My friend Bonnie is so impressive. Last year, while her kids were at sleepaway camp, she traveled to Medellin in Colombia to work on an early childhood development program, and came back with a determination to become fluent in Spanish. She’s been taking classes four times a week and told me over coffee last week, “It’s the best thing I… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Birthdays, Holidays, Celebrations
Mini Shepherd’s Pie
Of all the things that taste better the next day — Grandma Jody’s chicken, pasta with Bolognese — I think maybe Shepherd’s Pie is right up there on my list. At least part of the reason for this is because some of my fondest childhood memories involve standing in front of my best friend’s fridge, eating forkfuls of the pie’s spice-spiked… Read more »
Friday Round-up: Halloween Edition
Best Halloween Party Goody Bag: Candy-Stuffed Disposable Gloves. (Buzzfeed) Best Creepy Kids Movie: Coraline (I’d recommend 8 and up; And don’t forget the book and the graphic novel) Best Trying-to-Be-Scary-But-Actually-Adorable Halloween Treat: Little Cupcake Monster from alllielewisclapp‘s instagram feed. Best Vintage Halloween Picture Book: Halloween with Morris and Borris, by Bernard Wiseman
Boo Cake
Do you guys remember when Martha Stewart published the spin-off, Kids? It launched just as I became a mother, and was the magazine I would pick up during breastfeeding, and think “Some day Phoebe and I will fashion water bottles into adorable little piggy banks!” and “Someday I will have a ‘Backwards Party’ for Abby and serve a ‘Spaghetti and Meatballs’… Read more »
10 Commandments for the At-Home Birthday Party
There’s a reason why at-home birthday parties are going the way of the white rhinoceros: They are stressful! And why bother when the local laser tag place does it all for almost the same price? Well, 1) because I find, no matter how chaotic it is, your kids (and you) will get a special kind of high from doing it… Read more »
Summer Round-up
We here in the DALS house are going to be traveling a bit over the next week or so, and I’m not entirely sure how much I’ll be able to chime in while I’m away. (I reserve the right to change my mind.) So here is a little round-up to hold you over til we return. Have a great Fourth… Read more »
What I Want for Mother’s Day
Quick one today. Bon Appetit rounded up a couple Mother’s Day gift ideas from the moms on staff and I wanted to share my pick with you. (And also hope that maybe my children come upon this post??? Hint hint.) Since I always go to the farmer’s market with a crumpled Whole Foods bag or some canvas number with a radio station’s… Read more »
Beautiful Buvette
On a rainy Monday night in midtown a few weeks ago, I found myself faced with classic New York dilemma. I was running late to meet Andy for his birthday dinner downtown and needed to make a decision: Should I try to catch a cab (always a risky proposition on a rainy night) or just get on the subway, which… Read more »
Spring Holiday Round-Up
In season: Peas, Ramps, Asparagus and…Peeps! No shortage of ways to use ‘em up on the Interweb: Peep S’mores, Peep Sunflower Cake, Peep-Wreaths, Peep-infused Vodka. (Yes, it exists, but some things are just too weird to link to.) Easter Main Option 1: Andy’s super-easy Apricot-glazed Ham (and my super-easy day-after-ham split pea soup) Easter Main Option 2: Slow-cooked Lamb with Lemon… Read more »
Heart Cake
It’s been well documented on this site that whatever limited talent I have for say, spinning a lone onion into dinner, that this talent has somehow never translated to the baking side of my brain. The most recent evidence to support this being that cornbread I baked for our friends John and Shiv over the holidays — the one that… Read more »
Where to Eat in NYC: A Family Guide
. It occurred to me a few weeks ago that every time we go on a trip — whether it’s Santa Fe, Austin, San Francisco, Paris — we tell you what we’ve done, where we’ve eaten, what our kids loved the most. And yet, in the four years we’ve been writing this blog, we’ve given you hints and peeks into… Read more »
Olive Oil: The New Wine?
You will never get me to say on the record that I don’t love a nice bottle of wine wrapped up in foil and presented to me by dinner guests. I mean, come on, that’s just crazy. But I am going on the record to say something that has never been said before. (Except maybe by me, I think, six… Read more »
Holiday Gift Guide 2013
Welcome to our annual guide for everything we want, covet, crave, and, yes need this holiday. (I don’t know about you, but in my world, coffee qualifies as an essential.) As always, the round-up was compiled with cooks, kids, and parents in mind (again, coffee), as well as for those of you who have already bought Dinner: A Love Story for everyone… Read more »
Maple Buttermilk Custard Pie (And Then Some)
Sometimes I think the most necessary characteristic a cook should possess is restraint — in other words, the ability to stay out of the way of something delicious. (Think summer corn, a farm-fresh egg, homemade pasta.) In this case, that rule happens to apply to food blogging as well, and the something delicious happens to be the most beautiful book… Read more »
Our Thanksgiving Secretary
A few weeks ago, we got an email from a local farm saying they were now taking Thanksgiving orders for heritage turkeys. “That is awesome. Let’s do it!” Andy said. For about a millisecond, I was on board, until I remembered that when it comes to the turkey, it’s not my call to make. Andy and I have free rein… Read more »
The Only Thanksgiving Guide You Need
Last year, we devoted a lot of blog space to Thanksgiving, by Sam Sifton. And since we’re editors and writers, supposedly on the pulse of what the lastest, greatest, trendiest everything is, we should probably be featuring this year’s of-the-moment holiday cookbook. But here’s the thing: “trendy” and “of-the-moment” are not words that should EVER EVER EVER be in the… Read more »
Graveyard Cake
Along with the block I live on, my memory has been getting a little cobwebby lately. Can it possibly be that I’ve written this blog for three and a half years, aka four Halloweens, and not told you about my all-time favorite tricky treat? Every year I try and fail to come up with something as simple and clever as… Read more »
Happy New Year
Under the category of “Better Late than Never,” I thought I’d share our family’s Rosh Hashana menu for the evening. Quickly. So you can go get your shopping done, like, now. As usual, it’s a group effort — I am on Salad and Side patrol. Here’s how it breaks down: My parents: A few bottles Pinot, Challah, and Dessert which… Read more »
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME
Welcome! I’m Jenny, author of Dinner: A Love Story and Dinner: The Playbook More
