My Day So Far: Post office to buy stamps and mail holiday packages, daughter’s library class, pizza parlor to pick up fresh dough for tonight.
Naptime Goals: Catch up on blog posts, stamp Christmas cards, weed through mounting stack of store catalogs, laundry = no time for Naptime Chef-ing today!

Tonight’s Meal: Artichoke Rosemary Pizza – simple, delicious and requires no preparation.

Parenting Lesson of the Day: Toddler’s will eat almost anything when you call it “pizza.”

I don’t read many parenting magazines, I read food magazines. It’s not that I don’t like monthly volumes dedicated to parenting, it’s just that I find food writing infinitely more interesting and inspirational. This month, while reading Food and Wine, I was particularly taken with Eugenia Bone’s December Food Diary where she chronicles what she cooks and why, for the month of December. In a household with two kids, Eugenia’s cooking outlook reads very similar to mine. She bakes on Sundays as a way to relax, makes large meals on Mondays that will last for a couple of days, and loves to entertain her friends. One of the dishes she writes about making is artichoke and fontina pizza. Given my love of all things artichoke, I knew this would be a great recipe for us.

With all the craziness of the holidays it is harder to cook every single day. Earlier this week I made stew and it lasted us for a few nights, freeing up time for me during the day to get items checked off my holiday list. Tonight, since I am working all afternoon, I am taking one of my favorite shortcuts and using fresh pizza dough I picked up at the parlor (for $4!) to make homemade pizza for dinner. Sure, there are many times when I love to make my own pizza dough. But, in this case, buying a fresh pre-made ball from the experts down the street is the best way to go.

Eugenia’s pizza recipe calls for marinating artichoke hearts for three days. It is simple to do – and I plan to in the future – but since I wanted instant gratification after reading the article the day before the first time I made this, I cut out that step. Instead, I used olive oil flavored with herbs on the pizza dough, then added fresh chopped rosemary and a few dollops of fresh ricotta. These additions more than compensated for the un-marinated artichokes, rounding out the pizza with a fresh herbaceous flavor.

Preparing this pizza in the evening is very simple and doable for even the busiest home cook. The longest part for me is grating the fontina, which takes all of 2 minutes. Then I just layer on the ingredients, pop it in the oven and go about rounding up the troops for dinner. My daughter didn’t love the artichokes because that flavor is still a little foreign to her. However, once we plucked them off she loved the rest of the pizza with the cheese and herbs. For a quick, tasty supper I was very pleased with it’s warm reception. In addition, the clean-up was minimal. Leaving me plenty of free time after my daughter went to bed to continue with Santa duties.

Artichoke Rosemary Pizza

adapted from Food and Wine, December 2009

1 8oz.	ball store-bought pizza dough
1 9oz.	package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and chopped into bite size pieces
1 ½c.	freshly grated fontina
¾ c.	fresh ricotta
1 t.	fresh rosemary, chopped
2 T.	olive oil, or a flavored olive oil of your choice

cornmeal for baking

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF. Prepare a pizza stone with cornmeal, or rub a 9×13 jelly roll pan with plain olive oil.

2. Roll out the pizza dough to 1/8″ thick on a lightly floured surface. Drizzle plain or flavored olive oil on top of dough. Place on pizza stone or on pan. Bake for… or until bubbles start to form on the surface of the dough. About 8 minutes.

3. Remove dough from the oven and scatter fontina on top. Then layer on chopped artichoke hearts, chopped rosemary, and dollop the ricotto on randomly by the Tablespoon-full.

4. Return to oven and bake for 13-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted, crust is golden around the edges and pizza is piping hot. Cut and serve.

The possibilities for homemade pizza are endless. There is nothing wrong with buying fresh pizza dough, this will free up your time and leave your schedule to spend more time thinking about toppings! When coming up new ideas I suggest trying different cheeses, sauces, vegetables, thinly sliced meats and even fruit.

Making this pizza takes very little time. I had it on the table in 30 minutes from the start it’s preparation.

