What’s Going on Today: Preparing for afternoon with friends the next town over. We are bringing the dessert!

Naptime Goals: Bake cake and give it enough time to cool!

Tonight’s Menu: Jim’s Grilled Tuna, Snow Peas, Rice with Scallions, Chocolate Peanut Butter Bundt Cake

When our friends invited us over for the tuna cookout I was in charge of bringing dessert. Since the attendees of our cookout included three young children, four adults and a few neighbors I wanted to make something that would appeal to all ages. Initially I considered a fancy fruit pie, but that is always touch and go with children. I then briefly thought about my Blueberry Thyme Poundcake with Lemon Glaze, but decided against it since many children don’t like herbal undertones in their food. In the end I settled on the dessert with universal appeal: chocolate cake.

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.

Last month our dearest friends from North Carolina moved to Connecticut. While I know they were sad to leave their life in the South, we were glad to have them  move closer to us. Their two boys get along so well with our daughter she has already started to think of them as brothers! Once their new house was unpacked they invited us over for a summer barbecue evening. We enjoyed a kid’s fair at the local park, a few games of cornhole and a delicious dinner of grilled tuna, snow peas and rice.

This is the latest installment of my Tales from the Trenches Series. An ongoing series where friends and readers share their stories and recipes about the great food they fit into family life. We all have tips and tricks to share with each other: when we cook, what we cook and how we cook the delicious food we love to eat. If you are interested in contributing a story and recipe please feel free to contact me. Today my friend Barbara, the source of many amazing recipes on this site, is sharing her grandmother’s famous potato salad recipe. I’ve made it and it is fabulous! It is also very naptime chef-friendly, so feel free to make it ahead time as need be.

Kelsey asked me a while ago to submit a “Tale from the Trenches” but I don’t’ really feel comfortable doing it because I am at best an “Occasional Chef” – – a “Special Occasion Chef” might be an even better description!  I don’t cook for my family every day.  I love to cook but the truth is that these days I spend more time reading and thinking about cooking than I actually spend cooking.

I live vicariously through Kelsey’s posts and read them faithfully each week. There’s nothing I love more than having a party and planning the menu.  Holidays present the perfect opportunity for me to try new recipes as well as make old favorites – I have a bulging file of recipes that continues to grow and lots of cookbooks (including a family cookbook my sister put together a few years ago as a way to preserve and pass on our family’s favorite recipes).

Be sure to come see if you are the winner of the Dinner @6 American Express recipe contest!

You have got to come over and check out this amazing giveaway from Bertolli and my new favorite way to make gnocchi!

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.

This week we’ve been in full summer mode. Everyday we’ve been taking long day trips to visit friends in neighboring towns and my daughter has been doing most of her napping in the car. This isn’t a problem, really, since I often mine the freezer or fridge for quick meals when I haven’t had a chance to cook during naptime. The other night my excavations yielded some frozen potato gnocchi (a must for any freezer!) which prompted me to head to the deck to check on my bountiful pots of herbs and pick some sage.

Last month we did some mega strawberry picking and one of things I made was strawberry infused vodka. It is not that we are big vodka drinkers, it is just that the store-bought strawberry vodka is so gross and it is nice to have one or two mason jars of the real stuff around during the year. It will take us quite a while to work through the two jars I made. The funny thing was, the technique I used to make the strawberry vodka was so easy and delicious I decided to apply it to other fruits. I mean, why limit it to strawberries only? As you can see above, I ended up making two jars of strawberry vodka, one jar of peach vodka and one jar of citrus vodka. All so simple, and so delicious!

Come over and check out the second installment of the Dinner @6 with American Express Giveaway!

With all that has been going on webisodes were put on the back burner for a while. I love doing them, but they take a lot more time than a regular post. Since my last webisode I’ve traveled to Atlanta, Vermont, Cooperstown (twice) and Martha’s Vineyard (twice). More often than not, these travels have been as a solo parent which means they were fun, but exhausting! Now that I am getting back in the grove with life I plan to do a webisode about once a month for you all. Of course, if I can fit in more I certainly will!

Today’s webisode is all about meals to go. I pack a lot of portable meals in the summer, both for me and my daughter. She has been going to a day camp where she eats lunch and we’ve been doing plenty of mother/daughter beach picnic dinners. To that end I took a few days to film all the different things I pack and ideas I have for great summer meals. When my daughter goes to camp I pack her lunch after she is in bed the night before or before she wakes up. If we are planning on dinner at the beach I pack everything during naptime! In the webisode you’ll see what I like to pack and the equipment I use. I’ve even included my favorite summer sandwich recipe below!

For this webisode I am especially happy to be teaming up with the Small Kitchen College Team on their Brown Bag Lunch Challenge week. All this week they are running a contest on their website featuring fabulous giveaways from BuiltNY and more great prizes. Be sure to stop by their Facebook Fanpage or tweet them at @BGSKCollege for your chance to win a ton of cute food and wine totes from BuiltNY!