I am excited to report that over the next few months I’ll be rolling out a whole new travel series based on my trip to Thailand for Sea Cuisine. I can’t wait to share everything we did on our trip. You can expect to read about plenty of seafood, sites, and beaches! I’ll also have a few webisodes for you to enjoy. Stay tuned and here is a sneak peak! :

We started off our trip in Bangkok…

I’m back from Thailand and am ready to announce the winners of all the awesome giveaways! Thanks to everyone for all of your great entries. Stay tune for more great giveaways soon!

1. Congratulations to Heather Hicks, the winner of the King Arthur Flour Pie Package giveaway!

2. Congratulations to Sarah Renfro the winner of the Julia’s Child book and food basket giveaway!

3. Congratulations to Christie in MA the winner of the Parents Need to Eat Too giveaway!

Today my friend Adelaide is stopping by to share three great recipes to make an easy, and delicious, cocktail spread at home. You may remember last year when Adelaide stopped in with an amazing recipe for quick fettucini alla vodka, a recipe I swear by to this day. You’ll also find her name in the acknowledgments of my book since she was my recipe tester extraordinaire! For more of Adelaide’s expertise check out her blog, The Moonlight Chef. Better yet, read it while you’re sipping your hot toddy.

Like Kelsey, I adore Meyer lemons. I find the aroma so sweet and intoxicating that upon first smell, I immediately begin brainstorming what I might cook or bake using this wintertime produce.

My husband and I recently ran into a restaurant for a quick bite after a late movie. Cold and a bit frozen, he ordered a hot toddy to warm up. It arrived in a beautiful clear glass mug and on the bottom sat several coins of ginger. After one sip, the hot toddy was then shared between us. Spicy and citrusy, it completely stole the show –the rest of the meal was forgettable. Inspired, I knew I had to replicate this cocktail and what better accompaniment to the strong ginger than the juice of a Meyer lemon?  Instead of hot and cloying apple juice, in addition to the dark rum, I substituted black tea.

Because the hot toddy is so clean and bracing, I thought I could serve this warm drink alongside some heavier and winter-appropriate pre-dinner nibbles, such as my favorite two cheeses, triple crème and manchego. Earlier this fall, I experimented with a brown butter fig spread. Despite it’s deliciousness, it was too filling for the season. Similar in appearance to quince paste, I thought it might go well with a rich and creamy or salty and crumbly cheese.  Instead of figs, I used Medjool dates, which are sticky and sweet and perfect in this spread.  They are also considered to be royalty amongst all dried fruit varieties. If you can’t find them, feel free to substitute any other high-quality dried dates or figs.

Luscious and smooth on top of a baguette slice slathered with cheese, this spread goes well with a sip of the hot toddy. It’s incredibly easy to make, and can be prepared a day in advance, refrigerated and brought to room temperature before serving.

However, I knew I wanted to make one more aperitif to go with the hot toddy. Eager to use more Meyer lemon, I infused extra-virgin olive oil with Mediterranean herbs and flavors, which I then used to bathe my pitted Kalamata olives overnight. The result was tangy and bright. I could taste each element and eagerly consumed these crave-worthy olives.

I’m a big snacker and if you’re like me, you may just turn this selection of winter apertif into dinner.

Today my friend Debbie Koenig of Words to Eat By is here to share a great Powernap recipe for parents and tell us about her great new cookbook, Parents Need to Eat Too!

I love the slow cooker nearly as much as Kelsey does. Around here we call it the New Mom’s Best Friend—after my son was born my parents foisted one upon me wisely gave me one. In fact, the second post-baby recipe I shared on my blog was Slow Cooker Ratatouille. The really telling part: I didn’t have a chance to post that until Harry was seven months old.

This new mom gig turned out to be way tougher than I expected, and although I’m a food writer it took a while to regain my kitchen equilibrium. Until I did, my husband and I bought Clif Bars in bulk and ate egg sandwiches until we clucked. That crazy time, the first year of my son’s life, inspired my new cookbook, Parents Need to Eat Too.

Every so often I like to stop in and recommend a great read or two. It is next to impossible to recommend every single book I read, since I truly am one of those voracious readers who reads just about everything under the sun, but I like to highlight the best of the best and here’s a good one for you. Last month I received an advanced copy of a new novel, Julia’s Child by Sarah Pinneo. Sarah and I struck up an email correspondence last year when we were chatting about cookbook writing experiences. She also co-authored The Ski House Cookbook a few years ago and a few helpful tips for me.

