It is so exciting that people have seen me on television over the past two days. In case it hasn’t aired in your area yet, my good friends at WKTV Utica/Rome filmed me cooking earlier this month and put together a wonderful segment about The Naptime Chef. In it you’ll see me cooking my healthy, favorite Butternut Squash Ginger Soup with Cider for Television. I hope to put the actual clip up soon (complete with a reference to Julie & Julia!), but in the mean time here is the recipe!
Recipe
Butternut Squash Ginger Soup with Cider from The Naptime Chef™
Ingredients
3 medium butternut squash
3 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and diced
2 T. chopped fresh ginger
1 t. allspice
1 t. cinnamon
6 c. vegetable stock
½ c. heavy cream
1 cup fresh apple cider
Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Brush a baking sheet with olive oil and set aside.
2. Peel and cube butternut squash. Spread the squash evenly on the baking sheet and place in oven to roast for 30 minutes. Toss the squash once with a wooden spoon halfway through roasting.
3. Meanwhile, in a deep saucepan or dutch oven heat the olive oil and sauté the onion, garlic, ginger and spices until the onion is translucent. Then, slowly pour in the vegetable stock and bring to a boil.
4. When the squash is finished roasting add it to the soup. Turn off the heat and use a handheld blender to puree all of the ingredients.
5. Finally, stir in cream until completely incorporated. Then, stir in cider.
Becoming a parent requires developing a new sensibility about home cooking. Nothing throws a wrench into a family’s food life like the birth of a baby. Gone are the long hours of free time available for “project cooking” and making homemade puff pastry. Once a child arrives we, the parents, are forced – often under extreme duress – to develop a whole new approach to our kitchens. All of sudden we find ourselves steeling free moments during the day and evening to cook dinner, bake cookies or simply mix a much-needed cocktail. In addition, any remaining blink of free time is used to complete basic, but necessary, household chores likes laundry and bill-paying. In short, all it takes is one baby to take everything we once knew about happily cooking at home, and turn it upside down.
I was sad to discover that cooking and eating at home had indeed become a problem for my friends over a playgroup discussion in 2008. As I shared my strategy for make-ahead Chicken Tortellini Soup and Eggplant and Prosciutto lasagna, several people confessed to succumbing to the formulaic solutions often foisted upon new families. Many of them were turning to uninspired boring ideas like meals made in a short time-frame, with 5 ingredients or less, or assembled with a “fast, easy, fix-it” mentality. They had given up any hope of enjoying good food. Instead, taking the position that family cooking is a problem that needs to be solved, rather than a daily routine that should be enjoyed. It was at that point I realized my personal home cooking strategy and recipes were more relevant then I had previously thought.
A year ago I started this blog to inspire parents and foodies alike, record my ideas and share my revised approach to home cooking as a parent. Since 2007, despite the ceaseless demands of my wonderful daughter, I have stubbornly refused to let go of my favorite activities, cooking and baking. Most of time I cook and bake during her afternoon naptime, sometimes I cook on the fly, and on many nights we have leftovers or, occasionally, take-out. But, not matter what, I insist on enjoying my time in the kitchen. In two short years I have made the transition from fun singles and couples cooking a la “Big Girls, Small Kitchen” – a time in my life I remember fondly – to becoming a true Naptime Chef.
The key to fitting great food into family life, I find, is to marry the voices of the foodie and the parent in my mind. My dishes are inspired by many sources including the farmer’s market, cookbooks, magazines or just what I happen to be craving that day. In that way I act like a complete foodie. However, before I actually cook or bake anything, I consider the time-frame in which it can be made, how many ways I can serve it and what might be freezer-friendly. In that way I think like a parent. Both perspectives are absolutely necessary when enjoying home cooking, they are inextricably intertwined. Parenting is forever, and good food should be, too.
I am glad you have joined me as I capture this time in my life and write it down for you to read. I hope you understand how I fit delicious food into my hectic daily life and feel inspired to do so in yours. In addition to my writing, I’ve also been filming my webisodes to demonstrate exactly how I do things in my kitchen. And, trust me, those videos are the absolute truth. I have never had any sort of regular nanny or babysitter, I film everything while my daughter is napping – from start to finish.
Thank you all for reading and leaving such wonderful comments, it is always much appreciated. I look forward to a fantastic coming year and already have lots on the docket to share with you. In the mean time, please feel free to leave any and all feedback, your thoughts are always welcome. Happy New Year!
My Day So Far: A happy relaxing Christmas Eve catching up with friends and family.
