I have been waiting so long to write these words: Catherine Newman, of Ben & Birdy fame, of Catastrophic Hapiness fame, is the author of this week’s guest-post on family rituals. I’m not sure there is any tradition that embodies the concept of my new book more than her Yay, It’s Wednesday Cake. I’ll let her tell you all about… Read more »
Remember that scene in Ratatouille when the ruthless restaurant critic Anton Ego takes a bite of Remi’s ratatouille and is instantly whooshed back to his mother’s country kitchen? His normally severe face melts into a kind of euphoria, and he drops his pen in the shock of recognition, in the transportive power of food. (As if to say, the feeling… Read more »
I’ve worked with a lot of creative people in my life, but right up there at the top of the list is Vanessa Holden, who I met when she was creative director of Real Simple, and who went on to become editor-in-chief of Martha Stewart and creative director at West Elm. Her most impressive credential, though, might be Soul Safari, the conference-slash-revolution… Read more »
I’m so happy to welcome Shauna Niequist to DALS’s guest series on family rituals. You most likely know Shauna from her blog and bestselling books about food, family and faith. Her latest, Present Over Perfect, is a poetic manifesto about slowing down, saying no, choosing messiness over perfection and, as she writes, “turning her life around from the inside out” to make time for what matters. (I’m… Read more »
Who: The Family DALS What: Dumpling Dinner When: Wednesday Early Evening, Day 4 of a 6-Day, 90-Plus Degree Heat Wave Where: Somewhere in Suburban New York Why: Try them 6:30 I guess I should think about dinner. 6:31 Open fridge. Summer spinach, almost wilted, staring at me. Quick scan reveals heel of cabbage, bag of organic (yet still tasteless) shredded… Read more »
Forgive me broader readership, I’m going super local today. Many of you probably know that I live in Westchester County, which borders New York City to the north and is flanked by the sailboat-dotted Long Island Sound to the East and the mighty Hudson River to the West. With the exception of college in Western Mass and a decade in… Read more »
Here on DALS, veteran readers might have guessed by now, I’ve attempted to solve a whole range of dinner quandaries, from the quick-and-dirty meals you need in your arsenal on a Tuesday night, to the turkey you need in the center of the table on Thanksgiving. Amazingly, though, in the nearly 950 (!) posts I’ve written here, I’ve never once… Read more »
In his Bon Appetit column this month, dessert guru and Superiority Burger founder, Brooks Headley coined a phrase that I can’t stop thinking about: Good Anxiety. “The impermanence of seasonal produce is one of the joys of cooking,” he wrote. “It gets the blood pumping. It triggers the good anxiety.” It’s exactly the sentiment I experience when I wander the… Read more »
For the next few weeks, leading up to the publication of my book How to Celebrate Everything, I’ll be running a series on family rituals, all about the ways we build memories and infuse meaning into our day-to-day life with kids…usually through food. I can’t think of a better way to kick off the series than with Jackie Cuscuna, one half… Read more »
My usual rule of thumb is that there should be one thing on the dinner plate that is fresh, as in a vegetable that is raw, crispy, uncooked, bright. It’s why we eat so much slaw in our house. Nothing cuts the richness of a pork chop quite the way a vinegary pile of cabbage can. But occasionally, we shake… Read more »
No, the word is not “yakitori,” though that is what you are looking at above, and that does play a small role in this post. A delicious role, actually…all scalliony and salty and glazy. No, yakitori, as good as it is on the grill, shared with friends on a Saturday summer night, that is not the word I want to talk about… Read more »
Available at: Amazon – Barnes and Noble – Indiebound “I have been an ardent fan of Jenny Rosenstrach’s beautiful writing for years. I always know that every word of her books will be something to savor, and How to Celebrate Everything will strike a chord with anyone who enjoys family, friends, and delicious food.”—Ree Drummond, New York Times bestselling author of The Pioneer Woman… Read more »
You’re looking at the Triple Berry Pie recipe that I spent all of last summer developing and testing (and retesting) for my next book, How to Celebrate Everything. (And yes, In case you are wondering, this is my family’s favorite phase of book production…except for maybe that time I made them eat a Thanksgiving dinner in July.) I’m not going to lie… Read more »
A few weeks ago, under the category of “Nice Work if You Can Get it,” I was tasked with tracking down the best cookbooks of the spring for the Times. Those of you who made your way through that round-up (bless you, it was a lot), might remember one of the stand-outs: Tasting Rome, by Katie Parla and Kristina Gill,… Read more »
I’m not going to deliver my annual monologue on how heaviness and happiness so uniquely join forces in June. Moving on, moving up, stepping up, growing up, graduating, saying goodbye again and again, you know the drill. In fact, I think I’ve come to appreciate the amped up end-of-the-school-year craziness (I laughed out loud at this parent’s lament) because it… Read more »
I’m so excited to write these words: You are looking at my next book, How to Celebrate Everything, which will be published on September 20, 2016. I know I’m prone to overstatement, but when I say this is the most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on, I’m not lying. (And yes, I realize I’m saying this as somebody who can… Read more »
If you’re like most people, the first place your mind goes when it’s time to dream up Father’s Day gifts is outside, in the general direction of the grill. And if the dad in question is like most dads, he already has his fair share of tongs, trays, tools and toys. Here’s an idea: How about something that actually gets… Read more »
What we’re reading and eating this week: Everything you need for Memorial Day Grilling. “You might think running would wear you out and down, but it rejuvenates me and fills my tank. On the hardest, most trying days, a great run gives me the right mindset to take any and all of it on. On a day off, it brings me… Read more »
Welcome! I’m Jenny, author of Dinner: A Love Story and Dinner: The Playbook More
Purchase on Indiebound, Amazon, Barnes & Noble
