let the cake fully cool before adding frosting, otherwise the heat from the cake can melt the butter and cream cheese in the frosting and make it runny.
• Sifting the powdered sugar before adding to the frosting will create less lumps in the frosting.
• If you do have lumps in your frosting, add few sprinkles of candy corn—no one will notice now!
• To store leftovers, you can cover this cake and refrigerate for at least 5 days. Note the frosting may firm up more during refrigeration.

More Autumn Desserts You’ll Love:

• Apple Pie Bars
• Apple Cobbler
• Peanut Butter Bars
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
• No-Bake Pumpkin Pie
• Baked Apple Donuts
• Gooey Butter Cake
• Pumpkin Spice Syrup

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Pumpkin Bars

soft pumpkin sheet cake with cream cheese frosting

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cake, cake bars, pumpkin

Prep Time 9 minutes minutes

Cook Time 26 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 550kcal

Author Emma Chapman

Equipment

• 9×13 baking pan

Ingredients

• 15 ounces pumpkin puree
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

Frosting

• ¼ cup butter
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar

Instructions

• In a large bowl, stir together the pumpkin puree, granulated white sugar, brown sugar, and oil.
• Then stir in the eggs and vanilla extract. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until no dry flour is still visible.
• Butter or spray (with nonstick cooking spray) a 9×13 baking pan. Then spoon the batter in an even layer.
• Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 26-28 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean (no gooey batter on the toothpick).
• Allow the cake to fully cool before adding frosting.
• To make the frosting, cream together the softened butter and softened cream cheese.
• Then incorporate the vanilla extract and powdered sugar (confectioners' sugar). Spread the frosting over the cooled cake.

Notes

I prefer to crack my eggs into a small bowl before adding the mix. I do this in case I have any small shell pieces, then I can easily scoop them out with a larger egg shell piece.

If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice and don’t want to make it, then for this recipe I would recommend substituting it with 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon ginger.

Do let the cake fully cool before adding frosting, otherwise the heat from the cake can melt the butter and cream cheese in the frosting and make it runny.

Sifting the powdered sugar before adding to the frosting will create less lumps in the frosting.

If you do have lumps in your frosting, add few sprinkles of candy corn—no one will notice now!

To store leftovers, you can cover this cake and refrigerate for at least 5 days. Note the frosting may firm up more during refrigeration.

Nutrition

Calories: 550kcal | Carbohydrates: 66g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 84mg | Sodium: 472mg | Potassium: 158mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 47g | Vitamin A: 5967IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 90mg | Iron: 2mg

Spider plants have arched ribbon-like leaves that have variations of green or white and green stripes and they are especially pretty to use in a hanging basket display. They are one of the more popular varieties of house plants and they can take quite a bit of neglect so they are good for beginners to practice their green thumbs on as well.

Related: Learn to Care for Pilea Plants, Fiddle Leaf Figs, Golden Pothos, Snake Plants, Rubber Trees, and String of Pearls Plants.

Why are they called Spider plants? Spider plants are native to the coast of South Africa and during the warmer summer months they can produce small white flowers at the end of a long stem (called a “pup”) that resemble small spiders—these little spiders can be replanted to produce another spider plant!

Types of Spider Plants:

• Chlorophytum comosum ‘Variegatum’: This kind has cream or white margins of the leaf with a dark green stripe down the middle and the long stems that grow from it are green.
• Chlorophytum comosum ‘Vittatum’: This variety’s leaves have a white stripe down the center flanked by green margins and the long stems are white.
• Chlorophytum comosum ‘Bonnie’: This spider plant grows more compact and has more curly leaves with green outsides and a cream center stripe. Rather than white flowers, its flowers are yellow.

How Often Should I Water Spider Plants?

You’ll want the soil to start to dry out between waterings as spider plants like moist but not soggy soil. Too much water can cause root rot and kill the plant. Water your plant thoroughly and then check it a few days later by sticking a finger down into the soil to check the dampness level. Once the dirt feels only slightly moist it’s time to water again.

Spider plants can be more sensitive to fluoride and chlorine in tap water, so if you really want to pamper your plant you can use rainwater or distilled water instead.

Since spider plants are pretty good at retaining water they can handle a few forgotten watering sessions better than other plants and even go weeks at a time between waterings.

Keep an eye on the growth of your plant as you’ll want to move it to a bigger pot once the roots have outgrown the container.

How Much Sunlight Do Spider Plants Need?

Spider plants can live indoors in low to bright indirect light. The stripes of the plant actually change and look more prominent when exposed to more sun, but you don’t want to place the plant in direct sunlight as that will burn and damage the leaves.

Outdoors spider plants prefer light shade but it is possible for them to do well in medium to heavy shade but they will grow slower with less light.

Should I Fertilize My Spider Plant?

You can use an all-purpose fertilizer on your spider plant during the spring and summer growing seasons. Just add some once or twice a month but be careful not to overdo it as that can hurt the plant.

Follow the directions on the label for guidance on how much to use and you can even start with half-strength to see how your plant does.

Temperature and Humidity for Spider Plants

Since spider plants come from a warmer more humid climate, they do best at temperatures over 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep them away from air conditioning vents and drafts if growing them inside.

Pruning Spider Plants

You can remove any brown tips as they appear by using sharp scissors or pruning shears to cut them off, but spider plants generally don’t need a lot of pruning.

Repotting Spider Plants

If you see your roots coming out of the drainage holes at the bottom of your container or up through the top of the soil, that means the root ball is getting too big and you’ll want to repot your plant.

Use a container that is 1/3 bigger than your root ball (ideally with drainage holes) and you can crumple up the root ball with your hands to break up any large knots of roots to encourage them to spread out in the new pot.

Propagating Spider Plants

The tiny spiderettes that grow at the end of a long stem not only give this plant its name, but also can be replanted to grow yourself some more spider plants!

You can wait until the spiderette has started to grow roots before cutting it off and planting in its own soil pot, but the best method is to allow the plant to still be attached to the mother plant while you start to propagate it.

Simply place a pot of soil near the mother plant and let the spiderette sit on the soil until it starts to develop roots and grow into the pot. You can use a wire bent into a “U” (or a paperclip unfolded) to push into the soil around the stem to keep it in place on the dirt.

Only mature plants with enough stored energy will produce spiderettes so not all plants are capable of making them.

Related: How to Propagate Plants

Diagnosing Common Problems

• Dry crispy tips: Could be a sign of underwatering, try and water more frequently or mist the plant weekly to keep the humidity up.
• Dark brown tips: Could be a sign of overwatering, let the soil dry more between watering. Can also be from fluoridated tap water so you can try distilled or rain water for a while to see if that helps.
• Pests: Spider plants are usually more pest-resistant but if you are getting aphids, whiteflies, and spider mites you can rinse the plant with water or use neem oil for bigger infestations.

FAQ

This is also one of those homemade pantry staples that makes a great gift. You could make a big batch and decorate the jars to add to gift baskets or give to casual friends or office buddies. You could also create a set including this pumpkin pie spice, everything bagel seasoning, pizza taco and chili seasonings, or homemade vanilla extract.

