It’s always a good day when I get to tell you about a new book from Yossy Arefi, member of an elite crew of recipe writers who meet me where I am, namely: in no-fuss, no-brainer baked good land. Her latest book, Snacking Bakes, speaks my love language, offering up baked treats (bars, brownies, cookies, cakes) that can be made in under… Read more »
Unlike products I cook with — Trader Joe’s 100% Greek Kalamata Olive Oil, my Diamond Crystal Kosher salt, Grey Poupon Dijon, etc. — I somehow, after all these years, don’t have the same kind of brand loyalty to the products I bake with. So I thought this year, in anticipation of all the holiday cookie-ing, I’d ask two baking pros,… Read more »
Even if you think you don’t know Melina Hammer, you probably know Melina Hammer. She’s shot and styled for all the major food players in New York (Food52, NYT Cooking, Julia Turshen 🙂) and when one of her artfully chaotic recipe shots appear on my instagram feed, I don’t even have to look at the name on the handle — that rich, textured… Read more »
If you are like me, you might have seen those gorgeous ruby rhubarb stalks at the market, then immediately heard the sound of a stopwatch ticking before complete panic set in. Why? ‘Tis the season for all those spring darlings that disappear seemingly as soon as they show up. (Pretty sure I missed ramp season while I played Wordle last… Read more »
I feel like every year there is heated discussion on whether or not chocolate has a place in the holiday cookie box. (My stance: There is no place where chocolate isn’t welcome and also, who exactly is grading us on this?) This lovely red velvet crinkle cookie from pan-banging cookie icon Sarah Kieffer solves that problem handily and deliciously. Best of all:… Read more »
Last week, I had an overwhelming craving for apple cake. Not apple crisp. Not apple pie. Not apple bread pudding. And not just any old apple cake, either. I wanted an apple-stuffed apple cake, the kind where there’s more apples than not in every bite, and where hopefully the apples are still a teeny tiny bit crispy so the cake texture is,… Read more »
Abby is her father’s daughter when it comes to expressing her enthusiasm about food. I made this crisp for her and my niece, Amanda on Saturday night and the groaning and ohmygod-ing coming from the two was hilarious. Quote of the night: “This is what tasting good should taste like.” I realize that the magic of the strawberry-rhubarb combo is… Read more »
I can’t remember the last time I actively decided to make an apple pie. Nine times out of ten, I back into it, after noticing that a bunch of apples are going bad and I need to salvage them before they accelerate the rotting of everything else in the fruit bowl. That happened most recently this past weekend — I… Read more »
Everyone hanging in there? I wanted to let you know I wrote about Yossy Arefi’s Salty Caramel Peanut Butter Cake (from her new awesome book) over at Cup of Jo today. It might be just the kinda thing for a) distracting b) drowning sorrows c) celebrating d) making your day the tiniest bit better…
I know, I know, I know. This is maybe the most ridiculous thing you’re going to see on this blog or maybe ever. It involved sketches and candy melts and extricating green M&Ms from a large bag of multicolored M&Ms and a small tube of mini ones; it involved baking brownies and whirling a milkshake. It involved an 11th-hour FaceTime… Read more »
Quick post today to make sure you saw this Clare Crespo post about clever ways to decorate Halloween cupcakes over on Cup of Jo. Thanks to Clare‘s advice a decade ago when we worked on some magazine stories together, I’ve kept every doll my daughters outgrew just for the purpose of making her “buried alive” creation and I can’t tell… Read more »
Monday was Rosh Hashana dinner at my parents’ house across town, and as I was leaving for the night, my mom, as she is wont to do, shoved a fully wrapped, untouched round challah into my hands. “Take it!” The first thing I thought was not thank you or are you sure you don’t want it but cinnamon-apple bread pudding…. Read more »
Odette Williams’s Simple Cake arrived on my doorstep the day before Phoebe’s birthday, but something tells me even if it was a random Tuesday in the middle of the night, this book would’ve given me no choice but to beeline for the kitchen to bake a cake, like the one you are looking at above: What she calls Chocolatey Chocolate Cake… Read more »
As loyal readers probably know, we here in Dinner: A Love Story Land love our homemade pudding. I started making it when the girls were little as an easy way to get them to “drink their milk” — the recipe calls for 2 cups of organic milk — but over the years we’ve adultified it (yes, adultified is a word…as… Read more »
The short answer is: At my friend’s kitchen table. Abby and I were in Seattle for only three and a half days, so, as you can imagine, our Food Town Anxiety Syndrome* was at an all-time high, and we pretty much never stopped moving (or eating). Here is the official round-up where I share all the peripatetic details, but I’m… Read more »
A few weeks ago, Joanna over at Cup of Jo asked me for some lessons on parenting teenagers. It just so happened I was in the middle of a rough patch and the best I could do without compromising anyone’s privacy was report that I was constantly being reminded of a quote from my friend whose kids have long since left the… Read more »
[This post is sponsored by Whole Foods Market] This should not come to a surprise to anyone who has been reading Dinner: A Love Story for the past few years, but when we are looking for ways to celebrate special occasions, whether that’s a birthday, a return from sleep-away camp, the last day of midterms, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Hump… Read more »
And now, introducing the latest entry in DALS’s Family Rituals Series, a ritual I dug up in the most unlikely of places: Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography, Born to Run. I think I might’ve mentioned to you that I was reading and loving the book — there were some major voids in my Springsteen education — and imagine my delight to find… Read more »
Welcome! I’m Jenny, author of Dinner: A Love Story and The Weekday Vegetarians More
