Photo: hermitsmoores’

Upon my recent return from New Orleans, I gave you a killer family meal idea: a hummus platter dinner. A great tip for sure  (has it become a go-to weeknight meal at your house, too?), but not exactly the Big Easy flavors you may have expected. I owe you. And it’s pay up time. Sort of.
New Orleans has a ton of great seafood and draws a lot of inspiration from traditional French cooking. This equates to (among other things) a lot of creamy seafood preparations like a favorite of mine, crawfish etouffee. Since I didn’t indulge in any such dishes this past visit, I decided to make one at home. Except I didn’t use cajun seasoning. The big kid is going through a “no spicy” phase, so I substituted Old Bay for my favorite Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning. Hm. I guess that means that  this isn’t much of an homage to New Orleans after all. Oh well. It’s good. And it reminds me of my shrimp salad, a favorite lobster roll substitute inspired by the Old Bay brown butter I had at Momofuku Ko.
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My littlest ChowBaby is already 5 months old. I can hardly believe it! Time is flying and, relatively speaking, it’s been a smooth ride. But, all that said, my big guy is missing me. Lots. And so I’ve decided to carve out even more one-on-one time with him. We’re having tons of fun, but our new Monday afternoon excursions are putting a cramp in my dinner style. By the time we’re back home and settled in, it’s about 30 minutes to eatin’ time. And, when trying to coordinate dinner, 2 baths (ha!) and 2 bedtimes, there isn’t much flexibility.
So the new challenge: come up with even more healthy and SUPER quick recipes. This one was inspired by the Martha Stewart app, my new source for perusing recipes (on the go!). This recipe couldn’t be easier. And in the 30 minutes that it takes from start to finish, you can also make rice (cook in rice cooker or on the stove top according to package directions) or quinoa pilaf (cook on the stove top according to directions then toss with olive oil, white wine vinegar, dried cranberries, slivered almonds and green onion) and roast some asparagus (clean, trim, toss with olive oil and salt on a rimmed baking sheet; as soon as salmon is done, heat oven to 350 degrees and roast asparagus until cooked through, time will depend on how thick your asparagus is).
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Photo: The Kitchn

Check out this week’s Food News, Things I Crave, Green Your Eats, Tips, Tools & Techniques, and Weekly Roundtable (a roundup of the most recent ChowMama posts). Plus, for a little while, I’ll follow the Weekly Roundtable with a quick update on my non-resolutions. Not that you should care (but maybe you do? I love me support from fellow ChowMamas and ChowPapas!), but it’s a way of keeping me honest.
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Between not posting regularly during the holidays and focusing last week on the “best of” ChowMama, there’s a lot I haven’t had a chance to say to you all. Okay. Not a lot. Just one big (ass) thing: I’m tired. So, so tired.
My adorable, sweet, smiling baby still isn’t sleeping during the day. He’s often (not always, though) happy sitting in his swing, mellowing out, but somehow it’s still exhausting. I feel like I rush through everything and don’t have a moment to savor my cooking, my writing, the silence… anything. For me, this kind of exhaustion has a domino effect. I’m not just tired from the legitimately tiring new baby stuff like lack of sleep, now I’m tired of EVERYTHING. Of wearing maternity jeans (I know it’s only been 2 1/2 months, but still!), of my back aching from breast feeding, my skin breaking out because I don’t get enough rest, of not being ready to give you a big update I’ve been working on… you name it.
So what’s a tired girl to do? Well, first, complain. (See above.) Then take matters into her own hands. I may not be able to control how much sleep I can get or whether my littlest ChowBaby naps, but I can start working on feeling better physically. I know this is going to sound a lot like new year’s resolutions (*yawn*), but I swear it’s just a coincidence of timing. See, I don’t like new year’s resolutions. They never work (for me). Plain and simple. Let’s say these efforts are about approaching the three-month postpartum mark. That’s a milestone, right?

So what’s my plan?
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10-Minute Lemon Thyme Scallops

This week is all about the Best Of ChowMama 2009! To help ensure that you begin 2010 with a recipe box loaded with quick and healthy recipes that your whole family will love, I’ve hand selected my favorites (recipes that I return to over and over again) and the most popular recipes as measured by traffic and comments (ones that worked out well for me and you).
Today is all about main dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Tomorrow I’ll hit ya with veggie sides. Wednesday has snacks and apps covered. I’ll serve up healthy sweets and desserts on Thursday. And, on Friday, I’ll list the best parenting posts of 2009—because how we feed our families is most definitely a parenting issue.
Enjoy. Try a new recipe. Chime in with your favorite 2009 ChowMama posts or what you’d like to see more of in 2010.
And, of course, THANKS for a great year. Cheers!
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Photo: star5112

I’m in Pennsylvania farm country for a few weeks. That means lots of just-picked peaches, more sweet corn than you can possibly imagine, and even a few stellar tomatoes that haven’t been decimated by the 2009 tomato blight. All good. Until a craving for crab cakes hits. And then what’s a rural gal to do?

With no fish market within 30 minutes, I had no choice. Cravings must be satisfied. So don’t blame me. I turned to crab in a can. It isn’t organic. And I’m sure the can is lined with BPA. But I’m posting as a reminder to you (and to myself) that we parents (especially) have to make the most of whatever you’ve got. Just for kicks, I made the recipe almost exactly as printed on the side of the can. And guess what? When I added a little love, these crab cakes were simply delish. Even Atticus (Mr. I’m-not-eating-fish-anymore-because-it-stinks) ate two—with his fingers, of course!

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