Related: If you love pumpkin recipes, try these: Pumpkin Smoothie, Pumpkin Spice Latte, Pumpkin Soup and 15 Pumpkin Desserts to Bake this Fall.

Ingredients

• Cinnamon
• Ginger
• Nutmeg
• Cloves
• Allspice
• Black pepper

You may also want to buy some spice jars with labels or make your own.

How to Make Pumpkin Pie Spice

In a small bowl or coffee mug, measure all the ingredients and stir them together.

Use parchment paper or a plain (clean) piece of paper to create a funnel to spoon the spice mix into your container. If you own a small funnel, that will work too.

Label your container. And you’re ready to use your spice mix!

Tips for Making

• Since you are making your own spice mix, you can slightly change or alter the ingredient measurements below in the recipe card. If you want to omit all spice, you can! Don’t want to add a pinch of black pepper? Up to you! This is your pumpkin spice mix, so feel free to make it your own.
• Grate your own nutmeg or buy some already grated, either works great in this mix.
• If you’ve owned your spices for a while, check them for freshness before you use them in this recipe. If the container doesn’t have an expiration date listed, give them a smell to see if they are fragrant in the way they should be. If they smell off, toss them and buy new spices before making this pumpkin pie spice mix.

More Autumn Recipes You’ll Love:

• Apple Tart
• Overnight Pumpkin Butter
• Apple Dumplings
• Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew
• Easy Apple Pie Bars
• Pecan Pie Sticky Buns
• Sweet Potato Pie
• Pumpkin Pie Martini

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Pumpkin Pie Spice

Course condiment

Cuisine American

Keyword pumpkin, spice mix

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 5 minutes minutes

Author Emma Chapman

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ginger
• 2 teaspoons nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• ⅛ teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

• In a small bowl or coffee mug, measure all the ingredients and stir them together.
• Use parchment paper or a plain (clean) piece of paper to create a funnel to spoon the spice mix into your container. If you own a small funnel, that will work too.
• Label your container. And you’re ready to use your spice mix!

Notes

Since you are making your own spice mix, you can slightly change or alter the ingredient measurements below in the recipe card. If you want to omit all spice, you can! Don’t want to add a pinch of black pepper? Up to you! This is your pumpkin spice mix, so feel free to make it your own.

If you’ve owned your spices for a while, check them for freshness before you use them in this recipe. If the container doesn’t have an expiration date listed, give them a smell to see if they are fragrant in the way they should be. If they smell off, toss them and buy new spices before making this pumpkin pie spice mix.

Whether it’s Valentine’s Day, a romantic date, or just a plain old Tuesday night, chocolate-covered strawberries are an easy treat that only take minutes to make (or you can make our Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Jello Shots for a fun twist).

Looking for more chocolate desserts? Check out:

• Chocolate Hummus
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
• Chocolate Baked Donuts
• Easy Chocolate (Oreo) Truffles
• Chocolate Sticky Buns

What strawberries are best for chocolate-covered strawberries?

When choosing your strawberries, you’ll want to consider:

• Size: Large or small strawberries will work for chocolate-covered strawberries. The only difference is that you’ll get a larger chocolate-to-berry ratio with a smaller strawberry than a larger one, so if your favorite part is the berry, choose larger options, and if you love chocolate, you might want a smaller berry to dip.
• Color: You’ll want to look for berries that are red all the way up to the green stem for optimal strawberry flavor. The more white you see on the berry, the less intense flavor it will have.
• Freshness: Choose firm berries that haven’t started to get mushy or have soft spots. If you have a few in your container that have soft spots, you can always cut off that section and dip what is still firm to get the most of your berries.

Ingredients for chocolate-covered strawberries:

• Melting chocolate: While you can use baking chips (Ghirardelli baking chips are a popular favorite), we like to use chocolate melts in milk or dark chocolate since you don’t need to temper the chocolate for it to harden properly. A lot of grocery stores carry both of these options, so check the baking aisle to see what they have and this option already comes in a microwaveable container.
• Fresh strawberries: Fresh berries are best for chocolate-covered strawberries, so look for large firm berries that are red all the way up to the green stem.
• Optional toppings: Chocolate-covered strawberries are delicious as-is, but you can also sprinkle or drizzle other toppings on top to customize your berries and take them to the next level.

How to Make Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

Prep your plate and toppings: Prepare a large plate or baking sheet with wax paper to add your berries onto when dipped and chop up or prepare any toppings that you want to add to your berries so they will be ready to go before the chocolate sets.

Wash your berries: Rinse your berries and thoroughly dry your berries very well. You don’t want any water to interfere with the chocolate sticking, so dry, dry, dry to remove excess moisture.

Melt your chocolate: You can melt your chocolate on the stove, or in the microwave! If you don’t have a double boiler, see instructions below for how to make your own. If you want to thin out your dipping chocolate a bit, do so once the chocolate is fully melted.

• In microwave: Melt your chocolate for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each session, until chocolate is fully melted. Don’t heat it longer than you need to though to avoid overcooking the chocolate.

• Over stovetop: Fill the bottom of a double boiler saucepan 1/4 full with water and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and add to saucepan. Add your chocolate and stir often until chocolate is just fully melted. If you don’t have a double boiler, see instructions below.

Dip your berries: Take your clean berries and hold them by their green stem. Dip berries into the chocolate and let the excess drip off the end before adding any additional topping and placing them onto your wax paper.

Allow berries to cool: Once your berries are on the wax paper, push them forward about 1/2″ to avoid the chocolate pooling at the tip of the berry and let the chocolate set. The chocolate will set at room temperature, but you can also put them in the fridge for 15 minutes to speed up the process as long as you take them back out afterwards.

What toppings go best with chocolate-covered strawberries?

While toppings are a personal preference, we love to add:

• Drizzled chocolate: Melt and add a contrasting chocolate flavor (like white chocolate) to a small ziplock baggie and cut the tip off of the baggie to drizzle melted chocolate over your berries once your initial layer of chocolate has set. Or you can also just drizzle the melted chocolate off a spoon back and forth!
• Sprinkles or nonpareils: If you want to add some color and a little extra crunch, sprinkles or nonpareils are a great choice.
• Shredded coconut: Finely shredded coconut adds another layer and you can lightly toast the coconut in a dry pan for extra depth of flavor.
• Chopped nuts: Finely chop your favorite nuts and sprinkle them over the chocolate before it sets.
• Crushed Oreos: Crush up a few Oreos and you’ll get a delicious topping to sprinkle over your berries.
• Mini chocolate chips: For the chocolate-on-chocolate lovers, add some mini chocolate chips to really punch up the chocolate flavor.
• Crushed pretzels: It’s like eating a chocolate-covered pretzel and chocolate-covered strawberry at the same time—yes, please!

How to make your own double boiler:

If you don’t have a microwave, or a double boiler pot set, you can make your own set up with just a saucepan and a heatproof glass bowl!

