It is nearly impossible to recommend a particular dessert for Thanksgiving because there are so many! Where we happen to be going there are also a ton of awesome bakeries so it is mostly likely we’ll just order something amazing from one of them. My mother-in-law doesn’t stock a ton of baking supplies and I don’t want to buy a huge bag of flour only to use to cups and ask her to store it for a year. The good news for all of you is that we I have a ton of great desserts that have already been written about that I can highly recommend!
What’s Going on Today: Thanksgiving recipe test-run.
Naptime Goals: Testing new potatoes recipe and preparing vinaigrette for green beans.
Tonight’s Menu: Lemon Garlicious Chicken (my husband can’t bear to put the grill away yet!), Roasted Rosemary Fingerling Potatoes, Green Beans with Tarragon Vinaigrette.
We are green bean fanatics around these parts. My husband and I can’t get enough of the them and my daughter is even coming around to those sweet green stalks. Last summer my friend Katie told me about the favorite green bean salad with tarragon vinegar her Mom makes and the idea stuck with me. I adore the earthy mustiness of tarragon and can see how it would pair so well with green beans. Since I didn’t have her recipe on hand I decided to wing it on my own, taking care to use only basic ingredients I could easily buy in Florida.
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 friendMerry-Jennifer from The Merry Gourmetis sharing her dear Grandma’s Sweet Potato Casserole recipe with us in honor of the Naptime Chef Thanksgiving Week.
Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday, but like many of you, the stress of the preparation can be overwhelming. Several years back, my in-laws and my parents decided to have a joint Thanksgiving meal with us, an easy solution for bringing both families together for the holiday. Now, bringing in-laws together for several hours and for such a major meal could be have been overwhelming and scary, on multiple levels, but it was not at all. It turns out that it was probably one of the best decisions we’ve made – and it’s turned into an annual tradition.
Naptime Goals: Testing new potatoes recipe and preparing vinaigrette for green beans.
Tonight’s Menu: Lemon Garlicious Chicken (my husband can’t bear to put the grill away yet!), Crispy Rosemary Fingerling Potatoes, Green Beans with Tarragon Vinaigrette.
We’ll be in Florida for Thanksgiving this year which means whatever recipes I want to make have to be easy. While I am there I want to spend the maximum amount of her naptime (and awake time!) with my feet in the sand, not tackling complicated Thanksgiving recipes in my in-law’s small kitchen. For our family feast I’ve volunteered to take care of two of the side dishes – which may actually take place on Friday, whole different matter – and this is the first recipe I am considering. Instead of making a giant vat of mashed potatoes for four adults and one toddler, I am going to roast some sweet fingerlings with rosemary, olive oil and salt until fragrant and crispy.
Welcome to Naptime Chef Thanksgiving week! With the holiday cooking season underway I thought it would be fun to spend the week talking about Thanksgiving. I am going to throw in a few great side dish recipes, share an awesome guest post from a friend and fellow food blogger and, of course, talk turkey. I am also giving away a fantastic professional aluminum non-stick roasting pan with rack with a set lifting forks (usually sold separately, but they packaged them together for you!) courtesy of my friends at BigKitchen.com. I love this particular pan because it is constructed out of strong aluminum, fits up to a 24 lb. turkey (that’s a big bird!) and should last a lifetime. It is exactly like the one we have at home and use all the time. So, if you are in the need of a new roasting pan look no further – see the entry rules below and join in the fun!
I am taking a break from recipes today to share some of my favorite things from late summer and early fall. We’ve been back in the swing of things with the school but have still managed to escape to Cooperstown and Martha’s Vineyard for some family visits. Along the way I’ve been reading some terrific books, reading new favorite websites and browsing newly released cookbooks. Here are some of them that have really stood out along the way:
About once a month I open my refrigerator to see half-used containers and cans of condiments that are perilously close to their expiration dates. It may be a tub of sour cream that I used for a cake two weeks ago, or a tub of yogurt we haven’t quite finished up. Whatever it is, I hate (hate!) to waste it. My parents always taught me to “waste not, want not” when it came to cooking and baking and that included the simple things like basic dairy-based condiments. Sure, it would be easy to flush them down the drain before they go rancid, but I find it easier, and less wasteful, to build recipes specifically around what I need to use up. This can be tricky to do with dairy which is why I thought I’d share some of our favorites for using up little bits of this and that lingering in the fridge instead of letting them go to waste.
