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A Typical Grocery Haul When Farmer's Market isn't in Season

Chalk it up to too many glasses of champagne, but today I thought I’d take a break from recipes and give you a peak under the tent. I try to do this with every post – give you an idea of my daily routine – but this time I am going into much more detail. On occasion people ask if I really do it all, or if I have a housekeeper (no) and full-time nanny (no) to assist me with my daily work. These are legitimate questions and I want you to see how I really make it through each day. I am not Supermom by any stretch, I just love to cook and bake and make a point of fitting great food into our family life. I also clean the house, care for our daughter and take care of all those little things that come with family life. I am drawing inspiration from these types of Daily Diary articles. I love how they provide a glimpse into the inner workings of someone’s day or week, a true picture of how it all fits together.

With the book project underway I’ve hired a babysitter for a few (just a few, less than 6) hours a week. This gives me the time I need to work on the manuscript, or meet with people to discuss my other exciting projects like the JMcLaughlin Westport Cafe and such. Also, my daughter is attending pre-school now which frees up a nice amount of time, in addition to naptime, for work and cooking. On a typical non-babysitter weekday this is how my day flows:

7:00am-ish – Blasted out of bed by calls for cereal coming from down the hall. Retrieve daughter from her room, blanket in tow. Immediately brush her hair and put it into ponytails; god forbid the long ends dip into the cereal bowl and bring breakfast to a teary and premature end. Multi-vitamins for the whole family.

7:30am-ish – Make our bed. Make her bed. Toss in a load of laundry. Stumble downstairs in my exercise outfit, maybe wearing make-up and contacts, maybe not. We like hot breakfasts so I dive right in with the hot oatmeal for my daughter and I. My husband doesn’t eat breakfast and he is off to work. I like to savor my oatmeal while sipping hot tea, my daughter barrels through her bowl and asks for another. I often try to have her eat at least one serving of fruit at breakfast so she wraps up her second bowl of oatmeal with a banana. I am always amazed at how much food that little tummy can hold. Clean up after breakfast, empty clean dishwasher from night before, start loading it with dirty dishes for the day.

8:15-ish – Change laundry into dryer and it’s off to the gym! Daughter dressed in a semi-coordinated outfit comprised of clothes that are entirely her choice. I pick my battles. If it is seasonally appropriate she is allowed to wear it. No tank tops in January. I pack a snack trap with pretzels and raisins for the ride. I work-out at the gym while watching the news. It’s usually a boring news show since all the relevant news shows are on earlier in the morning. Make shopping list in the locker room before picking up daughter from the child care area.

9:45 – Grocery store! Yes, I am one of those people walking around the grocery store in yoga tights and a down jacket pushing a cart with a toddler in it. Don’t judge, I just don’t have the time to run home to shower before going back out to shop. Also, shopping after exercising inspires me to steer clear of all the carbs and sweets in the grocery store, bathing suit season is never that far away! I am partial to Balducci’s and our local gourmet shop for most of our food when the Farmer’s Market is not in session. They do a great job supporting local producers. A Whole Foods is being built in our town and Trader Joe’s isn’t too far away, so there is a lot of good food shopping available. While shopping my daughter usually rides in the cart seat and I give her “jobs,” like holding boxes of grains and selecting the fruit she wants for the week.

11:00 am – Home to shower, unload groceries and think about lunch. My daughter prefers hot lunches so we do a lot of pasta with butter and cheese, quesadillas, grilled cheeses and macaroni and cheese. Obviously she is obsessed with cheese. She almost always finishes off her lunch with a yogurt. I like my Trader Joe’s Almond Butter with Sea Salt on whole wheat toast and either pretzels or potato chips. Load more dirty dishes into the dishwasher.

What’s Going on Today: Christmas craziness, is there any more I need to say?

Naptime Goals: Pull together Macaroni & Cheese with Leeks

Tonight’s Menu: Macaroni & Cheese with Leeks, Baked Chicken, Wine (and lots of it!)

Parenting Lesson of the Day: Don’t laugh when they ask Santa for a trampoline.

The next few weeks will be a little nutty for me. We are hosting our first ever Christmas with my in-law’s. I’ve always traveled for the holidays so it will be fun to stay at home this year. In order to get things accomplished I’ve been making dinners that will last me at least two nights. For example, we had this delicious casserole for two nights in a row and I baked chicken or fish to serve alongside it. It was nice having this in the fridge and ready to go at a moment’s notice. I even prepared the whole thing during naptime one afternoon so it didn’t take away from any of the Christmas activities with my daughter.

