Naptime Simple Tips: Fun & Essential Tips for Your Kitchen

Wine Love: Natura Wines

Wine Love: Natura Wines

I’ve been working hard at learning a lot of about wine over the past six months. It is an area I’d like to write about more extensively. Today I am proud to share the first installment of my new Wine Love column. It features wine and all things related that I love. I hope in the future this includes reviews of my trips to wine destinations! First up is my review of Natura wines. Last year I was sent a few of their wines to try and today I am excited to share my thoughts on them.

Naptime Chef Top 11 Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes

A Year of Favorites Begins: Top 11 Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipes Revised

Over the holidays my family and I were talking about our favorite dishes, noting ones I haven’t made in a while. A lot of them I wrote about here during my first few years of blogging, and several are from my book recipe tasting. Since I am constantly writing new recipes for websites and this site I often leave old favorites by the wayside. This year I am going to change that. I promised my family that while I focus on new recipes, I’ll also focus on old favorites. This applies to all kinds of dishes from appetizers, to dinners, to dessert. In many cases this means I’ll go back through the archives and pull out the oldies but goodies and give them much better photos. In other cases, I’ll be revisiting ones from cookbooks of years past. Either way, it is going to be so much fun.

The Winter Pantry Experiment | The Naptime Chef

The Winter Pantry Experiment

Hi! It has been a looong time since I was on my regular posting schedule. The holiday season was so fun and busy I simply didn’t have time to sit down and write. We enjoy a lot of our favorite meals and I made scores of our favorite Christmas cookies. My parents visited from Cooperstown and I actually had them time to read a few great books. All in all it was a wonderful break from the routine, though I did miss this space and being here.

Peach Crumble Bars | The Naptime Chef

Peach Pie Crumble Bars + More Peach Recipes

We’ve been having such a wonderful time in Cooperstown this month. I look forward to this trip more than anything else all year and this summer did not disappoint. Since my little guy is in the super-active-and-I-always-want-your-attention phase I didn’t get as much fruit canning done as last year. But that’s okay, we’ll save it for another time. At least I managed to get a start on my homemade Christmas gifts and discover a new-to-me craft.

10 Easy Summer Dinners on the Grill | The Naptime Chef

8 Easy Late Summer Dinners on the Grill

We’ve been grilling a lot this summer. For the most part the meals have been really simple so I haven’t been typing them up for individual posts. Instead I’ve been recording them to share with you all at once. Most of the them are so basic they don’t require recipes and can be thrown together with ease. Please share what you’ve been grilling in the comments so we can swap ideas and enjoy the last few weeks of grilling season together!

Homemade Fruit Juice Slushies

Summer Food Inspiration

Mmm, 25 Tart & Refreshing Lemonade Recipes on Momtastic Homemade Fruit Juice Slushies with Kids on Babble Great Grilled Summer Corn on Momtastic No-Bake S’mores Pudding Pie on Lifetime Moms

General Mills Chex Cereal | The Naptime Chef

7 Tips for Busy Mornings with Children

In our house weekday mornings are busy year round. From September through June my daughter goes to school fairly early. In the summer both children often have camp or some sort of organized activity every morning. Over the last couple of years I’ve compiled some strategies for making our busy mornings flow better. These tips help me make sure things go smoothly so we can get out the door without too much chaos. Here are my favorite tips for making it all work:

Can it Forward Day | The Naptime Chef

4 Ways to Celebrate National Can-it-Forward Day + Giveaway

I love to wax poetic about the wonders of preserving. It doesn’t have to be hard or complicated, it truly can be simple and fun. Every year I join my friends at Jarden Home Brands to celebrate National Can-it-Forward Day. This year it is on August 1st! The day is full of events featuring prominent home preservers sharing their tips and expertise. Luckily this day will coincide perfectly with my yearly trip to Cooperstown. It is the time of the year when I do a lot of preserving, mostly of seasonal fruits I find at the Farmer’s Market, and this year will be no different.

Maple Pecan Tarts

22 Maple Syrup Recipes for Right Now

I’ve been having so much fun seeing what recipes you want to try from Butternut Mountain Farm. Don’t forget, the maple syrup giveaway is continuing until Thursday so please come by and enter!

In the mean time, last week I had gathered some great recipes from many of my favorite food blogs. These all feature maple syrup as a natural sweetener and main ingredient. Since maple syrup season is now in full force there is no better time to try them. Enjoy!

Maple Syrup 101 | The Naptime Chef

Maple Syrup 101 with Butternut Mountain Farm + Giveaway

Over the weekend we tapped our maple tree and hope to be making our homemade maple syrup soon. While we love this new tradition we never make enough syrup to last the whole year. I always end up buying a big jug or two of pure upstate syrup in Cooperstown whenever we visit. Over the years people have told me they find buying maple syrup intimidating and wonder if it is even worth it. All the grades can seem confusing and it is more expensive then the fake manufactured syrup you find in most grocery stores. So, today my friend Emma from Butternut Mountain Farm is here to help clear up any confusion and share a few fun facts about maple syrup

Mushroom Barley Soup | The Naptime Chef

Soup Season!

If there ever was a soup winter this is it. It is barely above 10 degrees F most days here. When we were in Cooperstown last weekend is what rarely above 0 and that is not an exaggeration! To stay warm and happy I’ve been making lots and lots of soup. I even plan to have another new soup recipe for you next week.

Blue Apron Meals & Special Pricing 2| The Naptime Chef

Break Out of the Winter Cooking Rut with Blue Apron + Free Meals!

Last week was the perfect time to receive my latest box from Blue Apron. As you might remember, I get a fun box of meals from Blue Apron from time to time. It is a great way to jolt me out of my cooking comfort zone and get the family excited for news. The box comes with all the farm-fresh ingredients for three delicious family meals measured out and ready to be cooked. Not only are the recipes they send inventive and interesting, it also means no trip to the grocery store and no throwing out unused food. Perfect!