What’s Going on Today: Packing for Memorial Day, pick up dry cleaning and fresh bottles of sunscreen. Plan for walk to the beach after naps.
Naptime Goals: Prepare Cous-Cous Salad with Blue Cheese and Craisins, wrap up blog posts, zip up suitcases!
Tonight’s Menu: Hebrew National Hot Dogs with Toasted Buns, Cous-Cous salad, Green Salad, Chocolate Almond Ice-Cream.
Parenting Lesson of the Day: Never underestimate the appeal of shell collecting to a toddler.

As you’ll see above, last Saturday I spent the morning at an awesome Hebrew National Better-Than-A-Picnic Picnic on Randall’s Island. I don’t normally align myself with brands and attend company sponsored picnics, but I really do like Hebrew National. Their hot dogs are tasty and all natural, plus, they had me and the other mom bloggers attending take part in a great service project. I always love it when large brands take the time to help others.

At this particular picnic we decorated reusable lunch sacks for the Magic Summer Lunchbox Program. It is a program run by Feeding America to help feed children during the summer when they are unable to get their usual free lunches at school. The lunch totes we decorated were taken to the Food Bank in East Harlem and distributed, full of food, to children in the neighborhood. To make the picnic even more fun, Cheryl Hines emceed the event beautifully. She believes strongly in helping others and has a new show she is executive producing called School Pride debuting this fall on NBC. I’ll definitely be tuning in – with a wad of tissues at my side – for that!

So, back the hot dogs. I love a good hot dog but steer clear of those filled with gross, unidentifiable ingredients. When I do reach for them I usually buy Hebrew National because they are so authentic and the taste proves it. Being at the picnic really put me in the mood for hot dogs at home, so, as you’ll see above, I came home and did just that.These hot dogs would be perfect for any upcoming Memorial Day picnics. Need some more Memorial Day menu ideas? See below. Also, be sure to check out my newsletter this week for an especially great summer recipe that’s never been seen here. Have a great weekend!

Memorial Day Menu Ideas:
Mint Lemonade
Aunt Ethel’s Blueberry Muffins
Cous-Cous Salad with Blue Cheese and Craisins
Ruth’s Curried Chicken Salad
Lemon Rosemary Grilled Chicken
Marinated Asparagus
Lemon Squares
Simple Rhubarb Almond Cake

What’s Going on Today: Rainy day fun at Stepping Stones, pluck fresh rosemary from herb pot for pizza dough.
Naptime Goals: Bake Butterscotch Chocolate Chunk Blondies, prepare pizza dough.
Tonight’s Menu: Whole-Wheat Rosemary Pizza with Fresh Mozzarella, Carrot Souffle (already in the fridge), Blondies.
Parenting Lesson of the Day: A hearty thank you to the person who invented the concept of Children’s Museums.

Rainy Sundays are great for adults, but not for kids. On these wet, gray occasions all my husband and I want is a quiet morning with the paper, while all my daughter wants is to jump on the sofa. I’ll admit, at times like these I sometimes wish Mary Poppins would float down from the sky, knock sweetly on my front door and whisk my kid to her nursery for a fun-filled afternoon. But, since she didn’t show up this past Sunday, when the exact scene described above was playing out in our living room, I ditched the paper and took my daughter to the local Children’s Museum. My husband had just returned from a long week of work and I knew – or at least hoped – that a morning spent in a fortress of toys would be a constructive outlet for her seemingly limitless energy.

The great news is that it worked. One Family Membership later, we gained full access to the museum and I set my daughter free to play as hard and as fast as she could. Then, after two hours on the dot, I whisked her home for a nap. A rest which, to my amazement, lasted almost three (3!) full hours. With time like that on my hands I was able to bake the blondies, prepare pizza dough and take a nap. An unexpected treat which I fully enjoyed.

The pizza for dinner that night, which I’ve written about before, was fantastic. But what really stood out were the bars. Inspired by one of my favorite flavor pairings of butterscotch and chocolate, these bars were an experiment of sorts that happened to work out beautifully. I started by combining the butter and brown sugar to create the butterscotch base, then added the rest of the ingredients until I had a creamy, dark brown batter. Since I had chocolate chunks at the ready I decided to use those and was pleased with the outcome. The irregularly shaped chocolate melted slightly into the bars as they baked, creating a slight marble effect. I also liked the way the chunks gave substantial chocolate flavor to each bite, standing up nicely to the dense cake-like batter.

It took a certain amount of restraint to hold back from immediately eating half of the pan. In fact, once they cooled to room temperature, I wrapped half of the batch in layers of plastic and aluminum foil and froze it. They will be fantastic to have on hand for a later date when friends unexpectedly swing by or I need a sweet treat to take to a beach picnic. As for the rest of the batch? Well, I’d like to say it lasted for the rest of the week, but you all know me better than that.

What’s Going on Today: Hangin’ with Uncle Will in Cooperstown, trip to see new baby lambs at The Farmer’s Museum.
Naptime Goals: Work with Uncle Will as we recreate his famous Chimichurri Amarillo marinade. Bake scones for breakfast tomorrow.
Tonight’s Menu: Uncle Will’s Chimichurri Amarillo Steak, Grilled Vegetables, Rice Pilaf.
Parenting Lesson of the Day: Uncles are like grown-up playmates.

We made a quick trip to see my parents and brother in Cooperstown over the weekend. While we were there I seized the opportunity to cook with Uncle Will. You all know how many awesome recipes he produces and I couldn’t wait to learn his latest for Chimichurri Amarillo steak. Since his job requires anonymity (and I won’t tell you any more than that), he filmed me making the marinade while whispering directions from behind the camera. I wish I could have included his face because he is really great, but that will have to wait for another time.

Will developed this recipe after he tasted something similar during a trip to Panama a few years ago with the Coast Guard. Of all the steaks he ate during his time there he concluded that the Chimichurri Amarillo preparation was his most favorite. Upon his return he looked up several similar recipes, did some taste tests and came up with his own version seen here. And, let me tell you, like his burger recipe from last summer, it is brilliant.

Rather then ruin all of the details about this marinade I am going to let you see it for yourself. Like almost all marinade situations I love, I was easily able to prepare this during my daughter’s afternoon naptime and let it rest in the fridge for the afternoon. Once cooked, the meat was exceptionally tender from the acidic marinade with a rich spicy garlic flavor. We paired it with grilled vegetables and rice and had a terrific family meal.

What’s Going on Today: Settling into the new routine, embracing suburban life. Watering the new plants on our porch (!)
Naptime Goals: Prepare Green Beans in Marinade, catch up on bundle of forwarded mail we just received, attempt to figure out cable box.
Tonight’s Menu: Lemon Chicken, Marinated Greens Beans, Cous-Cous, Homemade Malted Milk Ice-Cream.
Parenting Lesson of the Day: You’ve been to one playground, you’ve been to them all.

When it comes to side dishes I love a big serving of hearty green vegetables. There are any number that I eat and I am always looking for new preparation ideas. One of my particular favorite veggies is green beans. I don’t know why, but I just can’t get enough of them, especially the slim green beans known as haricot vert. A lot of times I end up steaming them and tossing them with a tiny bit of lemon better. I also love it when they are tossed with toasted chopped walnuts and a dash of walnut oil. I’ve even fried them tempura style and they came out pretty well, even though it made a gigantic mess in my kitchen.

Last weekend we were settling into our new home and I decided it was time to try the recipe for Marinated Green Beans my mother served the last time I was home. She had gotten this recipe from her friend, Michelle, with whom she taught for almost 20 years. In this recipe the beans are blanched to maintain flavor and crunch, then tossed with a tangy mustard vinaigrette. Best of all, with the new herb pot sitting on our back porch, I had plenty of parsley on hand to give it a boost of fresh flavor.

This was the perfect side dish to prepare during my daughter’s afternoon naptime. Assembling the whole thing took less than 20 minutes and then the beans were placed, covered, in the fridge for the remainder of the afternoon. While they sat there the marinade infused the beans with the deep flavor of dijon mustard and bright red wine vinegar.  By the time we sat down for dinner and I served them alongside our lemon chicken and shallots each crunchy bean was bursting with juices. It was, perhaps, one of the easiest and most delicious sides dishes I’d prepared in a while. It is worth noting that I’ve been told this recipe works exceptionally well with asparagus. I just picked up a bunch at the farmer’s market this weekend, that’s what I’m going to try next.