• Fill a saucepan 1/4 full with water and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer.
• Add a heatproof bowl that’s just big enough to have the bottom of the bowl sit in the top of the saucepan and traps the steam from the water below, heating the bottom of the glass bowl.
• Add your chocolate and stir often until the chocolate is fully melted.

Tips for Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

• Make sure your berries are totally dry before dipping to ensure the chocolate adheres to the berry properly.
• Bring your berries to room temperature before dipping if you take them right out of the fridge. Otherwise, the berries will start to sweat a bit from the temperature change and your chocolate won’t set as well. Just leave them on the counter for 20-30 minutes.
• Use toothpicks stuck directly into the tops of each berry to use as a little handle while you dip if there’s not much stem to hold onto.
• Use sprinkles or colored chocolate to match the colors of holidays or parties to serve these year round.
• Try dipping your berries in white chocolate for a spin on the classic flavor.

How to store chocolate-covered strawberries:

Chocolate-covered strawberries are best eaten that day (or within 24 hours), so you can either leave them out at room temperature for up to 6 hours until you eat them (away from heat or sunlight so they don’t melt), or you can put them in the fridge after that in a single layer uncovered. Just give them 30 minutes at room temperature to warm up before serving.

Freezing chocolate-covered strawberries does not work well as the berries will break down and will be mushy once you try to bring them back to room temperature.

Looking for more strawberry dessert ideas? Check out:

• Strawberry Ice Cream Waffle Sandwiches
• Strawberry Shortcake Overnight Baked Oatmeal
• No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake (Non-Dairy!)
• Strawberry Shortcake Donuts
• Rhubarb, Strawberry, and Almond Pie
• Grown Up Strawberry Shortcake Shake

Print

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword chocolate, strawberry

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 20 strawberries

Calories 78kcal

Author Laura Gummerman

Cost $7

Equipment

• microwave or double boiler
• wax paper or parchment paper

Ingredients

• 1 pound strawberries (about 20 strawberries)
• 10 ounces chocolate melts (or baking chips) in semisweet, milk chocolate, or dark chocolate

Instructions

• Prep your plate and toppings: Prepare a large plate or baking sheet with wax paper to add your berries onto when dipped and chop up or prepare any toppings that you want to add to your berries so they will be ready to go before the chocolate sets.
• Wash your berries: Rinse your berries and thoroughly dry your berries very well. You don’t want any water to interfere with the chocolate sticking, so dry, dry, dry to remove excess moisture.
• Melt your chocolate: You can melt your chocolate on the stove, or in the microwave! If you don’t have a double boiler, see instructions below for how to make your own. If you want to thin out your dipping chocolate a bit, do so once the chocolate is fully melted.

  In microwave: Melt your chocolate for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each session, until chocolate is fully melted. Don’t heat it longer than you need to though to avoid overcooking the chocolate.

  Over stovetop: Fill the bottom of a double boiler saucepan 1/4 full with water and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and add to saucepan. Add your chocolate and stir often until chocolate is just fully melted. If you don’t have a double boiler, see instructions below.
• Dip your berries: Take your clean berries and hold them by their green stem. Dip berries into the chocolate and let the excess drip off the end before adding any additional topping and placing them onto your wax paper.
• Allow berries to cool: Once your berries are on the wax paper, push them forward about 1/2″ to avoid the chocolate pooling at the tip of the berry and let the chocolate set. The chocolate will set at room temperature but you can also put them in the fridge for 15 minutes to speed up the process as long as you take them back out afterwards.

Notes

Tips for Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

• Make sure your berries are totally dry before dipping to ensure the chocolate adheres to the berry properly.
• Bring your berries to room temperature before dipping if you take them right out of the fridge. Otherwise, the berries will start to sweat a bit from the temperature change and your chocolate won’t set as well. Just leave them on the counter for 20-30 minutes.
• Use toothpicks stuck directly into the tops of each berry to use as a little handle while you dip if there’s not much stem to hold onto.
• Use sprinkles or colored chocolate to match the colors of holidays or parties to serve these year round.
• Try dipping your berries in white chocolate for a spin on the classic flavor.

 

• How to make your own double boiler:

  If you don’t have a microwave, or a double boiler pot set, you can make your own set up with just a saucepan and a heatproof glass bowl!
  Fill a saucepan 1/4 full with water and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer.
• Add a heatproof bowl that’s just big enough to have the bottom of the bowl sit in the top of the saucepan and traps the steam from the water below, heating the bottom of the glass bowl.
• Add your chocolate and stir often until the chocolate is fully melted.

Nutrition

Calories: 78kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 0.2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.03g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 0.2mg | Potassium: 75mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 3IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 0.1mg

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Show Notes:

Decor inspiration

Aunt’s house – The perfect house because:

• It’s by the ocean
• Has a white picket fence
• Black fencing on roof
• Big beautiful cozy kitchen with an island that leads to a greenroom
• Rose bushes outside
• Cozy unfinished attic with beds

Other cozy inspiration (fashion, food, drink or anything?)-

Chocolate Tipsy Cake

Midnight Margaritas

Aunts’ Outfits

Rate the Movie from 0-5 Whip Cream Cans

Elsie – 5

Emma – 5 or 6

Miss an Episode? Get Caught Up!

• Episode #204: Halloween Favorites
• Episode #203: Our Autumn Bucket Lists
• Episode #202: Hocus Pocus – Comfort Rewatch

Episode 205 Transcript:

Emma: You’re listening to the Beautiful Mess Podcast, your cozy comfort listen. Since we love Halloween movies so much, we are doing another comfort rewatch. And this week, it’s Practical Magic, directed by Griffin Dunn and starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. Plus, we are doing our book report on Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. A whole Practical magic show! 

Elsie: I am so excited about this. Yeah, I just finished my Practical Magic, all the books, four in a row. So I feel like I’m in my Practical Magic era right now. And it’s coming at a very good time. 

Emma: Yeah, I’ve only read the Practical Magic first one. It’s in the book club. But yeah, it has two sequels.

Elsie: It has two prequels and a sequel.

Emma: Two prequels and a sequel. That’s crazy. 

Elsie: So before we jump in, I thought you might want to tell me about your first flight overseas with a toddler since that’s an experience that you’ve just conquered. 

Emma: Yes, it was on my Halloween bucket list, or maybe it was an autumn bucket list. I guess not Halloween. It’s autumn bucket list was we were going to Costa Rica as a family, and it’s the first time Oscar used his passport. The first time he went on a flight, his little baby picture, and the first time he went to the beach. So tell you about the flight. So to Costa Rica from where we live is two flights, and the first one’s like an hour and a half, and then the second one’s like two and a half hours. And we had a fairly short layover, kind of the perfect amount where, like, sweating a tiny bit to catch the plane, you know, you’re like, we have no time to get a snack or go to the bathroom. But also, that kind of worked, because I feel like a lot of time in an airport with a kid is kind of tough, because they just want to touch everything and buy everything in all the shops, because I did that on the way home. Anyway, his first flight was really cute. I like, filmed his reaction as the plane was taking off. He was like, sitting in my lap. He had his own seat. He’s like, at an age where it’s like, he does sit in my lap a lot, but we did buy his own seat. Cause he’s like, at an age where you could do a lap kid. Anyway, he was sitting in my lap by the window and he was watching the plane take off. And I feel like he just had his usual Oscar reaction, which is just kind of frowning, which I think is just him thinking and like really observing. He’s a very observing kid and sometimes you think he doesn’t really know what’s going on and then he’ll repeat something later where you’re like, Oh wow, you really like were tuned in on that. I didn’t realize it. 

