Posts By: jenny

Grilled Chicken for People Who Hate Grilled Chicken

  [Photo and Recipe updated August 2022] We never used to grill chicken. It was… eh. Never quite satisfying. We were always throwing it back on the grill (“does this look cooked to you?”) because we were paranoid about getting sick, or complaining that it was too dry, or overwhelming it with some ketchup-y four alarm KC BBQ sauce that,… Read more »

Grill Week!

Just wanted to let everyone know that we’ve been firing up the Weber all week long in preparation for…Grill Week!!! starting on Monday here on Dinner: A Love Story. So whatever your Memorial Day plans are — whether you’re feeding kids, grown-ups, kids and grown-ups, bosses, or just your own darling little monsters, come back next week for some inspiration…. Read more »

Hidden Dollhouse

People who know me know that I am prone to the superlative. (“Sweet Home Alabama was the best movie I have EVER seen!”) But here’s a statement no one can contest: In the history of the world there has never been anyone who has enjoyed dollhouse play more than my six-year-old. As far back as I can remember, Abby has… Read more »

Choices

Last week on my Babble blog I asked readers what they thought of Michael Ruhlman’s HuffPo rant about parents being too “busy” to cook for their kids. Actually, that was only a subset of the rant. Most of Ruhlman’s anger was directed at food editors, cookbook authors, and Food Network stars (even Jamie!) for giving rise to the 30-minute-meal industrial complex…thereby… Read more »

Cold Sesame Noodles

I know better than to apply logic to the process of feeding kids, but there I was doing exactly that a few weeks ago when I spied the perfect recipe for sesame noodles (aka peanut butter, spaghetti, sesame, etc.) by my friend and mother-of-two Melissa Roberts.  The logic went as follows: If Peanut Butter = Guaranteed Consumption, and Noodles =… Read more »

Nostalgia Night: Porcupine Meatballs

The recipe for these sweet, braised meatballs is written on a notecard with company letterhead from Andy’s first job. It’s written in shorthand — I can picture him in his beige, cookie-cutter cubicle fifteen years ago, scribbling down the instructions as his mom dictated the exact amounts of peppers, onions, and beef over the phone… her standing in his childhood… Read more »

Pork Chops Tonight?

From: “Jenny” <jenny@dinneralovestory.com> To: Andy Sent: Mon May 10 6:41:40 2010 Subject: Pork chops tonight? If so what should I do for prep? From: Andy To: “Jenny” <jenny@dinneralovestory.com> Sent: Mon, May 10, 2010 6:42:33 PM Subject: Re: Pork chops tonight? Awww yeah. Get mustard apples onions ready. From: “Jenny” <jenny@dinneralovestory.com> To: Andy Sent: Mon May 10 6:55:21 2010 Subject: Re:… Read more »

We Have a Cover!

…And, perhaps even more exciting, we also finally have an amazon link where you can pre-order our Time for Dinner cookbook. OK…how cool is that cover? I can call my own number here because I had absolutely nothing to do with it. Lia Ronnen at Melcher Media and Bonnie Siegler at Number 17 are the creative forces behind the design —… Read more »

You Make it, You Own it

I have no idea how this became the unwritten rule of dinner in our house, but when one of us discovers a new recipe, cooks it for the family, and it’s a success, it is the cook’s responsibility to prepare that dinner from that point forward. Forever. We have probably eaten Chicken Cutlets with Soy-Lime Sauce from Bittman’s How to… Read more »

For Mom

I hope my mom’s not reading today because this is what I’m giving her for Mother’s Day. Homemade biscotti made from her mother’s recipe. How am I celebrating? It’s a surprise but there was lots of secret backpack unpacking last night so my guess is that I’m getting a few homemade things myself. Have a happy one.

Bruschetta Night

Want to know what I’m making this weekend? I wrote the text for a story about bruschetta for the current issue of Martha Stewart and from the moment I spied this picture — I had nothing to do with the recipe developing or the photographing — I have been plotting bruschetta night with the kids. This particular toast has been… Read more »

Patty, Pizza, and Purses

“Oh my gawd. The crust is epic!” That is what Aunt Patty said when she had her first bite of my latest most favorite party trick — otherwise known as the Jim Lahey pizza that you’ve  already heard me go on and on and on about. This is Aunt Patty we’re talking here  — Aunt Patty of milk-braised pork fame —… Read more »

Working Mom Redemption (aka, The Cookie Playdate)

When I was an editor at Real Simple a few years ago, and then later at Cookie, I won the lottery. The working mom’s lottery. After years of fist-pounding and squeaky-wheeling, I was granted a four-day work week. Not four days in the office, then one working from home. That fifth day — Wednesday, then later Friday — was off…. Read more »

Spaghetti and Spring Vegetables

Until fairly recently, I had been an absolute slave to the written recipe, i.e.  it was a dealbreaker if the ingredient list called for shallots and all I had was an onion. If Everyday Food told me to serve the sausages with horseradish mustard and I only had grainy, then by God I went out and spent the $4.39 for… Read more »

Perfect Little Lunch

It’s way too easy for me to shovel down the straggler crusts of my kids’ PB&J or grilled cheese sandwiches and call it lunch…only to fight a losing battle with a bag of tortilla chips an hour later. This quick open-face has recently proven to be a good antidote to that cycle — and a vegetarian antidote at that. It’s… Read more »

Spicy Shrimp with Lime

Here is the very definition of a Nice Problem: A healthy dinner that cooks too quickly, allowing for no time to savor a glass of wine while one prepares it. I’m not kidding. This spicy shrimp (adapted over the years from an old Cooking Light recipe) takes about 10 minutes from start to finish — and closer to five if you… Read more »

Venn Diagram Dinner

OK, so remember that dinner I wanted us all to make together this week? This is it above: Orechiette with Sausage and Broccoli. You’ll notice that no plate looks the same. Abby had the pasta and broccoli, Phoebe had the broccoli and sausage. Mom and Dad had it all mixed together. (Cool that broccoli was the common thread, no?) Anyway,… Read more »

Fried Fish with Ramps

I laid down a few rules for myself before I started this website. No using that word that starts with “food” and ends in “i-e.” No going into detail about things like the interplay between quince paste and aged gouda. No fetishizing. No buying into the whole two-week ramp frenzy that takes over farmers markets and f–dies this time of… Read more »