Monthly Archives: November 2011

Controlling the Controllable

Do you know this phrase? Controlling the Controllable. Or should I say, have you heard of this condition? Symptoms include: -Adding tasks to your to-do list even after you’ve completed them, just so you can experience the satisfaction of crossing that task off the list. -Having a sudden irrepressible urge to rearrange your sock drawer or color-code your bookshelf or… Read more »

Anatomy of a Monday Night Dinner

We begin in the morning… 6:45 Phoebe’s alarm goes off 6:46 Abby’s alarm goes off 7:00 Mom showers, Dad gets breakfast (pomegranate seeds and cereal) for girls 7:15 Get-Your-Shoes-On Battle begins 7:22 Shoes finally secure, Mom starts freaking out about missing bus. Dad and Girls laugh at her. “Mom have we ever missed the bus?” 7:30 Bus Arrives. (No kisses,… Read more »

Take a Moment

My guess is that by now, most of you have a pretty good idea what your Thanksgiving menu is going to look like and who’s in charge of what. Or if the menu isn’t set, you might be in the middle of a reply-all marathon with your family like me. Uncle Phil – you’re on cheese duty, right? Grandma’s got… Read more »

Now Accepting Applications

Proposed Chocolate Pudding Pie (From Scratch)* Preheat oven to 350°F. In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, process 2 packages honey graham crackers (total: 2 1/4 cups) until they resemble fine crumbs. Add 5 tablespoons sugar and 10 tablespoons melted butter (unsalted) and pulse to combine. Using your fingers, press the mixture into a 9-inch pie dish. Bake… Read more »

Could Use Some Feedback

Hey DALS readers! How are you liking Fave Five? Do you know it exists? Are you using it? Are you aware that we’re regularly updating the list of recommendations, so it is worth your while to check in at least once or twice a week? Let me know — we’re curious if the new feature has been helpful. Update: Thank… Read more »

Long Live Broc

I feel passionate about broccoli. It’s not often you hear these words come out of someone’s mouth. Let alone a mom’s mouth. And yet, there I was a few weeks ago, having lunch with my friend Melissa Roberts listening to her talk about broccoli in a manner someone might use to talk about lobster or Shake Shack or the Green Bay… Read more »

What is Easy? (Illusions, Part 2)

“This looks amazing,” my friend Mike said, as we sat down to dinner. He was in town on business, and Jenny was at a work event, so it was just me, Mike, and the kids, rocking out on a Wednesday night. On the table: chicken tandoori burgers with a yogurt-mint sauce, sauteed spinach, curried carrots, and the remnants of some math… Read more »

What is Quick? (Illusions, Part 1)

I want to talk a little bit, today and tomorrow, about time. More specifically, about our lack of it when it comes to dinner. About that moment when you come home from work at 7 pm and the dog is begging for a walk and your fourth grader really needs you to drill her on her social studies definitions (quick:… Read more »

My Book: Cover Reveal!

When I first sat down with my book editor Lee Boudreaux and the designer Allison Saltzman, they asked me what I wanted in a cover design. Oh, you know, I told them, I don’t want it to look cheffy or foodie. I don’t want it to look too precious or too slick. I’d like it to be homey but not… Read more »

They’ll Hold You To It

I’ve learned the hard way that when it comes to kids, don’t make a promise you won’t be able to keep. Don’t promise a trip to Barnes and Noble this weekend if you know it’s going to take some logistical heroics to squeeze it between all the games and practices and trips to the mall to buy new boots. (Again!… Read more »

Perfectly Good

Every spring, growing up, my elementary school would put on a fifth grade Science Fair. They’d clear out the gym, bring in a bunch of those long cafeteria tables, and the fifth graders would file in early, groggy and grumpy, to set up their exhibits. Later that day, we’d take our places behind our posters and dioramas and baking-soda-and-vinegar volcanoes, as… Read more »

So What is Your Book About Exactly?

…I get this question all the time. Followed by: Will there be new recipes or is it only the recipes already on the blog? Does it have anything to do with the dinner diary you’ve kept since 1998? Is it a book about you and Andy? Will it provide any more variations on that yogurt-marinated grilled chicken I love so… Read more »