Her newest work is an adorable story about Julia, Brooklyn-based mompreneuer fighting the good fight against expensive processed foods. To find a new solution to feeding her children healthy meals she starts an organic food company and comedic drama ensues. I would hate to spoil the rest of the story for you so I’ll leave the rest for you to read on your own.

What’s Going on Today: A little fun with the awesome King Arthur Flour package of pie making goodies that just arrived.

Naptime Goals: Make and bake Dried Cherry Apple Streusel Pie to celebrate National Cherry Pie Day

Tonight’s Menu: Dinner out with Mom!

Right before I left for Thailand I was invited to celebrate National Cherry Pie day with King Arthur Flour. Any chance I have to work with my baking mecca is a priority for me! I adore everything about their products and am a huge fan of The Baking Sheet, their bimonthly baking newsletter. The Editor in Chief of the publication, Susan Reid (a fellow bobcat!), is incredibly talented. Every recipe printed has been tested over and over by her skilled team until it is just right. Trust me, I bake a lot from that publication and everything always turns out brilliantly.

1.Make Your Own Microwave Popcorn
2. Razzle Dazzle Strawberries
3. Valentine Sno-Caps
4. Raspberry White Chocolate Buttons

We got an iPad for Christmas and I’ve totally fallen in love with it. I never thought they were a big deal, but now that we have one I’m not sure why we waited so long to get it! One of the first things I did on December 26th was load it up with foodie apps I’d been hearing a lot about. Of all the ones I bought there are four I’ve been turning to constantly for information and inspiration over the past few months. I’ve even find myself turning to them on the road when travel! If you are in the market for an awesome, parent-friendly, foodie apps here are a four I highly recommend:

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.

I am in packing mode so this week is all about speed and convenience without compromising taste, of course. One of my go-to quick meals is the classic panini. There are nearly endless combinations of what can be pressed between two slices of bread and this particular recipe was inspired by a panini I ate at LaGuardia airport last November. Yes, you read that correctly, a sandwich bought at an airport inspired me. I tell you – good food can be found just about anywhere!

I’ll share the menu I am naptime cooking for tonight at a later date. I am experimenting with a few new techniques and I don’t want to write about anything until I know they work (!) In the mean time, since you are reading this on actual Valentine’s Day I thought I would post a few last-minute tips for wooing your sweetie tonight. Most parents I know, like us, will be spending the night in and celebrating with something more formal over the weekend must like Brooke and James told us about last week. If you are scrambling to pull together a romantic meal tonight here are a few naptime cooking tips for you:

1) Keep it Simple & Fun: Complicated dishes do not spell romance. In fact, they can sometimes kill the mood when nothing goes as planned and you’re dialing for take-out at nine o’clock. Try things like salmon-roasted pesto, tomato soup, or a simple busy day buccatini. If you have time to make things ahead today, do it. Then assemble for dinner and you are golden!

2) Splurge on the cocktails: I great cocktail can take a simple, classic meal over the top. Heck, why not serve margaritas with soup? I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. I like the Filthy Fizz a lot, it is perfect for tonight!

3) Chocolate: I mean, really, even if you are serving take-out or some pre-made food go all out with the chocolate dessert. Seriously – a sensual rich chocolate cake is a universally romantic gesture. Have you ever heard anyone complain that their rich chocolate tart simply wasn’t romantic enough? I haven’t either. There is a reason why.

It doesn’t have to be a minefield. I always check out a restaurant’s wine list online before I visit. Pick out a few wines in your price range and spend a few minutes researching them. It’s a worthwhile investment of your time. Better to spend the evening gazing into the eyes of your loved one that staring at a wine list, no?

Tell the sommelier what you’re looking for, and don’t shy away from establishing a price range. Tell her you want something under $40 — or if you feel awkward saying a dollar amount out loud, point to a wine in your price range on the list and tell her you want something for around that price. Mention some wines you know you like (or ones you don’t) to give her a sense of your taste.

Word to the wise: asking for a “dry” wine is virtually meaningless. Almost every wine on the list will be made in a “dry” style. If by “dry” you mean mouth-drying and a little bitter, like oversteeped tea, then you really mean “tannic.” (Wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, for example, can be quite tannic.) And if you mean zesty and mouth-puckering, like a glass of tart lemonade, then you mean “acidic.” (Sauvignon Blanc is the quintessential example here.) Being precise with these terms will help you get what you want.

Finally, look beyond the tried-and-true (Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Napa) for the best values. Southern France and Spain are two regions I always look to, as well as off-the-beaten track regions in California. And this is just me, but I rarely order Pinot Noir-based wines when I’m out at a restaurant. It’s very tough to get this grape right. Inexpensive Pinots aren’t much to write home about–and good Pinots at a restaurant mark-up can be seriously pricey.