Naptime Goals: Take 10 minutes to whip up dough for Cinnamon Chip Scones tomorrow morning. Spend the rest of the day in front of fireplace.
Tonight’s Meal: Christmas dinner at a friend’s house = no cooking for me!
Parenting Lesson of the Day: There is nothing like the holidays and promises of Santa to send children into orbit!
A happy holiday season to all! I am stopping in with a quick post today because, no matter the occasion you are celebrating, you are going to need breakfast. Needless to say, given that I’ve risen at 7am or earlier for the past two years, I have become something of a breakfast expert. Pancakes in a jiffy? I’m your girl. Homemade yogurt shake with fresh berries? No problem. My daughter and I spend ample amount of time in the kitchen between the hour of 7 and 8am. She eats while I fix food for the both of us, and several cups of tea for me.
These scones are quickly becoming a traditional Christmas breakfast in our family. I’ve been experimenting with all sorts of scone recipes over the past few Christmases, even landing on one similar to what Megan wrote about earlier this month. I thought I’d stick with that recipe until my friend Nicole, a favorite source of delicious inspiration, generously contributed her own version.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a recipe to me if I didn’t spend some time tweaking the ingredients. To start with, I decided to use cinnamon chips. Mini-chocolate chips would be delicious too, of course, but cinnamon seemed like a particularly Christmas-breakfast like spice, sweet without being overly so. Then, per the suggestion of Nicole, I added some fresh orange zest and glossed the top with milk and a sprinkling of raw sugar. The result was a buttery, mildly cinnamon scone with a light flaky texture. Upon first bite I knew these were the ones I’d been looking for.
Like most good doughs, this one is perfect to make ahead of time. In fact, this afternoon I am whipping up a double batch and putting it in the fridge to bake tomorrow morning. Then I’ll be getting my daughter up from her nap and watching her tear around the house with excitement. At two years old she doesn’t quite understand that holidays yet, but she knows something fun is happening. I’m sure it will be hard to get her to sleep tonight, and, honestly, it will probably be hard for me to sleep, too. I’ll lay awake all snug in my bed, while visions of scones dance in my head.
Recipe
Cinnamon Chip Scones
Ingredients
2 c.
all-purpose flour
1/3 c.
sugar
1 t.
orange zest
1 t.
baking powder
½ t.
baking soda
6 T.
chilled butter, cut into pieces
¾ c.
cinnamon chips
¾ c.
heavy cream
1
large egg yolk
1 t.
vanilla
2-3 T.
whole milk
3 T.
raw sugar
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.
2. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda into a bowl. Add orange zest and rub it together with some of the sugar between your forefingers to release the flavor.
3. Add the butter pieces and work it into the dry ingredients with your clean (!) hands or a pastry blender. Work until the mixture resemble small peas. Toss the cinnamon chips with a pinch of flour and then add to the butter mixture.
4. In a separate bowl whisk together egg yolk, heavy cream and vanilla. Pour in a steady stream into the butter mixture, stirring continuously until the dough becomes sticky and everything is incorporated. AT THIS POINT DOUGH CAN BE WRAPPED IN PLASTIC AND REFRIGERATED.
5. Press dough into a circle that is 1″ thick. Cut into wedges and place on baking sheet. Brush the tops of each scone with milk and scatter with raw sugar. As you can see above, I often cut them into some small pieces too – they are good for little hands!
6. Bake for 20 minutes, or until edges are golden brown.
Naptime Notes
Naptime Recipe Serving ideas
Mini-Chocolate Chips or dried cherries (or both!) taste fantastic with this recipe if you are don’t want cinnamon. Also, feel free to substitute lemon zest for orange zest – or not use any zest at all – to alter the citrus notes.
Naptime Stopwatch
Making this dough takes about 15 minutes. Then all that is left is the baking!
Naptime Reviews
This is a winner with almost everyone in my family. These scones are neither too sweet or bland, there flakey texture and cinnamon spices appeal to just about anyone and everyone!
My Day So Far: Christmas-chaos! Present wrapping, stocking-stuffer shopping, packing for Cooperstown, cleaning out the fridge, etc, etc, etc (!!!)
Naptime Goals: Make Ragu to get us through the next two nights before we travel. Finish, well…. everything. There is no end to what needs to get done before the 25th.
Tonight’s Meal:Ragu with Rigatoni.
Tomorrow’s Meal: Ragu over Polenta.
Parenting Lesson of the Day:Children are impervious to the cold; parents are not.
