The Naptime Chef

I am so thrilled to be participating in the Second Annual Coast-to-Coast Toast with Vanberg & DeWulf. As I’ve mentioned before, during college I interned with Vanberg & DeWulf and learned all there is to know about imported Belgian beers as well as participated in the building of Brewery Ommegang. Over the years I’ve kept in close touch with Wendy and Don and love celebrating their business whenever I can. Of course, this year I have to abstain from a literal toast and drink (less than 2 weeks to go!) but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy good beer when it is incorporated into great food.

Welcome to my new (website) addition: Naptime Lifestyle! Not only do I love to cook and feed my family, I also have other interests like gardening, reading, decorating, kids, design, and crafting. I added this column to be a place to talk about all of these things.  I also suspect I’ll have a lot of baby stuff to talk about this winter so I think this would be a great place for that topic too!

This winter my friends and I have been taking meals to my friend Melissa’s family while she undergoes chemotherapy. Her prognosis is excellent, but the treatments can leave her tired and lethargic. It is the least we can do to drop off a healthy meal now and then so she can concentrate on recuperating. Last week was my turn to bring her dinner and given my current state I ended up taking her a mash-up of homemade foods, like a big batch of these oatmeal heath bar cookies, and a few store-bought items. Together everything comprised enough food for a few healthy family meals with some comforting nibbles thrown in.

We are really in the final stretch now. In less than two weeks (I hope!) we will be meeting our new baby. I am so excited! At the moment I am feeling extremely heavy and slow. I remember this feeling from my pregnancy with my daughter and know that it won’t last forever. So I just take it one day at a time and keep my eye on the prize. As for cooking, well, I am all about (maybe only about) recipes that come together in ten minutes or less. At this point there is simply no other option. While I have a normal appetite, I have no interest in standing on my feet for any longer than a few minutes and am relying strictly on those little, quick meals that satisfy without being too involved.

Happy 2013! Wow, can you believe how time flies? I mean, seriously, where did the year go? I am so thankful for the wonderful year that was 2012 and am thrilled to be looking forward to all the milestones that 2013 will bring. My first big milestone should be arriving toward the end of this very month (!) In light of this heavily-pregnant-oh-so-tired feeling I’ve been focusing on simple, easy meals lately. I just don’t have the energy for anything too involved. This is one of the reasons I loved this post on Food52 about using one healthy gremolata in several different dinner recipes over the course of a week. Not only is this efficient (and delicious) any time of year, it is especially relevant to my cooking strategy these days!

One of my favorite meals with my daughter is breakfast. We are both morning people and I love talking with her over cereal or waffles before we kick-off the day. I often find this is her chattiest time and we talk about things we are looking forward to in the hours to come. Both of us are also big fans of breakfast food and spend a lot of time dreaming up new recipe ideas. Just the other week we thought of making oatmeal pancakes because it would be the ideal combination of two breakfast dishes we love.

I am checking in today to wish you all a happy holiday season! I hope you all are having a blast with your families no matter what you are celebrating. I have a lot of reason to celebrate this holiday season and I want to express my thanks, once again, for all of your readership and support this year. Publishing my first cookbook in March was a dream come true and I had such a blast on my book tour, especially the parts where I got to meet a lot of you. This summer I was thrilled to announce that we are expecting our second baby in January (less than a month from now!!), and today I get to share more exciting news: I am writing another cookbook!