Elsie: That’s a very cute, like serious face, like a concentrating face. It’s kind of his default setting.

Emma: Yeah, it is his default setting. So, he did that, and it was really cute, and he was just really great for the flights. I actually had, on the way there, we had two, like, random strangers tell us how great he was on the flight, and one of them was like, you guys are great parents, he was so great, or, you know, just, just being nice. And on the way home, I had one of those too, where they were like, he did so good, he didn’t really fuss at all. And, of course, it’s really not a metric of goodness. I think if you do fuss on a flight when you’re a kid, that’s also normal and fine. But I think that they were just trying to be encouraging, which I think was nice. And, you know, I was anxious about him having a meltdown, and he didn’t. And also, if he had, that would have been okay too, but it wouldn’t have been fun for me. But yeah, he was really good. He did get to watch more Paw Patrol than we normally let him watch, but that’s okay. It was a travel day, but he also had these reusable stickers that were like pumpkins and bats and he put them all over the seat, but they were like the reusable kinds of, they peel off really easy. So there’s no like ruining the seat or anything. And he would stick them on me. I had my emergency box of band-aids, as you told me, but we didn’t end up needing them. But I had them stuffed way down in his backpack and I was like, if things hit the wall, get those band-aids out. But things went pretty well. So it was really cute to watch him just observe everything. And he really was a delight and easy and I got really lucky. 

Elsie: Oh, that’s good. That’s the universe being like, book more travel. That is great. 

Emma: When I got home, I told Elsie, I was like, I feel like I might have used up a lot of karma, so I need to be looking around for opportunities to like to do good things because I feel like the universe was like, No delays, no problems at all. Your bags didn’t get, you know, like all the little things that happen when you travel, like nothing bad happened. Everything was no diarrhea for him or him. And it was just great. So I was like, okay, I feel like I used up some karma. I need to be looking for opportunities. That’s what this is. So yeah, it was a good time though. It was very special and sweet. And of course, as all parents know, there are hard moments traveling with a kid, a toddler. And there was all that too, but honestly, all of that is already fading from my memory, and I’m just like, oh, he was so cute on the plane. Oh, he was so cute at the beach. Like, you know how you do, you just like, turn the whole thing into rose-colored memories, which I think is a good way to like, go through life. I’m like, I’m not going to remember any of the tough parts. Forget that part. 

Elsie: I think it’s a necessary part of like, how our parenting brains work.

Emma: I think so too. It’s a very survival. You know, otherwise, I don’t know if people would have second or third kids, you know, because you’d be like, no, no can do. But anyway, so that was great. 

Elsie: Yay. Well, I’m happy for you. That is wonderful. So we’re talking about practical magic, the movie in this episode, and then we will also talk about the books and even the book series, it is its own little universe, and I am so happy to be a part of it. So, for those of you who haven’t seen Practical Magic, it is a movie from 1998. We definitely recommend it, it’s a great movie to watch during the spooky season. So this is the premise. Two witch sisters raised by their eccentric aunts in a small town face closed-minded prejudice and a curse that threatens to prevent them from ever finding lasting love. It’s so good. It’s definitely my favorite witch story that I’ve read, and the movie is so cozy. So we’ll talk a lot about the house. Okay, so memories from when you first watched the movie. My first time to watch it was actually pretty recently, it was a time when I lived in Nashville and Emma came to visit. And I remember that it wasn’t Halloween at all. It was like a different time of year, but you were like, you haven’t seen practical magic. Let’s watch it right now. 

Emma: Yeah, I was so surprised you hadn’t seen it. And so I was excited to show you something. Cause I feel like you’ve always like seen everything, you know? So I was excited.

Elsie: So it was very recently for me. And then I’ve definitely watched it every year since it’s one of my kitchen movies. Cozy vibes, and movies, definitely fit into that. Do you remember your first time to watch it? 

Emma: I don’t. It was probably high school or college. I am a big Sandra Bullock fan. Like, I think she’s hilarious and I also love romantic comedies and she’s in a lot of romantic comedies. Her and Jennifer Aniston to me are kind of like similar vibes as actresses where they’re really funny and really beautiful and often they have like love interest stories. So anyway, I feel like I’ve seen most of her movies. Like if I’m just by myself or trying to find a movie and I don’t want to like it. Scroll through everything or I just want something that’s like easy and light. I don’t want to watch the latest art thing. You know, then I am like, what Sandra Bullock movie have I not seen? So at this point, I feel like I’ve seen them all, but that’s probably how I discovered it was just like, Oh, a Sandra Bullock movie. Oh, it’s witches. Interesting. 

Elsie: In the era of Blockbuster videos, Emma was walking through. Scanning for Sandra Bullock’s face. 

Emma: Yeah, I’m like, excuse me, kid behind the counter, where’s your Sandra Bullock movies?

Elsie: And this, I’ve seen the movie cover, like the picture, is like a really cute portrait of Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman with like a candle or something?

Emma: Yeah, I feel like it’s trying, it almost makes it seem like it’s going to be scary, but it’s actually not a scary movie really at all, I wouldn’t say.

Elsie: The title Practical Magic makes, you know, it’s going to be like a little bit sweet. Like, I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like a spooky.

Emma: And there was this whole era where things were coming out with witches. Like, I feel like the craft was a big one, which is more of like a high school drama. And this one’s more like adults. It’s not really about high school or anything. They are kids in the movie and then they grow up, but mostly I think it takes place in their twenties or thirties. So anyway, yeah, of all the like, which movies of that time of the nineties, this was easily my favorite and it’s very high on the list as far as like movies that I have rewatched many times. This one’s probably up there, like right under the Harry Potter. Which is also about magic now that I’m thinking about it. Maybe I just like magic. I don’t know. 

Elsie: For sure. Okay, so the house in this movie is one of the ultimate movie houses of all time. I know that we’ve mentioned it on the podcast probably more than 100 times in our 200 episodes or whatever. But yeah, I was reading a little bit about this morning and So this sometimes happens, and it is hard to accept, but this is one of the heartbreakers, just like the house from the holiday, the cottage, where it is not and was never a real house. It was a prop. It was a, like, shell of a house where they built the exterior, they filmed the movie and then they immediately tore it down in the nineties. So, I have seen people post online the floor plan of the house and sort of try to like to make it, like form it into a real, I think it would be the ultimate dollhouse if you’re if anyone’s a dollhouse person and they want to do a tiny recreation. 

Emma: Oh, it would be a beautiful dollhouse. It could have a little rosebush on the outside. 