Ragu, one of my favorite cold weather foods, was on my mind earlier this month while reading Merrill’s post about it on Food52. After reading salivating over her article I moved it to the top of my winter foods list, my source of inspiration when the forecast calls for fleece-lined boots and trapper hats. The food gods must have been watching me work because right on cue, just days after writing r-a-g-u in my notebook, the thermometer plummeted from a balmy 50º to below freezing. It is no secret that I am not a fan of cold-weather, but in this instance I was kind of happy about it. Great, I thought, now it is officially the proper climate for making Ragu.
I get just as excited about my first go-round of favorite winter foods as I do by the first cookout of summer. Opening my binder to cold weather recipes signifies the start of the new cooking season. For me, pulling out instructions for lasagnas, stews and slow-cooker meals is like catching up with old friends. I read each one carefully, reacquainting myself with the flavors and cooking styles, then get excited about what I’m going to make first.
Reading over these recipes became even more relevant this year when I quickly realized my daughter does not share my distaste for the cold. She is completely unfazed by ice and frigid winds, requesting daily trips to the playground as if it were still August. If my winter continues this way, I think it means that I’ll be doing lots of cold-weather cooking this year. We will surely be in need of lots food to warm us up after chilly days outdoors.
Ragu is one of the most perfect cold weather meals, the rich meaty tomato sauce is a thick stick-to-your-ribs kind food that can be served any number of ways. As you’ll see, I serve it over pastas, polenta and have even eaten it on top of a thick slice of peasant bread sprinkled with cheese. Every time I make it I like to adjust the flavor by playing with the ingredients. In this webisode I’m using fresh pork sausage from my butcher, but I have also used ground lamb, beef and even turkey. I also like to change up the herbs and vegetables sometimes, both are easy and fun ways to alter the flavor of the sauce.
The true brilliance of making Ragu for families is that it can be eaten for several meals and freezes beautifully. I often make this during my daughter’s naptime and we eat it in a variety of forms for two or three days. Then I freeze a small container so that we have more stashed away for a night when I am dead tired at 5pm and haven’t done any Naptime Chef-ing. Luckily my daughter has taken to eating Ragu. Like most children she is a big fan of noodles, so my addition of a tasty red sauce makes her all the happier to clean her plate. I hope you all feel the same way! Enjoy!
Recipe
Ragu for Cold Weather
Ingredients
2 lbs.
fresh sausage, casings removed
1
medium onion, finely chopped
2
cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 c.
carrot, finely chopped (optional)
1 c.
red wine
56 oz.
Whole peeled plum tomatoes, or diced tomatoes, with juices
1
bay leaf
1
sprig fresh rosemary
Kosher salt and fresh black pepper
(See below for additional flavor variation ideas)
Instructions
1. Place a heavy bottom pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Drizzle some olive oil into the pan and allow it to warm up. Then, add the sausage and break it into pieces with a wooden spoon. Cook the meat until it is completely browned, adding pinches of salt and pepper while it is cooking.
2. Once the meat is cooked add the onion and carrot and stir until the onion has become translucent. About 5 minutes. Next, add the garlic and cook for another minute or two.
3. Add the red wine to the mixture and scrape up the brown bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Then, let the mixture simmer until it is reduced by about half.
4. Pour in the tomatoes. Use a wooden spoon to break up the tomatoes into chunks if you are not using diced tomatoes. Be careful! The tomatoes will squirt everywhere if you jab them too hard – be gentle. Add the bay leaf and rosemary and stir into the mixture.
5. Let the sauce simmer on the stove for an 1- 1 ½ hours. Take a look occasionally and give it a stir.
6. After the sauce has thickened to a desirable consistency remove from heat. Take out the bay leaf and stem from the rosemary sprig. Serve hot!
Naptime Notes
Naptime Recipe Serving ideas
There are many possibilities for flavor combinations when making ragu. You could use ground lamb, turkey, beef or almost any kind of sausage. It is also fine to combine meats as well. For herbs you could try basil, thyme, or any kind of bouquet garni. I also love addition other vegetables, carrots, red or green pepper or mushrooms all would taste delicious.
Naptime Stopwatch
The prep time for Ragu is roughly 15 minutes, the rest is just about waiting while it simmers on the stove.
Naptime Reviews
Most everyone loves ragu. We have fun now deciding what we flavors we are going to try each time make it. I encourage everyone to make it their own!
My Day So Far: Distributed all the Christmas gift bags, weekly Friday farmers market visit, mushroom soup for mother/daughter lunch. Naptime Goals: Write timeline for Christmas cooking next week, wrap gifts and hide them (!), make Katie’s Candy for tonight’s party. Tonight’s Meal: Buccatini Alla’ Amatriciana – a favorite go-to dinner. Parenting Lesson of the Day: Toddlers love unwrapping presents, even when they are not their own!
