SMiLes by Meg

Peppermint Oreos

Looking back over the years, I’ve tried to make Oreos a few times. When I first moved into my apartment in Boston after law school, I gave them a go with this recipe. Then, a couple months later, I tried to recreate the Trader Joe’s candy cane Oreos with this recipe for my Christmas cookie boxes. Both seem to have been successes at the time, but they also both pale in comparison to the ones I made for my cookie boxes this year, a much more impressive looking and subtly peppermint variety out of BraveTart’s cookbook, of course. Christmas for

Butternut Squash Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving was different this year, and I definitely missed the big family gathering, traditional holiday foods (mostly the secret stuffing) and post-meal nap/movie on the couch. But, if we couldn’t have that this year, our little Thanksgiving was the perfect Plan B. We made this pie the night before, and decided, since there was no one coming over, there was no reason we couldn’t eat it for breakfast on Thanksgiving day. This could very much turn into a new tradition. The rest of our meal came together throughout the course of the day, interspersed with video calls with family and

Black Tea Ice Cream

Erik and I ran out of buttermilk ice cream, and I’ve been craving ice cream all week. So, naturally, this week I made more ice cream! And to make it different, I decided to try an ice cream recipe out of BraveTart, which, in Erik’s words, was “the perfect consistency.” Granted, we had just about finished a bottle of wine at this point and all ice cream was bound to taste good, but I do think it was particularly light and creamy. This recipe uses a double vanilla base and steeps in some black tea for the additional flavor, and

Fudge Stripe Cookies

This week’s recipe is courtesy of Marj, who sent me a very exciting housewarming gift – the BraveTart cookbook! This book is so fun. It’s full of homemade versions of classic desserts you definitely grew up eating, and it’s making me want to redo many recipes on my blog, where I had tried to do the same based on recipes on the internet. So don’t be surprised if you see a new version of Nutter Butters or Oreos or Rice Krispies in the coming weeks. But to start, I went with a cookie that I always considered a treat when