My daughter ate what essentially amounted to a white pizza, but the adults loved the artichokes!

• Main Courses
• Artichoke, Ricotta, Rosemary

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My Day So Far: Playdate with daughter, totally random errands (buying toothpaste and balloons?!), mother/daughter grilled cheese lunch.

Naptime Goals: Bake Eggnog Cookies for Ashley’s housewarming, finish online Christmas shopping, Ironing (least favorite chore).
Tonight’s Meal: Leftover Eggplant and Prosciutto Lasagna.

Parenting Lesson of the Day: Do pick up balloons for your friend’s party; don’t take your two year-old with you unless you expect to buy her balloons, too.

*Note: I am thrilled to submit this cookie recipe to the 12 Days of Sharing event taking place at In Jennie’s Kitchen. Jennifer Perillo and her co-hosts are doing a fantastic job using this event to help end hunger, a cause that is especially relevant during the holiday season. I hope you’ll use the donation button to the right of this post to make a donation to Share our Strength this holiday season.

We are all crazed during the holiday season, myself included. As you can see from the list above, my goals these days are ambitious, but no less so than anyone else I know. Everyone seems to be running to and fro, purchasing gifts, rushing to performances and prepping for holiday parties. I find that day to day parenting is a lot of work and adding a major holiday season on top of these duties is enough to send anyone over the edge. To keep myself from crossing to the other side I do my best to plan my days carefully to keep them manageable and reasonable, and to enjoy myself while I get things done. To kick off the celebrations this weekend we are going to our friend’s Ashley and Kevin’s housewarming party at their new home in Westchester, and I am bringing eggnog cookies.

I love baking just as much as I love cooking (as if you couldn’t tell that already!). Over the past year, while the my daughter has graduated from crawling to walking to running full stop, I’ve figured out that if I want a hassle-free baking experience the best time to do it is while she naps, or is out on a weekend activity with her father. Additionally, since I have other things to do while I have free time, like laundry, present wrapping, etc, it is best for me to have dinner already planned so as not to overload myself with too much to do in one two-hour stretch. On this occasion I had my Eggplant and Prosciutto Lasagna in the fridge from the previous night, so all I needed to concentrate on was my eggnog cookies and other chores.

This recipe was given to me by my friend Susan who ripped it off of the back of an eggnog carton a few Christmases ago. Over time I’ve adapted it, adding spices and a little boozy flavor, and changed the topping from an eggnog to a browned butter icing. I prefer the browned butter icing since it has a sweet nutty flavor that works well with the eggnog in the cookies and adds a complexity to the dough rather than icing in the original recipe. Unlike a lot of Christmas cookies these have more shortbread taste, dense and buttery with a hint of spice, they are cakey and less sweet then many more conventional holiday treats.

Since these are so easy to make squeezing cooking baking in along with the rest of my naptime to-do list was not a problem. While they baked I was able to catch up on laundry, and then I iced them after I’d finished my online Christmas shopping. I know Ashley is going to love these when I take them to her house this weekend, and thank goodness I doubled the recipe, because my family loves these, too.

Eggnog Cookies with Browned Butter Icing

1 c.	unsalted butter, softened
1 c.	granulated sugar
1	egg
1 c.	non-alcoholic eggnog (not low-fat!)
1 t.	rum extract
3 1/3 c.	all-purpose flour
1 t.	baking powder
1 t.	baking soda
½ t.	Kosher salt
½ t.	nutmeg
1 t.	cinnamon

For Icing:

adapted from Martha Stewart Cookies

5 T.	unsalted butter
2 c.	powered sugar
1/8 c.	evaporated milk
1 t.	good quality vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line cookie sheets with Silpat or parchment paper.

2. In an electric mixer cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and eggnog, mix until smooth. Then add the rum extract. Mix to incorporate.

3. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and cinnamon. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.

4. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls on the cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookie begin to turn golden brown. Allow cookies to cool.