The Christmas spirit is alive and well in our house. My daughter has spent the day searching for gifts she suspects I’ve wrapped and hidden from her (she’s right) because she loves nothing more than tearing off paper and bows. Truth be told, I don’t think she really cares about what is actually underneath the paper, she is still at the stage where she just likes the act of unwrapping in general. In keeping with the holiday season we’ve been to several parties lately and we have another tonight. I am not hosting this particular party, but I do plan on taking some homemade Katie’s Candy to the hostess.
I’ve named this after the person who gave it to me because she deserves the credit. Katie has given me some of my favorite recipes over time, and this is yet another one from her treasure trove. Katie actually gave this to me when I was in high school and beginning to make homemade Christmas gifts for my friends. It was the perfect recipe to start with. It only takes a few steps to make, requires four simple ingredients and is unbelievably delicious.
I’ve seen this recipe around in other places and have sometimes heard it referred to as “poor man’s toffee” or “cracker bark.” These names come from the fact that the simple act of baking the butter and sugar over the crackers forms a pure toffee. The unsalted cracker remains as the innocuous core, giving it structure without any undesirable taste. For extra flavor sometimes I like to top the bark with sliced almonds or chopped hazelnuts, but in this particular case I used holiday sprinkles to make it party-perfect.
When I used to make this for my friends I would break up the tray of candy into pieces and put them in clear treat bags. For my friend’s party I will break it into shards, separated the layers with wax paper, and take them to her house in a Tupperware. As you can see by the directions below, the eight minutes of baking time means that preparing this candy while my daughter naps is a snap. The 15 minutes of preparation time is easily one of the fastest ways to prepare toffee that I have ever found. And, happily, the quick preparation time means I can spend the rest of naptime taking care of family holiday gifts – making sure I don’t leave a trace for my daughter to find when she wakes up!
If you have Christmas parties to attend this weekend I guarantee this will be a surefire hit. I know it was for my friend, and it was for my daughter, too. I let her have a nibble after it had fully cooled in the fridge. I think it has become her most favorite part about Christmas, next to the gift unwrapping, of course.
Recipe
Katie’s Simple Christmas Candy
Ingredients
40
unsalted saltine crackers
2
sticks unsalted butter
1 cup
dark brown sugar
12 oz.
semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c.
sliced almonds, or other toppings (suggestions below)
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Line a 10×15 jelly roll pan with aluminum foil. On the foil line up 40 crackers so that they fit snuggly.
3. Melt butter and sugar together over medium heat in a saucepan. Once it is all melted pour the hot mixture over the crackers. The crackers will “float” at a bit, try to keep them all lined up.
4. Bake for 8 minutes, the mixture will be nice and bubbly.
5. Remove from the oven and immediately scatter the chocolate chips on top. As they begin to melt smooth them with a spatula so that they cover the entire tray.
6. Place pan in the refrigerator until cool and set. At least 2 hours.
7. Break into pieces and serve.
Naptime Notes
Naptime Recipe Serving ideas
There are endless possibilities for topping this bark. I suggest sliced almonds, chopped hazelnuts, chopped pistachios, chopped pecans or sprinkles. I bet sea salt would be good, too!
Naptime Stopwatch
Making this candy takes 5 minutes of preparation, 8 minutes of baking and about 2 hours of cooling. Leaving the rest of naptime to get other things done!
Naptime Reviews
Adults and children alike love this candy bark. The pure toffee taste appeals to even the pickiest of candy connoisseur.
My Day So Far: Manic Thursday! Visited Macy’s Santa-land (can’t help it, I promised my daughter!), picked up gift packaging materials, bakery for fresh baguettes.
Naptime Goals: Finish Peppermint Bark and assemble gift bags, laundry, book sitter for date night. Tonight’s Meal: Paprika Pork Stew I made last night – it always tastes better the next day.
Parenting Lesson of the Day: It is unwise to let a toddler sample peppermint bark before bedtime.
I know I’ve been clamoring on and on about this all month, but edible Christmas gifts are a thing of mine. I’ve already told you about Apricot Jam, Spiced Walnuts and Peppermint Hot Fudge Sauce, and today I’m going to tell you about Peppermint Bark. I adapted this recipe from one I found in Bon Appetit years and years ago. Since then I’ve seen it turn up on other people’s sites, including here and here. It appears this recipe has many fans, and rightly so. Then, leave it to good ole’ BA, they ended up giving us a recipe on how to use this bark incookies in the December 2009 issue! They are amazingly delicious, I tell you, but I’ll leave that post for another time.