Elsie: But yeah, it was a little heartbreaking to me. I think that the design of it though, was still a real house that was designed, I mean, even though it’s for a movie, it was really built as, we can look at pictures, we can appreciate it. So they say that it was designed as like a cross between a Victorian home, obviously, and then also a lighthouse because it’s a coastal house. It’s right on the water and it does have very unique, kind of lighthouse coming up like a unicorn horn, it has unicorn horn. Yeah, so I love that about it. I think it’s definitely a gorgeous home. If any of our listeners, is I’m a billionaire and you’re looking to recreate something. I think that this would be the one to recreate. I would definitely come and spend the weekend with you, have some midnight margaritas, and someone please do it. Can we not all create a GoFundMe and make this into an Airbnb or something?

Emma: I know. Yeah, I think what makes it like partially so romantic is it is right by the water. So I think any house that, like, you can see water, whether it’s a huge lake or the ocean, that to me just feels so serene, like, so peaceful and calm. It’s very romantic to me. Maybe that’s because I’m from Missouri and we’re landlocked. We do have big lakes, but I don’t live on the lake. I love It. At one point the kids like steal this syrup that’s been kind of like poisoned and they run down just not very far from the house and there’s like rocky, rocky, it’s not really like a beach like sand but like rocks where the waves hit up on it and they pour the syrup into the ocean and it’s just like right there.

Elsie: Yeah, it’s supposed to be New England. 

Emma: You could go drink your coffee out there in the morning, you know, that’s the dream, but yeah, the house looks very kind of like a lighthouse, but definitely just like a house. I think part of the story in the movie and I think it’s also in the book is that one of the elders which’s is from generations ago was banished and so she was on this kind of small island area by herself. And so this was like where she settled and the house over time got built. So it’s in this kind of special spot because she got banished away from everybody else because she was a witch, but yeah, I think maybe my favorite part is the kitchen which seems to kind of spill out into this almost like greenhouse room of all these plants. Which is again so romantic in that you think like, oh you could just walk into that little Sunroom And pick your herbs and then walk back into the kitchen and finish making your spaghetti sauce with fresh basil or whatever, you know, like it just seems so special and fun and like near civilization but also tucked away. But yeah, the kitchen has this really interesting hood. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s like fairly big over the, like, stove range. And there are elements to the kitchen that feel very witchy, like at one point they’re stirring this giant pot because they are making some kind of spell because they’re trying to banish this bad spirit. And there’s just a lot of things that feel like, not like a commercial kitchen, but like an old-timey kitchen where maybe they used to entertain or they didn’t have the technology that we have now. You know, like it feels like a very mix of high, and low, like old houses have.

Elsie: I think it feels very much like a 1990s Martha Stewart slash Ingar kitchen. Like it’s functional, but it’s also professional. 

Emma: But it still feels cozy and like in a home, not like a restaurant. ’cause there’s not like a ton of stainless steel everywhere or anything like that. It’s not the Jurassic Park kitchen. 

Elsie: No, it’s a beautiful, cozy kitchen with an island, I think has a lot of cabinetry and it has kind of this cool, I don’t know what you call it, like an arched opening from the dining room to the kitchen that is kind of just like a, I don’t know, watch when you’re watching the movie, it’s a decorative feature that’s kind of like integrated with the cabinetry. That is really pretty, and it’s very unique. I think it would be a great replica kitchen. Somewhere in the world, there’s a person whose remodel would fit this perfectly.

Emma: Yeah, and then other parts of the house, other than just the beautiful kitchen, they have this like, attic room that is where I think both women stay whenever like, Jillian comes back to town. And it just has bedrooms in there, like beds in there. But it looks like, kind of like an open attic. So it almost feels in a way like unfinished, but it also feels very cozy in the way of like there are rugs and there’s kind of like I think some like kind of those wall tapestries are kind of like hung. So it’s a very like, again, I feel like the house feels very lived in. These set designers did such a great job. It felt like a real place, but it also didn’t feel too polished. It didn’t feel like, oh yeah, this is a bedroom and it’s a perfect catalog bedroom. It’s like, it doesn’t feel like that at all.

Elsie: It feels very lived in and like a real house. I agree. Okay, some of my favorite moments of the house. I mean, I love the garden. I love that it has a picket fence right by the ocean. Cause that’s just very unique, and it fits this house perfectly. Okay, so a big thing from the books is there is a portrait of Maria Owens on the stairway and when you are watching the movie, you’ll see there’s like a ton of witch portraits on the stairways, which is super cool. I love old portraits and I think it’s just such a cool collection. Every old home should have some Victorian portraits. 

Emma: I mean, one can dream. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. Bonus points if it’s relatives. But, you know, I’ll take anything. 

Elsie: And I obviously like the greenhouse is everything. It is like the most gorgeous Harry Potter little greenhouse.

Emma: Greenhouses are always, I think, very photogenic looking because they usually have so much glass and so much light. So I feel like they’re always a great place for like a setting in a movie or in a photo because they just are really pretty. One of the kind of characters in this movie is a man who’s been half killed, but then they kind of half bring him back to life. It’s magic gone awry, but he sort of like becomes a spirit. He kind of embodies a lot of different elements, including this sort of rosebush that keeps growing up and they like cut it back and cut it back, but it’s still growing up. And I don’t know this movie to me like the Rose Bush is almost like a character in the movie where it’s like menacing, but also kind of beautiful, which I think was kind of what that man was like when he was alive because she was in love with him, but he was an ass and beat her. Yeah, his boots kind of come up out of the ground after they bury him.

Elsie: He won’t stay dead. 

Emma: Ugh. Just won’t leave you alone. 

Elsie: Wanting to haunt you. My favorite thing from the book that I want to make this for the blog is that it’s like in all the books, a lot, I don’t know if it’s in the movie, is the chocolate tipsy cake. Have you heard of that? 

Emma: Yeah. I Googled it immediately after cause I was like, and it’s really not like a famous recipe. 

Elsie: I think it’s a movie recipe because rum cake is a famous recipe. This is specifically a chocolate cake with a ton of rum in it. So it’s its own category of cake I think and I was thinking I want to make one maybe for Thanksgiving or for Christmas or like make it a family tradition in our family because I think it’s so cute.

Emma: Maybe we should have a dinner party that’s like all movie food and drinks. You know what I mean? That would be fun, right? Come on. And we could have like, you know, some photos up or posters up of the different movies or I don’t know. But this would obviously be the dessert. 

Elsie: An idea is born. That is a great party idea. I like it. 

Emma: A movie dinner party. 

Elsie: And then also in the movie she has a shop, right? So it’s a cozy little shop. And it kind of reminds me of David Rose’s, Schitt’s Creek shop, you know? 

Emma: It does. Right? I feel like he saw the movie, his character, and was like, that’s what this town needs.

Elsie: I mean I could watch this movie every autumn until I die, and I probably will. 