Sara and her husband live in St. Paul, Minnesota with their two daughters, ages 6 and 4.  When her first daughter was born Sara traded in her days as a social worker to stay at home, and began cooking during naptime. In fact, although the girls are a little older (one of them still naps) Sara still uses this time to her benefit, tackling loads of laundry, paying bills and cleaning – in addition to cooking! We share the sentiment that sometimes naptime isn’t nearly enough time to get it all done! One of her favorite recipes to fit into family life is this amazing bread. She has worked out how to fit each step into an open window during her day. The result is perfect loaf every time!

In December of 2008, my husband gave me a gift that changed my life.  I am not referring to the birth of my daughters, then ages 3 and 1.  I am referring to a book.  A cookbook.  My husband gave me Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The discovery that revolutionizes home baking.  I had been struggling to bake homemade bread for months, with minimal success.  Once I came across this book, I became a confident baker of bread.  A whole new world was opened to me!

The bread I bake most often is the Light Whole Wheat Bread.  It is my favorite for the variety it offers.  I can use the dough to bake bread for sandwiches, pizza crust and even focaccia.

Making this bread is a two part process and requires me to plan ahead.  I typically make the dough one day, and bake it the next.  After I get my now 4 year year old down for her “quiet time” (sometimes it is not so quiet and I wonder what she is doing in her room) I mix the ingredients, which takes me 10 – 15 minutes.  I like to use King Arthur’s unbleached all-purpose flour.  I mix the yeast, flour and salt using first a wooden spoon and then my wet hands.  No kneading is required.  I use Fleischmann’s rapid rise or quick rise yeast.  The authors state that the type of yeast you use is not important, you can use whatever you have available.

Once the dough is made, it needs to sit on the counter in a non-airtight container for two hours while the dough rises and collapses.  I find the dough is easier to work with if I first refrigerate it.  It can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 weeks, though mine never last more than a week.  From the amount of dough made, I can usually make 3 loaves of bread.

What’s Going on Today: Preparing for daughter’s birthday party while she naps.

Naptime Goals: Set-up the birthday cake, popcorn, spiced up chex mix, cheeses, dip, cookies, lollipops, smoked salmon and baked brie.

Today’s Menu: See above: a mix of kid food and adult food to please everyone attending. Bar stocked with Champagne, beer, wine & sodas!

Parenting Lesson of the Day: Little kids will never know if you forget to put out the cocktail napkins!

While we were in Cooperstown for Thanksgiving we celebrated my daughter’s birthday. I can’t believe how quickly time has flown, it seems like just yesterday we brought her home! Reflecting on how quickly she has grown nearly brought tears to my eyes, but just nearly. This year there was no time for crying, we had a party to throw! I filmed the whole ordeal and made it into a great webisode and while I was doing so decided to give away a camera for my holiday giveaway #4. For details on how to enter to win a Kodak Zx1 Pocket Video Camera (courtesy of moi, this is not a sponsored giveaway) see details at the end of this post.

Luckily, my parents are expert party-throwers and weren’t at all daunted at my request we throw a proper party on the actual day of her birthday. In fact, they embraced it wholeheartedly. There was coordinated decor (light blue, per my daughter’s request), a terrific menu and loads of good friends. They even commissioned a special “blue lollipop birthday cake” since that is what she so desperately wanted. My contribution to the party was the creamy baked brie with jam and almonds. It’s is my favorite go-to holiday appetizer that is an absolute snap to make. I prepared it while my daughter napped and popped it in the oven right before the party that evening!

In the spirit of the season, today I thought I’d give you a few ideas for some great foodie holiday gifts. These are all things I adore in my own kitchen. Each item greatly enhances the food I make in one way or another, and adds a great deal of fun to my daily cooking routine. I promise, fellow Naptime Chefs, I would never recommend any kind of complicated one-note piece of cooking gear or an uber-expensive tiny bottle of rare ingredients. Instead, I am sharing some ideas for things any cook would love, whether it be you, a friend or loved one, and are bound to add pleasure and joy to your kitchen!:

The Naptime Chef’s Foodie Holiday Gifts Guide 2010!

1) Organic Meyer Lemons: It is not unusual you hear me wax poetic about Meyer lemons. I can’t get enough of them! Luckily the fun folks over at Food52 have found a place where we can order them by the case. Not all of us, a-hem Liz, live in a city where they grow naturally and this is the next best thing. Ship a big box to your loved ones, they can cook with some, preserve some and, of course, whip up a pitcher of hot spiced lemonade!

2) Square Tart Pan: Tart pans can be used for all sorts of terrific desserts. I use mine for both sweet and savory tarts, as well as shortbread and thin pizzas. I love the idea of the square tart pan because the shape is so uncommon. This would be a great gift for the baker in your life!

