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What’s Going on Today: St. Patrick’s Day!

Naptime Goals: Make pistachio pound cake for Kerry, wrap up tax filing for 2010 (!)

Tonight’s Menu: Pizza picnic with friends at the beach.

We are not Irish but I got in the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day yesterday and made a pistachio pound cake. Pistachios are not Irish in origin, obviously, but the loaf is green and pretty much anything that is green seems to fit the bill today, right? Right. After I baked this loaf I gave it straight to my friend Kerry. Her birthday was last week and I was late in baking her a birthday treat because I had a book deadline. With a name like Kerry you know she is Irish, and even if you didn’t know her name, her red hair and freckles are a dead giveaway! So, I figured, since Kerry was Irish and today is St. Patrick’s Day there was no better thing to make her than this!

This is the latest installment of my Powernap column. The series where I share quick, easy food that can be made for all kinds of situations. Powernaps are short and sweet, and so are these recipes. These are the things I make in a jiffy when I need a quick snack, am in the mood for a recipe experiment, or simply need to clean out the pantry.

Today’s Powernap Kitchen Test: Can I successfully replicate some delicious cookies I ate in Boston whilst satisfying my intense peanut butter craving?

Today I am making good on my promise to replicate the amazing cookies we ate at The South End Buttery when we were in Boston last January. Our entire meal there was amazing, but the cookies are what still stand out for both of us. The idea behind them is hardly unique but, somehow, they were just so much better than other frisbee size bakery cookies I’ve tried. They were, as the title suggests, ridiculously gigantic. And while that usually means a cookie will be dense and hard, these were moist and a little crumbly with soft layers of creamy peanut butter. They were also completely coated in Reese’s Pieces candies which gave them a fun twist and nice crunchy texture.

I’m stopping in today with a fun little ditty about the True Prep book signing with Lisa Birnbach at JMcLaughlin Westport last week. I whipped up some fun goodies for everyone to enjoy and we had a great time! Check out my friend Jessica’s article about the event on her blog The Entertaining House, and my friend Melissa wrote a great summary of it on her blog Melissa C. Morris. We all had a very fun, very preppy time shopping the JMcLaughlin wares, sipping white wine and nibbling the Marion Cunnigham brownies recipe that is in the actual True Prep book (omg, they are so good!). Be sure to stop by and enjoy JMcLaughlin this spring, the clothes are fabulous and the company is even better!

Hi! My segment with Brian Kelsey (@KelsontheHouse) on Martha Stewart Living Radio on March 9th was fantastic. I had a blast meeting the Sirius team (and Rascal Flatts, too!) and chatting with Brian about kitchen tips and recipes. To see some of my recipes and the show summary online, check out this article. To listen to the segment, click HERE. Many thanks to Brian for having as his guest and to the whole Sirius team at Martha Stewart Living Radio!

Just a reminder that today I’ll be on Martha Stewart Living Radio being interviewed by Brian Kelsey at 3:00pm ET. You can tune in on Serious 112 or XM 157. To listen you can sign up here for a 7-Day free trial on Sirius Radio and listen straight from your computer!

If you are just finding this site after listening to the show let me give you a quick introduction to The Naptime Chef!

* You can always browse my recipes and recipe categories on my Recipe Index Page.

* I send out a really fun weekly newsletter and you can sign up in the upper left hand corner or by SUBSCRIBE HERE. I often do special giveaways and exclusive previews for subscribers and never, ever sell my list!

* I have a really fun Facebook Fanpage.

* I am active (maybe too active?) on Twitter and here is where to follow me: @TheNaptimeChef

* I post webisodes for my made-at-home cooking show 2 to 3 times per month, here is my Cooking Show Channel on MEVIO.

* I write a fun daily column on Babble’s The Family Kitchen if you want more Naptime Chef recipes.

* My first cookbook, The Naptime Chef: Fitting Great Food Into Family Life is being released in Spring 2012 by Running Press

* I recently co-hosted a cool online cooking class about Picky Eaters and you can find the show summary here. I really believe that all parents can still cook and eat great food even with kids in the house. In short, we all can be naptime chefs, so come join in the fun! As always, contact me with questions, thoughts or concerns! Welcome!

What’s Going on Today: Rainy day errands, laundry, general feelings of need to commence spring cleaning are beginning to emerge.

Naptime Goals: Make manicotti to bake for dinner, finish laundry, consider cleaning closet?

Tonight’s Menu: Arugula & Pea Manicotti with Toasted Pine Nuts, Green Salad, White Wine.

More Great Rainy Day Baked Pastas: Orecchiette with Pancetta & Three Cheeses, Crunchy Mac&Cheese with Bacon, Stuffed Shells with Homemade Ricotta, Eggplant Parmigiana

In my house rainy days and baked pasta go hand in hand. I love to whip up a warm, creamy dish during naptime and serve it up, all hot and bubbly, for dinner. Manicotti is one of those dishes that fits perfectly into this scenario. I usually approach it like my favorite lasagna, stuffing it with a nutmeg scented ricotta and topping it with homemade marinara. But on this particular rainy day I in the mood to try something different, a little risky even.