Emma: The town is really cute, too. And I don’t know if it’s a real town, I assume it probably is. They probably didn’t build the whole town. But it looks very small town, but really cute. And it feels very coastal, and very, like, northeast, even though I’m not an expert on the northeast. Oh, and also, we didn’t mention this about the house, on the top of their roof they have this like kind of black fencing, it’s like kind of spiky looking, and at the end of the movie they’re all dressed as witches, like with the witch hats, classic witch looking, and they all jump off and fly. But they kind of just float down, but it’s definitely like they’re flying because they’re literally floating off of a roof. And it’s just really cute because the fencing there is like very menacing looking, but it’s this kind of cute moment where the town has accepted them as witches in the movie. That’s probably why witch stories are so good is just because it’s like, what the easiest way to highlight prejudice, which is like, you know, present in kind of like all of our lives all the time. But it’s like but in a more fun way. 

Elsie: Yeah, I think a lot of times, which is the lore of it or whatever, you know, the fantasy of it is used to highlight the power of like female friendships and relying on people who are not your romantic partner, but they’re your partner in other ways. The sisters and a lot of fantasy books, like not just this one, but many other, you know, fables about them is that they can’t fall in love, their husbands always die. Not every single book has this, but there are a lot where that’s sort of a thing. So it makes it so that the witches have to rely on each other. That always has to be their family because they’re not really able to keep romantic partners. Not that every witch is straight, but in a lot of books that I’ve read, that’s been the lore in the past. And yeah, I think that’s kind of an interesting device to use, and I think it makes you examine love and family in a different way, which I like. I think it’s a good exercise. 

Emma: So any other cozy inspiration? I said the chocolate tipsy cake and midnight margaritas are for sure the greenhouse. We had done the ant’s outfits, in the movie are pretty epic. It’s everything you want in an ant. 

Elsie: It really is. I’m like, at what age should we start dressing like this? Pretty soon, right? Like 50? I don’t know. 

Emma: I think it just looks comfy too. It’s like a different version of yoga pants. It’s got a better version. A lot of scarves. A lot of big sun hats, which I’m like, yeah, you don’t want the sun when you’re outside in the garden all day. 

Elsie: It’s wonderful. I love how the end of the book, Practical Magic, is the exact same monologue that the movie opens with, where she says the thing about like, growing rosemary and throwing salt. It’s so cute. It’s adorable. 

Emma: Yeah, because I feel like too, this is in the book as well, but they are kind of trying to escape their identity which is like, I think it kind of haunts them as Children because their town doesn’t accept them. They get picked on because they’re which is or because they’re different in the book. I think it’s less explicit that they’re what are than in the movie. And then by the end, it’s like they’ve found that people have accepted them. They’ve come together and done magic with them to banish that abusive boyfriend. And I think they’ve also come to accept themselves and kind of celebrate this part of themselves that they used to detest, which I also think, again is a great device for us to kind of learn about accepting the things about us that scare us, that make us different that might scare other people. And it actually can be, those can be our strengths. Those can be like some of the most beautiful parts of ourselves, you know, but it takes sometimes time and life and circumstances to help us see that. Yeah, and that’s what happens in this story. 

Elsie: Being normal is boring, mother fucker. 

Emma: Normal sucks. No, if you’re normal, that’s cool, but none of us really are. 

Elsie: Okay, so let’s do some trivia. Practical magic trivia. So the first one is the entire house was a specially built architectural shell that was torn down after filming. It was built on rented land and even the blossoms and the trees are fake made of silk. I don’t want to know, erasing that fact from my mind, never thinking of it again. It’s a real house in my mind. 

Emma: It does speak again to the set designer’s talent though, because you just want to live in this house. You want to go to this place and it feels real, like I don’t even remember thinking like, oh that looks fake. That looks like a silk flower I really don’t remember I have seen this movie a lot. So I’m like these set designers and like the cinematographers and whoever else, you know brought this to life did a great job. So I’m like you totally fooled me. I’m like in the world and this is real to me. 

Elsie: Oh, wait, I should probably say this. This is that kind of trivia, but the production designer’s name is Robin Standifer, and I read this beautiful little article from when the movie first came out, I think, where Alice Hoffman says that when she visited the sets, she felt like the set designer was a novelist just as much as she was because of how much they brought it to life. It was very beautiful. 

Emma: She could see she was storytelling her version of art. Yeah. That’s beautiful. That’s a beautiful thing to say about someone else’s work. I also love the name Robin. I think it’s a great name. For a boy or a girl. But, yeah. Okay, next trivia. Aunt Frances and Aunt Jett frequently wear clothing and styles that were popular in the early 20th century, suggesting that they were really much older than they appear. The cast said they felt supernatural elements of the house started to affect them. Both the cast and crew claimed they heard supernatural noises while filming the coven scene at the end of the film. I feel like this kind of thing comes up a lot in movies that are about witches or the supernatural or horror movies. I feel like there’s always something that happens on the set that’s like, well, that was weird. You know? 

Elsie: I love it. I mean, it does sound like they were filming at least the exterior of the home in a very remote place. So I mean I could see it. Okay, so a big part from the books is like the black soap like they’re always making this black soap and using it that like keeps you looking young. I want it to be real so bad. I’m so mad. If anyone knows where you can buy some real witch black soap, send it to me for my Christmas gift. That’s the only thing I want. 

Emma: I mean, there is black soap, but does it have magic? I don’t know. 

Elsie: I don’t want charcoal, I want magic. Like, there is a difference, right? Anyway, I think it’s really cute, like, all the stuff, but yeah, they’re wearing old clothing because they’re.

From that time or maybe even like things could be passed down. You know how families like just keep things like the portraits in the house. 

That’s true, too. I mean since the house has been passed down through many generations then that also makes sense. That, you know, they kind of have a revolving wardrobe in there.

Emma: You have our grandmother’s like a swimsuit from her honeymoon. There are things that can last a long time, but I do feel like the clothes they’re wearing them like a lot, you know, like a wedding dress I feel like is easier to pass down because it doesn’t get worn constantly. 

Elsie: For sure. Okay. After the movie came out, production got a call from Barbra Streisand. Oh, I love Barbara, okay, who wanted to buy the house, don’t we all? Because the house was built on parkland and had Native American heritage. No digging was allowed, which was the real reason that the home was only a shelf. This was also the reason that the house, which was only a set, was torn down as soon as they finished filming. So first of all, it’s a tragedy. But second of all, Barbara, you have the cash. Build it. If you build it, they will come. Like, I want it to be real so bad. I will beg. 

Emma: I thought too, like, when I first read this, that she was calling to be like, Why wasn’t I in this movie? 

Elsie: Honestly, good question also. 

Emma: Could there be a third aunt? I don’t know how old she would have been when this came out. Maybe she’d be just one of the sisters. I don’t know. 

Elsie: The aunts do have a brother. Okay, I desperately want them to make a sequel of Practical Magic. One of the little girls Emma pointed out was Evan Rachel Wood or Evan Rachel Wood. 

Emma: She was then and she is now.

Elsie: And yeah, there is a whole nother book. There’s so much more story for all of these characters. It would be amazing if they would make another one soon, sooner than later. Put that on my wish list, too, with a lot of stuff. 

