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A gorgeous infinity scarf to keep her warm all winter long. (via Cuyana, $68)

The Marge Holiday Granola Collection so she can enjoy her own delicious breakfast instead of the leftover dregs from her kid’s bowls. (via Marge, $23)

A polka dot catch-all to hold accessories and pasta necklaces from the kids. (via Clare V., $45)

A fashionable French friends illustration to set on her desk or hang in her bedroom for that subtle chic touch. (via Garance Dore, $24)

A funny tote to show off her awesome sense of humor at the farmers’ market (via Emily McDowell, $20)

Really good running pants: Because she impressively runs marathons in her free time while raising three kids and working full time. (via Outdoor Voices, $105)

The Charleston Academy of Domestic Pursuits, which is chock full of useful advice, great recipes, and hilarious illustrations. (via Amazon, $18)

A pretty necklace she can pair with just about any outfit and will make her smile. (via Minoux Jewelry, $54)

A hand-knit winter beenie to complement her tomboy style. (via Corka Rybaka, 65 euros)

Since being together is the best gift of all and any kind of cooking class is fun with your bestie. (via Momofuko Milk Bar, $95)

A cheery linen pouch for hold lip balms and face wipes in her purse. (via Amelia, $24)

A set of porcelain ice cream cones she can use for food or as little vases all year long. (via Virginia Sin, $24)

(Reminder: These are not sponsored posts, they are just products I really like and hope you will as well.)

Try as I might, I am never completely ready for the holidays, no matter how much I plan.  There is always something I overlook or, more likely, don’t anticipate. Like that time our friends stopped over to chat and we ended up having an informal dinner party. Or the time our neighbors’ furnace broke and we took them in for the better part of an evening. It is always fun when people come by, but it is important to be prepared so you don’t greet them with an empty kitchen and a glass of tap water. In order to help you be properly prepared this holiday season, I’ve assembled some easy tips to ensure you’re ready to entertain at the ding of the doorbell.

1) Stock your kitchen so you are ready to entertain in an emergency cocktail hour situation with:
– 1 block of Arla Dofino Havarti
– 1 block of flavored Arla Dofino Gouda (cracked pepper, chili-lime, or jalapeno are
current favorites)
– 1 box of water crackers
– 1 box of baked crisp or unusually flavored cracker
– A container of cocktail nuts
– A bag of dried apricots and dates, or similar preferred dried fruits
– Toothpicks for serving cheese cubes
– A couple varieties of wine

With these ingredients at the ready, you can assemble a fruit and cheese platter and pour a glass of wine within minutes. In fact, you can even put together the cheese platter while your impromptu guests chat with you in the kitchen. It is that easy and it never fails.

Last weekend some dear friends came to visit and we had a fun, easy (keyword: easy) lasagna night at home. Casual entertaining is my favorite, especially when it is cold outside. We make cheesy comfort food, light a fire, and serve lots of good red wine. The mood is casual and comfy. All we do is chat for hours on end while keeping one ear on the kids playing upstairs. Here is how we go about hosting lasagna night if you’d like to see:

I have been a longtime fan of The Kitchn and editors Sara-Kate Gillingham and Faith Durand. Their website is insanely informative and now they’ve gone an written an amazingly handy cookbook, too. The Kitchn Cookbook: Recipes, Kitchens & Tips to Inspire Your Cooking is not just useful in the it-has-great-recipes kind of way. It is covers the entire kitchen from renovations and maintenance, to cooking and entertaining. It teaches you how to stretch your kitchen to limit and make it a room you love to live and cook in.

My mother made these recipe when we were visiting Cooperstown in October. It was so warm and hearty I couldn’t wait to share it with you. It isn’t an original of mine, my mom mined it from the depths of Google and gave it her own tweaks. She has such a well-trained eye for good recipes! I am always looking for new ways to make mushroom soup. My old favorite is delish, but we all need change now and then. I promise, you’ll love the smooth silky flavor with the undertones of nuttiness from the barley. It is easy to whip up during naptime and put away in the fridge (or freezer) for later. Stay warm!

Where there are families, there is snack food. No two ways about it. I’ve long advocated for generally healthy eating habits in our home and that includes an assortment of store-bought products we love. Some things are just better purchased than made at home! One of the things I buy are Stacy’s Pita Chips. They are made in small batches by hand and I never worry about giving them to my kids. We eat them plain or with hummus, or sometimes even with a caramel dip for dessert. To spice things up this holiday season my friends at Stacy’s came out with a delicious limited edition flavor. Salted Caramel Pita Chips! Seriously, they are as amazing as they sound.

Let’s face it, it is tough to get healthy dinners on the table every single night of the week. But it is even harder during the holiday season. If your family is like ours, there are tons of after-school activities, late nights for work travel, and all sorts of holiday-themed homework. On top of that there is spending every extra spare minute getting things organized for the holiday season. Every so often I give myself a break when this craziness rolls around and order a box from Blue Apron. This smart service cleverly makes healthy meals easy to make by delivering the pre-measured ingredients straight to your door.

When I think baking, I think Dorie Greenspan. Over the years she has been a guru, mentor, and friend, and for that I am so grateful. Lucky for us, Dorie continue to write amazing baking books. I’ll admit, I didn’t think there would ever be a book quite as awesome as Baking: From My Home To Yours, but now there is. Baking Chez Moi is Dorie’s latest book and it is such a treasure. In it she features family-friendly French baking recipes that are neither finicky nor complicated. In fact, they are downright homey!

Sandwiches are my go-to lunch and, sometimes, my go-to dinner. They are perfect in so many ways because you can layer in all sorts of delicious ingredients and not have to worry about turning on the oven. In honor of National Sandwich Day today I am thrilled to be sharing one of my all-time sandwiches. It is my version of the basic BLT, but with a tasty twist including a fried egg and creamy Arla Dofino Dill Havarti.

Happy National #SandwichDay! Treat yourself to a delish Dilly BLAT with Fried Egg and Dill Havarti from @arladofino for lunch, dinner or both!

A video posted by Kelsey Banfield (@naptimechef) on Nov 11, 2014 at 10:14am PST

As you’ve probably noticed, I don’t go overboard with Halloween food. Yes, I go crazy with pumpkin flavored things, but that extends throughout the fall well past Halloween. Anyway, this year my daughter and I had a blast with all of our favorite Halloween crafts. When it was time to bake we decided on a simple orange and brown swirl cake which we called “Witches Cake.” The idea came from the thin chocolate lines which reminded us of creepy trees, and the dark chocolate glaze flecked with gold.

I’ve noticed a waffle trend around the web recently and I am enthusiastically jumping on board. We love using our waffle maker and the idea of using it to make savory toasted sandwiches is the coolest thing ever. Sure, we make Paninis at home, too, but the waffle sandwich is just so interestingly savory with a touch of sweet. To get use to the process, we made our first batch with slices of Arla Dofino Creamy Havarti and regular smoked deli ham.

A couple of years ago I shared a nice chat I had with Jennifer Tyler Lee regarding her genius kids toy, Crunch-a-Color. Since then Jennifer has written a new cookbook and it is being released this season. It is called The 52 New Foods Challenge: A Family Cooking Adventure for Each Week of the Year, and it keeps with her theme of finding great ways to get your kids to try new, healthy foods. Each week she encourages kids to pick a new food to try and provides some great family-friendly ways to prepare it.