She might have to change her brand to Mmmagnolia.

Apparently raising five kids, running a design empire and launching her own television network isn’t enough to keep Joanna Gaines busy, she also creates delicious recipes too?!

With her lifestyle brand, Magnolia, ever expanding the Fixer Upper star has taken to sharing recipes and food tips that are fun and family friendly. In her latest blog post, Gaines welcomes summer with a thoughtful celebration. She shares that rather than focusing on a to do list for the season, she chooses a word to serve as a guidepost for her family. “Directing our focus toward an idea like exploration, curiosity, or even simplicity gives us a framework for how we ought to spend our time this season—which, in return, promises that it will be a summer well spent,” she writes. Well, the word she must have chosen this year is “delicious” because she then shares her Watermelon Mint Lemonade recipe and it looks like the perfect escape for those hot summer days. Oh, and don’t worry there is no shiplap in this recipe.

Watermelon Mint Lemonade

1 ½ quarts water

½ cup sugar

2 sprigs mint, plus more for garnish

5–6 cups cubed watermelon

½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4 lemons)

Instructions

In a large pot bring water and sugar to a light boil until the sugar is dissolved and your mixture is clear, stirring to dissolve sugar—this will be your simple syrup. Turn off the heat and toss in the sprigs of mint. Allow mint to steep for 15 minutes, then remove it from the simple syrup and discard sprigs. Allow mint-infused syrup to cool for about 10 minutes and then pour into a blender with the watermelon. Blend until smooth and then pour mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a pitcher to get rid of any seeds and pulp. Add lemon juice to the pitcher and stir. Serve immediately over ice with a sprig of mint for garnish.

To keep up with Joanna and her ever expanding universe click here.

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Could I be any more excited about these cookies?

Friends may have ended its initial run over 15 years ago but the impact it left on pop culture has withstood the test of time. Aren’t we all still pining for the Ross to our Rachel? Haven’t you spent years trying to come up with an alias as influential as Regina Phalange?  Don’t you and your roommate spend most nights trying to master the game of cups…ok that last one might just be me. In any event, the beloved sitcom has found yet another way to wiggle its way into our homes with the release of an upcoming cookbook, “Friends: The Official Cookbook,” expected to hit shelves this fall. Since it’s 2020 and the year is moving by at a glacial pace, news of an upcoming book simply won’t keep us satisfied. Luckily for us, a few pages of the book are available as a sneak peek and Yahoo has shared one with the recipe for “Chocolate Chip Cookies The French Way” from the episode “The One With Phoebe’s Cookies.”

In case you haven’t seen the episode recently in one of the many rerun marathons on various networks, in this episode Monica asks Phoebe for her grandmother’s secret chocolate chip cookie recipe so she can be the mom who makes the best cookies. After Phoebe reveals that the recipe was lost in her recent apartment fire, they try to recreate the recipe by tasting the last remaining cookie Phoebe had in her freezer. After 22 attempts at replicating the recipe it’s discovered that the “friend” from whom Phoebe’s grandmother learned the recipe was none other than Nestlé Tollhouse…aka the major Swiss food and beverage company. In Phoebe’s disappointment she looks down at the floor and screams to her dead grandmother “It’s because of stuff like this that you’re BURNING IN HELL! ” which only solidifies my theory that Phoebe Buffay is the best character ever.

Well instead of wasting 22 batches of cookie dough on an almost perfect cookie, although one batch did make Ross vomit, you can simply just follow the recipe listed in the upcoming book. The trick seems to be refrigerating the dough several times throughout the process but according the Yahoo, these will be the best cookies you ever make. Here’s the recipe:

Credit: YahooLife

Yum, sounds even better than Emma’s inappropriate, phallic-shaped 1st birthday cake.

The official cook book is expected to hit shelves on September 22nd. For more on Yahoo’s experience baking the cookies, click here.

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We all know Chrissy has good taste…have you seen her husband?

Ever get halfway through recipe prep before realizing you are missing just one ingredient? Makes you feel like swiping the counter clear and just ordering a pizza right? Well, it doesn’t have to be so violent or so messy because there are easy substitutions that can help any chef in a pinch. Don’t worry I’m not just going to let you guess which substitutions work best, that would be cruel…hilarious…but cruel. Instead, I am going to refer to supermodel, tv personality and cookbook author Chrissy Teigen who recently shared an excellent guide to substitutions.

CravingsByChrissyTeigen.com

On her website, Cravings by Chrissy Teigen, the multi-hyphenate shares dozens of swaps for things you might just run out of on the regular. Kids finished up the milk in their morning cereal, Chrissy’s got you. Finished up all that olive oil during your last Italian feast, Chrissy has a swap for ya. Used up all that butter trying to slip into your jeans post-quarantine weight? Yup, Chrissy has a solution for that too. Like many of us Chrissy has been trying to find new ways to stay creative in the kitchen during this time of socially distancing. She writes,

“If I have learned anything from these past few weeks, it’s that being creative in the kitchen isn’t just fun, it’s necessary! There have been so many times where I crave something, but don’t have all the ingredients to make it. And, I don’t know about you, but once I want something I must. eat. it. So, I’ve been using these different ingredient hacks to get the job done. Just think of this as one less trip to the grocery store and STAY HOME!”

Well put Chrissy. To see all of the clever substitutions on Chrissy’s site, click here! Happy cooking and stay home!

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