5. To make Icing: Sift confectioners’ sugar in a bowl. In a saucepan over low heat, melt butter and allow to cook until it turns a golden brown and has a nutty flavor. About 3 minutes. Swirl butter occasionally during cooking. Remove from heat and immediately add to confectioners sugar, bringing in any browned buts from the pan. Add evaporated milk and vanilla, stir until smooth. Allow to cool and ice the cookies.

For eggnog lovers this is the ultimate cookie. Cakey, buttery and not to sweet, these cookies are the perfect treat for the holidays or to add to any cookie plate. If you don’t have time to bake these immediately, simply wrap the dough and put in the fridge. It will stay just fine. Also, if you need to wait to ice the cookies, place them in an airtight container and they can be iced up to 12 hours after being baked without loosing any flavor.

Making this dough takes about 15 minutes, and the icing another 5 minutes.

Even my daughter liked their slightly boozy flavor!

• Bread & Desserts, Homemade Gifts & Bake Sales, Yummy Cookies
• Browned Butter, Eggnog

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Location: My parent’s house, Cooperstown NY
My Day So Far: Filmed cooking segment for WKTV Utica/Rome, returned emails, leftover butternut squash soup from cooking segment for lunch.
Naptime Goals: Pack suitcases, bake Herbs de Provence Popovers for snack and dinner, wrap Christmas gifts, catch up with Dad.

Tonight’s Meal: My Mom is cooking (yeah – a break for me!)

Parenting Lesson of the Day: Grandparents are helpful to have around.

While visiting my parent’s in Cooperstown this week, I found myself in the mood for a hot savory snack on Monday mid-afternoon. Luckily, since my mom was cooking that evening, during my daughter’s naptime I had two hours completely free for baking projects, suitcase packing, gift wrapping and a quick catch up with Dad. Given my savory craving I opted out of baking yet another batch of Christmas cookies, and instead decided to make my favorite popovers.  A piping hot buttery roll was just the ticket for a chilly afternoon snack, plus I knew they would pair beautifully with our meal that evening.

My favorite part about making popovers is that delicious reward comes from minimal effort. Unlike a complicated butter pastry, this dough can be mix together with relative ease and put straight into the oven. Furthermore, it can be flavored almost any way you like. In my first batch I used my favorite Herbs de Provence, and in the second I added freeze dried chives (there is nothing wrong with freeze dried herbs when fresh aren’t available). Either work well, you could also add cheese, other herbs like rosemary or thyme – or nothing at all!

Many times people have asked me about using specialty popover pans and I assure them that they are definitely not necessary. As I’ve said before, I don’t spend a lot on specialty baking items that only have one purpose. Instead I’ve invested in good quality muffin tins, they are versatile in the kitchen and work beautifully when making big, puffy popovers. If you already have popover pans certainly use them, but they are not going to make or break this recipe.

When I made these my daughter and I almost consumed the entire batch by ourselves. We couldn’t get enough of the flaky butter dough and fragrant herbes de provence. In fact, to be perfectly honest, I got straight to work making another batch the very next day and was thoughtful enough to film it for you. I hope this demonstrates to you how utterly simple these are to make, and how delicious they are to eat. As you will see, making these during my daughter’s afternoon naptime is a snap. In fact, they are also easy enough to make that sometimes I do so when I have five minutes even if she’s awake. I’ve also made these right before guests come over and have served them at dinner or brunch. They are always hit, and you’ll soon see why. Enjoy!

Naptime Chef Popovers from Kelsey Banfield on Vimeo.

Herbs de Provence Popovers

adapted from The New Basics Cookbook

2 T.	unsalted butter, room temperature
4	eggs, room temperature
1 c.	all-purpose flour
½ c.	heavy cream
1 c.	whole milk
¼ c.	Herbs de Provence OR ¼ c. freeze dried chives
1	pinch Kosher salt
1	pinch freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with non-stick spray, or a 6-cup large muffin tin – depending on the size of the popovers you’d like.

2. Melt butter in microwave and allow to cool.

3. Combine eggs, flour, salt and pepper in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until all ingredients are blended.