Peppermint Bark is ubiquitous this time of year, and after sampling many many varieties I can confirm, with a great deal of authority, that this recipe is indeed the best. It has just the right balance of chocolate, sugar and peppermint. It is neither too hard, nor too soft, and I love the way the crushed candies add a nice crunch that won’t break your teeth.
As I mentioned above, I purposely planned ahead with dinner, making Paprika Pork Stew the evening prior and leaving it the fridge for the flavors to marry overnight. This way I had all of my daughter’s naptime to make my batches of Peppermint Bark and get them ready for distribution. In this webisode I show you how I make the peppermint bark – whilst tackling several loads of laundry and catching up on emails – and how they fit into my finished gifts bags. (Parents note: I fit in my chores while the chocolate is chilling.)
Recipe
Three Layer Holiday Peppermint Bark
adapted from Bon Appetit December 1998
Ingredients
16 oz.
white chocolate, finely chopped (make sure it has “cocoa butter” in the ingredients!)
30
hard peppermint candies, crushed
8 oz.
bittersweet chocolate, (at least 60%), finely chopped
6 T.
heavy cream
¾ t.
peppermint extract
Instructions
1. Line a 9×13 baking pan or jelly roll pan with aluminum foil.
2. In a double-boiler, or heatproof bowl set on top of a bowl of simmering water, add the white chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Remove chocolate from the heat.
3. Pour 2/3 of the chocolate onto the aluminum foil and spread the chocolate to cover the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle this chocolate with ½ of the crushed candies. Place pan in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a heavy saucepan combine bittersweet chocolate, cream and peppermint extract. Warm, stirring frequently, until chocolate and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and cool until it is room temperature.
5. Remove baking sheet from the fridge and spread the dark chocolate on top of the white chocolate and candies. Return pan to fridge and chill again for 25 minutes.
6. Finally, remove baking pan from fridge and reheat white chocolate. Spread on top of dark chocolate layer and sprinkle with remaining candy. Return to fridge and allow to chill for 30 minutes.
7. Once bark is completely chilled break into pieces as large or small as desire.
Storage/Packing Notes: It is really best to store this in a cool, dry place. I always wrap it in parchment paper before putting it in a gift tin. Also, don’t store it with other foods or they will absorb the peppermint flavor!
Naptime Notes
Naptime Recipe Serving ideas
This one of the best, and easiest, edible gifts to give. If you want to make this two-layer, simply omit step three.
Naptime Stopwatch
As you can see, making this takes about 45 minutes, because of the chilling involved, but a lot of that time is free time when you can do other things.
Naptime Reviews
Everyone I have ever given this to raves about it. In fact, some years I give the recipe along with the gift!
My Day So Far: Playdate with daughter, totally random errands (buying toothpaste and balloons?!), mother/daughter grilled cheese lunch.
Naptime Goals: Bake Eggnog Cookies for Ashley’s housewarming, finish online Christmas shopping, Ironing (least favorite chore). Tonight’s Meal: Leftover Eggplant and Prosciutto Lasagna.
Parenting Lesson of the Day: Do pick up balloons for your friend’s party; don’t take your two year-old with you unless you expect to buy her balloons, too.
*Note: I am thrilled to submit this cookie recipe to the 12 Days of Sharing event taking place at In Jennie’s Kitchen. Jennifer Perillo and her co-hosts are doing a fantastic job using this event to help end hunger, a cause that is especially relevant during the holiday season. I hope you’ll use the donation button to the right of this post to make a donation to Share our Strength this holiday season.
We are all crazed during the holiday season, myself included. As you can see from the list above, my goals these days are ambitious, but no less so than anyone else I know. Everyone seems to be running to and fro, purchasing gifts, rushing to performances and prepping for holiday parties. I find that day to day parenting is a lot of work and adding a major holiday season on top of these duties is enough to send anyone over the edge. To keep myself from crossing to the other side I do my best to plan my days carefully to keep them manageable and reasonable, and to enjoy myself while I get things done. To kick off the celebrations this weekend we are going to our friend’s Ashley and Kevin’s housewarming party at their new home in Westchester, and I am bringing eggnog cookies.
