Friday Pick-Six: 3/9/18

Here's what we're loving and living for this week!

1.  We always get excited for great Target collaborations and this week, they announced an upcoming collection with Hunter!  You better believe we'll be standing in line for this one!

2.  We love stripes in any season, but they're especially great in the spring and summer.  Jess immediately ordered these earrings after spotting them 40% off at JCrew last week!   Can't wait to rock them!

3.  You guys know how much we love Smitten Kitchen and this week, we tried her black bean soup.  It was awesome served up with a little avocado toast on a Meatless Monday!

4.  It's time again for the GAP Friends and Family sale.  Everything is 40% off and free shipping with the code FRIEND.  We've got our eye on a few new arrivals for Spring including this top, and this floral dress.

5.  If you're looking for a great neutral nail polish that's perfect as a spring transitional color, try Essie Mixtaupe!  I tried it this week and my nails looked super professional and pretty all week! --J

6.  We each pinned this recipe for Penne ala Vodka to Pinterest within minutes of one another, so it must be a good recipe!  Going to have to try it out soon!

What are you loving and living for this week?  Let us know in the comments below and have a great weekend!

Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Cake

Hi all, it's Jess, baking again, as usual.  My kiddo loves something sweet for breakfast, so I'm always trying to find recipes for breakfast baked goods that aren't loaded with butter and sugar.  After seeing this lemon blueberry cake from Real Simple pop up on Pinterest, I knew we had to try it!

First things first, we gathered all our ingredients, all of which we had in the pantry or freezer. (Mom tip--frozen berries are a freezer staple!)

Mix together your dry ingredients (I know the recipe is a little different, but I try to keep it as simple as possible on a Sunday) in a bowl.  You're going to add a tablespoon of flour to mix together with the blueberries.  This will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the loaf.

Whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla.  I like to do this in my mixing bowl with the pouring spout, since it makes it easier to put into the pan.

Mix in your dry ingredients.  It will look a little thick at this point.  Then, stream in the oil as you whisk.  It might look like it's separated at first but will come together quickly.  Fold in the blueberries once it comes together.  Don't overmix it!

Sprinkle on the sugar, or you can be fancy like me and add cinnamon sugar.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let it cool a little before removing it from the pan and enjoy!

This cake is so easy and you most likely have everything in your house already!  It definitely tastes like a pound cake but doesn't have that pound of butter!  I was thinking that it would be super simple to substitute in other flavors to change it up, too.  This summer, I'll definitely try subbing blackberries and lime for the blueberries and lemon!  Also, if you want to make up a batch of lemon sugar for sprinkling on top, it would reinforce the flavors deliciously!

Give it a try and let me know how it goes in the comments!

TTO the Trend: Strappy Sandals

One of our favorite things about spring is switching to sandals!  Of course, it's not *quite* warm enough here, but that won't stop us from doing a little scouting and shopping.  Here are some of our favorite sandals out right now!

Top Row: (Left to Right): orange block sandal, Gladiator sandal, strappy flat, rose gold sandal

Bottom Row: (Left to Right): Knotted sandal, yellow block heel, navy mule, pink block heel

Will you be wearing strappy sandals this spring?  Which are your favorite?  Let us know in the comments below!

Friday Pick-Six: 3/2/18

Here's what we're loving and living for this week!

1.  Last week, we featured a post about our favorite bright lip colors as one of the latest beauty trends.  Check out this video tutorial on Popsugar featuring another adorable set of twins, Shanae and Shaniece Cole on how they rock this trend.

2.  Her recipes are always amazing, but how good does Smitten Kitchen's take on the classic boxed macaroni and cheese look?  We may need to give this a try soon!

3.  After seeing this Lavender Salve on one of our favorite blogs, Sweet Southern Prep, this week, I knew I had to order it.  I'm looking forward to comparing it to my old favorite, Smith's Rosebud salve.

4.  We upped our Taco Tuesday game with these fridge pickled veggies this week and they were awesome.  Next time, I think we'll add a jalapeno or two! I think they'd be great not just on tacos, but on a sandwich (pulled pork?), burger or whatever!

5.  The Oscars are Sunday!  Will you be watching?  Ry hosts an annual party (complete with swag bags), so we'll be watching together.

6.  If you love Meghan Markle (the Duchess to be)'s dress at her speaking engagement earlier this week, but the Jason Wu dress is too pricey, check out this article with some similar looks!  We knew we loved her--she also rocks navy and black together, which is one of our favorite looks!

What are you loving and living for this week?  Let us know in the comments below and TGIF!

Happy Blogaversary!

Can you believe it that it's been a whole year since we launched The Twins Take On?  The last year has been so busy for both of us!  We have really enjoyed sharing our takes on everything from recipes to trends to vacations to nail polish!  We hope that you have enjoyed reading, too.

We're looking forward to bringing you even more in our second year of TTO!  Thanks for all your love and support as our faithful readers!  We couldn't do it without you!  Stay tuned to see what we have in the works!

TTO the Trend: Florals for Spring

We know what you're thinking...

However, we think florals are always appropriate and springy!  We've checked around and found lots of great new ways you can incorporate floral patterns into your spring looks!

Top Row (Left to Right): Pajama pants, Kimono, Top, Dress

Bottom Row (Left to Right): Dress, Earrings, Shoes, Workout Leggings, Bathing Suit

Will you be wearing florals this spring?  Let us know how you're planning to rock this trend this spring in the comments below!

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Hey, all.  It's your resident baker, Jess.  If any of you out there have kids or nieces/nephews, you might have noticed how kids feel about granola bars.  I'm pretty sure my kid could polish off three or four of them in one sitting.  I love that they're a fast way to give her a snack, but I don't love the added sugar or processed nature.  So that's why I decided to give this recipe for Crunchy Oatmeal Peanut Butter Oats 'N Honey Bars from Half Baked Harvest (Btw, have you guys seen this blog?  Everything she cooks looks amazing and her brother is Red Gerard, recent Olympic Gold Medalist).

Anyway, to get started, I grabbed my ingredients, all of which I already had in my pantry.  I substituted canola oil (see my note at the end) for coconut oil.

You'll want to mix together the peanut butter, oil and honey and microwave it in a measuring cup for around a minute.  Baker tip--spray the inside of your measuring cup with cooking spray to keep the honey from sticking to the cup.

Once it's heated, add the brown sugar and vanilla and stir to combine.    In the meantime, mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix thoroughly.  Again, you might want to spray your spatula to prevent it from sticking.

Pour it into the pan, which we sprayed and lined with parchment paper.  Spray the back of a measuring cup and use it to press down the mixture.  You want it to pack tightly together so that it holds when you bake.  This is a great job for a kid sous chef.

The recipe says to heat the extra peanut butter in the microwave and drizzle on top.  Mine never really got thin enough to drizzle, so I just sort of spread it around.

Bake for around 20 minutes and then let it cool for 10-20 minutes before slicing (see note).  Now get ready to snack!

Notes:

• The recipe only calls for 2 tablespoons of oil, but I found that my mixture was a little on the dry side.  As a result, the bars crumbled a little as I cut and stored them.  I think if I were to make them again, I would add another tablespoon of oil and/or more peanut butter to give it a little more moisture.
• The recipe suggests you cool the bars for 10-20 minutes before slicing.  I'd say, I would cut around 10 minutes of cooling.  I waited longer and found that the bars were starting to get a little brittle.  We'll probably eat the pieces as granola, but if you want actual bars, cut sooner.

There you have it!  A great snack AND you can feel good about them because they're homemade.  Give them a try and let us know what you think in the comments below!