The Naptime Chef

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 Jaime from the blog Prep Ahead and Dine In is sharing her amazing slow-cooker stew and french bread recipe!

Life with our three little girls is fabulously busy!  Preschool drop offs, dance carpools, Girl Scouts, story hours, play dates and MORE! There’s never a dull (or quiet) moment around here! The hours before dinner, better known in this house as “the witching hour,” prohibit the required chopping, sautéing, stirring and other necessary prep work that comes with serving a family dinner.  However, sitting down each night, all together, to a home cooked meal is of utmost importance to us. Family dinners give our daily lives shape. They force us to slow down, linger, and connect instead of moving on to the next “to do” list item.  Admittedly, finding the time and recipes necessary to facilitate this daily gathering is a challenge I rise to meet daily.  It comes easier for me now, but that wasn’t always the case.

The Rose Sculptures on Park Avenue

Last week I had a couple days of play time in New York. Well, I can’t say it was all play, I did squeeze in a dentist appointment, but I didn’t let a little teeth cleaning get in the way of my fun. The neat part about my New York adventure is that it spanned the course of two days. I miss living in my old Upper West Side neighborhood so much that it was a real treat to come in one evening for dinner and then back the next morning for breakfast. It was like being back home again!

Tuesday:

3:21pm: Scramble to make the Metro North train to Grand Central. Because of the snow storms several of the trains are out of commission and the regular train schedule is reduced making everything so much harder. Make the train by the skin of my teeth and it is smooth sailing from there. Use the train ride to catch up on emails, Facebook and Twitter. All this technology time makes me wonder what I ever did before blackberries were invented?!

4:40pm: Arrive at Grand Central later than planned because of an unexpected rail stop in the Bronx. Dash to catch a cab to meet Cara & Phoebe for coffee at City Bakery. I am so excited that their new book cover is on Amazon. Everyone start pre-ordering tout suite! The three of us try to meet up every few months to shoot the breeze and catch up on life. It is also a good excuse to indulge in the offerings at City Bakery. It is one of my favorite spots in the flatiron district – I lived 7 blocks away for 6 years! – and I am deeply devoted to the pretzel croissants and hot chocolate.



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 Nicole is sharing her recipe for Chicken Pot Pie that she has deconstructed to help it appeal to her children. Not only is Nicole a home cook to boot – we regularly swap recipes and you will definitely see a few of hers in the cookbook – but she also runs a full-time business in New York City. She knows a thing or two about preparing food ahead of time, like in the morning before work or making dinners on the weekends and freezing them for the week. Just look at this Pot Pie recipe, it is perfect for children and adults and comes with freezing instructions!

I didn’t grow up in a casserole household.  I think my mother, having experienced her fair share of casseroles as a child (and, I assume, not positively), made a very conscious choice to steer clear of any dishes calling for canned cream of mushroom soup. So, it was more than three years into my marriage to my husband before I made my first foray the world of “one dish wonders” prompted by my husband’s request for chicken pot pie.

When the request came, one cold Sunday afternoon, I admit to feeling stumped. It seemed too easy.  But, as this was a pre-kids, lazy weekend afternoon, I had plenty of time to explore for recipes.  I poured over cookbooks, scanned the internet, and began experimenting that night.

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.

Today’s Powernap: Make a delicious, decadent breakfast for my daughter and husband with my snazzy new waffle maker!

This week I am all about my new heart shaped waffle maker. Can you tell? If you want a waffle maker like this be sure to stop by this post on my Products Review page to enter to win one! After you’ve done that come back and we can talk waffles. Chocolate Malt Waffles to be specific. Today’s Powernap is brought to your courtesy of my sweet tooth. Sure, I love poached eggs on toast for breakfast, too, but why not go hog wild for Valentine’s Day! Who wouldn’t love to wake up to a stack of waffles with thin slices of strawberries and whipped cream. I know I would!

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 Melinda is sharing a great recipe for Tetrazzini she makes for her family. And, speaking of family, I’d like to congratulate my friend Cheryl Tan on the publication of her family food memoir, “A Tiger in the Kitchen.” Today a group of bloggers are celebrating Cheryl’s book and I am thrilled to be included.

Melinda Nelson is the editor of Minneapolis-St.Paul Home magazine and the mother of India, age 13, and Peter, age 16. Given the demands of work, school, snowboarding, skiing and other sports, Melinda loves simple but satisfying entrees that can be made ahead on weekends, refrigerated or frozen and heated on busy weekday evenings. Tetrazzini, a baked pasta dish made with cooked, chopped meat, spaghetti noodles, and a savory white sauce, is a favorite of Melinda’s family and friends.

According to San Francisco legend, the recipe was created at the Palace Hotel by a chef named Ernest Arbogast for Luisa Tetrazzini, an Italian opera singer who lived, Eloise-style, at the hotel for many years. “The original version was extremely decadent, with heavy cream, sautéed mushrooms and sliced almonds, but I prefer a slightly lighter version, made with milk and without mushrooms or nuts,” Melinda says. “You can also find recipes for Tetrazzini that call for canned cream of chicken soup and bouillon, but I’ll never be that short of time!”

A romantic Valentine’s Day breakfast? Did you read that right? Yes, you did! Come on over to my Product Reviews page to check out a great Valentine’s Day giveaway going on this week! Oh, and there are some great recipes, too. Read Full Post…