The Letter: I get some version of this email all. the. time: Hi, Jenny. Here’s my dilemma: I am a full-time high school English teacher with a major meat-eater for a partner, a twelve year old who is STRICTLY vegetarian, and her twin brother who is a fickle eater who has just lost three pounds and whose doctor wants us… Read more »
Ever been to Franklin Barbecue? Neither have I! To be honest, it’s on my radar every time I go to Austin, but I don’t seriously entertain the idea of waiting on it’s legendary mile-long lines, even though I know the place is Mecca for Barbecue enthusiasts. I guess, file this one under “I’m too old.” I’m comforted by the idea… Read more »
Over the past few months I’ve been cooking more than usual thanks to an assignment I got back in January: Write about the best spring cookbooks for The Book Review. I got to expand my reach a little here — in addition to the quick-and-easy family dinner fare you’re used to seeing on these pages, I tried out vegan brownies… Read more »
Happy Official First Weekend of Grilling! I’m not sure what will be in the center of the plate yet, but whatever it is, it’ll be surrounded by as many fresh green salads as I can fit. Herewith, a few protein options: Spicy Pork Tacos This one calls for peach salsa, but you can just as easily do pineapple. Brush the pineapple… Read more »
Is one of these too much to ask for when I wake up on Sunday? What to eat when you’re pregnant. If I am to believe everything I read, the Spiralizer might just be the way to world peace? (Certainly zucchini pasta with fava bean pesto and grilled shrimp is reason enough to purchase.) Those long stretches I sit in the car… Read more »
This week’s Consumption Report: Truth: A roll of cellophane and a batch of paper loaf pans make even the most humble of baked gifts feel legit. (Shown above, two loaves of never-fail banana bread made for weekend hosts; labels by Abby.) We’ll be first in line for this one come summer 2015. Simple Rules for Healthy Eating (Can you guess which one is my… Read more »
“Sadness and good food are incompatible. The old sages knew that wine lets the tongue loose, but one can grow melancholy with even the best bottle, especially as one grows older. The appearance of food, however, brings instant happiness. A paella, a choucroute garnie, a pot of tripes a la mode de Caen, and so many other dishes of peasant… Read more »
I noticed something funny the other week. We’ve been cooking for friends all winter — don’t mistake this for me characterizing myself as big-hearted or generous: During long stretches of single-digit days, these meals are acts of self-preservation as much as anything else. We’ve busted out The Ragu, of course. We’ve experimented with short rib tacos and lettuce wraps. We… Read more »
What we’re reading and eating this week: Ridiculous Brown-butter Brownies. Phoebe’s hero, profiled in the Times Magazine. I’m totally buying this for my soon-to-be-9-year-old nephew. (No clicking Owen, and thanks for the tip, Evan L!) Read of the week: Break-in at Y-12. This headline is astounding, and worth bringing up at the dinner table, whether you are raising daughters or not. And these headlines are just plain hilarious. You… Read more »
No no no, don’t go anywhere! It’s still Dinner: A Love Story. Still the same blog that brought you Pork Ragu and Pretzel Chicken, the one that taught you phrases like “Deconstructed Dinners” and “Page-Turners;” still the same blog some of you have been checking in with for five years. YES! FIVE YEARS! As of this week, we have officially reached… Read more »
I feel kind of bad for my kids that I just read The Opposite of Spoiled. Have you guys heard about this book? It’s written by Ron Lieber, New York Times personal finance columnist (and onetime DALS contributor, you may recall) and I fear it’s going to be one of those books that informs every conversation I have with them, around the dinner table… Read more »
See the coffee table in this picture? We’ve had it for fifteen years. We bought it before we had kids, when we were rushing to furnish our first real apartment and we went to some big Crate and Barrel sale and bought a bunch of stuff that looked like the kind of thing that grown-ups would have in their first… Read more »
Happy New Year Everyone. Hope you’re still at your resolutions. (By my clock, we all have another few hours before we abandon them completely.) Me? I grabbed 2015 by the horns – I think by noon on January 1, the tree had been disrobed and curbed; the basement, organized; the contents of Phoebe’s Fibber-McGee-and-Molly closet sorted into three boxes –… Read more »
Dear Readers, I have been staring at this screen for the past hour trying to figure out a way to sign off for the year, but what I want to say is pretty simple, so I think I’m just going to come right out and say it: Thank you. It never ceases to amaze me how engaged the DALS community… Read more »
We know what we’re having for Christmas dinner: The same exact thing we have every Christmas dinner, right down to the salad dressing and the sides. The trouble comes on the nights before and after, when we’ve got family over, friends stopping by, or a bunch of hungry kids sitting around the condo after a day of skiing. On these… Read more »
It’s been well documented that I’m not the most accomplished in the holiday crafts department. The most ambitious I’ll get is affixing graham crackers to a little milk carton with store-bought icing. And only if a kindergarten teacher is supervising. But this little gumdrop menorah? This is exciting. It’s another entry from Jodi Levine’s Candy Aisle Crafts, which I just… Read more »
It’s the most wonderful time of the year — at least it would be if you could check a few things off that massive list of yours. DALS is here to help! Need a holiday ham? Check. A classic Christmas cookie recipe? Here you go. And because we love you so much, herewith, our annual collection of gift ideas for… Read more »
NOTE TO UNCLE MIKE: PLEASE DON’T READ! Every Christmas when I was growing up, my mom would select a wrinkly wrapped gift from under the tree, shake it a bit, and say “Hmmmm, I wonder what this could be?” She knew what it was, of course. We all did. It was the annual bottle of Vitabath, the bath bubbles that… Read more »
Welcome! I’m Jenny, author of Dinner: A Love Story and The Weekday Vegetarians More