I love baking just as much as I love cooking (as if you couldn’t tell that already!). Over the past year, while the my daughter has graduated from crawling to walking to running full stop, I’ve figured out that if I want a hassle-free baking experience the best time to do it is while she naps, or is out on a weekend activity with her father. Additionally, since I have other things to do while I have free time, like laundry, present wrapping, etc, it is best for me to have dinner already planned so as not to overload myself with too much to do in one two-hour stretch. On this occasion I had my Eggplant and Prosciutto Lasagna in the fridge from the previous night, so all I needed to concentrate on was my eggnog cookies and other chores.
This recipe was given to me by my friend Susan who ripped it off of the back of an eggnog carton a few Christmases ago. Over time I’ve adapted it, adding spices and a little boozy flavor, and changed the topping from an eggnog to a browned butter icing. I prefer the browned butter icing since it has a sweet nutty flavor that works well with the eggnog in the cookies and adds a complexity to the dough rather than icing in the original recipe. Unlike a lot of Christmas cookies these have more shortbread taste, dense and buttery with a hint of spice, they are cakey and less sweet then many more conventional holiday treats.
Since these are so easy to make squeezing cooking baking in along with the rest of my naptime to-do list was not a problem. While they baked I was able to catch up on laundry, and then I iced them after I’d finished my online Christmas shopping. I know Ashley is going to love these when I take them to her house this weekend, and thank goodness I doubled the recipe, because my family loves these, too.
Recipe
Eggnog Cookies with Browned Butter Icing
Ingredients
1 c.
unsalted butter, softened
1 c.
granulated sugar
1
egg
1 c.
non-alcoholic eggnog (not low-fat!)
1 t.
rum extract
3 1/3 c.
all-purpose flour
1 t.
baking powder
1 t.
baking soda
½ t.
Kosher salt
½ t.
nutmeg
1 t.
cinnamon
For Icing:
adapted from Martha Stewart Cookies
5 T.
unsalted butter
2 c.
powered sugar
1/8 c.
evaporated milk
1 t.
good quality vanilla extract
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line cookie sheets with Silpat or parchment paper.
2. In an electric mixer cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and eggnog, mix until smooth. Then add the rum extract. Mix to incorporate.
3. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and cinnamon. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
4. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls on the cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookie begin to turn golden brown. Allow cookies to cool.
5. To make Icing: Sift confectioners’ sugar in a bowl. In a saucepan over low heat, melt butter and allow to cook until it turns a golden brown and has a nutty flavor. About 3 minutes. Swirl butter occasionally during cooking. Remove from heat and immediately add to confectioners sugar, bringing in any browned buts from the pan. Add evaporated milk and vanilla, stir until smooth. Allow to cool and ice the cookies.
Naptime Notes
Naptime Recipe Serving ideas
For eggnog lovers this is the ultimate cookie. Cakey, buttery and not to sweet, these cookies are the perfect treat for the holidays or to add to any cookie plate. If you don’t have time to bake these immediately, simply wrap the dough and put in the fridge. It will stay just fine. Also, if you need to wait to ice the cookies, place them in an airtight container and they can be iced up to 12 hours after being baked without loosing any flavor.
Naptime Stopwatch
Making this dough takes about 15 minutes, and the icing another 5 minutes.
Naptime Reviews
Even my daughter liked their slightly boozy flavor!
Location: My parent’s house,Cooperstown NY My Day So Far: Filmed cooking segment for WKTV Utica/Rome, returned emails, leftover butternut squash soup from cooking segment for lunch. Naptime Goals: Pack suitcases, bake Herbs de Provence Popovers for snack and dinner, wrap Christmas gifts, catch up with Dad.
Tonight’s Meal: My Mom is cooking (yeah – a break for me!)
Parenting Lesson of the Day: Grandparents are helpful to have around.
While visiting my parent’s in Cooperstown this week, I found myself in the mood for a hot savory snack on Monday mid-afternoon. Luckily, since my mom was cooking that evening, during my daughter’s naptime I had two hours completely free for baking projects, suitcase packing, gift wrapping and a quick catch up with Dad. Given my savory craving I opted out of baking yet another batch of Christmas cookies, and instead decided to make my favorite popovers. A piping hot buttery roll was just the ticket for a chilly afternoon snack, plus I knew they would pair beautifully with our meal that evening.
My favorite part about making popovers is that delicious reward comes from minimal effort. Unlike a complicated butter pastry, this dough can be mix together with relative ease and put straight into the oven. Furthermore, it can be flavored almost any way you like. In my first batch I used my favorite Herbs de Provence, and in the second I added freeze dried chives (there is nothing wrong with freeze dried herbs when fresh aren’t available). Either work well, you could also add cheese, other herbs like rosemary or thyme – or nothing at all!
