I don’t love the January fad of extreme diets and cleanses, but I do embrace the renewed commitment to healthier eating. I don’t mind giving up sugar and cutting back on gluten. I just don’t like replacing it all with salad. Only salad. Lettuce is delicious, but it doesn’t feel like real sustenance to me. It is not hearty enough and doesn’t fill me up, no matter how much I eat. That is why I am here to give you a new salad recipe that will steer you away from a leafy green-heavy plate but still keep you firmly in the healthy eating category. My friend Lauren made this in December when she had a few friends over for a ladies lunch. She paired it with my most delicious shrimp soup (recipe soon) and it made for a terrific, warm afternoon meal. (Not to mention, her table styling was spot on and her whole house looks like it bounced right off the pages of Domino magazine.)
There was no naptime cooking yesterday. Instead there was naptime book launch work and naptime house work. Ah, well. You can’t win ’em all. In lieu of naptime cooking there was one-pot-meal-night. That is, a quick delicious dinner that I could make in one dish. It was an easy recipe that my mom had given me years ago to try and this week I finally got around to it. Here is the jist:
Happy New Year! I am excited to be back up and running for 2015. We have a BIG year ahead. The next book has an official publishing date: March 31, 2015! On that day all the copies of The Family Calendar: From Birthdays to Bake Sales, Good Food to Carry You Through the Year, will be available for purchase (you can pre-order it now!!!). Stay tuned for book tour information.
I am also back in cooking mode at home. I’ve been hard at work for my articles for Babble and Mom.me which will be published soon. I’ve also been naptime cooking our meals again. My daughter is back at school and my son is back on his regular napping schedule which makes things much easier. I love the holidays, but it is hard being off our schedule for so long!
Over the holidays I took some time to reflect on my kitchen and my goals for the new year. Here are a few of my resolutions if you’d like to see:
1) Organize!: For an OCD Virgo like me, organizing is rarely a problem. The challenge for me as how well I can organize since I love it so much. Nothing makes me happier than an orderly, clean pantry! Kidecals sent me these cool chalkboard labels last fall and I’ve been using them to label all the foods I keep in mason jars and OXO Pop containers. They are so handy and I love that they are reusable.
2) Return to old favorites: Since I develop new recipes all the time I sometimes forget to return to old favorites. This year I pledge to return to my archives and revisit meals for years past that we’ve loved like this, this, and this. One of the first things on my agenda is making Barbara’s Gorgeous Meyer Lemon Marmalade. Now is the time to preserve all that gorgeous citrus!
3) Continue renovation research: We are inching closer to drawing up our big renovation plans and I’ve been doing lots of research on appliances, materials, and design. The options can get overwhelming and intimidating at times, but I remind myself to persevere. As daunting as the project is, the more I research now, the happier I’ll be in the long run.
4) It’s Book Season!: I am bursting with excitement about the new book and promise to do my best to make this the best book season yet. Let me know what you want to see and let’s all enjoy this journey together.
5) Join me on Instagram: I am so grateful that so many of you join me on Facebook. But sometimes Facebook can be a real pain about who gets to see what post. This year I’m launching a daily photography journey on my Instagram account. Search the hashtags #familycalendar and #dailynaptime so see everything so far. I hope you will come along!
I am over and done with rich food this winter. Christmas season was an ongoing feast of eggnog french toast, short ribs over potatoes, and much, much more. For January I’m dialing it down, pushing aside sugar, and focusing on small easy snacks into of large gluttonous meals. Here are a few things we’ve enjoyed so far:
Cheddar & Chutney Rolls: I love these King’s Hawaiian sweet rolls. Layered with a thick slice of sharp cheddar and a generous dollop of chutney they are the perfect little sandwich to serve along a fresh salad.
Strata: For an easy dinner last week I made ham and cheese strata. It was easy to scale down my favorite recipe and make just an 8×8 pan size strata for my family. I used chopped King’s Hawaiian rolls to in lieu of ciabatta.
Mini Pizzas: When my husband travels the kids and I make mini-pizzas for dinner. So easy and so delicious!
(Disclosure: I was sent King’s Hawaiian rolls to try out for my New Year’s entertaining this year. The recipe ideas and photographs are wholly my own.)
Earlier this fall I had the pleasure of meeting Anna Watson Carl at a potluck celebrating Dana Cowin’s new book. Anna and I hit is off immediately and I’ll admit I was secretly thrilled to finally meet the master behind the gorgeous blog The Yellow Table. I’ve been a longtime fan! When I met Anna she was in the process of wrapping up her first ever cookbook named after her blog. She chose to go the self-publishing route which I deeply admire. I love being a part of the Running Press family and can’t imagine doing all the work she did on my own (!!!) It is truly a labor of love and the result is gorgeous. Her recipes are indeed simple and seasonal, and the gorgeous photographs by Signe Birck echo Anna’s commitment to easy, warm gatherings. Every scene looked so cozy and welcoming I wanted to jump right into the pages and join the party. To I am thrilled to share a little chat I had with Anna recently about her book and offer a chance to win a copy!:
1.) Your book is so inspiring. It invites us all into your kitchen and you share the ways in which you connect with your family and friends through cooking. What is your favorite tip for entertaining that you give to novice entertainers?
Thank you 🙂 My biggest piece of advice is: Don’t try and do it all. I’m a big fan of making a one-pot main dish for a dinner party – lamb ragu with pappardelle, for example, or Tuscan white bean soup with Swiss chard – and letting everyone else contribute in some way, whether it’s bringing a loaf of bread, a bottle of wine, dessert, or an appetizer. People love to feel like they’re contributing in some way, and it spreads the workload a bit! The main goal of the evening is to enjoy spending time with your guests, and if you’re exhausted and stressed, what’s the point?!
Dear Friends, I am taking the rest of the week off to spend with my family. Rest assured, I’ll be cooking up a storm and documenting it on Instagram. Come on over if you’d like to see! We’ve covered a lot of ground this month and it is has been so much fun. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as well. I’ll be back next week with a few quick New Year’s Eve ideas. Then, we’ll resume naptime cooking full force Jan. 5th. I hope you all get the chance to dial back your commitments this week to spend some time, maybe even in the kitchen, with your loved ones.
Here are some of my favorite holiday foods. They include Christmas cookies, festive meal ideas, and more!
And if you are a super duper last minute shopper here are my holiday gift guides one more time!
Lastly, I was thrilled to see my soup featured on Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution as part of the 52 New Foods Challenge. Thanks, JOFR and Jennifer Tyler Lee
(Above card designed by PVE Design, it was attached to a jar of my friend Barbara’s signature Meyer Lemon Marmalade. Barbara makes it with the lemons she grows in her yard! Such a fabulous homemade gift to look forward to every year.)