Emma: Dear universe, please, please, please. Yeah, I agree. For the final scene with all the townspeople at the Owens home, the entire population of the town where filming took place was invited to show up in costume and appear as townsfolk.

Elsie: I love that. 

Emma: Yeah, I love it so much. 

Elsie: That’s the dream. 

Emma: Yeah, plus, like, can you imagine getting some call that’s like, Hey, we’re filming a movie around here with Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock. If you want to show up dressed for Halloween, come on down. I’d be like, yes, what time do we need to be there?

Elsie: Yeah. Emma has been extra before in real movies and TV shows and stuff. I’ve never done it and I have a chip on my shoulder about it and I want to do it so bad. Like so bad. Especially Hocus Pocus 3. 

Emma: Oh yeah. I feel like though, a lot of times when you’re doing it when you live there, you don’t get to be in movies that you’re necessarily excited about. It’s just random, so it’s like you might get to be in something that you’re excited to watch over and over, but you might just be in, who knows? You know? Anyway, that would’ve been fun, and that’s really cute. 

Elsie: Yeah, I know. It’s not the point of being an extra.

Emma: Well, hopefully, they paid them, but I mean, whatever. I don’t really know what happened with that. 

Elsie: Okay. The black dog that followed Sally’s husband, Michael, to the day of his death, was no accident, according to several cultural traditions, mainly those of the British Isles and Latin America, a sign of impending death can take the form of black dots. They also have, in the books, a death watch beetle.

Emma: That’s in the movies, for sure. 

Elsie: It’s awesome. It’s like always coming around, like one week before you die, making a bunch of noise.

Emma: Which in a way, there is a part of me that’s like, You know, I wouldn’t mind getting a heads up the week that I was gonna die. I also kind of wouldn’t mind just knowing generally.

Elsie: That’s true. 

Emma: Because then I feel like you could plan so well. 

Elsie: It doesn’t tell you who it’s for in the home though, which is kind of stressful. 

Emma: Yeah, because you’d be like, is it my kid? 

Elsie: Because it’s not always obvious. 

Emma: Yeah, if someone was sick, you would probably think, oh, okay, it’s probably them. But if like no one’s sick, you’d be like, oh no, someone’s about to die. I don’t know who it is. 

Elsie: I’m glad they’re not real.

Emma: Oh, I had a thing for this. So we’re rating the movie, and I was like, let’s rate it from zero to five whipped cream cans. 

Elsie: What’s, wait, what’s that from? 

Emma: Well, in the movie, they, when they’re trying to bring the guy back to life because they’ve accidentally killed him, they have to make, draw a star on his chest. That’s part of the spell. And they’re like, oh, what do we use? What do we use? And they’re just like looking around in the kitchen and they just pull out a whipped cream can. Spray this with the star on it. And then she, like, takes a bite of it because she’s just hungry.

Elsie: Oh my gosh. 

Emma: It’s a funny scene. I feel like there’s a lot of memes out there now that’s like, you know, everyone talks about girl dinner, which just means, like, a bunch of snacks, I guess. And it’s like, here’s a girl dinner, and it just shows a photo of them with the whipped cream and they’re doing their spell, you know? Anyway. 

Elsie: That’s cute. Okay. Five for sure. 

Emma: Yeah. Five or six. Love this movie so much. Okay, well, let’s talk about the book Practical Magic. We’ve talked about it a little bit throughout this episode, but now we will dive a little deeper into just the book itself. And you can talk about the whole series if you like, because I know you just read them all and it probably is hard to keep them separate once you’ve seen the whole, you know, story unfold.

Elsie: Yeah. Okay. Let me explain what they all are and what the premises are. One of the main questions that I’ve heard people ask is like, what order is it best to read them in? So now that I’m an experienced professional, I will tell you. I honestly think they can be read in any order. I don’t think it matters. It’s just not that sort of thing. There are no spoilers. And the order I read them in was from prequel one, prequel two, Practical Magic, and then the sequel, which should be the perfect order, but I kind of, in the end, I was like, it wouldn’t, it wouldn’t have mattered at all. Anyway, okay, so the prequel one is called Magic Lesson, and it is the story of Maria Owen, so the like, original witch who makes the curse that no one in the Owens family can be in love, or her lover is doomed. 

Emma: She’s the one who almost gets hanged, but then the rope breaks, and they just banish her. 

Elsie: Yes. So that is her story, and then prequel two, It’s called The Rules of Magic, and it is pretty much the aunt’s origin story, and they have a brother, a magical brother. It’s like, very cute gay brother, very lovable character, and, yeah, it’s really good, I would say it was one of my top, and then Practical Magic, we all know, is the main book, what the movie is named after. And then the sequel is called The Book of Magic. And most people in my DMS said that that is the very best one. I kind of honestly thought they were all pretty equal. I thought they were all good. I would say like the worst one, maybe it was practical magic, even though it’s so good. It was probably just because it was the first one and the other ones have way more history and crossover and stuff, which is kind of nice. But yeah, they’re all winners. 

Emma: I’ve only read Practical Magic. I’ve read other Alice Hoffman books, but nothing else from the series. So yeah, the other Alice Hoffman I’ve read is Here on Earth, which was really good. But it was a long time ago that I read it. But yeah, she’s one of those authors who’s written a lot and I feel like her stuff is often well known or on a bestseller or it’ll be in like Oprah’s book club or things like that. So she’s pretty well known and I do think her writing is really lovely. I loved Practical Magic. I listened to it as an audiobook and it was a delight for those days that I was listening to it. It’s not super long either. I want to say it was a fairly quick, listen to a fairly quick read, and as far as like if you’ve seen the movie and you’re like, will I still enjoy the book? I do think it’s pretty different as far as the things they focus on and it’s also obviously a lot longer, you have a lot more time to get to know characters and to see things happen in a book versus a movie. They have much less time to tell you a story in a movie. And I just feel like they focus on different things. There’s a lot more about Sally’s kids in the book like what they’re up to and what their life is like. And I really enjoyed getting to learn more about them because they’re not huge characters in the movies. And what else? I also feel like, okay, so this, I want to know what you think about this. I feel like in the book, and I didn’t read the whole story, so just Practical Magic, I feel like it’s not as explicit as the movie about magic. I feel like you do know that they’re witches and you know that they do magic and you get that the town is kind of uncomfortable with them for this reason, but they also come to them with their love problems because the ants kind of have the side business where they will help you with your love problems through magic. It is in there, but I felt like in the book, it’s much more like, almost like how people talk about essential oils. Like it’s just much more like myths and like, what do they call them? Like old wives’ tales or like that type of like, Oh, I went to the doctor and that didn’t work. So now I’m going to ask my grandma for what spices she would put in her soup. You know what I mean? Like, it’s more like that kind of vibe. It’s not quite like Harry Potter. I’m going to cast a spell with a wand. Like I don’t feel like that happens in the book as much at all. 

