The Naptime Chef

Hi! I am gearing up for the start to the school year and will be of the blog until next week. There is so much to do with getting ready for school and getting the house back together after a wonderfully busy summer. I’m so grateful for all the fun I’ve had. To get you in the mood to get back to school and excited for freshly sharpened pencils and all that comes with it here are a few of my favorites for this time of year:

A great reminder for those of you looking for back-to-school meal ideas.

We had another great summer in Cooperstown. I hope you all will come visit next year!

This website is such an awesome resource!

I can’t help but get excited for apple and pumpkin season which is just around the corner…

I am dreaming and scheming about my upcoming birthday cake.

Forever and always, Tamra and Mike D make breakfast and lunch for their boys.

It’s the season of many, many fresh berries. While we endeavor to eat them all up before the get too soft, that doesn’t always happen. My solution? Bake. These one-bowl any berry muffins are the perfect treats to make with kids when you have that last handful of berries that you don’t want to freeze, but need to be eaten. You know they are so fresh that it would be a shame for them to go to waste!

Earlier this summer we took a lovely vacation to Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Though I went to college in Maine I never spent much time exploring the coast and I was so glad to finally have the chance. Boothbay is about one hour north of Portland and is in a world all its own. The town is quaint and laid back, and the lobster shacks are bountiful. Here are a few things we loved about our visit:

My mother made this amazing cucumber soup last week. It was perfect timing since we were in the midst of a terrible heatwave and only wanted light, cooling foods. She merged a few recipes to make her own and it was nothing short of delicious. I ate it as is for lunch, pouring it into a cup straight from the fridge. For dinner I paired it with some cheese and crackers to make it a little more substantial, but still very easy. Wherever you are I hope you aren’t too hot. And if you are, make this soup!

We are back from vacation and I have to share one of my favorite new summer pasta dishes right away. It is a riff on this one from The New York Times and tastes like a lemony summer dream. It is also perfect for right now when backyard zucchini production is peaking. There is suddenly no limit to the amount of fresh zucchini available and I try to incorporate into everything from savory to sweet. This dish comes together in a jiffy and will please the whole family.

I am on vacation this week and wanted to leave you with a few favorites of mine from around the web. These are things I’ve enjoyed recently and think you will, too. I’ll be back in early August with some fresh summer recipes and stories from our family trip. It is sure to be a good one!

In a French Kitchen is out in paperback this month. Hooray! I read it and On Rue Tatin this spring and adored them both. Highly recommend.

These gorgeous soaps are almost too pretty to use. I hope to buy a few bars when we are in Maine this year.

Yes way rosé! And this is still my favorite.

I have a stripes problem and Chance feeds my addiction.

The thought of adding oil to my skin used to give me the heebie-jeebies, but now I am addicted to this.

Everyone must watch this mini-series. Then follow it up with a binge watch of this television show.

Mimi’s 2017 workshops! It is on my bucket list to attend one. (I have to save my pennies!)

I did a little Amazon pre-ordering this week in preparation for all the amazing volumes coming out from my favorite authors this fall. I bought this, this, this, this, and this!

What a dream project! I keep thinking about our renovation and what we hope to do someday soon.

Tomato season is upon us and I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up my new favorite tomato tart recipe. It is from one of the best ever French cookbooks, A Kitchen in France by Mimi Thorrison and is, quite literally, as easy as pie. A savory pie. Made with tomatoes. That is perfect to serve for dinner, or lunch, or breakfast with a fried egg on top!