Jon and I currently are on a mission to develop a weekly dinner plan that: a) is simple and tasty for adults and kids; b) takes the ambiguity out of who’s doing what (we recently discovered I was assuming full responsibility for – and withholding bitterness over – meal prep on top of work and juggling Laurel at the end of the day); and c) gets more vegetables into us. If we get a good plan sorted out, we’ll be sure to share it; meanwhile, we have discovered how effective an excellent, simple vinaigrette is to inspiring salad consumption.

It’s typically difficult to make sense of any conversation when you have a collective of 12 adults and 4 preschoolers at dinner (as was the case Christmas Day), but the family went audibly and definitively berserk over the salmon cakes we brought for potluck. This recipe also happens to be Jon’s all time favorite; it works well during fall/winter (paired with rice pilaf and simple vegetables), spring/summer (over a bed of salad greens), for potluck (as evidenced by the empty platter I brought home), or as elegant little bite-sized appetizers for a New Year’s gathering. Enjoy!

Holiday brunches ought to be enjoyed; you’ll be able to do just that with this terrific make ahead Prosciutto & Goat Cheese Strata from Epicurious.com. This dish (first enjoyed at the home of fellow food lovin' friends) is a winner every time. And it’s easy enough to substitute spinach for prosciutto to accommodate vegetarian guests.

Oh how I love the holiday butter cookie. Here’s a terrific, simple cookie recipe that I picked up from a departmental secretary when I was in graduate school. As if it wasn’t enough to just have a butter cookie, this recipe involves wrapping the butter cookie dough around Hershey’s Kisses and rolling the finished product in powdered sugar. Brilliant!

Comfort food season is here, and what better way to celebrate than with a dish that hides vegetables like no other? Laurel goes berserk when I make lasagna; as in, eats adult sized portions and asks for more. And the best part is that this recipe is packed with vegetables and protein, and I recently made adjustments to improve the nutritional content further (e.g., replacing typical ricotta cheese with tofu – seriously, you can’t even taste the difference and the dish sits much better in the belly). The resulting recipe is easy to knock together, packed with good stuff, and yummy for the whole family. Click here for the recipe.

There are few foolproof things in life, but let me share one of them with you. This recipe for scallion pancakes takes a mere 5-7 minutes to prep, and won’t last long coming off the skillet. If you’d like to channel the unofficial Korean mantra “leave no food scrap behind,” root around in your refrigerator for interesting leftovers; for Korean pajon, scallions often are replaced by other assorted chopped vegetables or cooked meat.

This past weekend we celebrated my daughter’s 2nd birthday. In contrast to last year’s giant, lunatic three-tiered birthday cake (some of which, it occurs to me, is still in our freezer), I decided to go simple. Just cupcakes. But then of course the day before the party I started to obsess about Laurel not having her own cake. I called my mama pal Paige and the “awww!” elicited by the mere mention of a cute little mini cake rendered me powerless in the pantry. After comparing recipes from a few of my baking references (for this particular project, The Cake Bible and Williams-Sonoma Mastering: Cakes, Fillings & Frostings) I realized that the cupcake recipe I posted earlier is pretty much equivalent to standard 9-inch two-layer butter cake recipes. After some fuzzy volume estimation, I decided to double the cupcake recipe (i.e., to render 48 cupcakes), but only make 3 trays of cupcakes (36), splitting the remaining batter between two 6-inch cake pans. This worked perfectly and easily; the result was a beautiful mini cake flanked by a fleet of super cute cupcakes. Never mind that the babe was so busy munching on edamame that she barely acknowledged the cake, candles, and song! It’s the thought that counts, right? Click here for an updated version of the cupcake recipe with instructions on how to make, assemble, and frost 36 cupcakes + one 6-inch layer cake. You, too, can be a lunatic baker.

Every now and then my husband does something in the kitchen that makes me go berserk. Two weeks ago it was coming up with a recipe for the best broccoli salad ever. Inspired by a so-so version at a café near work, and the need for us to get some vegetables in us, Jon developed this recipe and can produce it in 20-25 minutes flat. The stovetop cooking is minimal, which is key given this summer’s steamy heat. I now ask Jon to double the batches; single batches don’t last long around our house. Even the toddle bug will ingest some of the vegetables due to the yummy “sauce!”

I love how diverse the baking experience can be. And while I'm often drawn towards lunatic baking challenges (I made a three-tiered wedding cake for my babe’s first birthday party…), sometimes nothing beats a spectacular, quick recipe. Last year I came across just such a recipe for cupcakes. From the famous Magnolia’s in NYC, these cupcakes are a breeze to make and have served as impressive centerpieces at baby showers and birthday parties. The moist cake is coupled with rich, decadent icing that renders these treats far from ordinary. This recipe is simple enough to make for a fun baking project with kids; or it’s even possible to measure and mix while toting a curious toddler on your hip.