LilyLouTay’s Hannah Taylor Shares Her Secrets to a Stress-Free Thanksgiving (Exclusive)
LilyLouTay creator shares her Thanksgiving traditions, kitchen tips and favorite ways to unwind
Key Takeaways
- Hannah Taylor learned her love of baking by watching her grandmother cook.
- Hannah and her husband James met on Tinder and married after dating.
- Spending time outdoors with her animals is one of Hannah’s favorite ways to unwind.
For Hannah Taylor, food has always been about more than what’s on the plate. As the creator behind the social media phenomenon @LilyLouTay (named after her 3 kids), she’s built a devoted following by sharing her homemade dishes and everyday joys. “It’s like a family reunion,” she says of her 4 million followers. “We call it our little corner of the internet, and we’ve just been celebrating over there at Lily Lou Tay’s house.”
That spirit of using food to show love and build community comes naturally to Hannah. She learned to bake by watching her grandmother, whom she lovingly calls Granny, work her magic in the kitchen.
“I would sit on the other side of her counter and just watch her beautiful hands make dough,” she tells Woman’s World as our newest cover star (get your copy here). “She was so elegant. Then she’d blow some flour on me, and it was this magical experience. That’s how I fell in love with baking.”
And when Thanksgiving arrives, Hannah holds those memories close to her heart. For Hannah, her husband James, their three children and their many beloved animals, the holiday is all about quality time.
“We all cook something special and we just have so much fun,” she says. “It’s more like a Thanksgiving party with turkey, tequila (for the adults) and togetherness.” Here, her tips for letting go of stress, breaking the rules, digging into holiday joy and her turkey recipe!
Lean into the chaos
For Hannah, a little kitchen chaos is all part of the fun—especially when her three young children join her in the kitchen. “When we want the chaos to be amped up a little bit, with more flour flying everywhere, they’ll get in there and cook. I love it,” she says. And that joy in the beautiful mess seems to extend to all aspects of Hannah’s life. “I love chaos. I love the noise of it. I love every bit of it. But I also love my quiet time too. I feel like it’s so nice to have that balance.”
If you dream it, do it
“My hope was that everyone would read my cookbook and watch me and just trust themselves more,” Hannah says. “You can experiment with food—it’s so giving. We live in a world that tells us, ‘You need exact measurements.’ The truth is, you don’t! In fact, my craziest recipe ideas arrive in dreams, and they’ve worked out so wonderfully. One dream inspired me to combine pecan pie and apple pie with a cinnamon roll, and I thought, I’ve got to do this, and I made it the next morning!”
Write a love list
Hannah may be known for her cooking, but she’s also become the unofficial dating expert among her friends. Her advice? “Don’t just wing it. Have a list of what you’re looking for and all your requirements.” It’s advice she knows personally.
“James and I met online on Tinder. We were both previously married for 10 years. We decided to go on dates, and we had our own lists. We knew what we were looking for and as soon as we’d seen each other, we were like, ‘Yep, sold!’”
Today, seven years into their marriage, Hannah says, “Everything he does is so romantic. Every day, he opens my car door, and if I want to go fishing, he’ll take me fishing. Every time I go somewhere, he’s like, ‘I’ll drive you.’ His way of being romantic is to just be there.”
Unwind outdoors
For Hannah, some of life’s best moments happen outdoors, surrounded by the animals she loves. “We have dogs and cats. We did have some geese—they’re still around, but we have chickens too. “I’d have a lot more if James would let me,” she laughs. “I’d have horses, goats, cows. There’s no telling what else, Peacocks. That’s what I want to get next.” And when she’s not caring for her menagerie, Hannah says her favorite way to destress is simple: “Being in nature—swimming, walking, fishing. I love doing anything outside.”
Pick up Hannah’s children’s book
Hannah’s love of family, food and animals shines through in her cookbook, Measure With Your Heart, and her new children’s picture book, Loving Gracie, which tells the true story of a wild goose who became part of her family.
“It’s the story about what I went through, what we went through, raising Gracie and then her flying away,” Hannah says. “I miss her so bad. I get so attached to all my animals.” Follow Hannah on TikTok and Instagram at @LilyLouTay for more recipes, moments and everyday adventures.
Get more of Hannah Taylor’s interview below!
Watch fantastic moments here!
A version of this article originally appeared in the November 16, 2026 print issue of Woman’s World.
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