Many times people have asked me about using specialty popover pans and I assure them that they are definitely not necessary. As I’ve said before, I don’t spend a lot on specialty baking items that only have one purpose. Instead I’ve invested in good quality muffin tins, they are versatile in the kitchen and work beautifully when making big, puffy popovers. If you already have popover pans certainly use them, but they are not going to make or break this recipe.
When I made these my daughter and I almost consumed the entire batch by ourselves. We couldn’t get enough of the flaky butter dough and fragrant herbes de provence. In fact, to be perfectly honest, I got straight to work making another batch the very next day and was thoughtful enough to film it for you. I hope this demonstrates to you how utterly simple these are to make, and how delicious they are to eat. As you will see, making these during my daughter’s afternoon naptime is a snap. In fact, they are also easy enough to make that sometimes I do so when I have five minutes even if she’s awake. I’ve also made these right before guests come over and have served them at dinner or brunch. They are always hit, and you’ll soon see why. Enjoy!
1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with non-stick spray, or a 6-cup large muffin tin – depending on the size of the popovers you’d like.
2. Melt butter in microwave and allow to cool.
3. Combine eggs, flour, salt and pepper in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until all ingredients are blended.
4. Scrape down the sides with a spatula. Then, with the mixer on low, add the cream, milk and melted butter. Mix until everything is smooth and completely incorporated.
5. Add the chives and fold them in with a spatula.
6. Distribute batter evenly amongst muffin cups, so each cup is roughly 2/3 full of batter. Bake for 35 minutes, or until popovers are poofy and a light golden brown. Serve hot. Or, if you want to save them for dinner, pierce a tiny hole in the top so that they don’t “fall” while you are waiting to serve them.
Naptime Notes
Naptime Recipe Serving ideas
Popovers are incredibly versatile, you can add or subtract almost any flavoring to create the exact taste you want. I recommend adding cheese or interesting herbs such as rosemary or thyme for unique variations.
Naptime Stopwatch
As you can see, making the popover batter takes all of two minutes, then it is just a matter of baking. There is hardly an easier way to make a homemade hot snack.
Naptime Reviews
Be mindful of people’s flavoring preferences, my husband is wary of dill so I do not add them it to anything I make, especially popovers. But everything else I’ve tried has been a big hit with him, and my daughter, too.
Location: Home in New York My Day So Far: Picked up gift bags for spiced walnuts, 45 minutes at playground with daughter, 20 minutes grocery shopping Naptime Goals:2 batches of Spiced Walnuts for Christmas gifts, prepare ham for dinner Tonight’s Meal: Ham, Carrot Souffle (refrigerator staple), green salad Preparation: Picked up ham and oranges in the morning, honey already in the pantry.
We had a fantastic Thanksgiving on Martha’s Vineyard, but I am glad it is over. Combining a huge family holiday with a certain toddler’s birthday is never an easy event line-up. Instead of settling on the sofa after Thanksgiving dinner, I revved up the KitchenAid to make a chocolate buttermilk birthday cake with pink frosting and lots of sprinkles (documented below). It was a wonderful weekend of celebration, but when we returned on home on Saturday night I was exhausted. The following morning, while I was writing up my menu for this week, I decided to bid farewell to November and kick-off the Christmas season with my Citrus-Glazed Holiday Ham. After spending a whole month thinking about turkey it felt like the right time to switch gears, and get excited for a whole new month of festivities.
I bake ham year round, but for some reason this particular recipe has always been relegated to my holiday food file. I think the reason is because around this time friends usually send us a shipment of fresh oranges from Florida as an early holiday gift. When those golden beauties arrive I add orange juice and zest to just about everything I make, not stopping until the crate is all used up.
Preparing this ham is a dream come true for any parent who cooks. I am not kidding when I say all I do is drizzle everything over the ham in layers. There is little to no measuring required and, like all my favorite recipes, this is flexible when it comes to the glaze. I most often use orange juice when making this, but I’ve also used the juices of clementines, tangerines and even apricots. Paired with the honey or maple syrup, any of them will create just the right balance of natural sweetness to contrast the salty ham.
Over time I’ve found that the time I choose to bake the ham is flexible, too. Both my husband and I like to eat ham cold just as much as we enjoy it hot, so I typically bake it during my daughter’s afternoon naptime. This way I have dinner fully cooked by 4pm in the afternoon – a convenience that makes my life remarkably easier come evening. If we decide we’d want our slices warm I warm them on a platter in the oven, or give them a quick run through the microwave. It is the best of both worlds, allowing us to choose how we’d like to enjoy our food.