Elsie: Yeah, I would definitely agree with that. I think it’s because the ants are like legit witches. And Sally and Jillian are more like, Sally is denying, like, her place as a witch, she’s kind of like, I’d rather be normal, and Jillian is like, not finding her power yet. So I think that that’s probably part of it, but I like that, I like that they’re not just like simply, you know, abracadabra, I think it’s really nice. Like lots of human stories, they’re definitely comfort reads. We were talking about Sally’s love interest, the one that happens with, like, the police or the detective man in the movie, how she was saying by the end of, this is a spoiler, big time.

Emma: Yeah, I think it’s okay. It’s been a long time. 

Elsie: She was like saying, you know, they were kind of just getting to know each other. And I was like, okay, well, I hate to tell you this, but in the next book after that, he’s just like instantly dead. Like Alice Hoffman is not into love scenes. Like those sex scenes are so tiny. There’s nothing, it’s not romantic. It’s honestly more about the sisters and the aunts and the female relationship with the daughters, which I love too. So that’s definitely her vibe. 

Emma: Yeah, I don’t feel like I expect romance from Alice Hoffman. It’s just not what she’s writing. 

Elsie: On the newer witch books, you kind of expect it to always be just like a basic romantic like enemies to lovers with witches, and this is very different from that. So I guess that’s what I’m trying to say is like, I appreciate how different it is. I’ve been trying to read every book I can get my hands on for two years and a lot of them are not that fun top for me. Pretty boring and this was like very interesting. It’s its own whole world You can go down. I’m definitely a super fan now I bought red shoes. I bought I planted a magnolia tree in my yard nice, and I’m definitely making the chocolate tipsy cakes.

Emma: Oh yeah, we’re gonna have the dinner party. Yeah, I think too, I like the treatment of magic in the book a lot because I think it feels more like real life. Because when you do read a witch book or a magical book where you can cast spells with a wand and everything’s fixed, It kind of makes it, I think, harder, at least for the author, to create tension. Because you’re like, why don’t you just wave your wand? Whereas, in this book, I feel like Alice Hoffman made a world where magic can’t do everything. In fact, it can do a number of pretty fantastical things, but there’s a lot it can’t do. And especially for the characters who are denied. 

Elsie: And sometimes it messes things up worse. And it can’t be changed back. So, like, a lot of times that’s what the spells end up doing. Yeah. It’s worse than originally. 

Emma: They have consequences and trade-offs, which again, feels very much like life, you know? Like, you make a choice, and you get something that you wanted, and something else happens that you didn’t necessarily want, but that’s just kind of, you know, the choices that you have. So, yeah, I think it’s really pretty. And, yeah, as we were talking about earlier, there’s not a lot of, romantic sexual love. It’s a lot more about women relying on each other, which I think is really fun and makes you think about family in a different way and it’s just really beautiful. It made me think a lot about you and like us getting older together, and how much I’ve relied on you in my life so far and how much I will probably continue to rely on you, and obviously we don’t have a romantic love, we have a sister love, you know, we’re sisters. And I think other people have that with a good friend. You don’t have to be sisters, but we are. And yeah, I just think that kind of love is special because it’s something that I know about. It’s something from my life. So when I see it in literature or movies, I guess I feel kind of seen and it makes me feel grateful for the things that I have in my life, like you. 

Elsie: Aww. Love you. 

Emma: I wish I could do magic, but alas. 

Elsie: Me too. Maybe one day. 

Emma: You never know. 

Elsie: Yeah. Okay. Well, let’s go now to our spooky joke and a fact with Nova. 

Elsie: Hey Nova, what do you have for us this week? 

Nova: I have a meditation. 

Elsie: What kind of meditation?

Nova:A halloween spooky meditation.  

Elsie: Oh, perfect. Okay, I’m closing my eyes. 

Nova: Imagine you were walking down a street looking for candy. Then suddenly, come to a spooky house. The door creaks open. You go inside. Then you meet a cheerful skeleton. And then, you say hi, you walk on. Then you see a light flash. You go into the room and you see a witch making spells. You say, wow, maybe I could try. And so you try. And then you go on to the top, to the balcony, and you can see everything. Then you spot a ghost needing help. You go and help him. He says thank you. Then you see a vampire. He says greetings. Hello. Then you stay for a few minutes, talking and drinking, and having a fun time. But then, you see it’s time to go. So you hop onto a bus and it takes you home. Then you spotted something. You spotted that the witch, the ghost, and all your other friends gave you a present. You were quick to grab it. Then you showed your mom and dad. They said wow. And then they said time for bed. And so you hop in bed and dream about your friends. Now open your eyes and before it’s done, take deep breaths in, and deep breaths out, and feel how your body feels. Do you feel good? Do you feel relaxed? Okay. Bye!

Elsie: We hope you enjoyed this episode. Please continue to send us your comfort rewatches. We will be back again next week with my Halloween favorite movie, Rosemary’s Baby. It was Emma’s first time to watch it, so yeah, we’ll see you next week.

1. After my last post and all your recommendations, I ordered the Whirley Pop and I already tried it. It’s AMAZING. I will be doing a blog post about it soon.

2. We’re about to have our first guest in our new guest room. I’ve been working really hard on setting it up. I love these makeup washcloths and I remembered this hair dryer bag from my bnb era. I even got this little WiFi card so they don’t have to ask us for the password. I love trying to make it feel like a fancy hotel. Would you like to see a blog post about setting up a guest space?

3. Currently reading Demon Copperhead. It’s really heartwrenching. I’m loving it, but I will probably do a palette cleanser like Paris: The Memoir as soon as I am done. I’d love to hear your book recommendations (anything from spooky, to funny to guilty pleasures).

4. I love this snail mucin essence and this. It’s my favorite Korean skincare I have tried. Oh yes, and I also like the snail mucin eye patches.

5. I am having SO much fun writing recipes for the blog. A few of my personal favorites recently are the classic margarita and classic old fashioned. And I loved creating shot recipes lately like the green tea shot and the cinnamon toast crunch shot. It’s fun learning new recipes and photography skills.

6. I just added this fire pit to our yard along with these chairs and it feels so cozy.

7. I just added a bunch of these shelves to our basement and I am so excited to get organized (and finally unpack our remaining boxes!).

8. The one fall recipe I really want to make with my kids is caramel apples.

9. I bought Emma the Anthro Beauty advent and I can’t wait to give it to her! For the kids, I decided to make small toy advents this year since I feel like small toys get overshadowed on Christmas. I thought this way they would get more attention. For the girls, I did their favorite characters like princesses or superheroes and for Oscar I did Paw Patrol and cars. I love the idea of advents and how they can spread out the fun of receiving small gifts! Btw, here is my heirloom advent calendar DIY.

10. Did you see this? Halloween Crafts for Adults (so fun!)

P.S. Here are some recent posts in case you missed them!

• Scooby Snack Shot
• How many glasses are in a bottle of wine?
• Stuffed Mushrooms
• Oreo Cake Pops
• Mexican Candy Shot
• Detroit-Style Pizza
• 30 No-Carve Pumpkin Ideas
• You’ve Been Booed (free printable)
• See more Halloween Ideas.