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.

When I was in Cooperstown earlier this month my mother whipped up this delicious watermelon salad for a potluck. Sadly, I wasn’t invited to the potluck, but I did get a chance to take a photo of it and sneak a quick taste before she whisked it away. While I haven’t replicated the entire thing in my kitchen yet I have made a small, individual version. It is so easy! The whole premise is blending yellow and red watermelon (or just red if you can’t find yellow), sprinkling in some fresh goat cheese and torn basil, drizzling it with balsamic reduction and voila, summer salad! I highly recommend this easy portable dish for your weekend Labor Day potluck. We have one tomorrow on the beach and this is exactly what I’ll be taking to serve the crowd.

(Note: Now that I am finally prepared (I think) for back to school I’ll be back next week with our regularly scheduled programming. Have a great weekend!)

What’s Going on Today: Stocking up for back to school.

Tonight’s Menu: Back to School Eggplant Parmesan, Green Beans with Almonds, Wine (for Dad), Sparkling Water (for me!)

Naptime Goals: Make Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Chip cookie dough and prepare Eggplant Parmesan.

It’s hard to believe it is back-to-school time again – but it is! I know a lot of people get stressed out thinking of back to school food ideas but I actually find it kind of fun. It gives me a reason to break out old favorites, bake a few loaves of zucchini applesauce bread, and get ready for cold-weather cooking. This year I’ve also been inspired to give my sweets a healthier twist. Part of this is due to me keeping the baby weight gain in check, but part of it is because I’ve come to really love the earthy sweetness of whole wheat flour.

While we were in Cooperstown my Dad and I did a LOT of canning. It was so nice to have the time together in the kitchen, one of our favorite places, to catch up on life and exchange canning tips. After our canning marathon last year he sent me my first ever Ball Canning Set which I used all fall. This year he had me geeking out over my grandmother’s vintage Wear-Ever 17-quart aluminum cooking pot. When I finally located one on eBay he taught me how to actually use eBay (what can I say, I’ve never used it!) and he won it for me. Yay! Here is a summary of what we made this and the canning projects I have planned for fall! (Note: I’ll be taking the rest of the week off to concentrate on back to school insanity preparations, but will be back next Tuesday!)

1) Bread & Butter Pickles: We put up several quarts of these delicious pickles. It was a great batch this year!

2) Eternal Summer Apricot Jam: I made over a dozen half-pints of this delicious jam. I plan to use it for some gifties this fall…and eat the rest!

3) Peppermint Hot Chocolate Sauce: Wha??? Well, by December I’ll be in no mood to stand on my feet for more than five minutes at a time so I planned ahead and Christmas is all set!

4) Blueberry Pie Filling: I plan to make this as well as a big batch of Blueberry-Plum Butter in the Slow-Cooker later this week.

5) Apple Pie Filling: The last on my list, I plan to make a few quarts after we go apple picking this fall.

6) Strawberry Syrup: This was one of the first things I made from Marisa’s awesome book, Food in Jars.

What’s Going on Today: Visiting Uncle Will at his new home.

Morning Menu: Spicy Chorizo Breakfast Wraps before a tour of his new city.

Last week we went to visit Uncle Will, my little brother and home cook extraordinaire. As I pointed out in the acknowledgements of my book, Will and I frequently exchange recipes on a shared Google Doc sheet. He usually posts a few recipes a year for things he has mastered in his own kitchen and is ready for me to try. Recently this amazing recipe for breakfast wraps popped up. Knowing that we were visiting him in less than a month I wrote ahead to specifically request he make his delectable recipe for breakfast. I couldn’t wait to try them in his kitchen before attempting them in my own. Now that I’ve eaten them I can honestly said that one request was probably the most important thing I’ve ever asked of him. They are that good.

I am so thrilled that my friend Ellise of Cowgirl Chef stopped in today to chat about her awesome new book, life as a Texan in Paris, and what is next on her delicious agenda! In case you missed it, yesterday I showcased some of the amazing recipes from the book. For all you parents out there, rest assured that the vast majority of her recipe are very naptime cooking-friendly and would be great for families. (They are also great for preggo ladies craving spicy food!)