In today’s naptime webisode I am canning apple pie filling with my Dad. As most of you know, I love canning with my Dad. And, despite the fact that he bought me my very own canning equipment for our home in Connecticut, I still like to do it with him when we visit Cooperstown. In this webisode you’ll notice my lips moving while I talk over the picture, that is because Dad and I were chatting the entire time we did this project. We were catching up on all the news around town and, of course, all the happenings at pre-school here in Connecticut. Our canning projects are more than just the chance to preserve delicious food, they are our time to catch up with each other.
I have done a banner job of overcommitting myself this year. The second I am done with one event it is on to the next. I am not complaining in the least, but I do get tired once in a while. Last week was a particularly strenuous one. I prepared for a Halloween cupcake decorating party, immediately followed by my daughter’s school bake sale. For my contribution to the sale I baked a sweet snappy cookie that reminds me of fall, the gingersnap. To give it an extra flavor boost I sandwiched some caramel buttercream in the middle and bagged them up.
Today’s Powernap: I need to develop a delicious fall cocktail for a friend’s upcoming birthday party. Given the fall mood, and her known love for White Russians, I want to make something smooth and a tad sweet with a truly spooky appeal to match the season.
I am not really much of a heavy cocktail person. If and when I drink it is usually a glass of wine with dinner. However, when it comes to throwing parties I make an exception. I think a signature cocktail can be a fun way to set the mood for a party or celebration. Last New Year’s I was all about Filthy Fizz and in the summer I am happy to spike the lemonade. For this occasion I was thinking about a friend’s upcoming birthday and wanted to make something smooth and silky with just the right amount of sparkle to fit the mood.
This year my daughter is going to be a pink lollipop for Halloween. It is a fitting ode to her favorite treat and a nice imaginative costume, I think. For better or worse, this also means that I have to make her costume this year. Some people seemed surprised when they hear I am not a crafty person. But I am not lying when I say I can barely sew a button. All this is to say that on this particular fall day it was especially important I make a simple meal ahead of time so I could dedicate the afternoon while she was at school to making her costume.
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 Julie from Dinner with Julie is sharing a delicious Pumpkin Cake recipe with us in honor of the Naptime Chef Pumpkin Challenge Week.
1) How would you describe your approach to food in three sentences or less: I like food that is approachable, delicious, brings people together. It shouldn’t be stressful or put the cook under pressure or induce performance anxiety! Food should be a comfort and pleasurable experience.
2) What is your favorite winter dinner party menu? It always changes – I don’t have one favourite menu! Although I do love roasting a ham for large groups – it’s easy, delicious as it cools down, and makes both kids and grown-ups happy!
3) Sweet or salty? Both! But if I had to choose, sweet.
4) Favorite Cookbook? There are so many! Right now I’m pretty smitten with the Martha Stewart pie book – I also love Richard Sax’s Classic Home Desserts
5) Guilty Pleasure? Ice cream, although I’m fundamentally against the connection between food and guilt!
6) What is your favorite family recipe for making during your down time? My 13 year old niece loves to come over and bake chocolate chip cookies together. Sometimes we roll the dough into balls, freeze it and then dip in melted chocolate to make chocolate chip cookie dough “truffles”
As a kid, I wasn’t a fan of pumpkin. It too closely resembled its winter squash family members, which I despised. I’ve since grown into both – rich and nutrient-dense, pure pumpkin puree is one of my favourite additions to muffins, loaves and cakes. A pumpkin spice cake baking is the best possible potpourri, especially in the fall, when the days turn cold and the house needs warming. (I could still take or leave pumpkin pie – most often it’s left.)
But cake. I recently picked up a slice of divinely moist pumpkin cake from a gourmet take-out place nearby, and fell in love with it. So when my six year old asked if we could bake a cake, we did our best to recreate it. Who needs a birthday to bake a cake? We measured and stirred and licked the beaters, then went outside to play in the leaves as it baked.
