What’s Going on Today: Easter wrap-up, waiting for the rain to subside.

Naptime Goals: Make Asparagus Soup, write thank you note to the Easter bunny for doing such good work.

Tonight’s Menu: Asparagus Soup, soft fresh bread, white wine.

Kitchen Tool of the Week: Cuisinart Hand Blender, the ideal tool for blending soups, smoothies and whatever else you want. Need one? Buy one here at my Amazon store!

I could eat fresh asparagus roasted with olive oil and Parmesan every day of the year. But, the other night when I pulled a bunch of fresh stalks out of the bag and showed them to my husband he looked less than enthusiastic when I announced yet another serving of my favorite dish. I can’t blame him really, when asparagus is in season I serve it at least twice a week, usually prepared the same way. To give him a break I decided to try something new and make an asparagus soup and serve it with fresh crab meat. The latter part of the recipe being influenced by the crab kick we’ve been on recently.

This is the latest installment of my Powernap column. The series where I share quick, easy food that can be made for all kinds of situations. Powernaps are short and sweet, and so are these recipes. These are the things I make in a jiffy when I need a quick snack, am in the mood for a recipe experiment, or simply need to clean out the pantry.

Today’s Powernap: Approximately 4 stalks of perfect rhubarb were scored at the early season farmer’s market (I took all that were available!) The kiddo was at school and I had less than an hour to bake. What is the perfect recipe to ring in rhubarb season that doesn’t take long to make? (Don’t forget: If you need tips on selecting and cooking with rhubarb don’t forget to see my All About Rhubarb Tips!)

Muffins, obviously! And, to elevate these muffins from ordinary to awesome I ramped up the flavor by browning the butter and sprinkling the tops with raw sugar for extra texture. I know when it comes to dreaming up a great one hour recipe, simple one-note muffins might seem a little basic — they only require one bowl and a spoon (!) — but I can assure you these are anything but. Each bite yields a new flavor and texture, inviting you to take more as you work your way through each discovery. One minute you chew a piece of golden almond cake, the next a chunk of soft rhubarb paired with a hint of nutty browned butter, followed by a third bite of crunchy raw sugar topping. They are so rich that I swear you could serve them with ice cream as individual rhubarb cakes and your family and friends would be none the wiser.

Rhubarb Hazelnut Oatmeal Squares

Saying I am a fan of rhubarb is putting it mildly. I simply love the stuff and bake or cook with it as often as possible. With rhubarb season on the horizon I thought I would offer up a few great rhubarb tips today and a terrific new rhubarb recipe tomorrow. Here are some helpful hints and tips about my favorite tart stalks:

Taste, Color & Texture: Rhubarb stalks come in a variety of colors from deep red, to pink to green. It is generally believed that the red thin stalks are the sweetest because they are young and the green stalks are more tart since they are more mature. However, the truth is, there are many variety of rhubarb plants and the color of their stalks is not necessarily related to the flavor. The best thing to do is sample a few colors from your local market and see what best suits your palate. Rhubarb can range from being incredibly tart to very sweet. The sweeter rhubarb is terrific for simple compotes and jams, while the more tart variety does well when paired with berries, or plenty of sugar, to balance out the taste.

What’s Going on Today: A birthday celebration!

Naptime Goals: Preparing the food for the party (see previous post), including baking the cake and whipping the cream.

More Great Birthday Baked Goods: Check out this Naptime Simple Tips column!

Yesterday you read all about the birthday dinner I prepped during naptime and today I am focusing on the delicious cake. This year my husband requested an Angel Food Cake for his party. He has fond memories of his mother making it for him when he was little and has asked me to resurrect the tradition. I love Angel Food Cake too, and I knew our daughter would, so I was all too happy to go along with his request. To start things off the first thing I had to do was buy a tube pan.

The Occasion: Husband’s 30-something dinner, served mid-week on a school day.

Menu: Roasted Zucchini with Tomato & Burrata, Grilled Steak with Smoky Blue Cheese Sauce, Parmesan Couscous, Citrusy Angel Food Cake with Dulce de Leche and Cinnamon Whipped Cream, Rasblini (Raspberry Champagne Cocktail)

Attendees: Party of 3!

Naptime Goals: Make Blue Cheese Sauce, season Steak, bake Angel Food Cake, make Cinnamon Whipped Cream, make Raspberry Puree.

It is pretty rare that my husband and I entertain mid-week. Generally my husband works late and it is really only in the dog days of August that he is home at a decent hour to have dinner with friends. However, we will happily break our regular dinner routine and do some mid-week entertaining for each other on special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries. Even if it means eating later in the evening, we think it is nice to serve up a special meal and compose a happy toast on these occasions. For my husband’s birthday this week I decided to make a few of his favorite dishes and have them ready to eat when he walked in the door around seven o’clock. I chose dishes that were ideal for making during naptime then pulling together right before we were ready to eat.

Strawberry Nutella Country Cake

Today I am kicking off a new series called Naptime Simple Tips. It will cover a whole range of simple cooking and food tips for all of your naptime cooking needs. This week I am all about birthdays since my husband is celebrating one shortly. In light of our impending festivities I thought it would be a great time to review naptime baking tips for birthday celebrations!

Tip #1: How to be a Naptime Celebration Baker – I am a big proponent of baking cakes, cookies, and muffins during naptime. By working while the kids are asleep, at school, or generally not around, you can concentrate on measuring ingredients precisely and don’t have to worry about little hands near a hot oven. Baking during the day also means the goods have a chance to cool completely before being iced, glazed or dusted. There is nothing worse than frosting melting off a cake because it hasn’t cooled properly! When planning your birthday baking try to carve out a little bit of time when you can concentrate on the task at hand. Ask the kids to join in the fun once you’ve decided on your baking schedule. It is important to start out with a little bit of organization so that it all will go smoothly.

