The Naptime Chef

Fall salads are my favorite because I can load them up with strong flavors to match our favorite roast chicken or soups. To give mine a little kick, I use slices of fresh pear, thin slices of red onion, chunks of Arla Dofino Gouda, sweet caramelized pecans and a mix of dark green lettuces and spinach. I toss it all with a homemade vinaigrette and serve it up in big heaping bowlfuls. To show you just how easy it is to prepare this gorgeous salad I’ve prepared a little video for you!

I make lots of homemade tomato sauce, especially in the cooler months. Pasta is one of my family’s favorites and I prefer to make tasteful, healthy sauce from scratch since we eat it so frequently. There are several ways to make tomato sauce and I’ve highlighted my favorite recipes here in the past. But recently I’ve discovered this cool trick to making the sauce super duper silky.

I think roasted delicata squash rings are better than steak fries. Those words carry weight, my friends, because I love steak fries. But delicata rise above the fried potato for me because they are simply more flavorful, easier to make at home, and much healthier for you in a baked-not-fried way. Making them doesn’t require any fancy technique or crazy recipe, but it bears reviewing now and again. I like to add a splash of balsamic syrup to mine for a little extra flavor and color, but you can leave them plain if you want. Here is how I make them and a fun way to serve them:

There is no limit to the amount of apples I want to cook/eat/bake this time of year. We’ve even been working double-time to acquire them. I’ve been buying them up at the grocery store and farmer’s market, and picking them straight from the source. I would worry that we are drowning in apples if I didn’t have some many things to make with them. So far I’ve revisited a few old favorites and made this new one. It is a simple apple loaf studded with a brown sugar streusel. But instead of being flavored with chopped apples throughout, the apples are spread in one even layer near the top of the loaf. So when you cut into it and find the apple layer it is like a sweet little surprise inside.

One of the few kitchen appliances I’ve never purchased is a rice cooker. I am pretty good at cooking rice on the stovetop so it never seemed crucial to have one. Would we eat more rice if I had one at the ready all the time? Probably. So when Panasonic asked me to test out a SR-DF101 rice cooker and participate in their #RiseandShine Better Breakfast Month I figured it was a good idea. It was the perfect opportunity to finally test this appliance everyone loves and see just how versatile it is.

As I mentioned this summer, I am slowly dipping my toe into wine writing and have been teaching myself about wine bit by bit. It is so much fun, but also very hard. Sometimes I fall so in love with a wine that I want to serve it with everything I make forever and ever. I have to force myself to take a break from it, move on, and try something new. Not always easy! Tasting wine is all about detecting nuances in flavor and texture which, I find, can be so much harder than declaring a recipe a success or failure. I am loving the new challenge and doing my best to keep track of my tasting notes. Here are a few new favorites I’ve been loving so far this fall:

Here is some deliciousness I’ve been cooking up around the web this week!

Pear Crumb Muffins on Lifetime Moms

Lightened up Mac & Cheese with Spinach on Lifetime Moms

Pumpkin Power Muffins on Mom.me

Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies on Mom.me