3) Susan Russo and Brett Cohen’s Recipes Every Man Should Know: The title says it all! I just bought a copy of this for my awesome bachelor brother, Uncle Will. Even though he is already an experienced cook I know these recipes will come in handy, especially the bacon-wrapped meatloaf and beef stew. This is a great gift for any bachelors or reticent cooks, the tempting recipes will easily inspire them to jump off the couch and into the kitchen!

Thanksgiving Leftover Pizza

John Matthews is a professional chef and stay at home Dad of twins. Though restaurant work is no longer his day job he still cooks and bakes like crazy for his family. Today he is sharing his amazing recipe for Thanksgiving Leftover Pizza, the recipe that the whole family went bananas for when he made it up on a whim last year. Currently John is juggling his children’s schedules with his own baking start up. His new company, xx, is dedicated to serving up delicious gluten-free dairy-free baking goods and I’ll be writing more about that soon.

We did last Thanksgiving at my sister’s house in CT. Auntie Laura is a full service aunt. After doing most of the work shopping, cooking, baking, etc., she runs herself ragged playing the perfect hostess and favorite aunt of our twin’s Hadley and Deegan and cousins Rachael and Michael. Michael is old enough to take care of himself. Rachael is ten months younger than our kids and when the three of them get together it’s nonstop action. And very loud. Despite the presence of several adults, when you have very energetic three year old twins and a rambunctious two year old, anything can happen so it’s kind of all hands on deck.

What’s Going on Today: Actually preparing for the holiday season, ordering gifts, making shopping lists.

Tonight’s Menu: Leftover Beef Tenderloin, Green Beans, Peppermint Patty Brownies.

Naptime Goals: Relax with some delicious hot chocolate and tell you all about my favorite winter beverages.

Parenting Lesson of the Day: You’ll always be amazed at what they ask Santa for Christmas (a trampoline?!)

Today is kind of a fun one. I was brewing up my favorite Christmas tea the other morning – Celestial Seasoning’s Nutcracker Sweet, in case you are wondering – and was struck with inspiration. I use my electric tea kettle daily (thank you Linda & Ginger, it was a most excellent wedding gift) and I was wondering if you all ever use one too. It is definitely the fastest way to boil water. It also is great for filling water baths when baking souffles, dissolving sugar and espresso powder and a whole host of other things when cooking and baking. If you don’t have one, why don’t I give you one? This time there are no sponsors, just me giving you one of my favorite kitchen appliances (a new one though, not the actual kettle from my kitchen) and a box of tea. And, while we are at it, let’s talk hot beverages.

A Southern Table

Gerri is a southern girl through and through. A mom, wife and college student she leads a busy life (to say the least!) but still finds time for great food. Here she shares her recipe for Southern Chicken Pileau and the flood of warm family memories it brings.

Having grown up in the deep south, I am blessed to have a wonderful heritage.  Remembering my grandmother’s kitchen, I am drawn back into a time that is now long gone.  However, in my mind’s eye I can still hear, see, and smell the inviting aroma that floated out of her kitchen.  It was divine!  Countless times she would let me stand on my tiptoes in a chair away from the stove and watch her fry chicken in her “black spider” (cast iron frying pan).  It was almost hypnotizing, making it hard for me to look away.  Watching her make biscuits was like watching an artist sculpt a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.  Her hands would mold and shape the dough without any effort.  The warm vanilla fragrance that would permeate the entire house when she was making banana pudding was one I could recognize even blindfolded.  She had no formal education, but one would have to be schooled to cook with love the way she did.  I enjoyed her kitchen and her love for many, many years.  Even though she passed away in 2001, I keep her memory alive by cooking.

What’s Going on Today: Close to meeting book deadline #1, attempting Christmas card photos, laundry!

Naptime Goals: Make Uncle Will’s Mexican Lasagna, writing, fifth and sixth laundry load of the day (cold weather = more clothes to wash)

Tonight’s Menu: Mexican Lasagna, Spanish Rice, Green Salad.

Parenting Lesson of the Day: Out goes Halloween, in comes Christmas shopping…

My cooking genius brother, Uncle Will, is back! In celebration of getting close to meeting one of my first book deadlines I’ve taken a break from recipe testing and am making his Mexican Lasagna. If you read the words Mexican Lasagna and think, wow, Kelsey, this is going to be a calorie-fest, well, you’re right. It’s not exactly light on the hips, but that’s okay if you only make it once or twice a year.

My brother fine-tuned his love for Mexican food during his Coast Guard years in San Diego. A city renowned for it’s fantastic fish tacos was definitely the right place for him to hone his palate for all things spicy and fresh. He returned to the east coast with all sorts of new dishes and recipes. I mean, we always liked taco night as kids, but he took taco night to a whole new level when he came home with stuff like this in his back pocket.

Emily Paster is a busy woman. This mom of two, wife and part-time law professor lives in Chicago and writes about work-life balance on her blog, West of the Loop. When Emily responded to my query for guest posts she proposed an interesting essay topic: the case against the family dinner with a recipe for her favorite veal stew. Fitting great food into family life, she says, is a challenge with two young children. One of her concessions in recent years has been to eat with her husband after they are asleep. I was interested and excited to hear her argument. I have to say, after reading her essay I do agree with her on many points. There are usually one or two nights a week when we put my daughter to bed before eating dinner ourselves. It’s like having date night in our own kitchen. What do you think about family dinner? How do you feel? Let us know, Emily and I would love to hear.

Shhh…do you want to hear a secret? Come a little closer. Okay, here goes: my family doesn’t eat dinner together and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Are you shocked? Do you think my children will grow up to be overweight glue-sniffing felons? I’m actually pretty confident that my children are going to turn out okay despite my flagrant disregard for the importance of family dinner. You see, my husband and I have given up family dinners in favor of two other considerations that we believe are equally important: early bedtimes and happily married parents.

My husband works long hours.  Most nights, he arrives home at 6:45 pm. That is simply too late for our children, ages seven and three, to wait to eat dinner and still get to bed at what we consider a decent hour. Instead, I feed the kids their dinner around 6 pm and then, when Daddy walks in at quarter to seven, they are ready to head upstairs for baths and the bedtime routine, a routine which is handled exclusively by my husband. That way, the kids get some dedicated time with Daddy every evening.

What’s Going on Today: Prepping for Halloween night, having a bbq with the neighbors!

Naptime Goals: Make Apple Spice Bundt Cake with Maple Glaze, buy beer.

Tonight’s Menu: Brats, Dip, Cake, Beer.

Parenting Lesson of the Day: Halloween is now an endurance holiday, it lasts almost as long as Christmas!

Halloween has proved to be a much longer holiday than I expected. When I was little it was one night of trick-or-treating. But sometime in the thirty year span between my childhood and my daughter’s, Halloween morphed into a much bigger deal. Over the course of the weekend we attended no fewer than four events all of which required costumes and receiving candy. Not to mention the Halloween themed meals, school parties and presents (!) that preceded the big day. I couldn’t believe how busy we were!

By the end of the weekend my Blue Tootsie Pop (her costume idea) was tuckered out. To make the actual day of Halloween fun and relaxed my neighbors and I decided to have a little bbq and restrict trick-or-treating to our local neighborhood only. We wanted to give it the family fun feeling, strolling the streets, chatting with neighbors, that we remembered from growing up.

Butternut Squash Puree for Harvest Dinner

Aimee Wimbush-Bourque is the editor of Simple Bites and the well-known blog Under the High Chair. She is also a culinary school graduate and busy mom of two. I never cease to be amazed at her fabulous inventive recipes and the techniques she employs to fit great food into her daily life. Today I invited her to share some stories about cooking with her kids and her recent harvest dinner. I loved hearing how she cooked her family meal over the course of several days and enjoyed it every step of the way. Note: For more of my interview with Aimee, and her amazing recipe for Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese, come over to Babble and take a look.

Naptime Chef: Your boys are no longer infants but when they were, what kind of cooking methods did you employ to get table on the table every night?

Aimee: Parents of young children will agree that kids like to be right where the action is when they’re trying to make dinner. That’s right, directly underfoot. Now that I have two children of my own, it seems they appear at my elbow as soon as I pull out my Kitchen Aid. Fortunately, I wouldn’t have it any other way!

As parents, we have a responsibility to make eating about more than just putting food in our mouths.  Take the time to make the gathering and preparing of food, as well as the crucial sitting down together around the dinner table, central to eating.

First things first, however, be sure to teach your children the importance of kitchen safety and set boundaries early.

I have a few tricks that I employ when I need to get dinner on the table. Since the little ones wanted to be where I am, I don’t fight it (impossible anyway!) and often set them up to play in the corner of the kitchen.

They have one cupboard and one drawer that they are free to rifle through and ‘cook’ with the contents. I also occasionally set up ‘rice play’ – think mini indoor sandbox, but with post-dated rice, a few toy machines, and plenty of measuring spoons & cups.

If I’m canning or doing something that requires my full attention, I keep them occupied at the table with art supplies or play dough, and keep the youngest strapped into a booster seat so I can decide when he gets down!

I’ve also discovered that popsicles are my friends. My incredibly active 2 year old sits in his high chair for a full twenty minutes and enjoys a homemade popsicle. That usually gives me enough time to prep supper in the afternoon, if for some reason, he’s decided to skip his nap.