4. Scrape down the sides with a spatula. Then, with the mixer on low, add the cream, milk and melted butter. Mix until everything is smooth and completely incorporated.

5. Add the chives and fold them in with a spatula.

6. Distribute batter evenly amongst muffin cups, so each cup is roughly 2/3 full of batter. Bake for 35 minutes, or until popovers are poofy and a light golden brown. Serve hot. Or, if you want to save them for dinner, pierce a tiny hole in the top so that they don’t “fall” while you are waiting to serve them.

Popovers are incredibly versatile, you can add or subtract almost any flavoring to create the exact taste you want. I recommend adding cheese or interesting herbs such as rosemary or thyme for unique variations.

As you can see, making the popover batter takes all of two minutes, then it is just a matter of baking. There is hardly an easier way to make a homemade hot snack.

Be mindful of people’s flavoring preferences, my husband is wary of dill so I do not add them it to anything I make, especially popovers. But everything else I’ve tried has been a big hit with him, and my daughter, too.

• Bread & Desserts, Salads & Side Dishes
• Herbs de Provence

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Location: Home in New York
My Day So Far: Picked up gift bags for spiced walnuts, 45 minutes at playground with daughter, 20 minutes grocery shopping
Naptime Goals: 2 batches of Spiced Walnuts for Christmas gifts, prepare ham for dinner
Tonight’s Meal: Ham, Carrot Souffle (refrigerator staple), green salad
Preparation: Picked up ham and oranges in the morning, honey already in the pantry.

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving on Martha’s Vineyard, but I am glad it is over. Combining a huge family holiday with a certain toddler’s birthday is never an easy event line-up. Instead of settling on the sofa after Thanksgiving dinner, I revved up the KitchenAid to make a chocolate buttermilk birthday cake with pink frosting and lots of sprinkles (documented below). It was a wonderful weekend of celebration, but when we returned on home on Saturday night I was exhausted. The following morning, while I was writing up my menu for this week, I decided to bid farewell to November and kick-off the Christmas season with my Citrus-Glazed Holiday Ham. After spending a whole month thinking about turkey it felt like the right time to switch gears, and get excited for a whole new month of festivities.

I bake ham year round, but for some reason this particular recipe has always been relegated to my holiday food file. I think the reason is because around this time friends usually send us a shipment of fresh oranges from Florida as an early holiday gift. When those golden beauties arrive I add orange juice and zest to just about everything I make, not stopping until the crate is all used up.

Preparing this ham is a dream come true for any parent who cooks. I am not kidding when I say all I do is drizzle everything over the ham in layers. There is little to no measuring required and, like all my favorite recipes, this is flexible when it comes to the glaze. I most often use orange juice when making this, but I’ve also used the juices of clementines, tangerines and even apricots. Paired with the honey or maple syrup, any of them will create just the right balance of natural sweetness to contrast the salty ham.

Over time I’ve found that the time I choose to bake the ham is flexible, too. Both my husband and I like to eat ham cold just as much as we enjoy it hot, so I typically bake it during my daughter’s afternoon naptime. This way I have dinner fully cooked by 4pm in the afternoon – a convenience that makes my life remarkably easier come evening. If we decide we’d want our slices warm I warm them on a platter in the oven, or give them a quick run through the microwave. It is the best of both worlds, allowing us to choose how we’d like to enjoy our food.

As you can see, the instructions below barely amount to a recipe. Adding this glaze is really all about putting the finishing touches on an already delicious piece of meat. If you have a large ham and are feeding a crowd simply double or triple the quantities below. I have done this before and it makes for an excellent meal to serve on a buffet, or at a more formal dinner. This is also a remarkably kid-friendly dish, my daughter likes to eat the ham sliced thin on toast with a little bit of cheese. In fact, I like to eat it that way, too. When I made it this week we all devoured several slices, along with a serving of carrot souffle. It was just the meal to put us in a festive mood that will last all month long.