As you can see, the instructions below barely amount to a recipe. Adding this glaze is really all about putting the finishing touches on an already delicious piece of meat. If you have a large ham and are feeding a crowd simply double or triple the quantities below. I have done this before and it makes for an excellent meal to serve on a buffet, or at a more formal dinner. This is also a remarkably kid-friendly dish, my daughter likes to eat the ham sliced thin on toast with a little bit of cheese. In fact, I like to eat it that way, too. When I made it this week we all devoured several slices, along with a serving of carrot souffle. It was just the meal to put us in a festive mood that will last all month long.
Recipe
Citrus-Glazed Holiday Ham
Ingredients
2 ½ lb.
ham, fully-cooked (not pre-flavored or pre-glazed)
¼ c.
fresh orange juice (or any similar citrus like clementine, tangerine, etc)
2 t.
olive oil
1 T.
honey
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Place ham in a baking dish. Drizzle on the olive oil and rub it to coat the ham. Then, pour the orange juice over the olive oil. Finally, drizzle the honey over the ham and spread it around so it fully coats the meat.
3. Bake ham for 1hr 20minutes. Slice and serve warm. Or, allow to cool to room temperature and serve cold.
Naptime Notes
Naptime Recipe Serving ideas
It is hard to screw up this recipe, the main components are ham, citrus and honey. Like I said – fiddle with it! Try different citrus juices, or maybe even zest, to see what flavors you can come up with.
Naptime Stopwatch
Layering on the glaze takes about 1 minute. Then bake!
Naptime Reviews
Any ham with a sweet glaze is a hit with most people. And, like I said, kids like this, too!
By now most of my friends know they are getting Spiced Walnuts for Christmas, and today I am telling them that they are getting Peppermint Hot Fudge Sauce as well. This recipe was given to me by my mother-in-law who got it from her friend, Rhoda Janis, almost 30 years ago. As you all know, I love a good hand-me-down recipe, and this one has really stood the test of time. I think this hot fudge sauce is better than any other I have ever tasted because it is the perfect ratio of chocolate, butter, cream and sugars. Then, to really push the flavor over the top, I add pure peppermint extract to give it a minty candy cane-esque flavor.
If you have friends who don’t like peppermint, like my friend Meghan for example, simply use vanilla extract in lieu of peppermint. This works very well and makes the sauce even more versatile. When I make it like this I am able to drizzle it over poached fruit, berry pavlovas and even slices of bundt cake. The uses are endless, although, I’ll admit, sometimes I just eat it straight out of the jar and don’t even bother with basic vanilla ice cream.
Since this sauce requires stirring over a hot stove I make this exclusively during my daughter’s afternoon naptime. I don’t want to risk any kitchen accidents, so it is safer for her to be asleep in her crib then trying to cook with me. When I make these for holiday gifts I double the recipe to make a large quantity. This way it usually only takes me two afternoon naptimes (2 hours each) to get everything made and put in jars to giveaway. As far as I can tell, there is a hardly a simpler and more efficient way to prepare my Christmas gifts!
To show you just how easy it is to make this amazingly delicious sauce, (and a demonstration on how to eat it with ice-cream!), tune in to Webisode #3. (And, yes, I know there have been a lot of sweets on this site recently, but don’t fret, on Thursday I’m sharing one of my favorite festive dinner recipes!)
1. In a doubler boiler, or a heatproof bowl over simmering water, stir together cocoa, sugars and salt. Immediately add the cream and butter.
2. Cook this mixture over the simmering water, stirring constantly to make sure it stays smooth. Bring to a boil for 1 minute, then remove from the heat.
3. Allow the sauce to cool for 5 minutes. Then stir in the peppermint or vanilla extract.
4. This will store well in the refrigerator for up to one month. If giving as gifts pour the sauce into sterilized, airtight mason jars.
Naptime Notes
Naptime Recipe Serving ideas
Everyone should have a great hot fudge sauce recipe in their repertoire and this one won’t disappoint. I love that it can be made peppermint or plain and still taste delicious. I’ll bet it might be delicious with orange zest, too, if you wanted to give that a try.
Naptime Stopwatch
As you can see, making this takes about 15 minutes from start to finish (obviously there was a little time lapse above). There is hardly an easier and faster way to make delicious holiday gifts for your friends and family.
Naptime Reviews
Have you ever met someone who doesn’t like hot fudge sauce? Let me know. I will convert them.
