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 »
Greetings! I’m so pleased to present The 11th Annual Dinner: A Love Story Holiday Gift Guide, complete with ideas for all the readers and eaters in your life, PLUS a few DALS-exclusive codes to give you a discount or two. Happy holidays everyone! Fresh Catskills (Delivery or Gift Card, $50 minimum) I love going to the farmer’s market to run… Read more »
There are all kinds of ways people prefer their latkes: thin and lacy, meaty and crispy, kicked up with horseradish or shredded vegetables, spun from leftover Thanksgiving mashed potatoes (!!!)…and I know you’re probably expecting me to give you some diehard purist take here, but the truth is, I love them all equally. They are fried potatoes after all. Below is the recipe… Read more »
Good morning and welcome to the shortest day of the longest year. As I just texted my college roommates, It can only get brighter from here! This is most likely my last post of the year, and I will spare you the 2020 laments and curses, and instead leave you with five things, each of which has brought me a… Read more »
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 »
For all the readers and eaters in your life, herewith the ninth (!) annual Dinner: A Love Story gift guide. As in past years, I’m focusing mostly on food and books, and would love to hear ideas from you as well, if you’re so inclined. Happy shopping everyone! Nothing to See Here (by Kevin Wilson, $23). I finished this last… 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 »
This past summer, I had the distinct pleasure of employing, Lily Soroka, a talented young writer and aspiring cook, as Dinner: A Love Story’s first ever intern. In addition to assisting on photo shoots and helping with cookbook research, you’ll be happy to know, she organized my Recipe Index, making it much easier to find exactly the meal you’re looking… Read more »
As most of you know, we are big fans of the celebratory birthday breakfast in our house and, thankfully, that doesn’t seem to be changing as the kids get older. In fact, they seem more into the tradition than ever, most recently evidenced by this spread for Andy a few weeks back. Influenced heavily by the All-Day-Cafe aesthetic of some… Read more »
Here is a problem that a lot of people don’t have: When you are a food blogger who has written extensively about how meaningful holiday rituals are, it can be a struggle to come up with new content and recipes for the salivating masses, i.e. you guys. By definition, tradition dictates that my Christmas menu is exactly the same year after… Read more »
Before I had children, my husband and I threw the best holiday parties. We’d head out on field trips all over New York City, where we lived at the time, to hunt down finger foods and festive garlands. Weeks before the big night, we’d have menu-planning sessions and discuss pressing issues: knishes or empanadas? Pinot noir or Châteauneuf-du-Pape? Store-bought pita… Read more »
It’s September, which means it’s time for another recipe from Leah Koenig, my go-to source for the Jewish holidays and beyond. (Remember her fattoush? I make that throughout tomato season.) I’m pleased to let you know that this year, Leah herself is making a cameo on DALS, talking about a favorite topic of mine (family traditions) along with what is soon… 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 »
Today’s post, the last before I head out for the holidays, is an excerpt from my book, How to Celebrate Everything. Like many of you, this year, more than any other year in recent memory, I have found it nearly impossible to downshift from the everyday scramble into “intentional mode,” as in: Here I am, decorating cookies with my daughters, surrounded… Read more »
Season’s greetings everyone! I’m pleased to present to you the DALS 2017 gift guide, which, per tradition, tries to keep your family’s eating and reading pleasures in mind. This year, to shake things up a bit, I added a “pairs well with…” element to many in the mix, as a way to personalize or accessorize. Happy giving. Parlor Instant Coffee… Read more »
So what’s everyone making for their Memorial Day barbecues? We are splitting up this weekend to travel to various sporting events and tournaments and I’m guessing that my culinary highlight will be the egg and cheese sandwich at whatever Starbucks is closest to the track or field. (Reminder that I am not complaining. I love those sandwiches and would, in… Read more »
My father’s mother, Grandma Tillie, didn’t attend my parents’ wedding. She was Jewish, raised in an Orthodox household by parents who had been born in a Romanian shtetl—and her oldest son marrying a Presbyterian from western Pennsylvania had not exactly been her idea of kosher. Naturally, her wedding-day protest weighed heavily on my father, but once my parents tied the… Read more »
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 »
Welcome! I’m Jenny, author of Dinner: A Love Story and The Weekday Vegetarians More