What Going on Today: My Mom is visiting us in CT to help take care of her granddaughter while I finish unpacking and do errands!
Naptime Goals: Organize paperwork for household bills, assemble meat sauce for dinner. Set Green Beans to marinate.
Tonight’s Menu: Ziti, Marinated Green Beans. Wine.
Parenting Lesson of the Day: Grandparents. A necessary part of parenting.

Though I’ve been doing a pretty great job at unpacking – if I do say so myself – my Mom came down this week to help take care of my daughter. She distracts the kiddo with trips to the new playground and library, while I unpack boxes and spend ungodly amounts of time at the DMV. Normally in these situations I would hire one of my awesome babysitters to come over, but I don’t know any sitters in the area yet! Finding a babysitting service is on my list of things to do.

One of the many nice things about having Mom here is not only does she help me with the little one, she also helps me in the kitchen. Technically my Mom is the original Naptime Chef. She was always preparing our meals while we were asleep, or in class, or at soccer practice. She even used to ice our birthday cupcakes for school in her pj’s before we woke up! Although my brother and I flew the coop long ago she hasn’t forgotten any of her old tricks and is always game for giving me a hand.

Yesterday, while my daughter was asleep, we put together a yummy meat sauce for dinner. The assembly was relatively easy and was made especially simple by the fact that there were two of us working at once. She handled the sausage and vegetables while I took care of making the green bean marinade.  Once the sauce was complete we kept it in the fridge until it was ready to be reheated for dinner later that evening. We also set some green beans in the fridge to marinate. More on those next week.

That evening, when I returned from yet another ridiculously long afternoon of errands, we reheated the sauce, made the pasta and assembled the dinner within minutes. It was Mom’s comfort food at it’s finest. The pasta was coated with a delicious red sauce made sweet by the italian sausage with a nice topping of tangy parmesan cheese.  The green beans on the side added the perfect amount of crunch and greenery to compliment the red pasta meal. One of my favorite parts is that we were able to enjoy the sauce again the next day for lunch and even freeze a small portion for a night later this summer when I need a meal in a jiffy. Making this together was a great way celebrate a fun visit, the perfect early Mother’s Day celebration.

What’s Going on Today: Almost finished unpacking! Morning walk to Main Street to get tea and check out the childrens section at the local library.
Naptime Goals: Bake Apple Bread to take to friend’s house, organize cookbooks on new kitchen shelves.
Tonight’s Menu: Dinner at a friend’s house.
Parenting Lesson of the Day: It is truly remarkable how quickly children make new friends.

We’ve have nearly completed our first week living in Connecticut and so far so good. In fact, it’s been pretty great. Of course, I could have done without my daughter smashing her front tooth on the base of the slide at the playground, but that seems to be par for the course with parenthood. Just when you think everything is going smoothly a new injury is sustained and mayhem ensues. Thankfully, we found a fabulous pediatric dentist in town and all has been repaired.

One of the many great things about moving to this town is that we already know a family who lives here. Even better, we know them well enough that they invited us over for casual neighborhood dinner to introduce us to their friends. As the newbies in town we couldn’t have been more grateful for the invitation, even my daughter was excited since their is son is exactly three days older than she is. I can already tell they are destined to be playmates.

With my kitchen unpacked and all of my ingredients on hand it seemed only natural that I express my gratitude by baking them a little treat. I wanted to make something that was completely family-friend so I went straight to my favorite Tessa Kiros volume, Apples for Jam, and opened to an old favorite, Apple Bread. Much like banana bread, this loaf is soft and chewy, flavored with sweet fruit and topped with warm spices. It is perfect for adults and children alike and is great for breakfast, lunch or an afternoon snack.

This bread was the first thing I Naptime Chef-ed in my new kitchen and it was perfect. While it baked any remaining whiff of fresh paint was quickly erased by the comforting aroma of warm cinnamon and apples. Since this recipe usually makes one large loaf I decided to divide the batter into two smaller loaf pans. When they cooled I wrapped one to take to our friends, and let my daughter have a fresh warm slice of the other when she woke up. Our dinner was wonderful and the food delicious. It was a great evening with new friends and the perfect way to kick-off sweet new beginnings.