. Guess what I did when I saw Shalane Flanagan, the first American woman to win the New York City marathon in 40 years, cross the finish line yesterday? Well, if we’re being truthful about it, I teared up a bit, because Flanagan was crying, and is there anything better than watching a professional athlete accomplish something seemingly superhuman in… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Baking and Sweets
So Yummy, So Insane
After Phoebe wrapped up her final exams last month, she told me she was eager to embark upon plans to “aggressively chill.” ‘”What does that mean?” I asked. “Sleep in. Read in the hammock. Maybe fall asleep in the hammock. Walk Iris. Float in the pool.” It sounded so nice. She had a whole two-and-a-half days to pack in all… Read more »
Maybe The Best Pie Ever
That’s what Andy said when he tried a bite of the inaugural Chocolate Chess Pie we baked on Friday: Maybe the best pie ever. Before I get into the details, let me just remind the readership at large here that Andy loves nothing more than a superlative. (<- Which is itself, of course, a superlative.) About the tomato sandwich he eats during… Read more »
Happy Birthday Pancakes
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my career as a parent, it’s this: It does not take a whole lot to make a kid happy. I knew a mom a while back who had a special favorite pink plate reserved for sick days, so when her daughter was home with the flu, there was at least one bright spot… Read more »
Molly Yeh’s Almond Cake
I am so thrilled to welcome Molly Yeh to the DALS Family Rituals Series. In case you have been living in an alternate universe for the past few years, Molly is something of a Beyonce among Bloggers — she is the author of Molly on the Range, and the brain behind My Name is Yeh (pronounced “yay”) where she chronicles… Read more »
Happy New Year
I’m a day late on this — sorry! — but a quick update to let you know that I was on Food Network’s “The Kitchen” yesterday (that’s Jeff Mauro and Marcela Valladolid up there!) talking champagne brunch, How to Celebrate Everything, and the ridiculously happy pancake “cake” you are looking at below. If you are like us, with one more day left… Read more »
Something to Make, Bring, and Give
Wait, wait, wait, don’t go anywhere! You’re in the right place, I swear this is Dinner: A Love Story! Even though, yes, what you are looking at is a collection of perfect candy Christmas tree lollipops topping a perfectly iced cake on a blog that once might have said that “perfect” is “the enemy of good.” Big shocker here: I… Read more »
Three Baking Hacks
As the season of Olympic baking is upon us, I thought I’d share a few hacks I will be relying on through the end of the year — and likely beyond. Just a warning: If you are the type of person who has an arsenal of pastry tubes and tips, who knows your way around fondant, you might want to… Read more »
Memory-Making Cinnamon Buns
Last night was our annual trim-the-Christmas-tree-and-eat-latkes ritual. (Yours too, right?) I know we’re still over two weeks away from Hanukkah, but we’ve been merging the two holidays for so long (see: How to Celebrate Everything) that it now feels officially weird to hang angels and macaroni ornaments on the tree without snacking on latkes and their attendant fixins. Not only because… Read more »
Pudding Pie for Thanksgiving
Pleased to announce that my How to Celebrate Everything video series continues with, naturally, Chocolate Pudding Pie. I’ve been on the road hawking my book this month, and I’ve had a lot of fun reading the section about a pie throw-down my family had at Thanksgiving a few years ago. (Book owners: page 46). It’s one of my favorites, as… Read more »
Luisa Weiss’s “Humble” Birthday Cake
My Family Rituals Series continues with author Luisa Weiss, who some of you probably know as The Wednesday Chef, or, if you’re a blogger like me, as “one of the originals.” Luisa grew up shuttling back and forth between Boston and Berlin, and it’s Berlin where she’s made a home with her husband and young son, Hugo. Not content merely to write… Read more »
Uri Scheft’s Shabbat Dinner
I’m so pleased to feature Uri Scheft in my ongoing DALS family ritual series. You might know Scheft as the man behind cult-favorite Breads Bakery in New York (and Lehamim in Tel Aviv), or because you were smart and listened to me last year when I demanded you mail-order his world-famous chocolate babka. But if you didn’t, fear not, you have… Read more »
In Praise of Pavlova
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 »
Shauna Niequist’s Blueberry Crisp
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 »
When Ice Cream is More Than Ice Cream
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 »
Patriotic Pie
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 »
Slow-Cooker Apple Butter
Since we became parents, we’ve kept a running list unofficially titled: Things That Sound Like Fun with Kids, But Are Actually Not at All.* Parades fall into this category. Street fairs. Any event with the words “Harvest Fest” in its name. Beach day-trips made a brief appearance on the list, when Phoebe was four months old and we decided it… Read more »
Christina Tosi’s Iced Oatmeal Cookies
When Andy and I first moved in together a hundred years ago, there was definitely an adjustment period. What was up with him leaving wet towels on the bed post? Why did he knock his razor against the sink in the exact same rat-a-tat rhythm every time he shaved? And did the Yankees have to be on every single night,… Read more »