Hi! I am popping in today to invite you to join the fun twitter party coming up for Fresh Sweet Corn.

What: #freshcorn Twitter Party

When: Thursday, April 21, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. EST

Contest Reminder: Be sure to click over to the Fresh Sweet Corn website to share your great corn recipe and a chance to win $1,000!!

Fresh corn is now season, and here’s a little fun fact most of the corn, east of the Mississippi River is from Florida! The good ole’ sunshine state is producing supersweet corn and there’s probably no better time to begin thinking about the best ways to prepare and eat corn.

Join me next Thursday, 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EST in a #freshcorn Twitter Party. In addition to partying and chatting about one of the most delicious foods on the planet, you’ll have the opportunity to win one of FOUR $25 Visa gift cards.

Every 15 minutes I will ask you to share your favorite corn recipes, retweet awesome cooking techniques or  answer trivia questions about fresh corn, and one randomly selected person will win and receive a gift card that very same day!

What’s Going on Today: Registration for summer camp mayhem, spring cleaning!

Naptime Goals: Make and mold crab cakes for dinner dinner. Finish laundry and start to put away winter clothes (!)

Tonight’s Menu: Spicy Whole Wheat Crab Cakes with Tartar Sauce and Creamy Polenta, green salad, crisp white wine.

Crab cakes during naptime?! Yes, it can be done! At least, I was pretty sure this was the case before I made them the other day and now I can tell you with certainty that these babies are great for naptime cooking. The whole reason I was so determined to make them in the first place was because I had a similar dish at a restaurant in Charleston and I couldn’t get them out of my head. I was desperate for another taste of those jumbo lump crab cakes and, since I am not returning to Charleston for at least another few months, the next best option was to make them at home.

This is the latest installment of my Powernap column. The series where I share quick, easy food that can be made for all kinds of situations. Powernaps are short and sweet, and so are these recipes. These are the things I make in a jiffy when I need a quick snack, am in the mood for a recipe experiment, or simply need to clean out the pantry.

Today’s Powernap: Dinner is in the fridge and the chores are done. What power lunch can I make and eat in ten minutes before I have to pick up my daughter from school?

We’ve all been in this position: everything around the house is nearly wrapped up and there is ten minutes to make and eat lunch before heading out to pick up the kids/commence errands/make phone calls/yada yada yada. My friends tell me they often make super fast sandwiches or scarf a handful of peanuts and wash them down with a swig of iced tea. But, I’ll be honest, I don’t really like doing that. I have never been a huge fan of cold cuts and rarely buy them, and I am partial to warm lunches when I am making them myself. So, what is my answer to the quick lunch conundrum? Eggs. Poached, fried or scrambled, give me an egg any day of the week.

Welcome back webisodes! With a few big deadlines met and one nice vacation under my belt I have returned with new webisodes. Given my hectic schedule this spring and summer I plan to feature new webisodes every couple of weeks and hope to return to my weekly filming schedule in a few months. To kick off my return from webisode hiatus I am hosting a great giveaway today! See entry rules at the bottom of the post.

What’s Going on Today: Back from vacation, disgusted that winter is still here, just finishing up laundry from suitcase.

Naptime Goals: Laundry, dreaded ironing, lemon tart.

Tonight’s Menu: Roast Chicken, Caramelized Meyer Lemon Tart, Green Salad, Soft Rolls, White Wine.

I expected to return from vacation to a full blown Connecticut spring but came home to winter instead. I am not sure why the weather gods are punishing us with extended frigid temperatures and snow flurries this year, but I have had it. I am going to force spring to come. I am dry cleaning my sweaters for storage, hanging up the old down jacket and getting a pedicure for my flip flops. It doesn’t matter if my feet are freezing or I catch cold from walking around in a thin sweater, spring is here and I am going to make it work for me! In the kitchen I am going to start cooking spring food. Bright, citrusy happy food that begs to be eaten outdoors among cherry blossoms while small vases of crocuses decorate my windowsills. This, along with my inappropriate-for-the-conditions-outside spring wardrobe, will force warm sunny skies and flower buds to come my way. I am sure of it.

A Chocolate Orange Scone from Baked in Charleston

Every spring I spend about a week in Charleston, South Carolina with my parent’s. I love visiting this gorgeous city and I think my daughter loves it even more. Not only are the rules generally relaxed when we travel, but being here with her grandparents means she is spoiled for at least a week straight. Unfortunately, our visit this year was marked by a full week of bad weather. When our plane touched down the temperature promptly dropped to a very un-springlike 50 degrees and the rain clouds rolled in. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. We made the most of our rain-free moments, strolling around the city and enjoying the beautiful sites. Here is what we liked most:

Previous Charleston Travel Series: 2009 Charleston Travel, 2010 Charleston Travel

Charleston Cooks! A Maverick Kitchen Store: This snappy store was so much fun to browse. I loved the great selection of lowcountry cuisine and southern cookbooks. I even managed to find the elusive balloon whisk I’ve been looking for for over a year!

Baked in Charleston: This popular Brooklyn-based bakery opened a southern outpost last year.  We just died for the Dark Chocolate & Orange Scones while my daughter indulged in an impressive Chocolate Cloud Cookie.

Hank’s Seafood: Full disclosure, my parent’s ate here before I arrived and couldn’t stop talking about it for my entire visit. I trust their opinions and will confidently recommend it to all of you. It sounds amazing!