Citrus-Glazed Holiday Ham

2 ½ lb.	ham, fully-cooked (not pre-flavored or pre-glazed)
¼ c.	fresh orange juice (or any similar citrus like clementine, tangerine, etc)
2 t.	olive oil
1 T.	honey

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Place ham in a baking dish. Drizzle on the olive oil and rub it to coat the ham. Then, pour the orange juice over the olive oil. Finally, drizzle the honey over the ham and spread it around so it fully coats the meat.
3. Bake ham for 1hr 20minutes. Slice and serve warm. Or, allow to cool to room temperature and serve cold.

It is hard to screw up this recipe, the main components are ham, citrus and honey. Like I said – fiddle with it! Try different citrus juices, or maybe even zest, to see what flavors you can come up with.

Layering on the glaze takes about 1 minute. Then bake!

Any ham with a sweet glaze is a hit with most people. And, like I said, kids like this, too!

• Main Courses
• Ham, Honey

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By now most of my friends know they are getting Spiced Walnuts for Christmas, and today I am telling them that they are getting Peppermint Hot Fudge Sauce as well. This recipe was given to me by my mother-in-law who got it from her friend, Rhoda Janis, almost 30 years ago. As you all know, I love a good hand-me-down recipe, and this one has really stood the test of time. I think this hot fudge sauce is better than any other I have ever tasted because it is the perfect ratio of chocolate, butter, cream and sugars. Then, to really push the flavor over the top, I add pure peppermint extract to give it a minty candy cane-esque flavor.

If you have friends who don’t like peppermint, like my friend Meghan for example, simply use vanilla extract in lieu of peppermint. This works very well and makes the sauce even more versatile. When I make it like this I am able to drizzle it over poached fruit, berry pavlovas and even slices of bundt cake. The uses are endless, although, I’ll admit, sometimes I just eat it straight out of the jar and don’t even bother with basic vanilla ice cream.

Since this sauce requires stirring over a hot stove I make this exclusively during my daughter’s afternoon naptime. I don’t want to risk any kitchen accidents, so it is safer for her to be asleep in her crib then trying to cook with me. When I make these for holiday gifts I double the recipe to make a large quantity. This way it usually only takes me two afternoon naptimes (2 hours each) to get everything made and put in jars to giveaway. As far as I can tell, there is a hardly a simpler and more efficient way to prepare my Christmas gifts!

To show you just how easy it is to make this amazingly delicious sauce, (and a demonstration on how to eat it with ice-cream!), tune in to Webisode #3. (And, yes, I know there have been a lot of sweets on this site recently, but don’t fret, on Thursday I’m sharing one of my favorite festive dinner recipes!)

The Naptime Chef Peppermint Hot Fudge Sauce from Kelsey Banfield on Vimeo.

Rhoda’s Peppermint Hot Fudge Sauce

a recipe from Rhoda Janis

2 c.	unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ c.	sugar
1 c.	brown sugar
¼ t.	Kosher salt
2 c.	heavy cream
1 c.	unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 t.	pure peppermint extract OR pure vanilla extract

Yields 4 cups

1. In a doubler boiler, or a heatproof bowl over simmering water, stir together cocoa, sugars and salt. Immediately add the cream and butter.

2. Cook this mixture over the simmering water, stirring constantly to make sure it stays smooth.  Bring to a boil for 1 minute, then remove from the heat.
3. Allow the sauce to cool for 5 minutes. Then stir in the peppermint or vanilla extract.

4. This will store well in the refrigerator for up to one month. If giving as gifts pour the sauce into sterilized, airtight mason jars.

Everyone should have a great hot fudge sauce recipe in their repertoire and this one won’t disappoint. I love that it can be made peppermint or plain and still taste delicious. I’ll bet it might be delicious with orange zest, too, if you wanted to give that a try.

As you can see, making this takes about 15 minutes from start to finish (obviously there was a little time lapse above). There is hardly an easier and faster way to make delicious holiday gifts for your friends and family.

Have you ever met someone who doesn’t like hot fudge sauce? Let me know. I will convert them.

• Bread & Desserts, Freezer-Friendly, Homemade Gifts & Bake Sales
• Chocolate, Peppermint

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