The Naptime Chef

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.

I am so excited to share this terrific invitation with all of you!  On December 12th from 12 to 4pm I’ll be providing treats for a fun holiday shopping event at the newly opened JMcLaughlin store in Westport CT. Come by and pick out some fun Christmas gifts while nibbling on delicious sweets and savories. There will even be a cookie decorating station for the kids – they decorate while you shop! I am also excited to announce that at this event I’ll be introducing a limited edition line of my Peppermint Hot Fudge Sauce which will be artfully packaged to be the perfect stocking stuffer for your friends and loved ones. It is my first foray into packaged foods and I hope you’ll swing to snap some up while supplies last. If you have any questions feel free to send me a note or leave a comment.

If you can’t make it for this event you can still get a taste of The Naptime Chef at the store all season long. The JMcLaughlin cafe will be featuring one of a kind Naptime Chef sweets all month long. That’s right – stop by for a sweet nibble (no purchase necessary!) while you peruse the racks. Happy Holidays!

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!

Happy Thanksgiving! There is no video or recipe today, just a note to say thank you. What am I thankful for this year? You, readers, as well as my family, my friends and everyone in this world who strives to make it a better place. I’ll back with loads of new recipes and fun things next week, but this week I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday. Cheers! Kelsey

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.