Over Veteran’s Day weekend I flew to Las Vegas to attend the Pillsbury Bake-Offat the Aria Resort & Casino. It was a weekend of firsts for me since I had never attended a Bake-Off and never been to Las Vegas. The thrill of hitting both in one fell swoop was so exciting! The entire weekend was a whirlwind of catching up with old friends, learning the history of the Bake-Off, rooting for contestants, and taking in the sights and sounds of Vegas. Every bit of it was so thrilling that I barely know how to begin sharing the experience. I’ve decided that listing my top 10 favorite things about the Bake-Off would be a great way to go. My list is in chronological order of the weekend. There were so many great parts!
What’s Going on Today: Returned from taping newest segment for Connecticut Style!
Naptime Goals: Bake eggplant with new Beekman Boys-technique.
Tonight’s Menu: Baked Eggplant Goat Cheese Stacks, Green Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette, Red Wine
As a native Cooperstonian I am a little embarrassed it took me this long to write about The Beekman Boys of Beekman 1802. I was born and raised two hills over from the Beekman Mansion. In fact, my parents once looked at it when it was for sale a long time ago. Needless to say they didn’t buy it, my Dad had no interest in renovating a farm and especially didn’t like the fact that a seasonal stream ran through the basement. I keep meaning to jaunt over when I am there in the summer but for some reason I always get distracted at The Black Cat and The American Hotel and never seem to make it. This summer I will! I swear! (It make a great travel episode forThe Naptime Chef Cooking Show don’t you think?!)
To celebrate my official on-sale date I am hosting The Naptime Chef Virtual Book Tour along with Running Press Cooks. Bloggers from around the world have brilliantly cooked and photographed recipes from my book and have written about them on their blogs. Best of all, each blogger is giving away a copy of my book. There are so many chances to win! To join in the fun come to our Twitter Party Wednesday March 14th from 12 – 1pm ET and use the hashtag #naptimecooking to chat all things naptime! I’ll be adding links and photos to this post all week long so keep checking back for more delicious dishes!!
I thought I would finish off the week with some fabulous birthday tips and recipes from some of the best food bloggers in the biz! I swear by every single one of these ideas and want to make all of their recipes straight away. I think you will feel the same way. Please chime in with your own tips below for your last chance to enter our awesome Birthday Week Favorite Things Giveaway!:
Phoebe & Cara of Big Girls, Small Kitchen advise: “Think long and hard about the birthday boy or girl’s tastes. A birthday cake is kind of a gift itself, and as with any gift, you want it to be a perfectly matched with its recipient. Our Rich Chocolate Celebration Cake is so classic, yet customizable– you can leave it plain, decorate with m&m’s, or slip a layer of strawberries in with the icing for fruit lovers. For the full story behind how this cake worked its way into our birthday traditions, see the “Baking From Heart” chapter in our book,In the Small Kitchen.”
Julie of The Little Kitchen‘s awesome birthday baking tips are: “Make your icing up to two weeks before the party and store in the refrigerator. Make your cupcakes the night before and cover them with a thin towels and leave on the counter. If you don’t cover them, they will dry out. If you cover them in a plastic container, where I live, the humidity affects the liners and causes cupcake liners to peel away from the cupcakes. First thing you do the morning of the party, place your icing on the counter for 30-60 minutes and decorate your cupcakes when you have a chance. If you’re transporting the cupcakes, now’s the time to add them to your cupcake carrier or box.”
Her go-to birthday recipe is: Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes, like the candy bar only a million times better!
Angie of Eclectic Recipes says: “I always include wine and beer for the adults, even at kid’s parties. If alcohol’s not your thing, offer an assortment of calming teas.”
Dara of Cookin’ Canuck’s birthday tips for kids is: “After planning many birthday parties for my kids, my best tip is to keep it simple with a few games, a simple art project and some playtime. All the kids really want to do is spend time together. You could stick them in an open field with a couple of balls and they’d be happy, as long as they could play with each other.”
Dara’s go-to birthday recipe are these Carrot Ginger Cupcakes which are an ideal change from vanilla or chocolate!
Sommer of A Spicy Perspective advises: ” 1.Order decorations online instead of running around looking for them–it saves time and you usually get a better deal. 2. Instead of doing goodie bags with all the junk toys and candy, set up a cookie pop decorating station. Let the kids decorate a cookie pop at the end of the party then put them in cellophane bags so they can take them home. 3. Have your BFF be in charge of the party games. It takes something off your plate and the friend usually comes up with something WAY more creative than you (I) would.”
Aggie of Aggie’s Kitchen offer this tip: “Set a theme! This past year I decided I wanted to be in Mexico for my birthday. It was January, it was cold and I was craving warm sun and fresh food. I couldn’t run away to Mexico unfortunately so we brought Mexico to me by inviting friends over, cooking up a Mexican feast with lots of fresh salsa and margaritas! Themes make celebrations a little extra fun in my opinion!”
7. 6 Extra Entries: Write a blog post between now and Thursday September 22nd about how you celebrate birthdays in your family and include a recipe for a favorite birthday cake or birthday dish and tell your readers about this post with a link back to it. You will be listed in the post next Friday September 23rd as an official sponsor.
8. Contest will run from September 15th at 7:00am through Saturday, September 24th at 7:00am. Winner will be announced on Sunday September 25th at 7:00am. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours a new winner will be drawn. Winner be selected by random.org.
9. Giveaway items can only be mailed within the continental US.
*Giveaway items generously donated by Andrews McMeel, OXO Good Grips and JMcLaughlin.
When American Express contacted me about joining them to celebrate the launch of their American Express Blue Cash Preferred and Everyday Cards I couldn’t quite fathom why. That was, until I learned about their interest in conveying to consumers the potential of using money to make simple, delicious meals with six ingredients are less. I love sending the message that meals do not have to be complicated to be delicious so I jumped on board.
For this program I’ll be posting every Monday for the next three weeks and sharing some of my favorite recipes for summer vegetable side dishes made with six ingredients or less. In return, I’d like you to share your favorite summer vegetable side dishes that are made with six ingredients or less for your chance to win a $600 gift card from American Express! (Yes, that is right, six hundred bucks for your grocery shopping! woo-hoo!)
To kick things off I am sharing my fun riff on caprese salad, a classic summer vegetable side dish. In my version I like to infuse the olive oil with fresh pepper and use small balls of mozzarella and grape tomatoes in lieu of big tomato slices. I prefer the smaller sized tomatoes and cheese and find them much, much easier to eat. I also love that this whole salad takes minutes to throw together. Sometimes I make it during naptime and keep it in the fridge, but it is just as easy to make it in a snap dinner time! I usually served it alongside grilled fish or chicken to round out our meal.
So, here is what is going to happen now. My delicious Peppery Caprese Salad recipe is below. Next week, on July 18th, I am going to return with another FABULOUS summer vegetable recipes using six ingredients or less and issue a last call for recipe submissions. The winner will be announced on Monday July 25th, along with a final recipe from me!
Here are the guidelines for entering to win your very own $600 American Express Giftcard:
1. Leave a comment sharing your favorite summer vegetable side dish recipe that contains 6 ingredients or less. It does not have to be a formal recipe format, just tell me casually how the recipe works and what is in it.
2. Sign up for The Naptime Chef newsletter (upper left hand corner of this screen)
4. Read the below information about the new American Express Blue Cash Cards
About the New Blue Cash Preferred and Everyday Cards
With the costs of food, gas and clothing rising rapidly, the new Blue Cash® Cards provide a simple way for shoppers to put cash back in their pockets as they shop for every day necessities. With these new Blue Cash Cards, there are no spend minimums, cash back caps, ongoing enrollments or rotating categories of cash back benefits. The benefits don’t change, as they do with some other cards.
Both Cards immediately offer cash back in categories in which prices are particularly under pressure: gas, supermarket purchases and department stores.
Whether when shopping online or in-store, offers an easy-to-understand rewards structure:
For Blue Cash Preferred, it’s as simple as 6%-3%-1% (6% cash back at supermarkets, up to 3% at department stores and gas stations, and 1% on all other eligible purchases). At 6% cash back, Blue Cash Preferred offers consumers the most cash back at the supermarket available in the market today. (Blue Cash Preferred carries a $75 annual fee)
For Blue Cash Everyday, it’s a simple as 3%-2%-1% (3% cash back at supermarkets, 2% cash back at department stores and gas stations, and 1% on all other eligible purchases) with no annual fee.To learn more about the Blue Cash Preferred and Blue Cash Everyday cards, visit www.americanexpress.com/bluecashcards
For more chances to win please visit these other blogs with this promotion:
1. In a small bowl mix the olive oil, pepper and salt.
2. Arrange the basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella on a plate and drizzle the olive oil dressing over the top. Serve!
Naptime Notes
Naptime Recipe Serving ideas
As with all the posts on this ad-free Products Review page, I was compensated to participate in this program and provide the above information to all of you. The opinions and recipe expressed in this article, however, are completely my own. As is the food photography.
Last week I participated in a great cooking class with The Motherhood regarding picky eaters. It was so much fun to spend an hour chatting with friends and guests about ways to placate picky eaters and expanding their palate. Here is a summary of the show. It included so many great talking points, here are a few of my favorite take-aways I hope will help you!
Picky Eating is Normal!
As Stacie from One Hungry Mama said:
– There’s an evolutionary explanation for some picky phases. (some phases come at times of increased mobility, when baby might be exploring places without mama or papa immediately nearby to protect them. Pickiness, natural skepticism of new foods, prevented the cave baby from putting just about anything – like a poisonous berry – in baby’s mouth)
Just Try It
Many participants use the “one-bite rule” to get their kids to try a food before simply refusing it.
“Our rule is you just need to take a full size bite, chew, swallow and then say, ‘Yes, please’ or ‘No, thank you,’” said host Jennifer Leal, Savor the Thyme.
And Keep Trying It
“Always introduce food several times in several forms,” said host Kelsey Banfield, The Naptime Chef. “Kids will pick up on it eventually.”
“It can take upwards of 6-10 tries for a child to accept a new food – so it’s super important to the course by repeatedly serving healthy foods (openly!) and modeling eating them, too,” added Stacie Billis. “Even when they say they don’t like them!”
Fun news, this week I’m co-hosting an upcoming class in the Web’s first-ever virtual cooking school, Cooking Connections, and I would love for all of you to join me! Here’s what you need to know to participate:
And here is the registration page for all Cooking Connections classes: http://www.themotherhood.com/cookingconnections
What: The class I am co-hosting is called “Expanding Your Family’s Palate by Placating Picky Eaters,” and it is hosted by Jennifer Leal (Savoring the Thyme) and Kimberly Coleman (Mom in the City). We will be talking about how to make meals work for all members of the family, healthy and interesting foods that kids AND adults love, and strategies for getting picky eaters to try new things. Join us, and feel free to ask questions, share recipes or chime in with your own suggestions!
The class is sponsored by ConAgra and hosted by TheMotherhood.