1) Your new book, Cowgirl Chef, is a gorgeous compilation of your French-Texan fusion recipes. The concept is so intriguing and you’ve made every recipe so manageable for the home cook. How did you manage to break through the French culinary code and learn to cook like a Frenchwoman while maintaining your Southern cooking inclination? It evolved quite naturally…I’ve always been attracted to straight-up cooking that lacks pretention, and I think what people think of as “French cuisine” isn’t necessarily what people in France make day-to-day – you don’t find many people coming home from work and whipping up a demi-glace. Instead, cooking in France – and what I think of as “French cuisine” today —  is super-fresh and very much driven by what’s at the market. This alone changed the way I cooked and put things together, and dovetailed quite naturally with my Southern and Tex-Mex roots. The difference was – and is – in how these things come together. Now I’m just as likely to make a tart with a batch of fresh grilled veggies as I am to put them in a taco.

While in Cooperstown I’ve been catching up on my cookbook reading (they are stacked on my nightstand like novels) and trying out new recipes while entertaining friends. One book that has really caught my eye recently is Cowgirl Chef, Ellise Pierce’s new book about Texas cooking with a French accent. It is based on her popular blog of the same name. As you might guess, Ellise is a native Texan current living Paris and combines cooking styles from her youth with those of her current home in the City of Lights.

What I’ve been writing on Babble’s The Family Kitchen this week:

1. 6 More Adorable Food Animals
2. Peach Pancakes
3. 5 Foods You Can Cook in the Sun
4. 7 Wacky Ice Cream Flavors
5. 7 Great Back to School Lunchboxes

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.

Reading Bon Appetit usually sends me over the edge with inspiration. I hardly ever finish that magazine without folding down at least half a dozen recipes to try. But now, given my current state, the allure of my favorite food magazine is working overtime and when the most recent issue came I think I folded down every other page. That is not an exaggeration. One of the first things to catch my eye was this awesome raw tomato sauce. What a genius idea for summer when nobody wants to turn on the stove and the freshest, ripest tomatoes are widely available.

I’ve been bursting to tell you all the most exciting news!! I’ll admit, I’m actually slightly amazed that none of you have guessed it out loud already. Either that, or you are all way too polite to say anything. I was nearly certain when I wrote about homemade ginger ale someone would call me out on how ginger combats queasiness, or at least how Twix Ice Cream Pie sounds like the perfect meal for someone craving excessive amounts of sweets. I mean – what kind of condition would lead me to post such things in quick succession while avoiding normal everyday meals completely?

This summer I’ve been all about peaches. I’ve always loved peaches but this year they seem especially ripe and appealing. It also helps that my daughter has started enjoying them  – the past few years she has had no interest in them whatsoever which was a bit of a bummer. When we were at the Cooperstown Farmer’s Market on Saturday I picked up a big bag in anticipation of a fresh peach almond galette and a savory peach salad with blue cheese and toasted almonds.

Last week I had less than half an hour to whip up a simple summer treat for a last minute dinner party. With some fresh tomatoes, my ever-present stash of Parmesan, and a tuft of fresh basil in the herb pot I decided to make my favorite Tomato Tart with Parmesan and Basil. Coincidentally, my dear friend Liz the Chef had just emailed me from San Diego to say she was enjoying her latest version of this tart. We both became addicted to it last summer when I first wrote about it on Babble. It seems with tomato season in full swing we both had this light summer dish on the brain!

Today I am joining in the PBS celebration of Julia Child’s life in honor of what would have been her 100th birthday this August. People from all over are spending the month cooking their favorite Julia recipes and sharing them far and wide in the spirit of food and friendship. My favorite Julia recipe has long been her brownies. They are the perfect combination of fudgy and cakey and I simply adore them served with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream.