The Naptime Chef

Today’s webisode showcases how easy and fun it can be to make a batch of Caprese no-knead bread, or any kind of no-knead bread for that matter. I swear, once you get this technique down you are golden. Anyone can do it, even the busiest parent on the planet! As you’ll see, I make mine with a lot of love…and neglect. I pull the dough together after my daughter is asleep for the night, let it rise overnight and bake it in the morning. There are nearly infinite variations of no-knead bread and this recipe is a tried and true favorite. It contains sun-dried tomatoes, sweet basil and is topped with melted mozzarella. We can’t get enough of it and I’ve even taking to make it for friends when they come over for soup and sandwiches.

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.

It took me a few days to get back into the rhythm of the school year last week. I don’t know why, like most parents I was thrilled for school to resume, but the first few days were harried and off-kilter. We spent so much of Christmas vacation being sick and spending our days in jammies that getting up and at ’em first thing was a real jolt. When it came to meal time I kept it simple and stuck to some tried and true favorites like spaghetti and meatballs and carrot souffle. I also enjoyed experimenting with a few new, quicker recipes like this Stromboli.

What’s Going on Today: Post-holiday down time. Everyone in their jammies, finally on the mend.

Naptime Goals: Make dough for Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls, allow to rise all afternoon. Bake them in the morning.

2011 was the year I finally became comfortable working with yeast breads. In the past I’d had lots of success with no-knead bread and pizza dough, but I was honestly, for some unknown reason, a little intimidated by the thought of making anything else. I credit my trip to King Arthur Flour with allaying my fears and teaching me to dive hands first into rising dough. After 24 hours with them I was much more confident that I wasn’t going to kill yeast with hot water or not knead dough well enough. Once my fears were gone I was, well, fearless. Now I am making yeast breads all the time and our latest favorite are these cinnamon rolls.

I am all about baking bread, especially in the winter. Sure, I still buy a good loaf of country bread for sandwiches now and then, but I mostly bake it from scratch. It really is a cinch to make no-knead bread during naptime (an actual webisode of that to come later this week!) and a large loaf lasts us for at least a week. Denser sweet breads are easy too, and they are great for breakfast, school snack or even dessert. Most the loaf batters below can be made with a simple bowl and spoon and take less than ten minutes to pull together. Perfect for naptime baking!

Lately I’ve been baking my daughter lots of banana bread and pumpkin bread. They are her two favorites and are great for packing in her school snack box. I’ll admit, when she is at school I often sneak a few slices for myself to enjoy with my afternoon cuppa. Here are some of my favorite breads for winter naptime baking.

Congratulations to the winners for the Ile de France cheese baskets!

1. RoChelle

2. Karenmed409

3. Julie L.

4. Elena

5. Schmidty

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2. 20 Real Food Fast Winter Dinners
3. 6 Healthy & Delicious Winter Salads
4. 6 Things to Make with Store-Bought Cookie Dough
5. 6 New Ways to Serve Birthday Cake
6. Birthday Cake Batter Milkshakes

What’s Going on Today: Sickos at home over Christmas vacation – not fun!

Naptime Goals: Nap. Make Soup.

Tonight’s Menu: Creamy Mushroom Leek Soup with Peppery Parmesan Croutons, Clementines, Sudafed.

I made this soup over the weekend to get us back to neutral. Right after Christmas Day a solid mass of winter germs swept through our house. My daughter was on antibiotics in less than twenty-four hours and I was obsessively slurping down hot tea and clementines to beat my own sniffles and burning throat. My husband, lucky devil, was away in the office and generally avoided getting too close to us when he was home. During the day my daughter and I adopted a solid afternoon nap schedule. She napped for longer than I did, so when I got up from my rest I used my brief burst of energy to make some healing soups. Early in the week I started with a big batch of Tomato Florentine to use up the spinach from Christmas dinner. Later in the week I moved on to using up the rest of the mushrooms I’d purchased for our holiday pot pie.