We recently had friends over for brunch. They don’t have kids (yet!), so we made a plan for 12:30 pm (a “morning” plan for after noon, imagine that!). That would have normally taken the pressure off of cooking the day-of, except for the fact that we had other friends over the night before, friends for whom I cooked dinner, friends who also have no children and stay up later than we usually do. I needed a plan. A plan that would make back-to-back entertaining possible. Even with two little kids.
And it did. My plan—it worked!
If you ask me, every brunch needs a) coffee, b) savory eggs, c) something sweet and d) something light and healthy to balance out the eggs and sweet. My brunch menu was complete with all of these essential elements and all I had to do the day-of was put eggs in the oven and toss together a salad. THAT’S ALL.
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Photo: JenT

We are well into Hanukkah, a holiday that encourages fried food. Can you think of any better traditional holiday foods than potato pancakes (latkes) and DONUTS?! This is good stuff people.
Okay, okay. I realize that fried foods (are also rolled in sugar) are not the kind of thing I usually recommend feeding young children, but it’s a special holiday treat. Fried foods are part of the magic and fun of the Festival of Lights and, hey, everything in moderation, right?
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It’s pumpkin time!! And this year, I’m even more appreciative of the tasty gourd than usual. See, last month I was asked to write an article on healthy Halloween treats for babies and toddlers (I’ll link to it as soon as its live!) and I could not find pumpkin puree anywhere. Apparently, it’s only available for a limited time every year. So, the minute I could get my hands on some, I grabbed several cans of pumpkin puree.
I’m not usually one for canned vegetables, but canned pumpkin puree is easy to find without anything added. Just the pure stuff. Yes, it’s heat treated in the canning process, but that doesn’t impact flavor as much as it does other veggies. Nutrition may be impacted, but it’s a tradeoff I often make for convenience—pumpkin is not easy to deal with. (Though, when you have the time, using fresh pumpkin is worth it and reduces waste by using decorative pumpkins that would otherwise end up in the garbage.)
I’m easing into the pumpkin extravaganza slowly this year. Bread, pies, muffins, and hearty stews will surely follow in the coming months but, for now, I used my puree to make a quick and tasty cream cheese spread that can be shared with kids as young as 10+ mos.
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Photo: ex.libris

As you’ve surely gathered from my recent posts, it’s been a bit of a bloodbath here. I cannot stop making sweets! After a long weekend of hard work finishing the nursery—and rewarding ourselves with decadent treats along the way—we needed a light, but satisfying Sunday night dinner.
On one of my breaks from telling the ChowPapa where to hang this and where to put that, I picked up a deliciously gooey, fresh ball of mozzarella. With a day old loaf of bread and heirloom tomatoes from Saturday’s farmers market hanging around, Panzanella was the natural thing to make.
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Photo: prettywar-stl

The ChowBaby and I were stuck on the train coming back from the American Museum of Natural History the other day. It was naptime and I was hell-bent on keeping him from falling asleep so that I could put him down when we got home—and actually get an hour or two of work in! So I regaled him with some of his favorite stories, including the one of my honeymoon in Tunisia.
Not only did I manage to keep him awake, I was also inspired to make something honeymoon-ish to surprise the ChowPapa when he got home from work. Without much time to spare, I whipped up one of my favorite North African street foods: the omelet sandwich. It reminded me that a simple change of spices can make something old Iike an egg sandwich new again.
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I’ve been digging fresh corn these days, big time. Every Saturday, I hit the farmer’s market with big ideas about what I’ll do next with the sweet kernels, but always end up serving corn on the cob. It’s just so easy and—slathered with butter and sprinkled with salt—the perfect summer side dish.
A recent afternoon-into-dinner date with friends finally inspired me to change things up. The plan was to keep things easy and low key, so we decided to order pizza (spinach for the kids, pepperoni for the adults—because you might as well enjoy it when you go there!). But I wanted to make something healthy and homemade to nosh on before dinner.
Crostini and bruschetta (read about the difference between the two) are one of my go-to, quick entertaining tricks (even when I’m just entertaining the ChowPapa and ChowBaby). They are quick and easy, make use of what you have on hand and, most importantly, satisfying. After all, we’re talking about yummy pieces of toast topped with good stuff.
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